Flora Amelia .. I concur this has been an interesting post .. Very connected to the movement we all believe in and give quietly or loudly too on a daily basis… But it does start in the family and I have lived in many places accross the Country.. East Coast, West Coast, North and South and now presently in the Midwest. So this is a tough one .. I used to think Chapel Hill, NC was my favorite, my boys were born there and loved it. For 10 years it was wonderful living, a great place to raise my boys .. Small, quaint, the weather the southern hospitality, charm, sweet Magnolias and Dogwoods. UNC, with its academic stature, gorgeous campus, vibrant college culture, amazing basketball, Center for Entrepreneuralism.. I could go on and on. We still carry around our TarHeel pennant and my son now keeps our old NC license plate on his desk. With neighbors like Duke University, The Research Triangle Park, well noted for the highest Professor per capitae brings in the best from all over the World and we were so lucky to be a part of this outstanding, remarkable community. I think I answered by own question … Someday I will go back …!

Roger, you accomplished something huge with those kids…in one moment you cemented into their heads what their parents had probably spent years trying to drill into them…That Honesty is the Best Policy. They won’t ever forget that and it will color every future decision they make in life when faced with choosing between right or wrong.

What an interesting reading. Thinking about raising children that care about others and learn to give and cooperate. Which places do you think are the best to live in and raise children?

One story I remember well is when I left my keys inside my car. I happened to have left my window a few inches open. This was at a restaurant parking and this boy was heading towards were I was, parents following. He immediately offered help and somehow we managed to force the window down where he could reach to the lock. I tried to offer him pay but he refused looking at me as if saying “what are you talking about?” But the best part of the story is that one of my children was with me and seems to have recorded every second of it.

Roger, I love the story and see it as not so much about you as it is about those kids – I am amazed because it wouldn’t happen here in Yuma. I also grew up sharing and giving and giving back – in fact, I really don’t have any friends who didn’t do that although our backgrounds are not similar in some cases. Nothing new – just often forgetten – especially in the younger generations – especially if they aren’t exposed to each of us being dependent upon one another and responsible for another. Roger, I think, with your generosity and graciousness, you taught those kids that it was good to do good. Now that you know it will cost in the hundreds, and you know where they live, just stay home.
:-)

You are so fortunate to have grown up in such a community and to have given your children the same opportunity. I think that the modern world has slowly been growing away from community values…sometimes progress isn’t such a good thing…as you correctly pointed out.

EN feels like the community I’ve always missed out on being a part of, due to so many moves in my life. It is a good feeling.

I’ve been reading through all the post; how it began as a crusade to help out EN via PBS, then when Matt explained it wasn’t necessary, it shifted to helping the community/schools/individuals/etc. The proposal was voiced and everyone has responded as if this is some new concept that was brought to light by Krissie and/or the TV show, but it was actually a common practice in ages past…. people have “progressed” out of that stage these days though, well, some people have. (I invite anyone who would like to experience what living in “the good ole days” was like, literally, spend some time in Ashe County, NC, particularly the towns of Jefferson and West Jefferson…. but check any bad attitude, superior feelings, or “hop-goblin” looks at the county line… or you many not be leaving)

Farmer “A” fell off his wagon and broke his arm… Farmers “B”, “C”, “D”, and “E”, along with community voluteers, pitch in and tend to Farmer “A’s” crops/chores/cleaning/cooking/etc etc until Farmer “A” is able to get back on his feet. Alternatively, If Farmer “C” gets hurt, the whole thing happens again; everyone pitches in for everyone.

I was raised in this type environment; taught from an early age how a man’s worth is not how much he gets, but how much he contributes. I lived my life that way for fifty two years, and taught my children the same, but it’s not to gain favor, pats on the back, or recognition, it’s just the right thing to do and should come with a fanfair.

Wow !! Pretty neat story Roger .. Those hours after the incident must have seemed like an eternity for those two .. I can just imagine what was going through their heads, and it really makes you stop an appreciate, like you said our youth. But so impressive is how they pulled it together and did what was right. You handled it graciously and gently and I would say for a little squirt squirrel … You done good! Although as the love dust settles You might want to finally think about submitting one yourself … Cause your going to need the cash one never knows .. The mirror could end up being the door too. :-)

Here is a “Pay it Forward” story I want to share. I came out of a community event this evening and the mirror on my vehicle was hanging by the wires out of it’s frame .. dangling but not broken. I was upset of course because as you all know.. an electric mirror with built in defrost is not a cheap thing to replace. It was dark and I couldn’t see well but wanted to unhook the connection so as to not do more damage. Then I see a note under my windshield.. “Sorry about your mirror.. I knocked on all the doors but couldn’t find you.. I only live 5 minutes away and here is my phone number”. I called the number and spoke with a guy who said he was her brother.. I told him I needed a flashlight to unhook the coupling to which he said “I’ll be right there” he showed up with his little sister who had hit the mirror.. she looked like she was 12 years old but I guess 16 looks different these days. She was so upset.. the brother thought we could just “glue it” back in.. (he was young as well) I could see with the light that some plastic tabs had broken off and it was not a matter of glueing it back. He asked what should we do.. should we call the police.. exchange information.. I told him I didn’t think it was a big deal and could probably get the new parts to put it back in the frame. He said "well she should pay for it and turned to her and said.. Do you have twenty dollars? She cringed and said “I have fifteen”.. I looked at the two of them and thought .. these kids have no idea that this is at least a couple hundred dollar fix. I looked at the girl and reached out to shake her hand and said “You did the right thing now go home and forget about it” The look on her face was worth whatever it is going to cost me to get it fixed tomorrow. My faith in the younger generation was renewed.

Just wanted to share this. :)

upon considering the next to last paragraph asking all of the kids on EN to give their feedback…I would like to take back my request. I forgot for a moment that this is a public forum accessable to any and all eyes on the internet…Not a safe situation for me to place a child in and I apologize.

Perhaps I should have asked would any college age forum participants be willing to give their feedback.

Pat and Jane, I think this is a terrific idea! There are so many schools that need financial help. The question is how can we help all of them? Even if we were hugely successful in generating funds to donate, I fear it would only be a tiny drop in a very large bucket. So…what do we do about it? This is just an idea…but what if we could partner with EN/EE and local colleges and universities to start a Junior Everyday Edisons program/club? A Mentoring type similar to the odyssey of the Mind program, http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/
When my children were young and we were stationed overseas in Scotland we were involved in this and went to competition. It was a fantastic experience. Now OOTM was very strict about every aspect being handled by the children, they had to come up with their idea, develop it, create it and make it happen. The adults could only guide by asking the pertinent questions that would help them think through any issues they might encounter. Obviously with the legalities involved with inventing this could not be the case with a junior inventor mentoring program.

We could utilize college and university students as afterschool meeting mentors. We, the inventors of EE/EN could volunteer as either mentors or guest speakers as well, We could help them come up with fund raising ideas, not just activity type ideas i.e…white elephant sales/carwashes/bake sales/any of the normal fundraisers etc… With our collective creativity I’m sure we could come up with original ideas/ i.e. sales from a catalog of ‘inventions’ we create just for their fundraising.

I would suggest a pilot program in a few select schools to start off and test the waters…but (imajane) the possibilities…county/town/city competitions → state competitions → to a regional (country divided by time zones maybe) and then maybe a special documentary on PBS showcasing the winners…Competition guidelines could be ‘Green Products’ or ‘labor saving devices’ or ‘something that would assist the elderly or disabled’
the more we can do to promote learning through creativity while at the same time fostering compassion for others and our planet, and team work, the more good we do for our future generations of inventors and humanity in general.

This thread was started 2 years ago….my question…how many ‘kids’ are on EN right now and what do you all think about this?

http://www.edisonnation.com/forums/everyday-edi...

Our funds will only go so far…let’s see what we can do to make each school self-supporting…there is a quote…give a man a fish and feed him for a day…teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime…

Thank you Jane … And you inspire me so there !!!
Yes, I agree with you .. Our teachers are so critically important .. For what they have done, today, and for tomorrow, our future. I so admire them as you Jane .. Where would we be ? For me it has been more than a gift to work our children, and honor to be a part of a team of so many honorable and dedicated teachers as i have.. I left Nursing with 16 years in .. to journey forward into what I felt my most prestigious profession .. Parenthod.. and my most precious gifts were my two boys, Raffi and Remy … They had an amazing education in the school which I presently work and I saw them flourish like there was no tomorrow … So absolutely .. With all my heart and creative energy … This one’s for you Maple Dale …

Ohio has the same bad news. Our teachers are in for some tough times. They were already doing super-hero work as far as I’m concerned. What job is more important than teaching? I admire them so much. And now…
I like the idea of donating proceeds to the schools. That would really pay it forward! Very nice, Pat. You inspire me.

Krissie great idea .. And count me in … We have so much to give and so much to be thankful for. So I will do all I can to help out, contribute or create.

Right now I am working on submitting for swing&play .. and all the proceeds 100%, if I am so lucky to have a bingo .. will be going to my school in form of a donation. Wisconsin is in crisis and our State policies will effect what happens in our schools, including mine as early as April 1st and even my job. Last week my colleagues and I Learned of such, the dire concerns and bleak outlook as spelled out by our Administration for our future. We were calked upon to look beyond our scope and challenge ourselves to come up with creative ways to raise monies for our school … So I know as you and all of us here the passion to dig in deep is what we all are about and do best … Thank you for the thread and thank EN’ers for your collective spirit of generosity.

Kat!!! Thank you!!!!! I cry everytime I watch Pay It Forward…I will have to see Life is Beautiful.

Maybe there are some companies that would be willing to partner in this idea, not to absorb the cost by any means, any manufacturer would be paid based on sales- those costs would come out first- only the profits would be donated or at least a hefty portion. Maybe they would be willing to defer payment- and in the area of apparel- there is a woman who invented a process where she refined and crossbred strains of cotton that not only grow in different colors (so no pollution causing bleaching and dyeing process is needed) but with longer fibers so it can be spun into thread. She is a US company that is seeing hard times right now because a lot of her buyers have started out sourcing. Wouldn’t it be great if we came up with a line of apparel endorsed by EN and EE that is made from her cotton? Supports US business and is a Very Green product. I found out about her when I was researching women inventors for an idea I had.

http://www.women-inventors.com/Sally-Fox.asp

http://www.vreseis.com/sally_fox_story.htm

I just read what Matt posted too, I’m so glad that EE and EN are self supporting and that that was made clear, but I still think we should discuss the ‘pay it forward’ concept because there is still so much good we could do it we put our collective brains together. For PBS…or maybe start a mentor program in the Jr. High Schools… I remember in 6th grade being a part of JA (Junior Achievers) we had mentors in business that took us through the whole process of taking an idea from product conception to market. (We made leather key rings that we embossed, stamped, dyed, assembled, packaged and priced). Obviously this ‘mentoring’ had a big impact on me as the lessons I learned there I have never forgotton.

Krissie – I like you. Great idea. If something like this were to happen, I suppose since there really wouldn’t be a search sponsor, but someone we’d all be donating to, the royalty percentage could be adjusted to recoup cost to manufacture as well as give a little return to EN and the inventor, while also donating a chunk to whatever organization.

Pay It Forward is one of my favorite films in the world. I also like the Italian film Life is Beautiful by Roberto Begnini.

Great discussions.

Matt just posted some info on the ""Funding Reduction" thread that may clarify a few things.

I seeee, Amelia…interesting. So you are saying that we could re-work products already out there. Hmmm. Well, you said that’s a PBS game, not EE, so that’s a new spin. Also, maybe that game was “just right” for someone else’s kid…and maybe they just put the wrong “for ages_ – _”.

The last Inventor’s Digest had some very involved games too, that were invented BY KIDS. Good idea Amelia.

I also think , though that there is a large market for “traditional” games that baby boomers can relate to… who may want to pass that board game tradition on to their young, especially if it was maybe an educational, and apprpriately timed with current events/affairs (but still “fun”) game.

There’s room for both.

And to steer back more specifically to the thread (sorry, I kinda hijacked it), games, Amelia would be great due to the large “kid” audience that PBS has.

Hmmmmm

PBS also markets products for their kids shows. One of them is a board game I just purchased. This board game is fairly simple and my kids just got bored of it few minutes after the box was opened. It was a fairly nice looking board game with all the parts working fine and quality made. But it lacked creativity. I was determining I would think twice before buying toys or games that would not be of interest because thay are not as creative as kids need them to be. Just the same old thing.
There is were we came in with our ideas. There was an expense to create this product so it can be done, but if the design is superior then it will boost sales and even become iconic. Just by adding some EN magic.

JIMHO :>

Amelia, I’m not sure I understand your post…can you expound a bit?

I know we can help develop better products for them. I just got one of the board games for a kids show they have that surely can be more creative!! :>
It would also be a great advertisement for EN.

Krissie, I love the idea and topic and agree with both you and Kevin. In addition to many other possibilities, I “see” something being done with all the G8’s – not sure what. Keep thinking….

Amelia and Biskit thank you for believing the idea has merit.

Biskit, I agree that there are a lot of bugs and details that would need to be ironed out. My biggest motivation in posting the topic is to get feedback from everyone on how we can do something positive and contructive to help. This was just one idea, I’m hoping others will chime in with their ideas. While I would love suggestions for fine-tuning my original idea (with all these brilliant minds on this forum I’m sure we could come up with a workably fantastic idea) I really want to see what others would come up with…this isn’t about My Idea, it’s about what ‘We The People’ can come up with…my idea was just an example.

Sometimes it’s not about the money…sometimes it’s about doing what is most beneficial to the world as a whole. And EN is definitely one of those places that deserves our support!

Great and magnanamous concept Krissie. I’m sure I could do something to help also.

A few problems I see are

1. the development costs of the product
2. the sinking feeling the inventor (in their generosity) might fear (or feel) if they FINALLY had an invention “make it” and it ALL go to the charity, while their personal ideas get R’d out regularly. lol
3. the idea pool becoming contaminated with ideas that are not do-able for one reason or another…and inventors “inquiring” why they aren’t great ideas…in other words, to give an extreme analogy that comes to mind…someone donating a broken, obsolete computer (or accessory) to a “charity” and deducting it on their taxes, as well as telling others they “donated” to charity

My point is absolutely NOT to shoot the idea down, just to continue the open dialogue…which I wouldn’t do if I didn’t think it had merits.

One solution to all of those problems might be to have those same ideas (like the ones you have 4 of) and others that we as a community would submit be put into an LPS that has in its description…“For this submission, the inventor agrees to have 10% of his/her revenues directly donated to PBS.” Another solution could be to have the inventor individually “partner” with PBS on the submission page…ergo accomplishing the same thing…(like having a mini Talva group) or last idea off the top of my head…“For this LPS, Submissions must include a commitment to donate a minimum of 1% of your proceeds to PBS. The number shall remain anonymous and will not affect likelihood of success…”

Dunno…those are “just woke up thoughts” so far, Krissie, but I like the idea.

I would love to do this! To help both EN and PBS. My favorite program is “Martha Speaks” lol!