Accordng to volunteeringinamerica.gov, 64.5 million Americans volunteered nearly 7.9 billion hours in 2013.  That is an estimated value of $175 billion.  There is a new surge in American people to get involved, give back, and leave a legacy.

It's inspiring to look at these numbers.  It brings hope to know that so many people care about serving others.  But, we can't help but wonder, where is the inspiration coming from?  With jobs requiring more than 40 hours a week, families busy with sports and school activities, and time seeming like nothing short of a luxury, where do you find the inspiration to give back?  What keeps you involved?

If volunteering or charitable involvement is something you are interested in, but you don't know where to start, feel free to contact us!  We would love to get you connected!

"In the arena of human life, the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action." -Aristotle

Thank you for giving- of your time, your money, your resources, your energy.  You are making a difference.

Written by Alison Hofmeyer, Communications Consultant

"In 1993 about 25% of the world's poorest 5% lived in sub-Saharan Africa, but 2008 it was nearly 60%." Quote from an article on The Economist.  See full article here .

We have experiences that keep us connected to the communities with which we work. We have built relationships with people there and are committed to seeing them grow and succeed.  People ask why organizations work in the areas that they do, why the fight the issues they fight, etc.  Typically, it goes back to the passion of one person, perhaps the founder of the organization.  While our CEO David Neely is no exception to that, the article referenced above is why we continue to work where we work.

It is undeniable that opportunities and resources available in parts of Africa are comparable to anywhere else in the world, even other developing countries.  We see a great need there and are committed to these communities.  With statistics telling us that the annual wage in sub-Saharan Africa has hardly increased over the last 10 years while China was able to move completely out of the world's poorest 5%, we believe there is no option but to respond.

So, don't be fooled.  The need is great, the conditions are grave, and the communities are desperate.  We are committed to seeing their success through... will you join us?

Written by Ali Hofmeyer, Communications Consultant

Sometimes, it's hard not to think that injustice is inevitable.  We are bombarded with messages of inequality, oppression, and corruption.  Just this morning I read an article on exploitative working conditions in the shrimp industry in Bangladesh.  A comment made in the article said, "In the 21st Century, food produced by forced or bonded labour should not be on our plates." Well absolutely!  Right?  None of us want to profit off of the exploitation of others.  But then you get down to the bare bones of it all, and you realize that it's everywhere.  And asking questions at restaurants about where they purchase their meat or produce makes you one of those kinds of people.

I was listening to a webinar on Tuesday on Donor Retention.  At one point, the speaker was defining levels of donors and ranking them importance.  He referenced the idea that the world will always be full of the "have's & the have not's."  He was saying this in reference to leveraging donor relationships that you can't afford to lose, but it made me stop.  I hated that he said that.  But I hated even more that it seemed to ring true.  The concept made sense in context of what he was talking about.

I don't want to accept that this world will be plagued by poverty and disease and injustice.  I don't believe we must be bound by have's and have not's.  So I will fight for justice.  I will ask those uncomfortable questions.  I will research where I shop for clothes and food.   I will give my time and money to organizations that are fighting for self-sufficiency and equality.  As overwhelming as this world can get, it is never hopeless.  We won't give up, and we hope you never will either.

Written by David L Neely, Pres. and CEO of ACI

I met today with an instructor and student of the Blue Valley Public Schools Center for Advanced Professional Studies program, commonly known as CAPS. I’ve been meeting with 1-5 students per semester for the past 3-4 years in a mentoring capacity. All of these mentoring relationships were focused on some aspect of ACI’s project work, including the Life Box Container’s, clean water in Africa, empowering women, and our Maasai Community Development Project in Kenya. When the student was asked by the instructor why she wanted to continue working with ACI a second semester, the student said she was very interested in working with an organization that was truly making a difference in the world and helping people. Our discussion evolved into how this is creating a legacy for that student. 

In thinking about creating a legacy, I’ve always wondered why so many really good leaders look back on their careers and find that they have really done very little that makes a positive, sustainable difference in the world, while others, who are not necessarily more brilliant, leave behind a legacy of positively impacting their global community.  In other words, leaving a positive legacy that your family, your friends, and your organization can look back on with a sense of accomplishment, pride, and encouragement.
I believe that most people want to leave behind more than a memory.  They genuinely want to change the world or a local community in a sustainable way for the long term. They want to see lives changed for the better without being part of the dependency cycle that is prevalent in our world today. How do you do that? How do you leave the legacy? Here are four things that I’ve learned and believe are helpful:

1. Know what really matters.  Leaving behind a legacy is no accident. Until you know, clearly and unequivocally, what you want your legacy to be, it's difficult, if not impossible, to begin building it. The foundation of building a legacy is a deep sense of knowing and doing the right thing every time.

You need to put in writing what is most important to you and what you want your legacy to be. It is something like having a personal mission and vision statement. It is something that needs to be evaluated annually. Revise it when necessary, amending the wording to clarify and sharpen your personal vision and mission. Over time, your personal mission and vision statement reflects the core of who you are and what is most important to you. That’s the beginning of creating a positive legacy.

2. Get in the action. Take a look at your personal mission and vision statement. It won't become a reality if you’re only living in the theoretical. The hands on when it comes to working with individuals and communities. Develop relationships, which will help you put a face to the difference you are making. Make sure that your hands on work is something that can be passed on to others in that community so as to not create or perpetuate an attitude of dependency.  In a sense, you are leaving a leadership legacy--a touchstone to guide future generations. Some people would call this “deep mentoring” as you develop leadership by passing on knowledge, training, and a passion for making a difference.

3. Clearly and regularly communicate your mission and vision. Do that with your friends, your family, your coworkers and your organization.  You almost have to be a broken record in that sense. Communicate this verbally, and by example. Do it in meetings, both formal and informal; in writing and on the phone. 

People who leave a positive legacy live, sleep, and breathe their mission and vision. It provides stability for everyone you come in contact with as they hear the familiar mission and vision they’ve heard so many times before. It also brings comfort to those you’re trying to help, as they recognize you and your organization is positioned for self-sustainability as well.

4. Leave. Leaving a legacy behind requires you to no longer be there. This is very hard for some people to do; however, the goal should always be to turn over the reins to quality leadership in whatever project or community you are involved in. Unfortunately many leaders miss this critical point and they stayed too long, which cripples the sustainability of the work that is being done with an individual or community. This is crippling to individuals being mentored, and perpetuates the cycle of dependency. 

Written by Alison Hofmeyer, Communications Consultant


We kicked 2014 off full speed ahead!  We have our cell phone drive going on to raise funds for the Life Box Container construction documents, we are preparing our Pune team to head back to India in March, and we did some website re-design and brainstormed some marketing strategies.  It's been exciting, challenging, and unbelievably hopeful.


In our meetings, we discuss the Education Module that will head to Maasai Community as soon as we hit our $12,000 goal.  We talk with the leaders about progress, get to hear the excitement and commitment in their voice, and imagine the community when it has its own community center, full of Life Box modules.  They will be a model for remote, underdeveloped communities all over the world.  They believe in their ability to overcome challenges and obstacles.  They believe in our partnership.  And we are thankful we get to play a part in such an exciting time for these people.

It's easy for us to stay motivated and inspired.  We get to hear the voices of the community leaders on the phone and receive updates via email.  We are able to recall memories of the first time we visited them and celebrated the opening of their Bilibo Community School.  However, we realize that many of you, who are already supporters or may be considering joining our support base, may not feel as connected to this community.  For this reason, I wanted to use this space to share some of their faces and spaces with you.  Remember, in everything that we do as an organization, we are working with people.  Try as we may to combat issues like poverty and disease and trafficking, the heart of what we do is the people we work with.  So sit back, relax, and imagine you are walking through the Maasai Community with the ACI team, getting to know our friends and partners.

Meet our friends.  People just like you and I, mothers, grandparents, brothers, children, all looking for the same opportunity to grow and learn and thrive.  These people are why we are here, why we work day in and day out.  We want them to know that we believe in their success, in their ability as human beings to to surpass expectations and barriers.  However, we also want them to know that we are with them, side by side, every step of the way.

Can they count on you, too?

Written by Alison Hofmeyer, Communications Consultant

I read an interesting article this morning on internet abuse and stalking.  That is not at all related to this post; however, the article made a statement early on that has really stuck with me.  The author seemed to be responding to some criticism that she rants and raves too much on this topic of internet violence against women.  Her response was as follows, 

Anyone who genuinely cares about anything is bound to sound like a broken record from time to time. If you actually care about a problem (and I don't mean a "problem" like "the co-op is out of Honeycrisps," I mean a PROBLEM PROBLEM), then you don't just lodge your complaint and sit back down while the world rolls on around you. You do not shut up until that problem is fixed. You repeat and reframe and repeat and reframe and message, message, message, and eventually—hopefully—you manage to lodge that message somewhere in the public consciousness. That is how things move forward.
Sam Woolley, We Must Not Shut Up About How Women Are Treated on the Internet

I was struck by this.  As someone who tries to stay relevant, politically correct, and passionate all at the same time, sometimes I can get too bound by other peoples' reactions to my opinions.  Rather than express boldly those issues in which I am so committed to fighting, I carefully consider how other people will react to it.  Have I brought this up already today?  Do I sound like an echo? 

While in this quest to fight injustices and empower those who are most vulnerable, we must remember that our commitment to a cause is a beautiful thing.  Perhaps the words you share will be the motivation a new donor needs to give to an organization.  Perhaps your knowledge of an issue will inspire a writer to shed light on the subject.  Maybe, just maybe, your relentless diligence in combatting an issue will be the beacon of light that breaks through and makes a difference.  While what our world does not need are more messages of targeted hate (something even us social justice people are guilty of), it desparetely needs message of stamina, commitment, and hope. 

So go ahead!  Post that 3rd Facebook status of the day about animal rights or give your state representative yet another phone call asking him/her to support a local neighborhood in their fight against re-zoning.  Whatever your heart is beating for, let it be known!  Let's just all do each other one favor... fight out of a spirit of love for people and hate for issues, not the other way around.

Written by Alison Hofmeyer, Communications Consultant


I had the privilege this morning of looking through all of our files and pictures, a sort of "cleaning house" to start the year off organized.  I had more fun sorting through all of the pictures, thinking of our partners all over the world, and imaging the looks on their faces when their shipping container arrives and they begin construction on their very own Lifebox Container.

It's hard to imagine the impact these Lifebox Containers will have on a community.  Sure, you can check out our designs, you can read about our renewable energy source, and see the research we've done.  However, nothing speaks to the necessity of a project like a story of its successful use.  We know this.  

The Maasai Community, you can read more about our partnership here, welcomed an ACI team back in January of 2012.  We got to celebrate the grand opening of their new open air school and the beginning of their reforestation model.  Since then, we have received updates from them on how well the students are doing and how the school has united the community, creating an advisory board and motivating the elders.  Reading these updates and hearing stories about the grand opening fills my heart.  It allows me to look at these pictures and have hope for this community.

However, the Maasai community did not stop there.  They realized their potential for growth, for educating their children, for making community decisions.  After much discussion and assessment, the Maasai community decided they were ready for a Lifebox Container.

The Maasai community is prepared to have a stake in their Lifebox Container.  They are not interested in being giving essentials so that their community will survive.  They are looking to work together to make their community thrive.  We are beyond excited to get to continue to partner with this community.  However, until we can purchase the design documents, we must continue to tell the Maasai community to wait.

The Maasai community has shown themselves to be diligent, hard working, and 100% committed to the success of their community.  To us, that is a success story.  For a community that is so remote and unable to access key resources to rise up, united, and do whatever it takes to bring hope and a future to their people, we are humbled to be their partner.

These are beautiful people, with the same hopes and fears and dreams that we have.  They want their children to receive an education, just like you do.  They want their wives to receive the health care that she needs as she delivers a child or ages, just like you do.  They want their men and women to work and feel successful and provide for their families, just like you do.  We have the amazing opportunity to come alongside these people and help them realize these dreams.  Your involvement with our work goes directly to these faces and will contribute to their success.

A quote from one of our partners in Kenya that we read to keep us moving forward,
"My appreciation goes to the maasai community, elders and leaders who have shown their support by putting up a wonderful management team for the school. The 3 teachers for their dedication, parents for supporting the teachers up keep and to our 39 pupils, thanks for bringing a lot of joy to all of us through your progress and development."

We already see the way the community is growing together.  They are depending on one another, as it should be.  They are realizing their potential and fighting for more every day.  We are thrilled to call this community friends and partners.  And we would love to welcome you to it.

Written by Alison Hofmeyer, Communications Consultant

CARE USA posted on Twitter this morning that upwards of 11,500 children have been killed in conflict in Syria and more than 1 Million have fled their homes.  Seeing numbers like this is appalling.  But really, how well can we wrap our head around such a massive amount of children who are either dead or displaced?  It's similar to hearing that over 27 million men, women and children are trapped in the bonds of slavery (Kevin Bales, Disposable People).  Or 345 million people in Africa without access to clean water (water.org). Can you actually visualize the impact of such brutality on so many people?  The truth is, we probably hear,read, or write the statistic, reflect on it for a while, and move on with our lives.  I'm not accusing people of not caring.  I do believe, though, that the feelings of being overwhelmed and helpless many times trump our wildest ideas or dreams to radically change those statistics.  I can remember the first time the numbers got to me. I was in college and I was 100% invested in educating my peers on the issue of trafficking.  I had spent a month in Southeast Asia, I interned at an anti-trafficking organization, and I had read as many books as I could get my hands on on the topic.  I knew the statistics, and they were unacceptable.  However, I became completely bombarded one day with the reality of what I was fighting.  I knew that trafficking wasn't just happening because kids didn't have a good home, or that they were all being kidnapped, etc.  As I'd learned in Cambodia, there are systemic flaws that cause these people to fall victim to all kinds of atrocities.  And for the first time, I felt like there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.  I couldn't reproduce legal documents in Cambodia so that people could prove who they are and where they're from.  I couldn't open a home big enough to house all the women and children who needed somewhere safe to be.  The most common questions I was asked at all of my presentations and meetings was "What can I do about this."  When all the doubt set in, I realized, I didn't know.

The following is written by Max Levins, a Senior in Blue Valley CAPS Innovate program.  Max and his partner created a product to make transporting water easier on the body, while still embracing the cultural norms of the target population.


What Inspired You to do a Philanthropic Project?
When I decided to take CAPS Innovate, I knew that I wanted to create a solution that would be of help to some person, whether or not it would be for profit. Once I began doing research on different problem areas, I found a partner who was interested in helping people in developing countries. The idea of trying to help people in need, particularly during my senior year in high school, was very appealing. I could devote my time to it without having to worry about making money right away. Instead of having to rush a product to the point where it could be sold, my partner and I could carefully build it so that it ends up being higher quality. 


How Did You Come to Decide on Water Transportation?
Once we did research on issues in developing countries, we found -- primarily through online surveys -- that people felt the lack of sanitary water is the most significant problem that developing countries currently face; however, we had no context of what the specifics of this problem are.  We had come up with a couple of solutions for how to solve certain aspects of this problem, such as the transportation of the water,  but we didn't know how to apply our ideas to the problem area, specifically the culture.

How did ACI Get Involved and What are Your Impressions?
In order to gain context, we contacted David Neely, who was a phenomenal resource in developing our knowledge of this problem area. Because Mr. Neely is an expert in how these cultures operate, we were able to take some of that knowledge and apply it our ideas for solutions.  ACI seems like one of the better ways for people to really make a difference through ways other than donations. Once our product is finalized, we hope to partner with a charity organization that is as succesful as ACI in order to provide the aid that our product will carry out.

We are thankful for the dedication of students like Max and others at CAPS who dedicate their time, energy, and even senior projects to helping others.

By Alison Hofmeyer, Communications Consultant


On Tuesday morning, President David Neely, Executive Director Jeff Herman and myself all got the privilege of sitting in on the final presentations of the Innovate students at Blue Valley School District's Center for Professional and Advanced Studies (CAPS).  If you've spent any time on our website, I'm sure you've seen that we have been involved with CAPS for a couple of years now,  and it has been nothing but an extraordinary experience.

We have had the pleasure of partnering with a few of the Innovate student groups.  You can check out our first partnership on our Media page.  The two groups that presented Tuesday addressed water transportation, in communities where, mostly, women are having to walk miles and carry more than half their body weight in water on their heads, and disaster relief centers.  We were again overwhelmed with excitement listening to these students speak about their inspiration for the project and their hopes for what it will turn into.  We are thrilled to get to continue to work with these students next semester and believe strongly in their efforts and abilities to create sustainable solutions for underprivileged communities.