GIVING

Kevin and I went to TLC (Transitional Living Center) to give Crocs to kids last week.  It was so fun seeing their faces and watching as they put them on their little feet.  I took a video of one little girl dancing a quick jig.  She was over the top with excitement.  When I can figure out how to share that short film, I will link it to our blogs.  We are also including a small gift package with the Crocs.  It includes directions on how to clean them and add art themselves.  There are markers and small gifts from our local Park City Mall's Crocs Store.

Follow our postings on www.omagonline.com/crocs

I will continue to post on both sites with more information.  Thanks for following our progress.

Our Soles on "O"

Posting On-   www.omagonline.com/crocs

I wanted all of you who follow this Blogspot to know we are now posting on the Oprah Magazine website.  I will continue to post The Sole Challenge information here as well.

As you might imagine, this has been a great experience.  I'm learning more great things about Lancaster every day.  Our Window of Awareness at The Ware Center was a big success.  The concert sponsored by our local Coalition to End Homelessness was also wonderful.  The "house" display of Crocs came down after the event and all of the Crocs are ready to give away to deserving children in our area.

Stay tuned for more exciting news!

Art CAN...

Art can move people to take action. 

Art can transform lives. Art can heal. 

Art can be a tool to express ideas, 

feelings and beauty.

Did you notice the house in the window coming in to The Ware Center this evening?  This art installation designed and created by Kevin Lehman and Girls On The Run(GOTR) is part of my plan to raise awareness about children experiencing homelessness in Lancaster County. 

I won a contest sponsored by O, The Oprah Magazine and Crocs.  I am one of one-hundred women across the nation whose 500 word proposal was selected.  I won!! I won 100 pairs of Crocs shoes to make a difference in my community.  It didn’t take me long to figure out Lancaster won!  This giving, caring community won an opportunity to perhaps capture national attention. My proposal to the O Team was simple. Gather 100 women to decorate, paint, enhance a pair of Crocs, use them as a focal point in an art installation in prominent window in our city.  These shoes would then be given to my charity of choice, Lancaster Creative Factory. They will in turn give Crocs to children in our community experiencing 

homelessness. 

Lancaster Creative Factory (LCF) is my charity of choice because of its mission  to cultivate creativity through education in the visual arts and crafts.  Located on So. Prince in the city, Kevin Lehman’s LCF provides affordable and obtainable programs including art classes, workshops and community projects.  A portion of the proceeds generated from programs provides scholarships and community outreach to organizations and individuals that demonstrate need. 

Over 100 young women of Lancaster GOTR partnered with LCF’s volunteers and me on October 27th for Create O’Crocs Day. Our goal was to paint and decorate 100 pairs of Crocs.  GOTR is a life-changing, character development program for girls in 3rd through 8th grade.  Their mission is to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.  The photos you are seeing were taken by Jean Sharf and Carrie Husted during our project launch.  Thank you Girls On The Run, you rock. 

During my project planning I met with community service organizations and shelters to learn about homelessness in Lancaster County.  It just happened our O’Crocs Window of Awareness found a home here at The Ware Center thanks to Harvey Owen’s generosity.  It just happened to open November 2nd, during the same month as the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Benefit Concert sponsored by the Lancaster County Coalition to End Homelessness. The Coalition kindly invited me to share this happy coincidence with you this evening. My mission to raise awareness about homelessness and their mission to END homelessness in our community coincided… just happened!  Thank you Mike Folley and all of the members of the Coalition and members of our community who are working to serve people in crisis. Thank you Oprah, Crocs, LCF Board and volunteers, GOTR, The Ware Center and Lancaster County residents who make Lancaster a generous and caring place to live.  

You can help me with my project by joining The Sole Challenge, contact me at thesolechallenge@gmail.com.

Remember your charity of choice on November 30 through Lancaster Community Foundations’ Extra Ordinary Give. Go online that day to their web site www.lancfound.org and give generously to support your community.

   

“You may not think you can reach it. Climb anyway.  You may not think you’ll be 

heard.  Speak anyway.  You may not think you can change things.  Try anyway.” 

-Maya Angelou 

Art inspires. Thank you.

Roberta

Windows Work!

“You may not think you can reach it. Climb anyway.  You may not think you’ll be heard.  Speak anyway.  You may not think you can change things.  Try anyway.”

-Maya Angelou

Windows work to get the Word out!

The Ware Center is hosting our O’Crocs Window of Awareness display.  For those of you who don’t know, The Ware Center is located at 42 N. Prince Street, in downtown Lancaster.  Kevin Lehman of Lancaster Creative Factory brilliantly constructed the outline of a house that holds all 100 pairs of Crocs.  This display is beyond my wildest imagination!  Hope you get an opportunity to see it in person.

The Frist Friday Gallery Walk (11/2/12) opening was filled with energy and many people.  Some members of Girls on the Run came with their families to see our display, find their Crocs and take pictures. 

Thursday, November 16, The Lancaster Coalition to End Homelessness will hold a free concert.  They have asked me to speak about our project.  The evening will be filled with music.   We will take the window exhibit down after the concert.  Lancaster Creative Factory will begin giving shoes to children experiencing homelessness next week!

The Sole Challenge is Working!!

The Sole Challenge is alive and well.  I have made contact with several people actively working on their plan.  This is all a bonus to what my challenge is and how it is playing out.  One young woman is planning to sell jewelry she creates then donate a portion of her earnings to her favorite charity.  Lancaster Creative Factory donated twenty-five Crocs to a community activist who is asking artists to paint them, auction them and give the money to her charity of choice.  A book club member is gathering pledges for reading books and the list goes on. 

Remember, an idea is good; a plan helps.  You just have to WANT to DO something to take action.

Roberta

A Treasured Jewel, a Gift...

Lancaster Creative Factory hosts Girls on the Run For Create O’Crocs Day

When I imagined Saturday’s Create O’Crocs Day with 100 young women enhancing 100 Crocs’ shoes, I didn’t dare to dream of a day like the one that happened.  It was perfectly amazing! Our estimated number of 180 participants grew to over 200 team young women of Lancaster Girls on the Run (GOTR).  Lancaster Creative Factory (LCF) hosted these energetic artists and their parents along with the help of twenty-one plus volunteers!  Our LCF team worked together with the Executive Board of GOTH, as well as some of the girls themselves, to facilitate a fun filled journey. 

Girls traveled through five stations.

 #1. and #2. Create Your Crocs-painting and decorating,

 #3. Snap Shot Station-photos of girls with finished Crocs

Crocs were then tied together in pairs and draped over a clothesline to dry.

Station #4. Setting the Pace-presented information for our guests. The Faces of the Homeless exhibit provided to us by the Lancaster Coalition to End Homelessness and “The Beginning” mural made available by Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center were focal points in this area.  Tabor Community Services, Waterstreet Ministries, Crocs Park City Center, Lancaster Creative Factory and Girls on the Run provided literature posters and flyers.

Our speaker, Cristina Lickman from Waterstreet, shared her experience working with families and children experiencing homelessness.  Music filled the morning air with Christopher “Wind Eagle” Thompson’s soothing guitar and flutes.  We rocked out in the afternoon Francis Miller’s violin, interactive percussion beats with Tammy Hesson and her friend, Lori.

The fifth Station-The Finish Line gave young artists an opportunity to sign the O’Crocs Window of Awareness structure and write a message to the children experiencing homelessness who will receive a pair of Crocs donated by Lancaster Creative Factory.  Before exiting through Kevin’s studio and showroom, each participant shared their thoughts and experience on a page of the day’s journal.

Kevin Lehman, Lancaster Creative Factory’s Founder, worked with Clint Costanzo, of Fontanini Italian Meats and Sausage. They are masters at making delicious brick oven pizzas for our guests.  Lancaster’s J. Walter Miller Company provided snacks and drinks.

How do I begin to thank all of you who made this day so special for so many?  I hold the memory of that day in my heart as a treasured jewel, a gift.  Your bright enthusiastic faces were glorious, beautiful, and joyful.  I’m deeply grateful to all of you who helped make my “little” dream become reality.

Roberta

Photos from Create O' Crocs Day

Create O' Crocs Day was a great success! Thanks to everyone who contributed in their own special way... The Sole Challenge marches on!

Click here to view photos from Create O' Crocs Day.

100 Girls on the Run

Getting Kevin's studio ready for our 100 Girls.

Tomorrow is the big day! I'm excited... 

Here's the press release we sent off.  Wish us luck!

 

Roberta

100 Women, 100 Shoes and Girls on the Run

LANCASTER, PA; (October 21, 2012) After being selected as a winner by O, The Oprah Magazine and Crocs’  “100 Women 100 Shoes Challenge”, Roberta Little quickly moved forward with her mission to raise awareness about children experiencing homelessness and the transformational power of art.   She initiated a link between Lancaster Creative Factory (LCF), and Girls on the Run  of Lancaster (GOTR), both newly formed 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. The young women of Girls on the Run have been “commissioned” to enhance one hundred pairs of Crocs shoes, as part of their curriculum community impact mission. These Crocs were Little’s prize she intends using to make a difference in her community. 

Lancaster Creative Factory will host the fall GOTR participants for Create O’Crocs Day during a privately held event on Saturday, October 27, 2012.   An estimated 180 members of GOTR will be participating. A gallery featuring Faces of the Homeless provided by the Lancaster Coalition to End Homelessness will be on display along with a mural created by residents of Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center.

Girls on the Run and Lancaster Creative Factory invite you to O'Crocs Window of Awareness, designed by artist, Kevin Lehman, opening at Millersville's Ware Center, 42 N. Prince St., beginning on Lancaster City's First Friday, November 2nd from 5-8 PM.  This exhibits ends Thursday, November 15, following The National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Benefit Concert sponsored by the Lancaster County Coalition to End Homelessness.

Little stated, “LCF wants this event to be fun and an educational experience.  Youth in crisis can use artistic expression as a tool for powerful communication.”  Little added, “Many of my friends and neighbors have asked how they might help.  I challenge everyone to take action by forming their own plan addressing the issue of homelessness in our community.” This is made quick and easy, inexpensive and fun.  Learn more about the mission of Girls on the Run at www.gotrlancaster.org  and about Roberta Little’s The Sole Challenge by contacting her at thesolechallenge@gmail.com.

art Crocs

100 Women 100 Shoes Challenge Update:

My plan of action is falling into place, I'm so excited!

On October 27^th,  one hundred eighty members of Girls on the Run will decoratively enhance 100 pairs of Crocs.  These young women are doing their community service by helping me achieve my goal of raising awareness with their artictic Crocs.

Come see these “art Crocs” on display at Millersville University’s Ware Center, 42 N. Prince St., Lancaster, during First Friday Gallery Walk on November 2, 2012. This exciting exhibit is being designed and constructed by local artist, Kevin Lehman.   I thought he was a perfect fit for this project, even though he isn’t a she!

Roberta

Raising Awareness

When I think about raising awareness, getting the word out to people, I ask myself what good comes from it?  The good, I think is KNOWLEDGE inspires one to ACT.

Contemplate this:

            •  1,000 students in Lancaster City schools are experiencing homelessness,

           

            •  1,783 students in Lancaster County have experienced homelessness during (2011-12)

            •  Approximately 170 pre-school aged children in our community also are experiencing homelessness

As I meet with homelessness service providers in the city, I asked what children need the most.  The answer:  a “home.”  Housing costs money.  This inspired me to ask you to help.  The Sole Challenge was born.