Dream of the Possibilities

So I read in my little local paper about a nearby school named Wesleyan where every one of the 410 students in the high school were invited to an assembly where they were handed a crisp $100 bill and told to "do something beautiful for God." No strings attached. No requirement to ever account for how the money is spent. I called Dean of Students Marc Khedouri and he told me that the intent of the project is to teach children about sacrificial giving and to encourage critical thinking skills.

Within days of the assembly, students had given their money to various organizations individually, and one boy even started a non-profit foundation called Diamonds in the Rough to raise money for baseball fields for schools without funds to build or repair their own. Numerous students were starting to pool their money to do something bigger together. One girl called CARE and found out if she could donate $50,000, then CARE would match it and there was a foundation that would then match that $100,000. This girl's $100 could then become $200,000 towards CARE's worldwide humanitarian aid programs. This girl pulled together 9 of her friends and they have committed to raising $5,000 each. According to Mr. Khedouri, this girl has already met her goal.

In a letter Mr. Khedouri sent home to parents, he asked the obvious question--what if students waste their money, or simply buy something for themselves? Mr. Khedouri said that could happen, because many people do waste their gifts, but the lesson learned would be more valuable. The seed would be planted.

And that is what got me thinking. What are my gifts? What can I do? And that's when I knew. It is time for me to go, to do something beautiful. And so, now, on exactly the one-year anniversary of when I started this blog, I am bidding farewell to Stone in the Pond. And I am asking you, as a final goodbye, to do something beautiful. Be a Stone in the Pond.

Olivia Newton-John

She's suddenly everywhere. (Did you just break into singing the song, Suddenly, from the ethereal roller-skating movie, Xanadu?) There she is on You're the One that I Want, the nationwide open casting call for the leads of the upcoming Broadway re-premiere of Grease. She's guest-starring on American Idol. She's peering at me from her CD cover next to the counter at Walgreens. And she has taken up residence in the recesses of my mind, humming If Not for You and I Honestly Love You as if it were still the early 70s and as if I were still popping that 8-track into its player while I sit with big, fat headphones on the red shag carpet.

Yes, Olivia Newton-John has had a 35-year music career (and I've been a fan for most of it, having gotten the Grease double-album for my 15th birthday, and having actually celebrated my 18th birthday at the Let's Get Physical concert at the Forest Hills tennis stadium. I don't get a chance to tell that detail too often.)

But, here's the thing. This woman, a breast cancer survivor, was a spokesperson for ten years for the Children's Health Environmental Coalition, started a hospital center for breast cancer care in Australia, and sells a line of breast care products in order to help early breast cancer detection, along with many other volunteer and entreprenurial endeavors. And in a world of high-maintenance, big-ego stardom, she seems genuinely nice.

Her current CD, Grace and Gratitude, includes chants from Tibet and Japan, words and prayers from Judaism and Islam, a Latin benediction from the Catholic mass, and a poem attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. Most tellingly, the entire first three minutes of the CD and lengthy interludes between each song are purely instrumental. How many singers would allow that?

"Life is a gift of grace," Newton-John writes in the liner notes to her CD. I believe Olivia Newton-John is a Stone in the Pond because she always, absolutely always, seems to conduct herself with the utmost grace.

To find out more about Olivia Newton-John, go to www.olivianewton-john.com.

Lalji Desai

I read a quote last week by a man named Lalji Desai from Mera, India, who said:

"My wife and I, we both believe that we shouldn't waste our time during vacation by visiting places where we won't learn anything or where we cannot give something back to the community."

I have since learned that Mr. Desai in the executive director of a volunteer organization called MARAG that is dedicated to the education, organization and empowerment of marginalized communities, particularly the Maldharis. The Maldharis are animal-rearing nomads who have been displaced from their lands by the encroachment of development and are now pretty much treated as nonentities. Although the Maldhari situation is complex and the MARAG objectives comprehensive, and I know far too little about each, I find Mr. Desai's words simple and thought-provoking.

Mr. Desai is a Stone in the Pond because he is a reminder that we can use our vacation time--our Second Life, so to speak--to touch lives.

Sure, eco-travel is booming as an industry and many people I know spend their vacations going on mission trips to Africa or building houses for the poor, and of course, those are all great things to do. However, I've been thinking about Mr. Desai's words all week and I believe his two simple suggestions--learning and giving back--can be added to any trip anywhere. There's always something to learn, even if it is simply about the person next to us, and there's always a way to give back, even if it is by lightening a fellow traveler's load or spreading joy and kindness. In fact, perhaps these two aspects can become traveling companions in our everyday lives as well.

To find out more about MARAG, go to www.maragindia.org.

Organic Bouquet

Love is in the air, but that doesn't mean pesticides need to be as well, thanks to Organic Bouquet, the market leader in organic flowers. Organic flowers are a sign of a trend fueled by those interested in both environmental and health issues. Our nation’s surge in organic flower production over the past couple years is a result of the realization of damage that pesticides do to the land and to flower farm workers, plus, let's face it, the gorgeous offerings from Organic Bouquet and the effective marketing effort it has done to reach mainstream consumers ready to make a difference with their dollars.

What's more, Organic Bouquet offers 28 different bouquets that donate 5% of the sale price to non-profit organizations dedicated to social justice, wildlife conservation, animal rights and environmental protection. There's something for everyone, and these charity bouquets let you truly "spread the love." To date, Organic Bouquet has donated more than $200,000 to charities that consumers choose themselves.

I requested an interview with Gerald Prolman, Organic Bouquet Founder and CEO. Yesterday. At 11 AM. Directed to put questions in an email so Mr. Prolman could answer them after hours, I sent them off to the netherland of corporateness. Sometime during the night, I received four pages worth of answers from Mr. Prolman, his passion for what he does evident in almost every response. Have you gotten a response like that from a CEO lately?

Rather than attempt to paraphrase Mr. Prolman, I'd like to share with you some of his answers:

Was there a defining moment when you decided to start Organic Bouquet?

It probably started with a thought a long while back when I was courting my wife. I was going to a particular florist in San Francisco each day to make a spectacular bouquet. I wanted to get her attention and let her know just how much I loved her. The flowers helped me to conquer her heart.

I enjoyed picking out the flowers for those early bouquets way back then and remember thinking to myself "what a nice job it is to be working with flowers" that thought surely went out to the universe and came right back to me 17 years later like a boomerang. I still bring home flowers all the time and she loves them everytime.

The seeds to start this business were planted a long while ago. I had always wondered why horticulture had been overlooked by the natural products trade. Most people don't realize that a significant amount of chemicals are used to grow flowers and that organic is a viable alternative.

I wanted to create a model where we could afford to pay the correct price to the grower for producing their crops in a responsible manner and offer a direct from farm experience to consumers at a reasonable value. I saw the internet as a great way to bridge the supply and market.

I have a fundamental belief that all farm products should be grown by sustainable methods. As there are laws against littering, the same should apply to how we treat the land that we live on.

People gravitated to organic products initially for personal health concerns over pesticide residues in their foods but there is more to organic than healthy foods. Organic is an environmental farming method that applies to all areas of agriculture weather it is tomatoes, cotton or flowers.

What has been the most surprising or rewarding part of your success?

To finally see orders pouring in after six long years in development.

I was deeply moved about a year ago when I attended a Breast Cancer Fund event in San Francisco. We had donated the flowers (Tulips from biodynamic bulbs) and I stopped by to check on the arrangements.

I found myself in the midst of more than a 100 brave woman who had survived cancer. Although everyone is surely interested in finding a cure, many of the speeches that night were focused on the root causes of cancer and I learned that this organization provided education and information to help woman eradicate a host of carcinogenic products from their everyday surroundings i.e. chemical cleaning products, non-organic- foods, conventional cosmetics….

The appreciation for our organic flowers was deeply expressed to me by many of the woman and this was quite a touching acknowledgment and a most rewarding moment for me personally.

Another fun event was when Organic Bouquet was named "official florist" for the United Nations World Environment Day, a historic event that took place in San Francisco June 1-5, 2005. In addition to the many organic floral arrangements we provided for all the events during the week, we sponsored and produced the official theme song for World Environment Day, written by gospel legend Edwin Hawkins (4x Grammy winner, "oh happy day"). We flew in a number of gold and platinum Gospel artists from around the country to record the song. It was a most happy day.

In addition, Organic Bouquet produced the closing ceremony on "Flower Power Day" Sixty seven mayors from major cities around the world had signed the historic San Francisco Urban Environmental accords, then they then walked a "green carpet" in front of city hall. Waiting for them was a 300 voice mass choir conducted by Edwin Hawkins, with celebrity gospel artists singing in front including Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, The Three Bridges-from Nashville, Nona Brown and San Francisco's own-French Jazz superstar-- Raquel Bitton (my wife) It was a spectacular event, the mayors, dignitaries and guests were enthusiastically clapping and singing along with great joy. I then presented the song entitled UNITED NATIONS, TOGETHER WE CAN, to Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of UNEP and to the Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom.

In conjunction with the United Nations World Environment Day events that took place in San Francisco on June 1-5, Organic Bouquet organized and sponsored a Symposium entitled: Eco-Flower Power; Sustainability Trends for the Floral Industry, June 3, 2005. This was a private event for journalists, international dignitaries, environmental and floral industry experts.

Brennan Van Dyke, Director of UNEP North America opened the symposium and the panel included Katherine DiMatteo Executive Director at that time of the Organic Trade Association for North America, Jorge Chiriboga, Vice Minister of Agriculture for Ecuador (also, the worlds first organic rose grower) and a host of international flower industry leaders.

At this symposium held at the Ferry bldg. in San Francisco, Verilfora, the new sustainable floral standard was announced. I am proud to say that Veriflora, the standard Organic Bouquet initiated, is now in the process of becoming a national standard for the fresh cut flower trade.

What matters to you most about Organic Bouquet, and how do you keep your "eye on the prize" as the company continues to grow?

I want to quickly see organic supplies increase and the market support its growth. This will benefit farm workers, the farm owners, retailers and consumers. It is my hope that as soon as possible sustainable practices become the standard; that the floral industry completely eliminates the use of harsh chemicals, the well being of farm workers is first and foremost and that the growers who take these steps will be rewarded by a market that supports them.

Mission accomplished is the day when there is no tolerance for any agricultural product that is not responsibly grown and when you walk into any retail store or florist that you will see a sustainably grown certification on each bouquet.

Have you considered partnering with small local farmers so that people can keep money in their communities and support their local organic farmers?

Yes. That was a key objective since the beginning but has been much harder to accomplish than I originally anticipated. That said, things are finally changing and we are working with increasing numbers of local farms.

Although we strive to support small and local farmers as a priority, our primary mission is to protect the planet and improve farm worker safety by eliminating large quantities of toxic pesticides from agricultural usage. A necessary step in this process has been to encourage major flower growers to initiate certified sustainable production. Since 60-70% of U.S. flowers come from Columbia and Ecuador, we are working with growers from these countries to develop sustainable production sources.

Moreover, we look to smaller growers for higher end specialty products that require extra care in production and work with larger growers for more common type varieties that are conducive to production on a larger scale.

Following is a description of my journey in the process to develop supply sources of earth friendly flowers.

Six years ago- with the goal to establish a national market for organic flowers, I started a quest to find or develop sources for organically grown flowers.

Initially, I hoped to find all the supply I needed locally in California but after spending more than a half of a year trying to persuade growers to start new greenhouses, especially around the time of the energy crisis in California, I was unable to develop the volume that was needed to be able to service a national market.

Part of the problem was when I did finally get a grower interested to consider to look at what was involved to go organic, access to information and sustainable materials to grow flowers organically were not easily found.

The fact is that there are significant challenges commercial growers face like pests and fungus that can easily wipe out entire crops, so a grower cannot blindly start an organic system with out the proper tools and information to address the many real crop threats that growers face.

As the majority of flowers sold in America were coming from Colombia and Ecuador, the next phase of my search for growers went there. I felt that their were more benefits to start organic production wherever flowers are grown than to not do it all.

Through research I learned that there were several ongoing flower certification programs that to varying degrees addressed social and environmental concerns including the Flower Label Program, the Rainforest Alliance, Max Havellar and Florverde.

I visited a number of highly skilled agronomists and progressive farming operations in Ecuador and Colombia who had introduced comprehensive social programs for their employees and were working towards continuous chemical reduction.

I felt that growers who had these programs in place were a good starting point for Organic Bouquet to encourage them to go fully organic, but realized that matters relating to the flower trade were much more complex than just focusing solely on organic production, given social concerns and what it might take in reality for a grower to go fully organic.

I realized that, a new standard for the North American market needed to be developed, a standard that could make a clear and simple claim of "sustainability" verifying good management practices concerning the environment as well as social conditions.

So, having known about Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) an accomplished certification program developer, I approached them to see if they would take on the task of developing this standard for the fresh cut flower trade.

I then helped to organize a group of industry leaders including growers, wholesalers, retailers, and industry experts, to serve in an advisory capacity providing guidance in the creation of the Veriflora standards. Four years later there is now a comprehensive standard that accomplishes our objectives.

The Veriflora standard provides a bridge to help growers to transition their farms to fully organic systems over time as well as address social and ecological issues that are related to floral production.

It was my intent to bring industry leaders together to agree on the need to bring forth a credible, unified standard deemed "sustainable" for the environment, and safe and fair, for the people who grow the flowers. This happened and Veriflora is now gaining momentum on a global scale.

This has created a large pipeline of suppliers in the process of bringing their farms to fully organic systems.

A special thank you to Gerald Prolman for your quantifiable results in changing the world for the better.

To find out more about Organic Bouquet, go to www.organicbouquet.com.

Warren St. John and the Luma Mufleh/Fugees Story

When I was about 12, big changes happened in my town (Mineola, NY). There had been an influx of Portuguese immigrants over the previous few years and suddenly, there on the Little League fields, way out in left field, were a bunch of Portuguese teenagers kicking a soccer ball. This was in the 70s and most of us had never seen one before. This happened night after night that whole season, usually after the baseball games were over. The next season, the Portugese community asked to use the field for soccer games. I tell ya', it was like a Disney movie the way the town rose in an uproar. The way two cultures clashed and collided. The way we, the original residents, knew that times were a'changin' and nothing was going to stop it.

So it was with particular interest that I read the engrossing story about Coach Luma Mufleh and her soccer team of refugees on the cover (and several interior pages--it was a long article!) of The New York Times this past Sunday, especially since Coach Mufleh's team is in Clarkston, GA, less than 30 minutes from where I live currently. Turns out there was a Hollywood bidding war for rights to the story and to her life. Universal won, and as part of its deal, it is financing a spanking-new soccer field for the team of resettled refugees.

Warren St. John, the writer of this article, deserves kudos for the outstanding job he did capturing the drama of a woman who believed in these displaced children so much that she even started a house cleaning business to employ their parents, the beauty that still shines in children who have seen more ugliness than many of us can begin to imagine, and the understandable panic of a sleepy town upended by change.

St. John, who usually writes for the Style section of the paper, wrote his heart out. He transcended his job and told the story that needed to be told. And that makes him a Stone in the Pond.

To read St. John's work, go to www.nyt.com

Stamford, CT Traffic Signal Boxes

58 inches tall, 44 inches wide, and 27 inches deep. That's what they are, these ugly traffic signal boxes on the side of the road in cities all over the country. Magnets for grafitti and generally just grey metal eyesores, these utilitarian boxes sort of fade from our awareness after awhile. They blend in with other ugly things of an industrialized world. And we get numb.

Enter Stamford, Connecticut. As a result of a city beautification program, 50 of the 190 signal boxes in Stamford are now whimsical displays of public art. When you are waiting for a light to change in Stamford, you may gaze at a three-dimensional painting of a park or a shark, a crayon box or Chinese takeout box, a half-painted white picket fence or a filled-up blackboard scribbled on by a little girl. The artists made very little money doing this. One artist left her art as a final legacy before dying of breast cancer at the age of 33.

And now, in Stamford, grafitti is down. Traffic has slowed. And a bit of beauty is back in the lives of the people who live and pass there.

Stamford's traffic signal box example reminds me to be more conscious as I go about my day. Not to be numb to the ugliness that pervades our society. And to think, how can I make it just a little bit more beautiful?

To see examples of Liz Squillace's Stamford boxes, go to www.paradoxink.com.

Robert Nuranen and the Overdue Library Book

I just watched the documentary, 49 Up. The director has been filming a group of British children every seven years since they were seven. The titles of each addition to the series indicate their current age--7 Up, 14 Up, 21 Up, and so on. The premise of the series is the Jesuit saying that goes something like "show me a boy of seven and I will show you the man."

And then I read this news story about Robert Nuranen, who returned a library book 47 years overdue, along with late fees totalling $171.32. The book was Prince of Egypt.

I called Mr. Nuranen and found out that Nuranen, the youngest of 14 children, was a newspaper delivery boy and read the paper every day when he walked from house to house. That's how he learned everything about current events, and how he developed a desire to see the world. And then he did it. Mr. Nuranen rang in the new millenium at the Great Pyramids in Egypt and he has been to more than 55 countries. He is currently a social studies and language arts teacher in Los Angeles. The boy is now the man.

Who were you at seven? What did you love to do? What glimpse of the future man or woman you were to become would someone have seen?

Photo credit: The Daily Mining Gazette