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Using the Social Web for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week
Since this week is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, I decided to see how different homeless shelters and food banks were using the social web. I also brainstormed a few ideas on how different communities can use the social web to share what they accomplished this week.
Here are a few examples of how shelters and food banks are using the social web:
The East Texas Food Bank has a video posted on YouTube at East Texas Food Bank - Better Choices/Healthier Lives
Here are some ideas of sample events and different ways the social web can be used:
- Volunteering at Food Banks/Shelters - Take photos of food bank/shelter and volunteers and post it on Flickr. Take a video of volunteers helping out and/or of the food bank/shelter. Post a blog entry about the event.
- Hunger Awareness Programs- Create an informational video and post it on YouTube. Post a blog entry (or entries) about the informational content presented at the program. Record the presentation as a podcast and/or video.
- Hearing Homeless People Speak- Post a blog entry about the experience of this homeless person. Record the presentation as a podcast and/or video. Take photos of the program and post it on Flickr.
- Food Drives/Other Drives- Take photos of items collected and post them on Flickr. Post a blog entry about the drive.
I have already found one example of the social web being used for the week. A video was posted on YouTube to promote the events at Georgia Tech. The video can be found at Georgia Tech Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
I started thinking, what tag could be used for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week?
- eweinb04's blog
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Hunger & Homelessness tag
Nice Post! Here's one more from Canada
This is more in the arena of activism. In all major Canadian cities, Anti-Poverty activists have begun active "squats", attempts to take over derelict buildings that are usually owned by the city, in an effort to bring political pressure to local governments. According to Brett Gaylor of Homelessnation, "What we've found is that we are the only media outlet covering this, simply because we are the only ones who can. Activists don't trust media coverage, and usually it is the activists who are using the site themselves to tell the story. We've had political actions that are posted the same day, from inside the action, due to prevalance of wi-fi. Its really cool!"
Their most recent videos can be found here