]]> http://lmtimebank.org/blog/2012/02/timebank-on-the-news/feed/ 0 http://lmtimebank.org/blog/2010/12/endings-and-beginnings/ http://lmtimebank.org/blog/2010/12/endings-and-beginnings/#comments Fri, 31 Dec 2010 19:20:12 +0000 admin http://lmtimebank.org/blog/?p=110 It’s the last day of 2010. Tomorrow is a new day and a new year. It is that time when we reflect on the past and plan for the future. I’m doing the same for the Lower Mainland TimeBank.

Changes are afoot. There are HUGE changes in the economies of the US and Canada that have occurred and there appears to be more on the way.

TimeBanks USA, the founding TimeBank system which we are affiliated with has, had a funding crisis this past year but it looks like they should meet their monetary goals. Money is needed to keep any organization working and TimeBanking is no different. There are always hard costs to absorb. The question is how money efficient can an organization be and still provide the service?

Speaking of service, the TImeBanking software we now use is in the process of being replaced with a new version. Sometime in 2011 the new software will show up online. The functions will largely be the same but it will look a little different.

Speaking of looking a little different, there will be some changes with the Lower Mainland TimeBank. It was started a couple of years ago and has yet to hit its stride with member participation to make it as vibrant and viable as it can be. We need local meeting locations and a few active members to step forward and help take charge of filling the roles needed for any TimeBank to operate and grow.

Read on and if that’s you send me an email: michael (AT) LMTimeBank.org

TimeBanking has been covered a number of times on the news this year. It seems that poor economies and less money force people to reach out and connect more with their local community. Let’s not wait to HAVE to do this. Let’s build a community before economic tragedy strikes. It’s far less stressful, safer and makes the transition painless. Here’s another story from PBS on TimeBanks:

If you’re a member of any TimeBank remember that the basis of TimeBanking is volunteer your time to help others. If the TimeBank is to exist at all it requires help first, so it can be there for members.

So call or email your TimeBank coordinator and offer to help make the your local TimeBank work even better. If you say “I can do XXXXX and XXXXX to help the TimeBank” that’s even better than “what can I do?”.

TimeBanks need you to:

- help in order to stay operating and

- provide your “OFFERS” and “REQUESTS” and

- check online for other members “OFFERS” and “REQUESTS” on a regular basis.

TimeBanking is about staying connected, staying involved, giving and receiving….oh yes and having some fun along the way.

TimeBanks need:

- physical meeting rooms for intro sessions, member training sessions, potlucks, community social gatherings,

- phone service

- computer access

- volunteers to handle new applications, training and members support

- event organizers

- community builders

and more.

If you can help in any way, do so. It makes a big difference when we help each other make the whole work even better.

All the best to you and yours for the new year 2011. May all our individual “connections” this year make each of our lives better and our communities safer, stronger, more vibrant and more independent.

This article stresses the equalizing effect of a TimeBank:

“At a philosophical level, time banking promises a form of egalitarianism through an alternate economy. In its world, a lawyer’s time is equal to a babysitter’s, and everyone, regardless of physical or intellectual abilities, has something to give whether it’s rides to the doctor, plumbing work, or companionship.

“One of the things that’s great about time banking is it’s a great leveler. I really wanted to create a culture in which everything was equal, everyone was valued, everyone could contribute,’’ said Ellin.

She was inspired to start a time bank through her work as a psychologist, and her frequent contact with families who were struggling with social isolation while dealing with their teenagers’ mental health issues.

“I realized I needed to figure out a social network that’s accessible quickly, easily, and automatically’’ so the families could get their needs met, she said. It takes time to build a relationship, she said, “before you can impose on someone and ask them for a favor.’’

With time banks, people can contribute in any way they can, and are paid back with what they need when they need it. And in the process, the hierarchy that results from traditional volunteerism is eliminated, said Ellin.”

There is occasional news coverage for TimeBanks and often it reflects harder economic times forcing people to look for alternatives. Or there is the every growing desire for more feeling of community, in world where we often are separate and feel alone.

TimeBanks can be many things to many people. They are more than a good idea they are life changing way of going through life.

“What I had hoped would happen is that it would be a very large network and within that there’d be neighborhood groups,’’ she said. So far, Jamaica Plain and the Cambridge-Somerville area have their unique identities within the group, she said. “It seems sort of miraculous but it’s actually working.’’

Check out the full article :

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/natick/articles/2010/04/25/wayland_architect_works_to_spread_time_banking_network_west_of_boston/

Come discover TimeBanking for you. Help create a neighbourhood network by bringing TimeBanking to your community. Find a meeting place and we will come to inform and educate on the why and how of TimeBanking.

Real People Real Benefits TimeBanking UK

no dollars here

There are often questions around whether or not TimeCredits are money (many TimeBanks use the term TimeDollars, LMTB and smoe other TimeBanks use the term TimeCredits, they are the same thing).

In my understanding and opinion it’s best to keep away from monetary words and concepts as much as possible. The short answer is NO TimeCredits are not money, but they allow you to do many of the same things money does.

To me TimeBanking is about helping your neighbour because you can, and you also know that someone will be there to help you when you need it. Kind of like barn raising or harvest time (way long ago), where neighbouring farmers came from all over to help each other build or harvest (sometimes followed by a big feeding “funfest”).

To use monetary words and concepts invokes the notion of “I’m owed something” and less about volunteering, pay it forward and gifting.

It should be about being free to give and receive and feeling good about both…the credits just help ensure you’re not too out of balance in either giving or receiving, for obvious reasons.

It shouldn’t be about getting equal “dollar value” (or greater) but about creating value and receiving value, freely and regularly. Abundance mentality versus scarcity mentality . Needing to get something in return is not paying to forward or volunteering.

I don’t like and don’t use the “dollar” term or “debt” (although I’ve resorted to using “credit” and “TimeBank” because they can have alternative meanings).

Monetary words and concepts, to me, are old world, limiting ideas that are due for a change. Most people are tied to their present ideas around the “money” words and it’s tough to change the ideas without using new words to describe new ideas.

TimeBanking is a new idea (for most people) that can relate to “moneylike” ideas but needs to be different and unique or else people don’t quite get it and struggle to make it like money, which it is not.

How many hangups do people have about money? Is it time for  change?

We’ve been seduced by the money game and forgot the “creating value for people game” which is FAR more rewarding. Yes we need money to live, but less than we think and even less when we work together OUTSIDE the money game.

It is a philosophical shift that requires new language to break free from monetary ideas.

I think sticking with money words and ideas makes TimeBanking harder to understand and invokes scarcity mentality in folks.

TimeCredits (or TimeDollars if you must) are not dollars in any way, shape or form. They never were and hopefully never will be.

Check out the new idea and see what you think.

A TimeBank is starting up in your town. Check it out. Help make it grow and have fun!

http://okgtimebanks.org

It looks like they are brand spanking new, so connect, say hi and offer a hand in building it, while becoming an active member.

Good luck all!

Here’s a quote from their website:

“Timebanks’ mission is “Strengthening communities through reciprocity”

One of the economic reality of the Okanagan Valley region is its very cyclical nature due to the surge of activity during summer and then the slowdown from October to March. Since we all want to stay here the slowdown is often difficult for a lot of people. The other side of the coin is it creates a lot of “available time” from laid off people and part timers.

TimeBanks was simply an obvious solution to take advantage of all the pool of “unused time”. The shift in paradigm is instead of saying “I can’t afford this” now it is “I wonder who can do this for me in the timebank”

Interview with TimeBanking Founder Edgar Cahn

“It shouldn’t require an epic disaster to bring people together, but it is all too often the case. Why do we need an “excuse” to go out and meet neighbors on the street corner, to show hospitality to a stranger or to anticipate and respond to the needs of others?

I don’t have an answer for this, except to say that, if some kind of excuse is needed, then TimeBanking is such an excuse.

TimeBanking works proactively where storms work reactively, in providing opportunities and reasons for people to gather. It is the loom upon which community can be woven, as long as there are people willing to pull the threads.”

TimeBanks associated with the TimeBanks USA get a regular newsletter (one day I’ll get to doing ours!   ) and in the latest newsletter there is an update from the head office membership coordinator. She tells a great story of spontaneous local community building during the Washington, DC snowstorm (not this year in B.C., we have a “green” Olympics).

She poses an interesting question at the end which really speaks to the core of TimeBanking. Can we offer ourselves and be giving to others anytime not just when times are tough? Adversity brings out the best sometimes, how about anytime?

Have a read if you wish:

“Maybe some of you live in a place where three feet of snow is not a big deal. Here in Washington, DC, three feet of snow is equivalent to the End of the World, and in fact, in many circles last week, the storm was dubbed the “Snowpocalypse.” Washingtonians endured whiteouts, blackouts, brownouts and not-being-outs.

I personally shoveled approximately twelve cubic tons of snow. Well, that is probably an exaggeration, but it was a lot. A shovel was stolen from our front porch, the awning buckled under the weight of snow, one bush in the yard will never be the same. Everything shut down, from schools to churches to local and federal government. I really did a double-take when I saw this message scroll across the TV screen: “Spiritual Insights cancelled.” Now THAT is some storm!

In the midst of the chaos, the sore muscles and the cabin fever, there was a lot of friendly neighborhood camaraderie (minus the shovel-stealing, of course). There were countless “community digs,” as we began to call them, in which four or five people with shovels came to the aid of stuck vehicles. Neighbors clustered, beer and popcorn in hand, to watch another neighbor tow a service van up the hill with his Nissan truck.

When, after two days, snowplows had not come to our street, everyone pitched in to carve out some road. People of all ages, races and ethnicities came together to dig out from under the snow. We learned to speak a common language of groans and sighing, giggles and knowing looks. In short, it took the snowstorm of the century to achieve the kind of community for which I have always hoped.

It shouldn’t require an epic disaster to bring people together, but it is all too often the case. Why do we need an “excuse” to go out and meet neighbors on the street corner, to show hospitality to a stranger or to anticipate and respond to the needs of others?

I don’t have an answer for this, except to say that, if some kind of excuse is needed, then TimeBanking is such an excuse.

TimeBanking works proactively where storms work reactively, in providing opportunities and reasons for people to gather. It is the loom upon which community can be woven, as long as there are people willing to pull the threads.”

- Jen”

What say you?

Check out TimeBanking at http://LMTimeBank.org .

If you’re already a member, stay involved and make a difference in someone’s life today, while letting them make a difference in theirs. It’s about giving and receiving equally!

Here’s the stats for countries viewing this one little TimeBank website…over 2,000 hits per month in March 2009!

Traffic to the Lower Mainland TimeBank website March 2009

WHAT? Yep and from countries far and wide. here’s the list of countries checking out TimeBanking via www.LMTimeBank.org

Countries Viewing LMTimeBank.org March”09

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

People GET the idea of TimeBanking.

They GET the potential benefits.

They GET the possible positive impact to communities.

ABC News even gets it. On Saturday, ABC Morning News, Good Morning America, aired a news story on TimeBanking…..here it is:

ABC Good Morning America News Report on TimeBanks

And people get the idea of TimeBanking quick. Usually in just a couple of minutes you can share the idea and benefits of TimeBanking to new person, and they get it quick…. did I mention that?

Every time I talk about TimeBanking to someone new I wait for their reaction and I don’t have to wait long…. right away people say:

“What a GREAT idea!”

“Wow, that is really cool!”

“Wow, I’m very ingrigued by that.”

“That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.”

I have always hated selling. Most of my businesses have involved me having to sell from time to time…. I prefer to teach and support. I’m a bit of a wuss, I don’t like to hear “NO” too often, or “What are you talking about” or “That’s a dumb idea”.

So here I am with a new project (making this TimeBank thing work) and every-time I talk to people it feels good. They smile, they nod, they agree and they want to hear more!

How cool is that?

Everybody?

Pretty darn close and the the worst reaction is they don’t want more info. Even a wuss like me can handle that!

So join me in  spreading the word, tell your friends, strangers, business owners.

We have a chance here to revive, revitalize and build anew our local community with not only the heart (it’s always been there) but the process and minimal structure to encourage, allow and reward people for who they are and for being the best of who they are with members of their community.

So come on educate yourself, review our website, join, participate and spread the word. I can almost guarantee it will feel good!

Have an awesome week!

Here’s that ABC News story link again:

ABC Good Morning America News Report on TimeBanks

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…