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Stewart Ramsey: Heads Up, Ford: We Are Motown Bound

Source:  The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com on Mar 9 2010 5:22am   more from feed

Last week, Sew Creative (our buddies' new pro-social marketing agency), Patrick Meade Jones, cinematographer extraordinaire, and I set off from Orange County, Calif. for Dearborn, Mich., the World HQ of Ford Motor Company. You may be curious as to what a bunch of 20-something activists have to bring to the 7th biggest company in America, and we understand. Let me explain... Ford has been doing some radical things -- particularly Invisible People -- and we are thrilled about that. But we believe that the collective WE, the "I can beat anything and change everything" generation can take it to the next level. Ford is making a gesture with what they are doing -- inviting us to re-imagine who they are and inviting us into their story. Ford, duly noted and much appreciated. Now we want to invite you into ours -- we believe our heartbeat, our great moments, our passion, our desired consumption is epitomized in what we have done through Krochet Kids -- community, compassion and innovation. Ford, we want to align values and drive real impact with you. We want to change the world. We see Ford and companies like Ford as being part of that collective WE. Major players must realize it is their responsibility to help create major change. A shift in ideology will take real commitment, one we believe embodied by Krochet Kids Intl. The Krochet Kids story is as follows: A group of guys grow up crocheting hats for their snow packed adventures. We seized the opportunity to see the world, traveled to Uganda and were shook to the core by what we encountered. We saw a country ravaged by war, infectious diseases raging at epidemic rates and not enough clean water. But when we looked into the eyes of the people, we saw hope, courage and a desire for change. We turned our childhood passion into an effective development tool. Ladies in Uganda crochet hats, the proceeds of which fund workshops that teach them how to launch sustainable ventures of their own. After three years of steady pay and training, our ladies are ready to step out on their own. Two years ago, the Krochet Kids launched with 10 ladies...we are about to employ 70. This movement is still in its developmental stages, but it is real. It may have not generated millions of impressions, but it has built thousands of real relationships. When we put it out to the community that we wanted to deliver this message to Ford and build awareness for the Krochet Kids all along the way, we were overwhelmed with the response. In Salt Lake City, Denver, Omaha, Chicago and Detroit we are sharing the story, selling hats and staying in the homes of new friends. Everybody out there who is reading our posts and showing us love on the networks, thank you. Thanks to your surge of love, we have broke new ground in new communities. The hats are incredible and the community is rich, but nothing is greater than the empowerment we collectively bring to the ladies of Uganda and the dream we share to change EVERYTHING through the power of a hat and a relationship. Join us at http://www.MotownBound.com. Follow us: @KrochetKids. More on Africa

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