The "100" Working to Improve the Quality of Life in Our Community

How being a recipient of Microsoft products through TechSoup enabled the "100" to better respond to needs in our community?

Weare a small 501c3 nonprofit organization located in Beaumont, Texas. Our membership is 35 members strong. We have 4 major initiatives which are Mentoring, Education, Economic Development and Health and Wellness.

Through Microsoft products we are able to comminicate more effectively between all our partners, mentees, students and volunteers through e-mail and our website. It all started with the purchase of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 and Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003.

We use the internet to stay current on educational and mentoring research. We attempt to teach students that in the Information Age, reports, essays should look professional and be easy to read. We have developed the "Dream Keepers Award". This award is for 8 grade students only. Each of the 7 middle schools in the Beaumont Independent School District is invited to participate and 1 boy and girl is selected from each school. The Dream Keepers Award is an essay writing contest, with criteria on grades, extra curricula activities and/or community service. This award is to recognize , encourage and challinge our middle school students to become better writers. Computer technology can provide meaningful learning experiences for all students, especially those at risk of educational failure. While performing research for the essay the student is developing better computer skills, which also teaches them how to function effectively in the world beyond the classroom. Some schools have lower expectations for students who have been characterized as at risk students. With the Dream Keepers Award, we place high expectation on the students and tell them that they should expect more of themselves. Sometimes by not challenging at risk students or encouraging them to use computer technology, we underestimate their capabilities and sometimes deprive them of meaningful learning experiences.

The "100" as we are normally called have become an active presence in our local (elementary, middle and high) schools. We mentor in several schools in our school district. We participate in Father and Son Banquets, Boys to Men Banquets and assist in some schools reading programs. We have also participated in an Educational Summit where we purchased and handed out educational materials to assist students in reaching their educational goals and to show them that someone cares. We serve as male role models, big brothers and in some instances father figures. In one middle school in particular there are only 2 male teachers for the 8 grade. We are in high demand. Schools and parents approach us constantly for our assistance. They say that they can see an improvement in the students that we mentor/tutor.

Front Page will assist us in improving our website making it more attractive to perspective donors and member respectively. They can readily see what the "100" is all about. Mentering is the cornerstone of our organization. Our motto is "What they See is What They'll Be." We believe in real men giving real time. That is what's needed in our communities in order to save our youth and give direction to their lives.

We are able to establish a data base of partners, mentees, and volunteers by group(s), all in one location. We can better track projects and members participation (Quick Book-Customer Manager). We are planning to establish a quarterly newletter to distribute to the community churches so that they can remain up to date about activities concerning the 100 Black Men of Greater Beaumont. The newletter will also serve as a recruiting tool. With the use of customer manager, we can now send out formal membership renewal notices. The use of this marvel of technology, we can monitor student's performance from one grade level to the next. To further promote excellence in our talented young students as they pursue higher education goals, the 100 endeavors to provide scholarships to deserving college bound students on an equal opportunity basis regardless of race, sex, creed or religious preference. The mentoring component also assist us to identify potential scholarship applicants. Because of TechSoup we are able to purchase donated and discounted technology products which assist us in meeting the needs of our community. Without the assistance of TechSoup our progress would be a lot slower because of our limited resources. The low administration fees make Microsoft donated technology purchases possibly. With the assistance of Grant Station we now have at our disposal a mechanism to search for grants that could enable us to expand some of our already existing programs and in other areas may enable us to add new programs to benefit our community.

We understand the challenge of maintaining an effective operation with a limited budget and limited resources. Microsoft donation technology through TechSoup makes sharing information between possible donors and our organization easily assessable. Through technology we can readily identify complex emerging issues, but also find practical solutions which can be difficult, if not impossible to find otherwise. The purchase of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007, with Publisher 2007 enables us to create visuals that are much more effective in getting our message across and looks more professional.

In 2008, the 100 Black Men of Greater Beaumont completed 176 projects/tasks and logged 1350 hours. Projects such as Christmas Toys Giveaway, partnering with the Empty Stocking Fund Program, Family Box Days, partnering with the South East Texas Food Bank preparing Thanksgiving Food Boxes for disadvantaged families in our surrounding communities. We assisted families who were i need of Blue Tarps after hurricane Ike, with a Free Tarp Giveaway. The tracking of all of the mentioned projects again is tracked using Microsoft donated software from TechSoup.

We recently held our 2nd Annual Scholarships and Awards Banquet. We recognized 3 high school seniors with scholarships, 14 middle school 8 grade students received U.S. Savings and plaques. There were approximately 400 people in attendance; they included our mayor, some judges, school superintendent and principals.

In conclusion, we would like to thank Microsoft along with the host of other corporations for partnering with TechSoup in this donation program for non-profits, for without your commitment a lot of non-profit organization like ours would not have the resources nor enough finances to get the necessary software needed to effectively impact our youth and our communities. Thanks for all you do.

100 Black Men of Greater Beaumont