Another Way

As Mr. Hoffer ushered his students up the mahogany staircase, he wondered if he had done the right thing by suggesting this meeting at Mapleton High. He loved his town and was earnest in his desire to find a way to help it solve its problems, but he dreaded what a comparison between Mapleton and Bloomfield might do to the self-esteem of his students. He had used the self-esteem curriculum in his social studies 101A class for two semesters before it was integrated into the self-awareness program. He knew about identity. Country, town, family, religion, race, and occupation were ingredients of self-esteem. He figured the course was included in the history and social studies curriculum initially because of the humiliation suffered by Americans of German and Japanese descent during WW II. He never really bought into the self-esteem craze, probably due to the healthy self-image of the Catholic, Jewish, Black, Hispanic and Japanese friends he had grown up with, but he was proud of the more general self-awareness program and the bit of notoriety it had brought Bloomfield High. The self-awareness program had been studied over the years by other school districts, but never copied. Statistics showed an increase in vandalism and juvenile crime in Bloomfield over the same time period. No one even hinted at a cause and effect relationship, but there did not seem to be a curative effect either. Personally Mr. Hoffer thought self awareness--getting in touch with one's feelings--was something society needed more of. Everything had become so impersonal; people didn't seem to care about each another, and if they did, he wondered, how would they know it. Feelings were experienced second hand. Television, movies and the exaggeration of the tabloids, allowed emotions to be exercised vicariously and nearly risk-free. Minimization of risk had become an American obsession at the end of the twentieth century.

Well, at least his students came out on top in a comparison of school buildings, he concluded as he surveyed his surroundings. He had worked hard to help pass the Bloomfield school bonds which had built a 36 million dollar structure whose clean cathedral-like lines soared as a monument to learning. It housed the finest pool, gymnasium, science and computer labs. The huge auditorium was equipped with the latest technology. As he looked down at Mapleton High's main entrance he felt like he was climbing the stairs of the high school he had attended twenty-five-no-it was twenty-seven years ago. His own mother had graduated from the same school in 1950 and it hadn't been new at the time. It was clear that Mapleton High was of the same era--constructed before the second world war--maybe before the first world war. Unbelievable! Didn't the citizens of Mapleton care about their kids?

Of course they did. Mr. Hoffer mentally answered his own question. There; he had done it again; been distracted by appearances. He had expanded the senior government curricula to include consumer skills. He felt intensely about the evils resulting from merchants conning consumers and politicians conning constituents, probably because he was so vulnerable himself. He constantly switched sides on the debate about whether growing up watching TV made young people more sophisticated or more naive. You would think it would be especially clear to him; a person dedicated to the study of the social sciences and himself a product of the first generation to have grown up with television. Mr. Hoffer was certain there was something different about the generation that saw birth and death in hundreds of sometimes bizarre situations simply by switching channels, and the generations who had experienced first hand the birth of farm animals and siblings and had huddled around the death bed of loved ones. How do the former distinguish reality from illusion? How determine the essential from what is extraneous? He had been drawn into the trap; he had judged the concern of the community and the quality of what went on at the school by observing the age of the Mapleton structure.

The uncertainty that had assailed him at the bottom of the staircase returned as he recalled why he was chaperoning five Bloomfield High School students to a meeting at Mapleton High. Mapleton students consistently were accepted at the best colleges and universities in the country, they were in demand by employers in surrounding states and openly preferred to graduates of many colleges. Mapleton High always ranked among the top in academic and sporting decathlons. Although there was no doubt Mapleton's building was old, it, and the surrounding grounds, were well kept and the town itself had the lowest taxes coupled with the lowest crime rate in the nation. But the main reason he and his students had come to Mapleton today was to find out about Another Way.

As Mr. Hoffer shepherded his five students down the third floor hallway towards the assigned meeting room, he spotted his counterpart, the chair of the Mapleton High School Social Studies Department, hurrying down the hall to greet him.

"John! It's great to see you again. We're so excited about having you and your students join us for the day."

Funny how Mr. Hoffer always thought of himself as Mr. Hoffer. It was a bit strange, but nice, to hear "John" coming from the small dynamic gray haired lady in jeans. Let's see, he had known Phyllis Clarry for almost fifteen years now; almost his entire teaching career. She had been his mentor. She must have given over twenty-five years to the profession and most of it at Mapleton. The community was damn lucky to have her. He had seldom encountered a teacher with so much energy and she had a family of her own; three or four sons, he wasn't sure which. Her enthusiasm was boundless and it affected her students.

Phyllis touched his shoulder as she escorted Mr. Hoffer and his brood into the conference room. With a broad sweep of her arm she said, "We've got doughnuts and power bars, juice and milk; and coffee of course, to keep the two adults on their toes. Please help yourselves and then find a seat at our large, but friendly, round table. Then I'm going to have you introduce yourselves. Name tags are useful, but too impersonal."

As she poured herself a cup of coffee, Phyllis looked fondly at the Mapleton students already spaced around the table leaving room for the guests from Bloomfield to fill in. She kicked herself for suggesting Mapleton students not group at the table. She should have known Janet would have organized the proper set up without coaching. There I go, she thought, it must be instinctive for adults to down play the capabilities of teens. Janet was a natural organizer. It was she who had decided who would comprise the Mapleton panel. The two teachers had tentatively agreed on one student from each grade in order to keep the group small, but representative. Phyllis had thought the class presidents would be logical choices, but Janet had argued that kids who really wanted to sell Another Way­-the AW concept-would make up the best selection pool. Just what the students had to go through to prove their desire was hazy to Phyllis, but she knew only twenty names per grade were allowed in the final drawing to determine the one representative from each class at Mapleton High. All had run the gauntlet-written submittals detailing what Another Way meant to them and orally giving explanations to a series of specific questions. All those around the table knew their stuff, she acknowledged with pride.

There were 13 places; the two teachers and a representative for grades 8 through 12 from each school, plus Janet who was officially billed as Phyllis' assistant. Janet was the first person Phyllis had thought of when she agreed to accede to John Hoffer's request for in depth information about Another Way, referred to simply as AW by everyone in Mapleton. But Janet insisted that 12th grade students be given the same opportunity to serve on the panel as interested students in other grades. She refused to be the only appointed representative, and so her name tag read Assistant, with no indication that she was the senior class president at Mapleton High.

As the last visiting student slipped into his seat with a large glass of milk and 3 chocolate covered doughnuts, Janet began speaking as she and Phyllis had agreed she should.

"Good morning and welcome to Mapleton High. I'm Janet Norwood, a fellow student, and I'm here to help coordinate things and be generally helpful. Commitment is what AW is all about and it's clear that everyone around this table is committed. Why else would we be gathered in a classroom on a Monday morning a full hour and a half before the school day officially begins?" Janet paused and smiled. "We have a lot to accomplish in a short time, so even though we can read your name and grade on your tags, we'd like you to quickly introduce yourselves and then Phyllis will take it from there."

She nodded to the small blond girl on her right.

"I'm Megan Goodwin and I'm in the eighth grade here at Mapleton High School," she said simply and sweetly.

"Hi. I'm Amanda Miller and I'm an eight grader too and I'm really excited about being here. My mom is really happy too because I've been driving her crazy for days and now she's expecting some relief."

Everyone laughed at the friendly outspoken dark girl with the lively eyes. She was thin and all legs, like a colt or young fawn. But her height and self assurance gave a contrary impression. She appeared to be much older than the fragile 8th grade counterpart who had spoken a moment earlier and sat pleasantly smiling on Amanda's left.

"All Right! I want to wish you all a good morning and terrific day," boomed a young man who not only made Amanda look dainty but the six foot one Mr. Hoffer who was seated to his right appeared to be a relatively small man in comparison. "I'm Lincoln Williams, a senior here at Mapleton."

"Wow! Lincoln Williams!" exclaimed the small boy sitting at the other end of the table. And then he blushed and looked confused as all eyes turned to him, out of turn.

"I'm sorry, I'm just crazy about basketball," he offered by way of explanation.

"No problem," laughed John Hoffer who was next in line. He had to admit that Lincoln was a dead ringer for the legendary Magic Johnson. One sports caster had suggested that Lincoln had the potential for a similarly illustrious career. "I'm impressed that Lincoln Williams is in the room and I'm lucky enough to be sitting next to him. I'm Mr. Hoffer, chair of Bloomfield High School's Social Studies Department and the one whose curiosity bears the responsibility for whatever happens here today. I'm delighted that so many people wanted to participate and I congratulate those who made it." He turned pleasantly to his right.

"Good morning. I'm Dorothy Avila, a member of the sophomore class and I too want to welcome you all to Mapleton High," Dorothy was the legendary dark-haired beauty. She had a 4.0 GPA and if her class were graduating today she would be its valedictorian. Her class no doubt would have chosen her as their representative if they had been allowed to do so, so it was fitting that hers was the name that was drawn from the 20 sophomore names that were submitted. On the other hand, all the students in the room were the cream of the crop. Only top students made it to the final selection process.

Heads around the table nodded in Dorothy's direction and then all eyes focused once again on the small boy who had identified himself earlier as a basketball fan. He was surprised to be included, and not altogether happy to find himself in Mapleton's conference room this morning. "I'm Mario Lee," he said quickly, "and I'm a freshman at Bloomfield High." Phyllis Clarry sat next to Mario but she indicated that the attractive red head on her right should speak next.

"Good morning. I'm Lisa Wainright, and delighted to have been chosen to represent the seniors at Bloomfield High at this conference today."

"Welcome," chimed a lovely voice, the more lovely because it was unexpected since it came from the least attractive person at the table-a heavy girl with a noticeably scarred face who had appeared plain until she spoke. Phyllis was amazed. This was one student of the 1,500 who attended Mapleton High School, that she had never seen before. "I'm Raeann Cotton, a relatively new comer to Mapleton and a member of the junior class."

"I'm Harrison Davis, a sophomore at Bloomfield," offered the handsome young man with closely cropped brown hair and glasses that accented his steel gray eyes seated at Raeann's right. Mapleton's freshman representative was next to Harrison .

"Paul Egan. I'm a 9th grader here at Mapleton High and I hope that this meeting will exceed everyone's expectations."

Bill Adams was to the right of Paul. Bill was a junior at Bloomfield High and probably the most charismatic member of that contingent.

"Well it comes down to me then-last-at last. Since, as students we are constantly subjected to alphabetized lines you'll know what I mean when I introduce myself. I'm Bill Adams and I'm honored to represent the Juniors of Bloomfield High and expect to learn a lot here today."

"Almost last Bill. I'm Phyllis Clarry and I head the Social Studies Department here at Mapleton High School. Please call me Phyllis. I add my voice to the welcomes," she said warmly. "I sense that we are all anxious to get started, but first I have a few introductory remarks.

"When AW-Another Way-was first proposed to the faculty at this school, the speaker was introduced as a representative from a private foundation that was trying to increase volunteerism. I can now analogize that introduction. It was like introducing an expert on transportation as someone who was here to give tips on bicycle riding. Volunteers are a vital part of AW but not the whole. AW is more accurately about human energy. Not energy used by humans, but a unique form of energy that is a special human attribute.

"The human energy which concerns AW is tied up with the inalienable rights referenced in our U.S. Constitution. Those rights are rights to control our individual life energy. No outside force can make individuals love, hate, talk or think unless they agree. A person may be kidnapped, imprisoned and tortured, but he still has control over his own human energy and with control comes responsibility. Humans have the power to reason, to imagine, to learn from the past and to change themselves and their environment. They can do more than adapt and when they are able to freely exercise their human energy they progress; at least materially. We call it Mempner Hext."

"What?" Amanda blurted.

Janet quickly came to Amanda's rescue: "It's a mnemonic--an unusual word pronounced with the first letter silent. A mnemonic is a memory aid and Mempner Hext is an acronym--one kind of memory aid. Memp is how we pronounce the letters MMP which stands for Man's Material Progress. Man's Material Progress plus natural resources--NR pronounced NER.  That's how we get Mempner.  Hext stands for Human Energy--HE. X is the mathematical symbol for times and T stands for tools. So human energy times tools becomes Hext. " As she spoke she scribbled on a piece of paper and what she wrote was instantly projected on all four walls.

Man's material progress is attributable to natural resources plus human energy times tools.

"Okay. I get that Mempner Hext are made up words but I don't get what you mean by 'natural resources'?" Amanda wore a puzzled frown.

"Natural resources are useful items occurring naturally in a locality as opposed to being man-made," Lincoln improvised.

"But there are no natural resources without human discovery. Oil wasn't a natural resource in Ancient Egypt anymore than atoms were in the 19th century before the concept of atomic energy was developed. It's man's use of them that makes them a resource. Man is resourceful." This time it was Paul who chimed in.

"Hold it everyone," laughed Phyllis. "Janet, Lincoln and Paul are sharing some of the information they gleaned from the course on responsibility that Mapleton requires of all freshman. But since we only have one day we can't wander too far in that direction, so let me continue with my introduction so we can get to the business at hand.

"AW is about freeing and directing human energy. Americans have always made effective use of human energy; more than any other people in any other place at any other time in history. You might wonder why and how? Why? Because as I said earlier, people were guaranteed by our Constitution, the right to exercise greater control over their lives. How? By understanding human energy and how it works and then by promoting those things that make it work better; more efficiently, more effectively; and restricting those things that prevent it from working.

"The point I want to get across to you, so you will have it as a back drop for everything else that you hear here today, is that human energy thrives in a free society and freedom is always accompanied by responsibility. When people act irresponsibly freedom is diminished. In our own country when private individuals and groups acted irresponsibly, government picked up the slack. When some families failed to care for their members, government stepped in to cover for their irresponsibility. When jobs were scarce many employers failed to treat employees with dignity and justice and the market couldn't compensate. The market can't be responsible for all value in a society. Our Constitution expected the free market to be balanced by volunteerism, based most often, on religious conviction. When that didn't work, the fall back was law. And so laws expanded to protect the workers. When people began operating motor vehicles at dangerous speeds or while under the influence of alcohol, society responded with more laws. Always laws were enacted to compensate for lack of responsibility. People failed to use their human energy responsibly; failed to voluntarily abide by inner laws. You have probably heard the expression that if men (meaning mankind, of course) were angels they would need no laws."

"So increasing responsibility is the primary purpose of AW and volunteerism is a by-product?" Harrison ventured.

"Responsibility is not so much the goal," Phyllis continued, "but a necessary ingredient. The goal of AW is to preserve freedom so that human energy can thrive."

"So the ultimate goal is to nurture human energy. Right?" This line of reasoning was not alien to Harrison and he was genuinely interested. Harrison had one brother and came from one of those rare homes with a stay-at-home mother. Religion played a large part in his home life and those who must label would probably call him conservative. "Could we say responsibility is a secondary goal and one which involves volunteers? And isn't it true that both responsibility and volunteerism are needed to ensure that human energy thrives?"

"That's it. I think you've got it," laughed Phyllis. "OK then. Let's get down to business. Here's the plan. The Mapleton students sitting around the table are all actually involved in AW in the community. You're going to get a chance to ask them whatever you want. Each student has prepared a brief presentation, with maybe a few excerpts from the paper that gained them entrance to this select group. We have all agreed that you may interrupt to comment or ask questions any time something perks your interest. Think of the presentations as ice breakers. We may not even get to them all depending on how the discussion goes. You can turn the conversation to satisfy your curiosity. However, I suggest you write down specific questions which we will answer after lunch if they fail to get addressed during the course of this morning's free-for-all." Phyllis looked around the table."OK? Everybody understand?"

"Got it," said Bill cheerfully and the other Bloomfield students murmured assent.

"All right," Phyllis addressed the Mapleton contingent. "Who wants to go first?" A few of the Mapleton students had squirmed down in their chairs hoping to avoid eye contact with Phyllis. "Anyone?" Lincoln cleared his throat and caught her eye. With a broad smile, Phyllis nodded in his direction and Lincoln began speaking.

"I couldn't believe it when my paper won me a place on today's panel. When I turned it in I knew it was sentimental and thought it was too personal, but it must have struck a chord. I mean, AW has really meant a lot to me; it's changed my life and I guess the same thing has happened to others. See," he paused. "AW gets you thinking about what you really value. It redefines success and wealth. Right now in Mapleton success comes from helping others and wealth is meaningful work. AW encourages people to stand up and declare, this is who we are and we have something to give to our country. It's not our money, but our intellect, our will, our character. I've been connected with the TVC for four years."

"What's that?" Amanda broke in. "I mean what's the TVC?"

"I was about to explain," Lincoln answered defensively. "TVC is what we call the Truly Volunteer Corp. It is a group of volunteers of all ages and abilities, individuals and organizations working together in the community. The truly signifies that no one receives wages or salaries. AW is not subsidized by tax payers like other Volunteer Corps in the country. In AW everything is a trade. The AW logo says it all." Lincoln paused and pointed to the small ceramic lapel pin he and all the Mapleton students were wearing. It was a white circle with a red dollar sign in the middle with a black line across its face. "The AW logo has a double meaning. The dollar sign with a line through it means it is possible to do things without waiting for dollars;without waiting for grants and subsidies. We trade. It has taught me, and I think everyone that has been connected with AW for any length of time, to become resourceful."

"In fact a main purpose of Another Way is to locate existing resources, in your community, your group and even yourself and use them more efficiently. AW causes everyone to become more creative." Megan added with enthusiasm.

Phyllis was impressed. Lincoln was giving his presentation and without any self-consciousness Megan was right in there setting the conversational tone Phyllis had hoped to achieve. As the middle child of seven it was not surprising that Megan got along so well with others. In fact she was rumored to be just about every eight grader's best friend, boy and girl.

"Right." Lincoln didn't miss a beat. "The logo also signifies that there are things in life that matter more than dollars."

Amanda interrupted a second time: "Can you prove anything matters more than dollars? People I know are cynical;especially kids. They assume adults only do things for money. They don't believe anyone cares enough about anything to give selflessly."

Paul piped up: "Lots of people assume nobody will do anything without getting paid and yet we polled Mapleton residents and discovered that most people didn't want anything for themselves from volunteering, besides the knowledge that they were making a positive difference in the community."

"OK. Here's my problem." Harrison was intrigued. "If grants are available why would anyone want to participate in new programs without funding? Why pass up free money?" Actually Harrison was playing Devil's Advocate. He didn't believe there was such a thing as free money.

Mario entered the conversation for the first time: "I agree with Harrison's point. First of all I don't think it's possible to do anything without money, and if you could, what's the point?

"Yeah," Harrison added. "Why make do without money? At the very least, money makes everything easier."

"Almost everything. Except like Amanda was saying, it's hard to gain the trust and the cooperation of the people social programs are intended to reach if they think the only reason you are helping is for the money. We're talking community values here." Raeann was hooked.

Mario picked up where he had left off: "If a community were to turn down federal and state subsidies, those subsidies would just be distributed to other communities."

"No way! That's not fair." Amanda was aroused.

"Yes, way! And it may not be fair, but it's true," Mario countered. Mario lived in a crime ridden section of Chinatown and commuted to Bloomfield High where gangs exercised less control than they did in his own neighborhood. He was a dedicated student but the commute, coupled with an after school job in his family's restaurant, afforded him little time to socialize with his peers.

"Well, if you're right and it's true," Amanda said cautiously. "Then it would be stupid to turn down money even for the sake of values, while another community gets the stuff done easily, and probably better, using dollars. Anyway, what's the big deal? If 'no dollars' is what Another Way is about, I really can't see it."

"Well I don't think you have to worry about anyone turning down subsidies or trying to get along without grants," said Mr. Hoffer. "Just imagine how many people have a vested interest in keeping grant money flowing? There are thousands of consultants, and people who hold seminars, write books and advise individuals and members of active nonprofits where to and how to get money to run their programs. There are even more government employees and employees of grant making institutions whose livelihoods depends on reading and evaluating proposals. There's no way that's going to change;at least no easy way. There's got to be a darn good reason to change, and if you come up with one, it won't be easy to sell."

"We can't continue business as usual just because it's easier," Lincoln responded. "The result would be three things we don't want: (1) Less successful programs because participants don't respond. Why don't they respond? Because they don't believe that paid volunteers really care. (2) An increase in the national debt. Why? Because dollars needed to pay down the debt are diverted to pay for costly social programs. The more than $365 billion annual interest on past spending buys nothing. Cutting annual deficits doesn't begin to solve the financial calamity awaiting our generation. (3) A good reason not to change our value system. How's that? Because those who care enough to give freely would be chumps not to take money offered by the government;just what Amanda said. The chump factor is a darn good reason not to change."

Lisa had declared math as her probable major on her college applications. She always paid strict attention to numbers. "I hate to say this," She relunctantly volunteered, "But I thing your figures are wrong. In 1997 there was talk of our federal deficit decreasing to around $50 billion."

"I am talking about debt, not deficit. A deficit is the difference between outgo and income and the government is still spending more than it brings in. The accumulation of years of deficit spending is what makes up the national debt which in 1998 supposedly took three hundred sixty-five billion three hundred forty-four million taxpayer dollars to maintain. That's interest payments of over a billion dollars a day!" Lincoln countered. "Can you imagine what 365 separate American communities could do with a billion dollars each every year? Just think; if we could retire our national debt we could give a billion dollars to a different community every single day without raising taxes."

"Or a million dollars to a thousand communities every day, or to 365,000 communities a year." Lisa was excited.

"There are fewer than 20,000 incorporated communities in the entire country," Janet interjected. She had recently uncovered that fact in the 1996 Statistical Abstract of the United States when researching her term paper for history.

"OK then," Lisa retorted. She was having such a good time manipulating figures in her head that she had forgotten her mistake had started this turn in the discussion. "Every single community, in the United States would get just under $20 million a year or better than one and a half million dollars a month. Incredible!"

"So what can we do to make changes? " Amanda asked.

"We can reverse the three outcomes we don't want by focusing on incentives and disincentives. We have started doing that here in Mapleton," Dorothy answered for Lincoln.

"So you are trying to reverse the three things you don't want by concentrating on the third; the chump factor--the disincentive to turning down subsidies," Bill began slowly. "And I assume you mean subsidies from outside your community because they would be called resources if they came from within the community--right?"

"Right!" Lincoln felt like progress was being made. "When I became involved with AW my freshman year, we weren't actually turning down subsidies, but we stretched them so we could sometimes launch five or six community projects with the subsidy meant for one." Lincoln looked straight at Bill as he said, "We think the people in a community should use their own resources. Right now Mapleton residents fund projects in other communities via federal taxes and many of those projects in other communities are wasteful. Some communities are better than others at budgeting and get more bang for the buck. We can't control that. The goal is to keep more of our paychecks in Mapleton where, if we become more resourceful and more efficient, we will reap the benefits. We would like all Americans to have the same opportunity. Consequences are the best incentives and disincentives. Before, our efforts were worthless, or are at best, diluted."

"Before what?" Bill asked.

"Before our state started giving refunds to local communities without strings," Lincoln explained.

"Refunding what?" Bill came back.

"Refunding the actual percentage earmarked for social programs, of the dollars paid by Mapleton residents in both federal and states taxes," Lincoln answered.

"I don't think states can refund the tax dollars you pay to the federal government," Lisa said.

"Oh, but they can, if they want to. When the federal government sends dollars back to the states, as it has been doing lately, some states keep tight rein on their local governments, controlling them by disbursing those dollars on the state's terms, while others, like our state, continue the power meltdown by parceling dollars, without mandates and stipulations; without strings," Lincoln said. "If federal and state governments want to solve problems they have to step aside, they have to untangle the web of regulations waiver by waiver, one small step at a time. The time is right for regflex."

"What is regflex?" This time it was Harrison who couldn't control his curiosity.

"The Labor Department has workflex and the Department of Education has edflex;programs that give states the ability to focus federal money where they think the dollars can do the most good. Regflex is flexibility when it comes to government regulations. It is a product of a growing trend to bypass the lengthy legislative process of reform and use executive power to give localities increased authority and flexibility. The Clinton Administration was willing to approve all reasonable waiver requests. Regflex is simply an attempt to extend waivers. The National Performance Review (started by the Bush Administration) believes the federal government should keep out of the way of anyone who is working hard and honestly to accomplish a job. The idea is to give local agencies the authority to put aside rules and regulations that can be shown as counterproductive to public goals," Lincoln finished.

"That's right," said Mr. Hoffer. "For instance, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to establish performance partnership agreements that offer states freedom to mingle money and duck red tape in return for agreements on performance with respect to a state's overall environmental quality."

"The point," Lincoln stressed, "is when a community regains control of its own resources, any stretching of those resources will result in tangible…" Lincoln was cut off in mid-sentence this time.

"The people achieving the savings get to keep the savings!" Amanda sang out. Amanda was boisterous and free of inhibitions. She was genuinely interested in just about everyone and everything and was as comfortable in the school setting as she was in her own home. Little wonder since both her parents were teachers and crazy about children. They had planned a large family but unfortunately Amanda was their only child.

Amanda irritated Lincoln. Mapleton's coach was working with him to increase his patience on the basketball court and he could see the flaw was spilling over into other facets of his life. Good grief, he reminded, himself, she is only in the eighth grade. He should have been so bright at her age! "Exactly." He attempted a smile in Amanda's direction.

"OK," said Harrison. "But why take dollars from local communities in the first place? If the best of all possible worlds is to have those dollars come back without strings, why not simplify the process and not have local governments pay federal taxes in the first place."

"Excuse Me! Is anybody home?" Amanda was on a roll. "You can't run the country without taxes. Who is paying for the interstate highways, the military, the court system, all those things that benefit the entire country?"

"So don't take me so literally," Harrison retorted. "Let me rephrase. Why should local communities pay that portion of their federal tax obligation that is earmarked for social programs when it is returned to them eventually?" He turned toward Amanda. "Is that better?"

"Sorry. I guess I came on pretty strong. I just got excited," Amanda apologized.

"It is confusing," Dorothy said in a conciliatory tone. "What you're suggesting is that the federal government reduce our taxes. That was suggested in the 1996 presidential election. It is the goal but it won't happen until local governments can show they can and will take care of their citizens using local resources. That just proves what we have been saying about values. Americans value people and are, for the most part, compassionate. They will never stand for hungry, sick people sleeping in doorways and on park benches. Taxes will continue to rise in an effort to curtail social problems until communities prove there is another way;a better more cost effective and compassionate way to handle the problems."

"Yeah, another way. Another way that doesn't depend on the dollars of people who reside outside the local community. Another Way. I got it! Pretty good. I see where the name comes from," murmured Amanda. "Another Way."

"Under our constitution the federal government is responsible for the general welfare of all its citizens--plain and simple! I remember the President saying recently that if congress really cares about social problems they should prove it by giving him the money needed to enforce the regulations already on the books and to fund programs that could make a difference." Lisa said.

Lisa, as a senior, felt embarrassed to ask, especially when, Amanda, an eighth grader had just declared she got it, but she wanted to understand;and she didn't. "My understanding is that tax dollars from all communities throughout the nation had to be pooled precisely because not all local communities treated their needy residents with compassion. I thought we all agreed that that was the reason the federal government took over the role. Federal programs were a response to need and a reflection of American values--American caring. It seems to me Another Way takes a step backwards by leaving social problems solely to local residents."

"Yeah. That's what Phyllis was telling us earlier. Government mandates are a reflection of the irresponsibility of the past," Bill added.

"That's why a track record has to be established; a track record of compassion and competence before taxes can be reduced. That's what Another Way is about." Dorothy said earnestly.

"It's a matter of understanding human nature," said Paul. "'We're all in this together' doesn't work if forced. If people are given no choice they resent it. Such an approach fosters a 'why should I bother' attitude. No one wants to be prudent so someone else can waste the fruits of their endeavors."

"You're basically saying people are selfish," Mario declared. "So what else is new?"

"No, No, NO---not at all! In fact Paul's point is exactly the opposite. Polls conducted as part of the Another Way project have shown that if ordinary people stop and ask themselves what they truly value, many find out it is community, it is human relationships and the feeling of helping someone else. Those things are valued as a close second to family relationships and religion. So the point is that it's not so much that our values need to change, but they need an environment that encourages their expression." Lincoln wished he could make them understand.

Lincoln was an all star basketball player, a local celebrity. Everyone, especially his mother, expected him to become a pro---that's how kids from the project made it. But he loved to debate; the art of persuasion was the skill he wanted to master. A keen mind resided inside his handsome seven foot frame. He believed he had a vocation to use law as a vehicle to effect social change. His broad smile and warm personality make political office a viable option sometime in the future. "Under our present mandated system, people aren't allowed to respond to those values because they don't even get a chance to acknowledge their existence. They are supplanted by anger and resentment at being forced to help someone else."

"People feel they are being taken advantage of," said Harrison.

That's better, Lincoln thought. "Exactly," he said. "When dollars are wrenched from people who have worked hard, have been frugal and have their own lives together, and those dollars are given to those who have squandered their assets, or not yet mastered the art of living, and those dollars are in turn, squandered on things their original owners would consider extravagant and wasteful, that is a definite disincentive."

"OK. OK," Harrison confidently launched into a summation: "It's not values that need to change, it's just that people need to ask themselves a few questions to discover, maybe rediscover, them. The problem is our political structure stifles the expression of those values."

Lisa still looked confused. "I had a question when Mr. Hoffer was talking about grant making institutions," she said. "Last year I worked on a grant proposal seeking funds to start up a shelter for runaways in Bloomfield. During my research I learned that by law, billions of dollars have to be distributed by nonprofit public and private agencies every year. I'm not clear on how grant makers fit into the AW concept of trade."

"Janet, why don't you take this one." Phyllis nodded to the girl at the other end of the table who alternately shifted her attention between a small tape recorder on her right and the laptop in front of her. She was purposely trying to stay out of the discussion. After all, Lincoln was the 12th grade representative from Mapleton; her role was administrative aid. But she knew Phyllis was right to draw her into the conversation at this point, because she had worked hard the past two years developing Mapleton's fledgling AW trading program.

"Are you familiar with trading stamps?" When Lisa shook her head, Janet appealed to Mr. Hoffer: "Probably Mr. Hoffer knows what I am talking about," and Mr. Hoffer responded.

"There still might be a few around, but they were extremely popular 20 or 30 years ago. Grocery and other retail stores gave stamps with your receipt at the check out counter based on the amount of your purchase. These stamps were pasted in books and redeemed for merchandise, trips all sorts of things. The greater the number of stamps collected the better the choices. Blue Chip and S & H green stamps were two companies that printed the stamps, sold them to merchants and administered the programs," Mr. Hoffer concluded.

"Airlines do stuff like that now. You get redeemable points for so many miles flown," Bill said.

"And credit and bank cards offer premiums for purchases charged to their cards, and you redeem tickets won in arcades for prizes," Paul added.

"Well, we have the Dream Machine in Mapleton. It is administered by students in a classroom situation with oversight by the Volunteer Center. I worked getting local grant makers to translate grant dollars into merchandise and services which we listed on our Dream Machine. Others worked to attract national grant makers. Still other looked for brand new resources in our business community and asked them, and individuals who would normally give dollars to charities, to list goods and services on the AW Dream Machine. Money is about the only thing that cannot be listed as a reward on the Dream Machine.

Janet went on, "Paul mentioned the polls we took in Mapleton that found that more than half those polled didn't want anything tangible for their volunteer efforts. They were anxious to trade their time and effort just for the opportunity to make a difference. In fact the things people suggested as trades ran the gamut from skate boards and pizza to a good feeling. So people who don't want anything for themselves, can always choose something for other family members, their school, church, neighborhood, or a nonprofit. They can combine credits. In fact recently a church ended up pooling the credits of their parishioners and redeemed enough material and professional carpenter skills for an addition to their Sunday school. Beforethe Dream Machine they would have spent hours searching for a grant or taking out a loan and spending their time raising the money to pay back the loan with rummage and bake sales. Now they can spend that energy improving the community. The building materials and craftsman were listed on theDream Machine and funded by a grant maker that in the old days would have written a check for far more than the cost of materials and what little professional labor was needed."

"Why would the grant maker have written a check for more than needed?" asked Bill.

"Grant seekers inevitably request more than is needed to cover administrative costs and the unexpected. It's the way it's done. You add a little here and there just to make sure you don't have the added stress of pinching dollars. It's a different story when you have a job to do and a finite amount of your own money. In that case you might end up supplementing the money you have with your own labor, the labor of your friends and maybe substituting some used or less expensive material in order to stretch your resources. The church got most of its labor from its own members and even the professionals were members of the congregation. You save a lot when you only need a few professionals to guide the amateurs. And by the way, if you don't believe that people pad requests, just ask those people who depend on annual grants to keep their programs going."

"I can attest to that," Harrison volunteered. "My father counts on annual research grants to fund his work at the university. He often talks about the waste that goes on in the department. Everyone knows they can get along with far less money, but nobody would ever dream of asking for less. In fact a couple years ago they threw a gigantic party just to use up all the funds before the end of the year. Their budget would have been cut if they hadn't spent all that was allocated. There's no incentive to save."

"I think I'm hearing the chump factor again," said Paul

"That's right," Janet agreed. "One more thing. In the old days the grant maker would have made its funding choice, from the hundreds of proposals submitted, on the basis of a well written business plan."

"In other words, grants went to the best presenters---those who were skilled at writing proposals," Lisa surmised.

"Exactly," Janet said. "But, if it's OK with you Phyllis, I ran across something on the internet that signals a change."

Phyllis nodded her approval as Janet's fingers flew over the keyboard of her laptop. Phyllis never ceased to be amazed at Janet's ability to call up relevant material on her computer at a moment's notice. This girl was going places.

"OK. I'm skimming from notes I took from Governing magazine, May 1997; an article titled "Dueling With Do-Gooders" by Rob Gurwitt. This was for a Problem Solver project," Janet explained and went on, "The author claims financially strapped cities formed partnerships with private agencies;nonprofits, churches, com-munity organizations;when they couldn't afford to deal with public social and economic problems alone. These private agencies demanded, and received, public subsidies and central locations. They snapped up empty office space and store fronts and used them for soup kitchens, drop in centers for the needy and that kind of thing. The number of nonprofits involved in human services rose from 35,000 prior to 1985 to 54,000 in 1992;a rise of over 50 percent. The unrestrained growth of the services local governments encouraged and relied on, came back to haunt them. In the late 1900s cities made a comeback and prosperous businesses were faced with people talking to themselves, lying on the sidewalk and defecating in their changing rooms.

"And there were duplications. Hartford, Connecticut mayor, Mike Peters, said, and I quote: 'We found that a lot of the nonprofits requesting money from us were doing the same types of things. We had 32 different facilities for drug rehab--remember, you're talking about only 16 square miles of land, which to me didn't make a lot of sense.' He stressed the need to identify and reorganize these programs."

"That's AW," said Lincoln triumphantly. "It avoids duplications."

Janet continued: "The problem described by the writer was one of overabundance and lack of coordination. He noted that too many providers attract too many clients and an area becomes focused on needy individuals more than on the citizens who are able to support themselves and others."

"That's right," Dorothy agreed. "It's incentives. These incentives attract more takers than givers--more needy than producers."

"Well," Janet went on, "In Connecticut, neighborhood organizations were formed to promote a moratorium on nonprofits. Residents began to question the effectiveness of nonprofits 'at healing the social illnesses that are the reason for their existence.' In other words they weren't getting results. Instead of decreasing the problems, their soup kitchens and shelters were attracting more people with problems.

"It seems that politicians have lost faith in social services. The article says, 'They have no reason to believe that if they increase their allocations for child welfare or mental health or public safety by 30 percent they will begin to see the problems decreasing in the data'," Janet said.

"No doubt the officials were labeled as racist and accused of not caring about the poor," Harrison said sarcastically

"The politicians retaliated by claiming nonprofits were driven by a quest for dollars more than a desire to serve (fulfill their missions)," Janet replied. "Officials in Portland, Maine decided not to fund a local youth leadership group that lost its federal grant because there was no decline in what the program was supposed to prevent. Here's a quote from Portland's City Manager: 'Drug use is getting younger; dropout rates are not diminishing; we've got the highest underage smoking rate in the country. So you wonder, would we be any worse off if this program wasn't in effect?' And there's a quote which shows that Rochester, New York is ripe for the AW concept: it wants 'its poorest neighborhoods to think of themselves, not as dens of social pathology but as potential-filled communities that, if they organize themselves, can build on their own assets."

"YES!" Lincoln interjected.

"And here's a direct quote from Tom Argust in Rochester," Janet continued: 'Unfortunately, we fund nonprofits' programs based on how bad problems are and how good they are at articulating how bad the problems are so they focus on how bad things are instead of trying to see what are the assets we have in this neighborhood, how libraries and schools and parks can be harnessed and organized to bring about a different kind of neighborhood."

"If that's not AW, I don't know what is," declared Lincoln. "AW puts the focus on assets, not deficiencies."

"Well the bottom line," said Janet as she closed her computer file, "is that funders are getting tired of funding what doesn't work. They are ready for results. They want more bang for their bucks and that's what we get when we leverage our resources and use trades instead of dollar subsidies. By acting as a redeemer of credits, the grant maker is funding programs based on the proven support of people who cared enough to contribute upfront, their time, labor, materials; whatever it took to gather enough redeemable credits. In effect, they earn the project," Janet declared.

"You said something about Problem Solvers a couple minutes ago? Could you explain what that is?" Mario requested.

"It's a school-based club that attempts to solve problems in the community. High school kids make recommendations based on research. At Mapleton High, the Problem Solvers cooperate and coordinate with the teachers involved in community-based learning, which is something somebody else will tell you about before the day is over, I'm sure. But I'll give you a brief rundown on a couple of last year's Problem Solver projects.

"Problem Solvers discovered that with the money it cost to post temporary signs and to knock on doors to inform residents of an annual cleaning, street sweepers in Mapleton could put a regular schedule on permanent signs and provide regular monthly cleanings.

"One of our elementary schools wanted an all-day kindergarten but there was no room at the school and no money to pay a full-day kindergarten teacher in their budget. Parents and teachers at the school met and the best they could come up with was applying for federal funds. That pot had already been emptied, so they decided to let the Problem Solvers have a go at it. We did a lot of interviewing and discovered a big problem was that working mothers had to leave work in the middle of the day to pick up children at noon and schlep them to daycare across town. We got input from all the people affected: neighbors, parents, employers and groups that care about giving kids a good start in education. We came up with several recommendations."

"Like what?" Mario pressed.

"Like (1) having the affected employers donate to the unfunded rewards and recruiting volunteer drivers. Like (2) getting volunteers to remodel extra space in a retirement complex in the neighborhood for a daycare so the morning kindergartners wouldn't need to be driven across town, but could interact with the many older people in the neighborhood who we discovered were eager to assume grandparent roles to assist graduate students who jumped at the hands on educational experience involved in working with kids near their own facility." Janet paused to catch her breath.

"What happened?" asked Bill.

"The recommendations were made last year and long range plans are being worked out involving the University, the business community and the retirement complex and of course the school. Meanwhile mothers do not have to leave their jobs because the various employers rented a van and the kids are being chauffeured to their multiple afternoon destinations by volunteers from Mapleton Cares, an AW organization." Janet realized she had wandered from her subject, trading, but decided to add one more thing.

"Problem Solvers has a talk show on Mapleton's most popular radio station. There just happens to be five schools involved in Problem Solvers so each hosts a show one day a week. Callers suggest problems and discuss possible solutions on the air with the students. We have a virtual media blitz solving community problems here in Mapleton."

"Fantastic!" Lisa was impressed, and a little envious. She didn't realize it, but she was really helping Janet get back on track when she said, "But I would really like some examples of actual trades."

Janet took a moment to reflect and said, "OK. Probably in Bloomfield, when people want to get an operation for a sick child or send kids to camp, they solicit through the mail, use the media or go door to door making compassionate appeals. In Mapleton, instead of solicitors, traders might offer to perform bookkeeping or other office tasks, gardening, hauling, provide entertainment or even operate a daycare center in exchange for an operation or two weeks at camp for a group of kids."

"If you go door to door some people might let you cut their lawn, but they won't have an operation to hand you in return." Bill laughed. "You must collect checks, or points or something in order to pay for the operation. Unless, of course, a surgeon answers the door and you offer to build him a garage in exchange for an operation," he joked.

Janet laughed. "As Bill says, if you and your friends cut enough lawns you'd eventually collect enough community currency to choose an operation from theDream Machine. You would look under Health Care and find a list of grant making nonprofits whose mission includes health-related projects. You would work out the details of a trade with the grant maker before starting any grass cutting campaign."

"In the final analysis," Bill said, "the grant maker would foot the bill instead of cutting you a check."

"Something like that," Janet replied. "It's a mind, or should I say a value-setting exercise with economic considerations. In this example the grant maker might be able to make a better deal with the hospital and surgeon than the patient could and thereby stretch its resources."

"Now what about the homeowner who had his lawn cut. I thought he was supposed to trade something of value," Lisa persisted. "The way I see it there are no recipients but everyone is a giver. Could this be true?"

"Well, you're right that there are no recipients, or rather everyone is both a recipient and a giver. We prefer to call everybody a trader. You may think being so picky about words is silly, but there is proof that words change minds. Traders are equals; givers and recipients aren't. There is a difference between being entitled to something through no personal effort and earning. The person who agreed to have his lawn mowed could trade on the spot or make a future commitment." Janet paused. "Everyone in a community has something to contribute. That belief is a cornerstone of AW. Volunteers are encouraged to seek out ways to help others discover and share their talents, to encourage those who benefit from good deeds, to pass a good deed on to the next guy."

"Habitat for Humanity does that right now in Bloomfield," Mario interjected. "People who get help building their house then help other people build theirs."

"That's the idea," Janet said. "I was in a group my sophomore year that kept a wish list of the good deeds that needed doing in the community. As members of our group became aware of new needs, the list was updated. All volunteers are expected to act as matchmakers;matchmakers, not grant makers. We don't just identify needs, we all keep a sharp eye out for potential solutions and volunteers. For instance, the person whose lawn you cut might be a lonely older person who loves to bake. You tell her about a harried young mother in another house who has little time to breathe. Can you see the possibilities?"

"You match the two. And her 'pass it on' might not be bread; she might read or play games with the children so the mother can keep a doctor's appointment or shop in peace or something" Megan added.

"Fine," Lisa said, "but matches like that are already going on in Bloomfield and all over the country."

"But in fewer numbers and without the cost efficiencies," Janet replied. "Remember, AW is a mobilization of existing resources. It's a way to enhance the good things already going on."

"Good job, Janet. We have to talk about existing resources before we go any further. I know one of you has that presentation." Phyllis looked around the table expectantly.

Raeann cleared her throat as Janet began projecting the charts she had called up on her laptop as Phyllis was speaking. Raeann had composed them using PowerPoint software. She had recently arrived in Mapleton from Texas. She lived with her mother and younger brother. Her mother ran a desktop publishing and web creation and management business from her home. Raeann knew just about everything there was to know about computers. When her peers were playing with blocks, she was pounding on outdated computers that were relatively worthless even as trade-ins. In the six months she had been at Mapleton High she had upgraded the school's home page and added all kinds of useful and highly technical features to AW's computer data bases. She practically lived at the computer lab;where she was highly respected. Two years ago she had been critically injured in the automobile accident that accounted for her scarred face. Despite her best efforts, she was unable to withdraw from people. She was in constant demand due to her ability as a computer programmer and expertise with the internet. She soon came to realize that people looked beyond her appearance to what she did and who she was. She knew she had learned a valuable lesson despite herself. She felt sorry for all the people she knew who spent far too much time working on and worrying about their physical appearance and too little time and energy developing their character and abilities.

"You will each have a more detailed copy of the organization charts to take with you. I'll go through this abbreviated version quickly and then let you ask questions. How's that?" Raeann asked.

"Sounds great, "Mr. Hoffer answered for the Bloomfield contingent.

Raeann began reading from the printed copy in front of her as everyone else focused on one of the four walls and followed:

Organizations

In order to avoid duplications, to learn from one another, share resources and engage in joint ventures and strategic planning, all community-based nonprofits participating in Another Way are categorized by mission. Leadership chooses those things that best define the group's mission. There is overlap and often more than one category is appropriate:

Decrease crime
Enrich the lives of the elderly
Enrich the lives of young children
Enrich the lives of adolescents through age 24
Improve the health of all residents
Academic projects
Easing the affects of poverty and enriching neighborhoods
Animal related projects-protection and appreciation
School based problem solving program for teens

Raeann cleared her throat again and began: "I've been at Mapleton two semesters and belong to Helping Hands through my church and also the Problem Solvers through school." She held up her jacket where two lapel pins were displayed in addition to the AW logo every Mapleton student wore. One lapel pin was a school house with Mapleton HS in black letters and the other was a green hand with gold trim and Helping Hands in white letters. "Helping Hands affiliates with organizations that work with the elderly, and because there are occasionally young kids at its shelters, it exchanges ideas with those organizations that work with young children and teens, as well as the poverty groups.

"Anyone can belong to an organization by donating only a small amount of time on only one occasion. For example, you might have an hour of time and want to make good use of it for no particular reason or maybe to honor something or someone. Nonprofits in Mapleton offer what they call 'celebration opportunities'--one-shot good deeds that can be done on your birthday, anniversary, or as a thanksgiving for recovery from illness, for a new job, birth of a baby and so forth." Raeann concluded.

"In Bloomfield," Mario said, "community service is thought of as a punishment. If kids get into trouble, and even adults sometimes, they can work it off. Community service is not exactly prestigious."

"Mapleton encountered the same problem, so courts no longer offer community service as an option for juveniles or adults guilty of misdemeanors," Raeann said. "To make community service prestigious, Mapleton annually offers hundreds of awards at an elaborate ceremony. And that's in addition to community currency."

"How do you know which group to join?" Bill wondered aloud.

"I've never been in a sorority," Raeann began, "but when I described the biannual Mapleton Rush to my mom she said it sounded just like the rush sororities and fraternities stage to recruit members on college campuses. For two weeks nonprofits are allowed to state their case for 15 minutes at the end of each class. There are displays in the lunch room with handouts and kiosks showing videos. Speakers are featured in the gym where a free lunch can be picked up at the door. It 's a lot like a fair with lots of exhibits on display M-F for two weeks, actually ten days. The idea is to get students to commit. There are sign up sheets and trial volunteer packages. Last semester some nonprofits offered variety packs, complete with a party or fun activity after each event."

"I can understand Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, Big Brothers and all those, but do churches and public agencies like social service, park and police departments also recruit at rushes?" Bill asked.

"Churches don't recruit, but programs which originate in churches might recruit volunteers. For instance Red Brick Road is a program sponsored by Mapleton Presbyterian Church. Members do all kinds of things to make the lives of sick children a little happier. They display material during rushes and people who want to help can join without belonging to the church. Helping Hands originated at St. John's Episcopal Church. Now, if you happen to be an acolyte or sing in the church choir that's great, but it's not AW. Likewise, if you cut your sister's hair, or bake a cake for your mom's birthday, that's a good deed, but not AW. To be part of AW, to collect community currency, the action would have to serve those outside your immediate family or your church family." Raeann said.

"The good deed has to be performed through an established nonprofit organization. OK. That's clear. But what about the public agencies?" Bill persisted.

"In Mapleton we work closely with all three of the departments you mentioned. In fact the police department usually attracts the most volunteers at school-based rushes. In addition to their Explorers program, which is kind of like the scouts, the police department has a wide range of neighborhood projects." Raeann was warming to her subject. "Kids, especially the younger ones, love to work with police and firemen. They can do all kinds of things from wrapping and distributing gifts, to beautifying playgrounds. Of course the parks department is always anxious for older kids to supervise group activities, or mentor younger kids, one on one. But the biggest surprise was the response of our social service agency. The social workers in Mapleton embraced the AW concept with open arms."

"That's surprising," said Lisa who had met with more than one social worker over the past 17 years. She came from a typical modern family where both parents work and each has been married more than once. When people first encounter the trophies and medals Lisa has won in math competitions, she likes to tell them she has so many half and step brothers and sisters she needs to be good in math to keep track of them all.

"Yeah. Why would social workers be attracted to Another Way?" Bill asked Raeann.

"Funds have been cut and case loads have increased. A large component of AW is the concept of leverage which I don't think we've discussed yet. Is it OK to bring it up now?" Raeann addressed Phyllis.

"Absolutely," Phyllis answered encouragingly.

"Well," Raeann began, "leverage means stretching existing resources. Social workers know which families need assistance but simply don't have the time or resources to do what they would like to do. A harried social worker willing to supervise five college students, each in charge of ten high school volunteers who in turn might channel the enthusiasm and optimism of a few elementary school volunteers would leverage the time and energy of one by fifty, and that's not even counting the youngest group.

"Another example of leverage is sharing computer resources. In Mapleton, for example, we have older TVC members using computer rooms at Boys and Girl Clubs in the mornings when the kids are in school, and as a trade, they act as tutors in the afternoons, familiarizing kids with a variety of software programs. Sixteen computers used to sit idle until 2 o'clock and then they were used only for games. Now the kids are learning skills and are able to gain experience for job resumes by volunteering in the Boys and Girls Club office or doing projects for other local nonprofits."

"That's great!" Bill enthused.

"OK, here's something I still don't understand." Amanda began, "What could anyone possibly trade if they're sick and old? Or how about the homeless? I guess I still don't get this trade idea."

Raeann plunged in. "The trade possibilities are limitless! For example one bed ridden patient in a nursing home traded a story from his past to my brother. My brother's fourth grade put on a show at a nursing home and in trade they interviewed the patients as part of a research paper. In the classroom each student had thought of three questions to ask in trade."

"Great idea!" said Mario. "I bet they learned a lot more than they would have just reading about recent history in a book."

"Not only that," Raeann said, "the older people loved the attention. The kids were so enthusiastic the older residents felt they had really made a contribution."

"Sounds like win-win!" observed Harrison.

"Some of the options depend on the health of the older person," Raeann continued. "Kids, especially the young ones, often need chaperones. Sometimes retired people take a young person fishing or on a golf course; they teach skills like carpentry, electrical, plumbing, painting and so forth or share hobbies with older students or neighbors."

"The police say that just having older people sitting on park benches has kept drug dealers out of Mapleton's Kennedy Park, " Paul interjected."

"Just being there--just sitting in a recreation or common room, a friendly lap in a rocking chair, just a consistent presence is valuable when both parents are working," Raeann added. "It's nice but not necessary to be able to read stories, play cards or board games."

Raeann had a tough enough job explaining the categories for the nonprofit agencies without redoing the trade concepts Janet had already covered earlier. Phyllis entered the conversation. "Just keep in mind that it is possible to be affiliated with AW even though you were initially the recipient, not the instigator of a good deed. Remember earlier Janet was explaining that in AW everyone is a trader? Recipient, beneficiary, giver, donor; in a trade situation those terms are meaningless. Young people might go into a nursing home to distribute fruit baskets and end up hearing stories and being treated to an old fashioned musical performed by the residents.

"Also remember Janet told us finding the potential in other people is part of what TVC members are encouraged to do. It's really true that everyone has something to give. When Linda, our youngest daughter, was 13, she kept urging me to give money to homeless panhandlers. I didn't want to discourage these good feelings, but we were going broke, so I redirected her energies. Linda and I started working at a soup kitchen. Those early morning commitments exposed her to another generation at a time when most adolescents are focused on themselves. She received a warning about drug and alcohol abuse far stronger than any classroom presentation. The people she served weren't exactly role models, but they were wonderful, nevertheless. These were perhaps the only Americans she will ever encounter who were not in a hurry. Homeless people have plenty of time to pass on knowledge and life experiences. One older lady gave Linda drawing lessons, Uncle Jake taught her card tricks, and she heard all sorts of fascinating real life stories."

Janet reentered the conversation. "My grandfather lives in the Twin Oaks area. He uses pictures from Miss Glacken's art classes for the senior community center newsletter he publishes every month. As a trade he has been asked for advice on a personal problem, by a senior at Twin Oaks High. Of course he didn't tell me who or what the problem was, but I know sometimes he just listens and sometimes he assures teen age boys that the same thing happened to him or one of his friends when they were young. Sometimes it's easier to talk to an adult before talking with your own parent."

"I just wanted to add one more thing to the list of trades. The Problem Solvers at Mapleton High compiled a list of questions for the oral history section of our downtown library," Dorothy said. "We gave a section of it to Mr. Jenkins' seventh grade class when they planted flowers at the community center. They got answers from people who had lived in Mapleton for over twenty years as their trade for planting flowers."

"There's no end to the interesting things people dream up as trades," Raeann said. "Sometimes it's a personal object, old photo, a book, something sentimental, an award, a party--anything but money could be a trade. In Mapleton we have community parties for everything and all the time. Organization frequently throw parties for their members and sometimes several organizations get together for a big bash and then there's the annual community-wide party which the city hosts and when the awards are given to express the gratitude of the community for its volunteers."

"Does AW set a limit on the number of nonprofit organizations in Mapleton?" Lisa asked.

"There's no limit," Raeann answered.

"But maybe there should be a limit," Lincoln interjected. "Last year the Mapleton High debate team considered whether more, weaker organizations are superior to fewer, stronger ones. Obviously, the more new ideas, the better, but it is difficult and takes time for a new idea to take root and too often the small organization goes under before that happens. The same is true of political parties. They were referred to in the debate to show that a new idea has a better chance of surviving within one of the two main parties in the United States than in a fringe party built around it."

"Which side of the debate were you on?" Mario wanted to know everything about his hero.

"I argued, in keeping with the AW mandate not to reinvent the wheel, that it is better to search for the organization most compatible to a new idea and work for change from within that organization."

"By putting your shoulder behind an existing wheel!", exclaimed the ebullient Amanda.

"Right as usual!" Lincoln's earlier irritation was turning to admiration. He beamed at Amanda as he added, "And for the record, there was no winner and the subject is being researched by the Problem Solvers at three schools this semester. It's really up to the existing organizations to encourage new ideas. Leadership has got to give up the narrow minded possessive and territorial attitude they have exhibited over the years.

"Sorry to sidetrack you. The balls in your court again," He smiled at Raeann.

Raeann smiled back and said, "Well, in Mapleton, there's certainly the potential for new programs. If kids have a good idea, can sell it to an adult sponsor and are willing to put enough hours into it, that idea could blossom into a new nonprofit organization."

"Where would they get an adult sponsor?" Amanda asked.

"We have spent a lot of time appealing to retired people," Paul broke in. Everyone could tell he was anxious to tell a story. Turning to Phyllis he asked, "Isn't this a good place to bring up my presentation, City Links?" City Links referred to the role computers played in AW. Although only a ninth grader, Paul was the crowned prince of computers at Mapleton High. Using that analogy, Raeann was queen. Instead of being jealous, Paul was only too happy to play second fiddle to Raeann whom he idolized. He followed her around like a love sick puppy. He was aching to know everything she knew.

"I'd appreciate it if you would hold off a little bit, Paul," Phyllis replied. "You've put so much work into City Links I know you're anxious to tell us about it, but we're not quite finished talking about the nonprofits. Hold on; you'll get your chance, I promise," Phyllis motioned for Raeann to continue.

Raeann turned to Paul. "Paul, I don't know if you still belong to Troop #47, but I heard you scouts won awards in all sorts of categories."

Paul was ecstatic, from what he chose to interpret as praise from Raeann, but he managed to reply, cooly, he thought: "I don't have time for scouting this year what with computer projects and all, but last year, yeah. Some of us decided what community projects we were going to do at the beginning of the school year. We basically planned activities so that we would participate in three organizations and get the flavor of a variety of programs. We ended up winning awards in three categories."

"Is there a purpose for all the awards and lapel pins beyond appearances? I mean suppose you're the kind of person that doesn't get excited over wearing symbols? I know lots of people like that; in fact I'm one of them," said Lisa.

Phyllis responded: "I suppose awards and pins are a matter of taste. There's no reason you have to wear them, although they are a witness of your commitment and seeing them might inspire others.

"The badges, you haven't heard about, are earned, like scouting badges, by fulfilling a set of requirements. These badges signify an objective competency. In Mapleton we have access to software which uses artificial intelligence to evaluate the performance required to qualify for some AW awards. It provides help where needed until a score signifying an objective level of mastery is achieved. In addition to the computer evaluation, Volunteer Corps members must have participated in activities and submit written recommendations from beneficiaries, co-workers and nonprofit leaders.

"Badges may be earned for business skills, child-care, health-care, art, tutoring, construction and all sorts of things. We've made our Volunteer Corps badges prestigious in Mapleton and they have recently gained national recognition from some employers and institutions of higher learning. The recognition will grow as more communities become involved with AW and understand the effort required to earn a badge. Before long the awards will inspire admiration around the globe as symbols of exemplary achievement.

Phyllis gave what might have been a nostalgic sigh and continued. "There used to be a connection between school and the marketplace. Students knew they were being prepared to face the normal ups and downs of life and to cope and make a living. In recent years a lot of kids failed to understand that what is learned in school; work habits, analytical ability, math, science and even things like grammar, punctuation and spelling;should transfer to the work place. Service in the TVC helps students make that connection between school and the real world."

Now it was Mr. Hoffer's turn to reminisce: "At one time an employer could count on a high school diploma. I understand that Minnesota's governor increased funding for that state's reading readiness programs after 42 percent of the employers in his state reported that high school graduates lacked basic reading writing and math skills. Both high school and college diplomas have such diverse and generally little significance today, that many businesses are forced to administer their own examinations in order to determine the competency of a potential employee. Training is expensive for business, and is commonplace. Business spends $82 billion a year to train employees;graduates and non-graduates of both college and high school."

"The Problem Solvers at Mapleton High tackled the welfare-to-work issue this year," Janet informed the group. "We learned a lot. For instance, what is the market for elementary and secondary education?" She answered her own question: "Post secondary education and the workplace. Of 3,000 institutions of higher learning, only 600 exercise any selection in admission. There is no need for students to qualify; they will be accepted no matter how inadequate their preparation. Labor is obviously dissatisfied with the job the schools are doing, but they never say what they want. Labor hires college graduates to get skills that should have been learned in high school. It's easier for business to produce abroad and sell in the United States than to tell local communities they have lousy schools.

"In Wisconsin the average GPA (grade point average) for students not working over 20 hours a week was 3.0; it dropped to 2.3 GPA for those who worked over 20 hours a week. Employers like to hire low-wage teens. Schools have increased general education courses and dropped welding and engineering courses because kids don't have the prerequisite math and English skills. They are churning out two year degrees at community colleges that no employers value. And now employers are expected to hire people off the welfare roles, subsidized by taxpayers. That's what happens when tax advantages are handed to employers.

"Take the experience of just one company." Janet was energized. "Fujitsu initially hired 30 people off the welfare roles and agreed to hire 450 more in exchange for a $23 million tax break. It cost Fujitsu $16,000 to train each employee plus another $400 a month per employee to pick up half the cost of child care and subsidize transportation and housing where needed. Even with all this help, the drop out rate for welfare-role hires was double that of other groups hired by Fujitsu. Of the original 30 hired, 15 either quit or were fired. No wonder Fujitsu wanted out of its agreement to hire 450 more former welfare recipients.

"Problem Solvers concluded that what these people need is experience as AW volunteers working with mentors and learning good work habits. They would develop a sense of responsibility over time. Many have been on the welfare roles for 20 years or longer and have little or no experience with getting to work on time. The old way is to add $30,000-a-year employees to government payrolls to manage these former welfare recipients; to take them to work and teach them responsibility, and pay for them to attend courses in basic workplace skills."

Bill had recently written a paper and recalled some information which he thought was relevant: "Tommy Thompson, Governor of Wisconsin claims his state saved $30 million a month by taking mothers off welfare and requiring them to work eight hours a day. If they were unskilled they learned skills and work habits by first attending shelter workshops, then they generally went on to government or school employment at admittedly menial jobs. After graduating from private employment, subsidized by the state to the tune of $300 or $400 a month, they were finally ready for unsubsidized work in the private sector."

Lincoln waited until the train of thought had been played out, and then he said, "I'd like to tell our visitors about a real situation in Mapleton, prior to AW, but it's an example of the type of thing AW inspires."

Phyllis nodded and Lincoln began: "My uncle used to work for the Jeremiah-Hilde Company when it was having a hard time attracting good employees. The company considered moving because of that, and also because of criminal activity in the area. But relocation turned out to be so costly Jeremiah-Hilde opted to improve the neighborhood and develop a local ethical and competent work force instead.

"The company agreed to sponsor 20 local Boys and Girls Club members between the ages of 10 and 12. It provided a team of mentors; one for each child. The mentors got advice from the local Big Brothers and Big Sisters staff. Jeremiah-Hilde employees were expected to volunteer five hours a week for a three month period annually. This schedule resulted in four separate mentors year round for each child and the 60 hours a year commitment was not an undue hardship for employees. The mentors encouraged the children, even helping with homework, keeping in touch with their schools and planning trips to expand and enrich the children's lives. The company arranged for some paid time for an employee to work on projects which would slowly introduce each child to the company. One project was decorating for an office party; another was a landscape project. One mentor and his child built shelves and others painted recreation areas or cleaned up files or moved books around in the company library.

"As the children became teenagers they were offered after-school apprentice jobs where they acquired useful skills and were exposed to career options ranging from relatively low level technician slots, to professional positions requiring graduate degrees. The company entered into a work-study contract with any child who managed to sustain good grades. The child decided how much education would be enough, not his financial and family circumstances. The company was able to build its own inventory of topnotch employees this way. Just as it had hoped, training home-grown employees reduced costly turn-over and produced loyal long-term team members. Neighbor-hood kids in the program developed leadership skills and were able to influence other kids, so in addition, crime decreased in the area.

"OK," Lincoln's voice rose and he quickened his pace, "forget what the kids got; hope, a stake in the future, the esteem that comes from being a constructive human being. We all saved tax dollars that weren't needed to train these low-income kids for jobs. We all saved the unemployment checks that might have been necessary had the Jeremiah-Hilde Company been forced off-shore."

Mario had been taking this all in and was coveting a piece of the action. If only Jeremiah-Hilde was in Bloomfield. "What is a work-study contract?" he asked enviously.

"The contract was similar to the agreements the military has with recruits; so many years of service for so many years of education. Escape clauses were built into the agreements that allowed other means to pay back Jeremiah-Hilde. I'm sure not everyone returned to work there."

It made sense to Mario.

Bill seemed lost in his own thoughts during the Jermiah-Hilde discussion. Now he said quietly, "What bothers me is how people figure out what to do so quickly. I know about the rushes twice a year, but…" he paused, "Take Paul and his friends. How could they know what they wanted to do without spending a lot of time doing research?"

Lincoln beamed at Bill and said: "They used Troop #47's computer. They had immediate access to all the nonprofits in Mapleton. That's thanks to City Links; and that's the subject of Paul's presentation coming up."

Paul was the most surprised by the turn the discussion had suddenly taken. How could anyone possibly think a few scouts could discover what needed doing in three separate categories and figure out what to do, how to do it, collect the resources and not duplicate any other efforts in the community, all in a few short months. The programs were not scout programs; they were programs, possibly funded and well thought out in response to already identified pressing community needs and just waiting for volunteers to make them happen.

Two of the programs he and his friends had chosen, had been operating for the past two years. The other was a great idea which was estimated to take 200 man hours. The six scouts had pooled their energy and taken the project from beginning to end. Actually that one was the most satisfying. Paul mentally adjusted his City Links presentation. He would use the three scout projects as examples.

"Let's take a short break and then we'll get Paul's description of City Links. After that we've been invited to the Center for lunch," Phyllis said.

The girls traipsed down the hall to the rest room while most of the guys headed for the snacks. People mingled, stretched their legs and the boys took good natured jabs at one another. Phyllis noted the little paring that occurred was based on age. The seniors, Lincoln, Janet and Lisa, found one another, probably to talk about colleges and the future and the youngest students; Amanda and Megan, Mario and Paul, gravitated to one another as well, that is until Paul discovered Raeann had reemerged. "OK, let's get this show on the road people," Phyllis said as she watched Paul abruptly quit Mario and rush to Raeann's side. For a split second Phyllis questioned her own motives and timing and wondered if she was trying to help out Raeann. No, she reassured herself, there was still a lot to cover before lunch. It was time anyway, to get back to the table.

"OK, Paul," Phyllis said, "Take it away!"

Paul obliged: "City Links is the name of the information sharing aspect of AW. When AW first started in Mapleton, a lot of people predicted it would take years and large amounts of money to link the city via the internet. In 1997 it was estimated that it would cost eleven billion dollars, between one and a half and two percent of the budget of the nation's public schools, to connect to the internet. This estimate assumed putting about 25 computers per school into a special classroom or lab where teachers would bring classes once a day. We found that parents with technical knowledge were Mapleton's best resource.

"There still may not be as many computers accessible to the public as we would like, but we try and leverage computer resources by sharing where necessary and scheduling certain times for use by volunteers. As Janet, or someone, mentioned earlier, sometimes volunteers use computer rooms at organizations that focus on children and teens in the mornings when the clients of these agencies are in school, and as a trade, they act as tutors for the students in the afternoons. Anyway, in a matter of months, by using private trades, we had internet access at every library, school, public building and most nonprofit agencies. It is now possible for every ambulatory resident of Mapleton to have access to the information on the AW home page by accessing the internet using a toll free local phone call. Nonprofit organizations, and the Center are currently connected office to office via the internet without costly wiring and networking systems."

"Paul, what is the primary purpose of providing internet access to residents," Mr. Hoffer asked, and quickly amended his question: "I mean aside from the obvious benefits, why is access important to Another Way?"

"I heard a story yesterday that may explain some of it. A lady logged

onto the internet, used a search engine and chose a Disney Fans newsgroup and posted a request for Mickey Mouse hotel soaps, shampoos or other toiletries to be donated to the leukemia patients at Boston's Children's Hospital. She was almost immediately bombarded with donations exceeding her wildest expectations.

"I guess the efficiency aspects are among the obvious benefits to internet access. Instead of duplicating effort, in Mapleton we pool effort, we share resources. When more communities subscribe to AW we will be able to adapt the best programs across the nation to our needs. Forms, letters, brochures, posters, newspaper advertisements and contracts used successfully by one community can be adapted by others. All anyone has to do is log onto the Another Way home page, and with a click of a mouse, information can be copied. No copyrights and no charges exist among participants in Another Way. There are no fees and copyrights among nonprofits. If nonprofits come up with ideas to help society, they should be disseminated as widely as possible, and certainly without charge. Charging fellow collaborators fees in the war against social immobility is part of the old mindset. With this new mindset, no one has to reinvent procedures. The infrastructure promotes sharing so that the real business of human to human contact can take place.

"The premise behind City Links is that mistakes publicized will be mistakes avoided. The hope is that the market will ensure that the most efficient solutions prevail and supplies and labor will get to their most needed destination. If you decide to implement AW in Bloomfield, you will find it unbelievably simple. It wasn't always simple but any horror stories you may have heard about configuring modems and accessing the internet are pretty much in the past.

"The Chamber of Commerce in most communities publishes cursory information regarding local organizations and there are often other publications, including numerous pages on the web, which do the same. Our polls showed that these summaries provided too little information to be truly useful to potential donors of time, goods and services," Paul was interrupted by Amanda.

"What do donors want to know?"

"Our polls showed they want to know where to go and what to do." Paul was animated. "Let me give you some real life examples that occurred before we had AW in Mapleton:

"My mother heard that the local YWCA got $5,000 from a foundation. She knew that half of the money went to three schools to fund a program designed to offer solutions to domestic violence and the other half went to the Y's career education and independent living skills training program. She thought she might volunteer and wanted to get more detailed information to pass on to her women's group, so she made a phone call and was told to call back in two days. With internet access, she could have downloaded the information on the spot. Instead she did what comes naturally; procrastinated and nothing came of the inclinations.

"A lawyer friend of my dad's attempted to donate legal services to children's causes. He registered at the local Volunteer Center and called various agencies. No one knew what to do with his offer and again nothing came of it.

"My uncle wanted to give speeches to promote a cause he believed in and was not allowed to do so because he was not on the board of the organization that provided research for the advocacy agency.

"Our family came up with an extra turkey one Thanksgiving morning and started calling while the bird was still in the oven. Fourteen calls resulted in taped messages on machines;even hot lines were not manned, so if anyone was looking to refer a homeless person to a meal they wouldn't know where to send him or her. The telephone operator and her supervisor tried to come up with ideas regarding where meals were being served to the needy or where a large turkey might be welcome, with no results.

"The outcomes might have been different if needs and resources were constantly updated and available for viewing on the internet. Not that having access means using access," Paul laughed, "but in the last example, if the telephone operator had access, she could have consulted her computer and told someone looking for a meal, or willing to provide a meal, where to go, even on Thanksgiving.

" As for the grant makers;those who donate everything other than time…" Paul was interrupted by Amanda once again.

"You mean those who provide the funds to operate a project in Bloomfield, those who give checks." Amanda thought she was helping Paul.

"Yes," Paul acknowledged, "Grant makers want to know how much is spent on a program, how many units are being served…"

"Units?" Bill questioned.

"Sometimes programs serve people," Paul explained, "sometimes animals, or plants trees, or they work in the environment…"

"OK. I got it," said Bill.

"Even the traditional grant makers were dissatisfied with the inadequate information and individuals often solved the problem by writing large checks to their Alma Maters or already well endowed distinguished institutions," Paul continued. "Charles Feeney made money with a string of duty-free airport shops and anonymously gave billions to charity. This type of non-ego giving is rare. His two grant-making foundations, with assets over $3.5 billion have operated with as few as 20 staff members."

"Did you say billion?" Mario exclaimed in disbelief. "How generous can you get?"

"The number of millionaires in this country tripled in the last decade of the twentieth century," Paul replied, "and many of them are very generous. Interestingly, the larger the money donations the larger the time donated to volunteering."

Janet had been busy pulling up information on her laptop. "Here's some findings published by Independent Sector, an organization that works with about 800 national private nonprofits. I probably found the information on the internet and took notes. Anyway, I think it's relevant so here it is." The information could be viewed on all four walls as Janet read: "Between May 4 and June 16, 1996, The Gallup Organization conducted in-home, personal interviews with 2,617 adults 18 years of age and older. The opinions and interpretations expressed are by Independent Sector:

        volunteers donated 20.3 billion hours in 1995
        the level of giving is increasing
        the number of households donating is decreasing
        69 percent of households across the United States reported contributing to philanthropic groups
        affluent households donate at increasingly higher rates
         lower incomes are no longer able to give as much as formerly
        volunteer time was strongest in the religious, educational, youth development, health and human services areas.
        public distrust in charities' use of funds is increasing
        respondents who disagreed with the statement "most charitable organizations are honest and ethical in their use of funds" increased steadily to 31          percent in 1996
        the number one factor in motivating people to give is being asked A survey found when asked 85 percent of respondents          agreed. When not asked , only 44 percent contributed.
        the giving and volunteering habits of adults was significantly influenced by involvement in organizations in their youth

"Here's something else," Janet continued: "The Council on Foundations reported that over a hundred private foundations have arisen over the past couple years from the liquidation of non-profit hospitals unable or unwilling to continue operating. These newly formed charities control over $5 billion in assets. Just thought the information was relevant," Janet said as the projections faded from the walls.

"Thanks, Janet," Phyllis intoned. "Now back to you, Paul."

"Grant makers need to be able to compare programs so they can put their resources to work doing what they think is most important in the most cost-efficient manner. We post the tax returns of every nonprofit on the AW home page with general instructions for analysis. In addition to the information posted for grant makers, volunteers need to know about mentors and apprenticeships, training opportunities, the hours they can perform each job, who they would work with and everything they can about the programs so they can make informed choices.

"Annual reports provide that information," Lisa volunteered.

"Annual reports are vague and generalized," Paul countered. "The information we feed into the computer for our programmed search is much more detailed." Paul was anxious to explain how to access the information, via the internet, from AW's Volunteer Opportunities page which he had helped Raeann construct. Now, he decided, was the time and place to describe the scout projects. "I think it might be easier to grasp if I give you some actual examples, so I'm going to tell you how we came up with the organizations we decided to join last year in scouts. I think the best way would be first to tell you the outcome of our searches and then take you through the steps to show you how we got there."

"Sounds good, Paul," said Phyllis.

Paul began: "Troop #47 has 22 members. We each choose a community service project every year. We all try to earn in the neighborhood of twenty stamps to add to the Mapleton Scout Summer Camp fund. But last year I decided I wanted a computer. When I consulted the Dream Machine I discovered I could get a pretty decent reconditioned computer with the software I wanted for about 100 hours, so I decided to make that my trade proposal plus 20 more to contribute to the camp fund.

"Six of us, Jim, Neil, Robert, Sam, Jason and I, joined the Giraffe Project and chose to renovate a small park which had a bathroom with peeling paint, a couple sagging benches, a non-operating drinking fountain, a boarded up slide and three swings;two with dangerously worn seats. We had a blast and transformed that disaster into a little kid's fantasy land;and it only took us two months, once we got started! We worked seven Saturdays and a few Sunday afternoons. I personally put 55 hours into the project and Neil put in about 50 hours. He's the artist in the group. He did a lot of the design work at home in the evening and transferred his creations to plywood which some of us painted. Sam and Jason worked on the playground equipment. They did most of the more skilled work, whereas Robert and Jim did most of the heavy work;you know, carrying stuff, constructing paths and landscaping according to Neil's design.

"Jim and Robert joined Mapleton Cares with me too. We each donated 30 hours of labor to get a combination vegetable and flower garden started at this homeless shelter. Jim and I also joined Break Away, which is an organization that recruits retired people;mostly for mentoring positions. Break Away was mostly Jim's choice because his grandfather was heavily involved in that organization. We became kid recruiters. Supposedly it is harder for older people to turn down a kid's plea than a plea from one of their peers. Anyway Jim and I got pretty good at the art of persuasion and together brought about 60 new mentors into the program."

"Wonderful!" Phyllis couldn't restrain herself. This was what AW was all about.

"But the best thing that happened at Break Away," Paul continued, "was finding Gus and Bill. These guys are retired construction workers. Gus is supposed to be one of the best carpenters of all time. Anyway, since we had decided to start the park renovation at the Giraffe Project after the snow melted, Jim and I;the great persuaders; were able to get Gus and Bill to help us. We learned so much from those guys! Gus and Bill brought their own equipment to the park and taught Sam and Jason how to use a jig saw to cut the animals and fire engines and all the neat things Neil had drawn and traced onto plywood.

"Even after the Giraffe Project was finished, they kept finding more projects to work on;always as a team. None of them, except maybe Gus, has much family of his own. Anyway, Sam, Jason, Gus and Bill are now inseparable; they're like grandfathers and grandsons. I guess the rest of us consider Gus and Bill to be more like uncles. Whatever! For sure they are definitely family now. Those guys are really funny…"

As Paul rambled on Bill couldn't help wishing he lived in Mapleton. He wished he could have been one of the six boys he was hearing about. Not that he didn't love and appreciate his grandparents, but his grandfather was rather frail and he missed more sturdy male companionship. He and his dad had been so close and engaged in so much physical activity together. He grew up on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe where his parents managed a large ski resort. They had been tragically killed in a hold up in Reno two years earlier and Bill had been sent to live with his paternal grandparents in Bloomfield. Although it snowed in Bloomfield, the surrounding hills couldn't compare with the slopes in the High Sierras. Bill spent vacations with family friends back at Tahoe. In fact last summer his old coach took him to Mt. Hood in Oregon where snow remains on the mountain even during August and world class skiers continue their training when their home slopes are bare. His grandmother was always trying to find a younger man to substitute as a father figure, but nothing had clicked. Just think of the possibilities in Mapleton.

Bill turned his focus back to Paul just in time to hear Phyllis tell him to tighten his presentation because time was running.

"OK, this is how we made our choices," Paul said in a no nonsense voice. "We logged onto the AW home page and called up the Volunteer Opportunities forum where we were offered four options. We could search (1) by name of organization (2) by subject matter (3) by category of volunteer or (4) by specific mission of project. For the Giraffe Project, we searched by category of volunteer. We were then given a choice of narrowing our search by choosing families, groups or individuals. We chose groups. We then could narrow our search even further by eliminating those organizations that had age restrictions, that specified a group size larger or smaller than our group, that required a particular set of skills or time commitment. We decided to eliminate groups with age, skills and time restrictions from our search and selected the smallest group option which was the 2-6 category. We had even more choices: (1) working in administration (2) working with clients or (3) working with tools. We chose tools, and between working outside or inside we chose outside. Each time we made a choice we narrowed our search.

"We found Mapleton Cares by first choosing the specific mission option. There was a pull down menu with 15-20 options featuring the types of people or goals served. We chose homeless. When given the options I just described for the Giraffe Project we made the same choices. I forgot to mention we were also offered a time line for each search; under short term goals one could choose one day, one week. one month, three months, six months, nine months. We selected one month. The long term goal options started with one week and ran through five years.

"We were able to use the name of organization search option for Break Away because Jim wanted to work with his grandfather's program. This obviously shortened our search, although we still had the time options and choice of specific jobs within Break Away."

"Could you expand your explanation of the time line search? I don't understand the short term and long term goals," Lisa said.

"Sure," Paul agreed. "Let's take the Giraffe Project again. Suppose you wanted to do something that could be completed in a day. Your options might include things like paint a bench or repair the drinking fountain, or weed the north end of the lot. Say you chose the one week option. You might have a list of things like painting all play equipment, weeding the entire garden and fixing the sprinkling system as well as the drinking fountain (plumbing skills). Click on one month and you might find you could have all the play equipment repaired, or a design completed for the landscaping and park renovation. The one day option to further the preliminary goals of a health or environmental organization might include participating in a walk or run to draw attention to an issue, manning booths at a fair or conference and so forth. Other short term options;a week or a month;might include being a race staff volunteer, setting up computer data bases, preparing for a conference, educating people about heart disease at a specific event or writing for a specific publication.

"Occasionally a long term goal can be completed in a week: writing, for promotional or educational purposes, for example; or a month: planning programs and recruiting activity directors; or three months: launching new programs; six months or more: planning and implementing a neighborhood celebration, theatrical program and seeing it through to the end."

"What's the reasoning behind the time lines?" Mario asked.

"Some people want to follow a volunteer project through from beginning to end, whether their commitment is one day or one year. They get more personal satisfaction and control. Time line options are for their benefit. Other people feel just fine about lending their hand to an ongoing project;they enter in the middle and withdraw their services before the end," Paul explained. "Break Away and Mapleton Cares were both ongoing projects. But we all got the most satisfaction from the Giraffe Project which we had control of from beginning to end."

"Yeah, I could see that," said Bill. "A person could paint a bench in one day, beginning to end, and take a special pride in that bench. Satisfaction!

"Just one more thing. I'm wondering about the difference between time lines and time restrictions. I understand time lines, but not restrictions."

"If a project has a time restriction it means it is an option only available to someone who can put in a minimum number of hours or specific hours on already determined days. That's the case with all mentoring opportunities," said Paul.

"At one point you said something about these computer searches being able to pinpoint the most cost-effective programs so donors of time and other resources could avoid the more wasteful agencies if they chose to do so," Lisa reminded Paul. "I wasn't clear on that."

"The most cost-effective nonprofit programs can be determined by following the instructions to analyze and compare tax returns which are provided on the AW site. I can't recall the exact name of the forum but they are in the area which also lists the cost of past programs, information about endowments, investment returns, donations, government dollars and time and other resources spent soliciting funds. The only thing similar on the Volunteer Options forum are the tools provided to estimate the cost of a new program. There are options in the pull down menus for the estimated number of workers, their estimated per hour dollar cost, the cost of administering the project, the estimated time for implementation and the cost of needed supplies and other materials. There are options to find the estimated cost with and without paid workers and with or without paid administrators.

Paul had an inspiration: "Listen, maybe it would help if one of you would think of your ideal volunteer relationship. Tell me what you want to do. Do you want an on-going job or a job with a specific limit? How many hours are you willing to spend? What schedule would you like; days and times? Do you need transportation? We'll use you as an illustration. What do you say?"

Bill filled in the blanks as Paul spoke. "what do you want to do…" He would love to work as an assistant coach with one or two men. They would be dealing with kids; but the best part of it--the part he really wanted--would be a close relationship with a father figure. He mentally rehearsed what he was going to tell Paul: I would like to help clear a trail or do some kind of surveying in the wilderness;maybe tagging endangered birds or animals.

Amanda's excited words brought him back from his musings.

"I've got it! Let me, let me please," she begged.

"Let's have it," Paul laughed.

"See," Amanda began, "my mother visits her sister every Wednesday evening, 7-9 p.m., and drags me along because my father, who is a biology teacher days, has a second job working in a hospital lab during that time and she doesn't want to leave me alone. She could drop me off at a volunteer job regularly for those two hours."

"OK, we've got the time criteria; Wednesday, 7-9 p.m. but what subject should we be searching for? What do you want to do?" Paul prodded.

"Hug crack babies!"

Everyone laughed at Amanda's passion. She knew exactly what she wanted to do;no doubt about it! She had seen a TV special featuring abandoned addicted infants.

Paul didn't have access to the Volunteer Opportunities forum but he was so familiar with the structure he thought he could make his audience see what he saw. "First we search by subject matter. From a long list of options we click on infants, then choose ongoing job, from the time line options, and two hours a week, Wednesday 7-9 p.m., transportation not needed, no age restrictions. Now search. We would probably get a huge number of job options, but mostly baby-sitting to relieve mothers who would in turn do something to help someone else;maybe a couple group situations with adult supervision, where you would hug or play with infants." Paul tried to recall what was in that section of the database. He had chosen infants because he had recently updated that section. "There may be one or two hospital situations," he added, "but I think we would do better to go back to subject matter and search this time by health care and narrow it down to infants. I'm not sure you would find drug addicted babies specifically, but probably you would end up with fewer options closer to what you are after. I know for a fact, we have at least two hospitals that need people to cuddle newborns, because I added them to the data base myself."

"There are more than that," Raeann broke in, "and there is a sub-level sick and under that drugs."

Paul beamed. Raeann didn't miss much. "You can try all this out for yourself. You can view the detailed information if you visit the Volunteer Opportunities forum on Mapleton's home page. You don't have to live in Mapleton. Of course it takes a great deal of labor to acquire and keep such detailed information current. In Mapleton labor is provided 90 percent by the youngest generation and 10 percent by retired folks who still have abilities and experience which should not be lost."

"You say kids;young people;provide 90 percent of the labor for what you admit is a very time consuming job. What with studies, social life, jobs and community service, I don't see how they could do it all," Harrison said.

"Participation in AW, and especially City Links, combines all four of the things you mentioned. It's efficient!" Paul responded.

"Why not take them one at a time and show us how they are incorporated into AW?" Phyllis suggested.

"Sure," Paul agreed. "But I can't just plunge in without giving them some background. What do you say, Phyllis?" Paul loved to talk, but he didn't want to be cut off before he finished describing what he thought was important.

"You're right; it is a good idea," Phyllis answered. "I think it will be worth the time."

Paul plunged in: "The first step in implementing AW was to poll residents to discover the incentives and disincentives to their involvement in our community. Among other things, the poll responses revealed the poor communication between groups in Mapleton--people in different occupations and age groups thought the worst of one another."

"What do you mean 'the worst of one another'?" Harrison asked.

"Business people thought teachers were lazy, people in education thought business people were hard-hearted, and everyone thought government workers were uncaring and incompetent and lawyers were total scumbags." Paul was interrupted, this time by Mr. Hoffer.

"I've just got to tell this true story about a businessman. Everyone who has ever given business people a bad rap should hear this story:

"At the end of 1995 a fire completely destroyed Maldon Mills, the largest employer in Lawrence, Massachusetts. It looked like 3,000 factory workers would end up on the unemployment rolls. But no one reckoned with the 70 year old independent and responsible mill owner, Aaron Fuerstein.

"Aaron Fuerstein was determined to rebuild; so determined he went into debt to keep everyone employed. He really believed that people matter. Without any revenue, he kept his employees on the payroll for three months and paid their medical insurance for six months. He borrowed heavily from local banks to stay afloat. Against all professional advice, three months after the fire he moved massive machines into a undamaged storage warehouse and restarted production. A year later the mill was still in debt, but 85 percent of the mill workers were back on the job.

"Mr. Fuerstein followed a personal moral imperative. It was simply unthinkable for him to throw 3,000 people into the street and allow the area to sink into economic oblivion."

"Good story!" Paul exclaimed. "I can't tell a similar one about Mapleton off the top of my head, but I bet there are some. Our earlier poll responses proved that Mapleton had an enormous amount of goodwill and other resources which were not being used effectively. The timing was right for AW because two ideas that are essential for Another Way were being discussed at the same time; volunteerism and community-based learning."

"What is community-based learning?" Mario interrupted this time.

"Community-based learning is a teaching method that emphasizes the important connection between academics and community service; between theory and practical problem solving," Mr. Hoffer offered. Community based learning had been the subject of the key-note speech given by a professor from Smith College, at the last teacher's conference he had attended in Bloomfield. The attendees were about evenly divided in the support and distrust of the notion.

"It's changing the way professors teach and students learn," he continued. "A lot of people think that students should be spending more time solving problems that have some relevance to daily life. A college professor I heard recently, has students in his sociology course provide some service to the organizations they research. The idea is to enrich classroom learning by having students interpret information through an actual event, occurring in real time."

"What's the point?" Mario pressed.

"Because it's through these dynamic interactions with the local community that interesting and relevant questions emerge. Almost always community-based problems are bigger than a single discipline can resolve," Mr. Hoffer replied.

This was a subject near and dear to Phyllis' heart. Even though she was concerned about the time and the amount of material still to cover, she couldn't resist. If hugging crack babies was Amanda's passion, this was hers: "There is a difference between theory and talking to real people and seeing the effect of social policy as it plays out in their lives," she said. "Learning is supposed to make a difference in your life and in the world. Community-based learning is the bridge between the intellectual classroom and real life. It's not so much what you learn in textbooks, it's what you do with the theories outside the classroom."

"Everyone learns better both with studying and with doing, particularly the MTV generation," Mr. Hoffer agreed. "We have a math teacher at Bloomfield High who believes learning is enhanced by teaching. He claims that after a student is exposed to a mathematical idea they've only become acquainted with it; it is only after they have explained it to someone else that they've really learned it. He has his students tutor elementary school youngsters. He figures that way his students are not only learning to get their tongue around math ideas, but they are learning how young children think, and why they are often puzzled by math problems."

"Unfortunately some people misunderstand what community-based learning is all about," Phyllis said. "They think we are giving academic credit for straight volunteer work, but that's not the case. There is a serious academic component to working within the community and benefits to the community are incidental.

"Before AW got started here in Mapleton, Miss Dunton, our economics teacher, used to give her students an opportunity to volunteer for six to eight weeks at a local nonprofit of their choice. She had the idea, before it was popular, that going into the community benefited her students. She maintained that early volunteer experience would remind her students later on in life that they have the ability to influence broader social change. She argued also, that the experience gave abstract economic issues a base in reality. She wanted students to see how economic issues affect the lives of real people and how the tools of economics help us understand these issues. I remember the year before AW began, her students painted the living room and bedrooms of a homeless shelter, harvested vegetables for the food bank and weeded gardens for elderly and disabled residents. I remember because we used her success to convince Mapleton officials to give AW a shot.

"The citizens group in Illinois that divided the 1988 tax reform proposal into manageable portions which it parceled out to its members, was another catalyst for community-based learning in Mapleton. After studying their respective portions, those ordinary citizens reported back to the group. In some strange way, it mattered to a lot of us, that at least a small group of Americans had read every word in that massive bill. The legislators and their staff admitted that they hadn't. Now reporting on legislation is a community-based learning project coordinated each year with the Problem Solvers. It's something the rest of the nation knows nothing about, but if they did they would, or should be in these young scholars' debt."

This was dry, generally unintelligible stuff. That teenagers, would, and could do this, was amazing. Now John Hoffer understood why Mapleton's students were accepted at the best colleges and universities and were in demand by employers in several states.

Phyllis turned apologetically to Paul and said, "Sorry, I guess we got carried away."

"Hey, thanks. You saved me from explaining community-based learning, and I'm sure that is definitely one of those things that teachers do better," Paul joked. "I started telling you that polling Mapleton residents showed that the main reason people didn't donate more of their time or material wealth was that residents simply didn't know what needed to be done, where and how. Also they wanted to make sure their gift, whether of time or materials, would not be wasted. City Links gives Mapleton residents access to information which solves these problems. The detailed information was gathered by classes using community-based learning with maybe some supervision or chaperoning from college students or retired volunteers.

"Mapleton teachers wanted their students to get a feel for how social research is actually conducted and to understand that the ideas and methods they are being taught are valuable. Many English, Speech, Government, Social Science, Business, Computer and Art teachers in Mapleton rearranged their curricula. Currently in some Mapleton classes, students conduct community surveys. Other classes find out everything there is to know about nonprofit organizations, local and national. In other classes, students work with directors of local nonprofits to come up with at least 25 scheduling options and 25 volunteer job selections which are fed to the business and computing classes for input for publication on the internet and local print media, as well as turned into public service announcements on local radio and TV stations and posters for store windows.

"Anyway, Harrison, in answer to your question, 'How can kids handle it all?', I think now you should be able to see that studies, community service and jobs are combined through community-based learning. Then there's social life, right?" Harrison nodded and Paul continued. "If you remember all the talk about parties during Mapleton Rush and understand that doing volunteer work with your peers is generally accompanied by a party atmosphere, if not down right parties during, and almost always at the end of a project, you will agree that social life is integrated."

"OK to everything but the jobs," Harrison assented. "I mean jobs that earn real money for gas for my car, clothes, entertainment and social life outside of AW. At least h