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And Change the World
October 2006—A person who wants to make a difference, who wants to do something that changes the lives of others, can create an organization that impacts millions of lives and motivates others to action. Barbara R. Metzler has assembled the inspiring stories of thirty-five such people. She calls them “passionaries.” Each is a leader of a nonprofit volunteer organization that offers a solution for an oppressive social challenge.
Passionaries: Turning Compassion into Action(Templeton Foundation Press, $19.95) profiles these visionaries. Metzler describes the event or circumstance that spurred them to “do something,” the steps they took to get started, and the obstacles they overcame. She relays, for example:
□ How Habitat for Humanity got its first volunteers □ Where the idea for USA Harvest came from and how it developed into the largest all-volunteer food distribution organization in America □ How Gifts In Kind International became the fastest growing nonprofit with the lowest overhead in the United States, with a ranking as one of the most cost-effective charities in the world
The passionate entrepreneurs behind these and other volunteer organizations range in age from six to eighty-nine. Some are physically challenged. Some are former prisoners. And some are working through deep emotional pain. They include recognizable names, such as Paul Newman, Betty Ford, Charles Colson, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and Gary Sinise, as well as many other leaders whose names are less known, but whose companies also create real change.
The enthusiasm and commitment of these profiled leaders has spawned more than twenty million like-minded volunteers who helped build the organizations. Their passion also generates “ripple effects,” like this one Metzler describes: The Kentucky Harvest Project (which became USA Harvest) was the inspiration behind eleven-year-old David Levitt’s community project, which became the catalyst for community and state change. First, his work led to schools donating food to shelters, and then to a Florida state law that food suppliers give leftover food to charity.
Each story is accompanied by a summary of important facts, figures, and contact information, providing readers with a means for possible participation with the organization—in effect, encouraging new ripple effects.
One person can make a difference—which is the message of the book that captures an unsung movement unique to American culture—the desire to create a legacy, to give back.
### About the author: Barbara R. Metzler graduated from the University of Southern California and received a masters in psychology/counseling from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. As an entrepreneur involved in the Young Presidents’ Organization, she has started five companies including a multi-million dollar corporation, The Farmer’s Wife. In the 1980s, it was the country’s leading manufacturer of fruit by-products, developing and selling fruit that her husband’s large agricultural farm was throwing away. She is active in her church and in many local and national nonprofit organizations and resides in San Diego with her husband of thirty years.
Passionaries: Turning Compassion into Action By Barbara R. Metzler Templeton Foundation Press ISBN: 1-59947-105-1 ** 978-1-59947-105-1 Price: $19.95, paperback with French flaps Publication: October 2006
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