Game Changers: RePURPOSE Your HEARTdrive!
Case Statement:
All over the world, childrens’ dreams are being diverted and distracted on a multitude of levels. Children are witnessing and being exposed to hours of violence in the games they play and the news they watch. We, at Dream Catalyst believe that our kids are powerful beyond measure and that they deserve to live into a life of possibility and abundance! Dream Catalyst aims to introduce children to present day heroes and role models (Game Changers) who will help blaze a trail for a life of wonderment and expansiveness! It is time to dream bigger dreams and live into them. Only by doing so, can we show the next generation (Future Game Changers) what is possible, so that they, in turn, can surpass all we have ever done!
We believe that, when people live into their purpose, there is simply less time for activities that distract us from our dreams. Through Game Changers, we get to “RePURPOSE our HEARTdrives!” Malcolm Gladwell discovered in his research for his book Outliers; that it takes approximately 10,000 hours to achieve mastery in any pursuit. If this is true, then many of our children are well on their way to achieving mastery or their 10,000 hours in video game playing. Another big concern is that some of the content of the video games is quite violent, and we know that over-exposure to violence, desensitizes our neuro-transmitters over time. Our belief is that many children choose to play video games for hours, because they have not yet been exposed to what it is that makes them come alive. This is where Game Changers comes in! We are committed to introducing today’s youth to Game Changers from a multitude of backgrounds, so that the youth might choose to change their own game along the way and then perhaps become the Game Changers of their own community!
How:
We are going to bring collaborative events to communities across the world! One of our events will be called Game Changers! Kids all over the world will be given the opportunity to choose love and peace over violence. Game Changers will ask children to exchange a violent video game as the entry fee into concerts, events or contests that will introduce them to a broad spectrum of possibility including actual Game Changers of the world. Game Changers will be sponsored by individual contributions and corporate sponsorship and giving.
Individuals may sponsor this event series by pledging $10 per violent video game removed from circulation. The vision is to launch a crowdfunding campaign in October. The campaign will last for 60 days, and the funds will serve to develop our live events and on-line community platform.
Lily Yeh, a community artist has agreed to design artwork that will be created/recycled from the DVD/video games that are exchanged. Lily, has recently returned from Rwanda, where she was instrumental in redesigning the mass burial site from the genocide that took place over ten years ago! Lily is truly a Game Changer, whose life serves as a model of peace and purpose all over the world. The piece she helps to create, can travel with the event and serve like the AIDS quilt and grow with each successive event! On November 15th, the first Game Changer event will happen in Ithaca, NY. Youth and their parents will be invited to participate in a transformational event where participants will learn, first-hand, how to transform violence into art as we all create art together with the violent video games we exchanged. We will also be led in discussion by Erik Lehmann who will challenge us to live into our dreams, and we will also discuss what might be in the way of our dreams and what our community might do to remove the barriers to our dreams.
Byron Chamberlain, former Pro-Bowl Tight End from the NFL will offer training camps as part of the Game Changer vision. He runs the Byron Chamberlain Foundation as well as the Pro Day Experience. He has years of experience in creating experiences for the youth he serves. He is networked with former NFL players at all the football positions. Kids learn directly from former pro football stars how to change their game, and break a sweat in the process. Kids spend a long time on the couch and this program gets them off the couch and onto the field for some serious activity!
Youth who attend will be asked to commit to a 30 Day Game-Free Challenge. They will also be asked to pledge an hour of service to their community per week. This is the hour they might have once spent playing a violent video game.
Parents will also make a pledge! The will pledge to serve their community and/or spend time with their kids in place of the violent video game time!
We will be promoting a series of sponsored offerings, including T-shirts and other items that will promote the Game Changers vision. We are in partnership with Ryan Curtis, an amazing artist. He has created an image that speaks to the core of this mission. You and Who, a T-shirt business with a Heart for Service will produce the T-shirts and fulfill the shipment of the orders. We will print the T-shirts using eco-friendly inks on organic materials that will be made in America!
Where will Game Changers be next:
Game Changers will eventually create an event near Sandy Hook, Connecticut or in the surrounding area in collaboration with the Sandy Hook community. Yale’s campus might be an ideal location as it could accommodate a large crowd and serve as a great launching pad for a series of events of this magnitude. We are also talking with the Director of the Boy Scouts in Boston, Massachusetts, who would be willing to co-create an event with the Sandy Hook area scouts.
Who:
Arun and Tushar Gandhi, Dr. Andrew Doan, Byron Chamberlain, Chad Hymas, Dan Thurman, Ruby Newell-Legner, Allison Massari, Teammates of the New England Patriots, Erik Lehmann, etc. would be ideal as today’s heroes and role models. We have spoken with some of the above mentioned names and we are optimistic about their participation. We hope to reach out to the others and more in the very near future.
Attendees:
Children, parents and program leaders
Sponsors:
CSP Management
Co-collaborators:
Byron Chamberlain Experience/Byron Chamberlain Foundation
You and Who
Barefoot Artists
Tariq Khamisa Foundation
Potential Sponsors:
New England Patriots
GameStop
Game Crazy
Zappos
We First
Fast Company Magazine
United Nations Foundation
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