Youth Make Postcards of Hope in Remembrance of Virginia Tech Tragedy


Washington, DC– Postcards from Katrina, a program of Creative Cause, Inc. was awarded the Capitol One Youth Service Fund grant to launch ‘Plant Hope in the City’ –a youth-led civic engagement campaign using the arts to address youth violence and mental health for National & Global Youth Service Day, April 20-22, 2007. The pilot initiative is supported by Youth Service America, Capital One Financial Corporation, Serve DC, and the Freddie Mac Foundation to engage youth in service-learning throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area.


On April 21, 2007 nearly 50 youth and area college students will demonstrate service through the arts by using poetry to promote volunteerism as a healthy option to risky behaviors such as youth violence. In addition they will make postcards and posters in remembrance of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and of Virginia Tech community impacted by the events of April 16th.


Through the arts and writing, students will learn how to use creativity to inspire and provide healthy choices to inspire people to make a difference in their community. Through a ‘Plant Hope’ Idol contest, the winning artwork and poetry will become a part of the Plant Hope campaign to promote community service to address youth violence and promote mental health. Also the youth will send framed artwork as a gift donation to Virginia Tech.


Led by ‘Plant Hope’ youth ambassador, 22-year old Joe Smith, a native of Mississippi and Howard graduate, will kick off at 9.a.m. the pilot initiative in the library at McKinley Technology High School located at 151 T Street, NE, Washington, DC. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. of Ward 5 have been invited.


“Given the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech, youth can learn how to illustrate how to plant hope in their community through art which is a powerful educational tool and recognize how they can make poetry or rap with a purpose and inspire hope for a better tomorrow,” said an Oklahoma native, Tambra Stevenson, Founder/Executive Director of Creative Cause and creator of Postcards from Katrina with family in the Gulf region.


“Today marks the anniversary of the Columbine tragedy and now Hokie Hope for Virginia Tech. Yesterday was the Oklahoma City bombing anniversary which my father, a retired Oklahoma City firefighter who volunteered and who died this month in a tragic accident. He embodied the mission of Plant HOPE which means helping other people every day through his community service. That’s why I created www.planthope.org.There is no other time but now when we need to plant hope in our communities.”


This community event is free and open to the public. Also in celebration of Earth Day at 1:30pm they will participate in a community park beautification project and cookout at the Crispus Attucks park located in the Bloomingdale section of northwest DC. Interested youth or groups who wish to attend this free event should visit the website: www.postcardsfromkatrina.com or email info@postcardsfromkatrina.com for more information.


Based in Washington, DC, Creative Cause is a nonprofit social enterprise that develops educational campaigns to inform, inspire and engage youth and the next generation of socially responsible leaders in the creative industry to use their talents to bring awareness and action on issues such as public health, human rights, educational, and environment to make a positive impact in their communities through arts and service. Best known for its nationally recognized Postcards from Katrina TM project and most recently the Plant Hope TM initiative, you can learn more visit www.creativecause.org.

National & Global Youth Service Day, the largest service event in the world, mobilizes youth to identify and address the needs of their communities through service-learning and community service. The event is organized by Youth Service America (YSA) with the support of State Farm Companies Foundation as the Presenting Sponsor. More than 115 National Partners and 51 Lead Agencies throughout the United States organize projects. Overseas, National Lead Agencies in 118 countries around the world manage international events. Planning Tool Kits, Service-Learning Curriculum Guides, classroom posters, grants, and more are available for youth, parents, teachers, and organizations. For the U.S. Map of Service Projects for National & Global Youth Service Day 2007: www.YSA.org/map.

Youth Service America is a national nonprofit resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally. Founded in 1986, Youth Service America’s mission is to expand the impact of the youth service movement with communities, schools, corporations, and governments. In addition to National & Global Youth Service Day, which take place concurrently each April, YSA also hosts SERVEnet (www.SERVEnet.org), providing the largest database of volunteer opportunities in America. For more information: www.YSA.org.

President Bush at Cassell Coliseum, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia

April 17, 2007
2:36 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Governor, thank you. President Steger, thank you very much. Students, and faculty, and staff, and grieving family members, and members of this really extraordinary place.

Laura and I have come to Blacksburg today with hearts full of sorrow. This is a day of mourning for the Virginia Tech community -- and it is a day of sadness for our entire nation. We've come to express our sympathy. In this time of anguish, I hope you know that people all over this country are thinking about you, and asking God to provide comfort for all who have been affected.

Yesterday began like any other day. Students woke up, and they grabbed their backpacks and they headed for class. And soon the day took a dark turn, with students and faculty barricading themselves in classrooms and dormitories -- confused, terrified, and deeply worried. By the end of the morning, it was the worst day of violence on a college campus in American history -- and for many of you here today, it was the worst day of your lives.

It's impossible to make sense of such violence and suffering. Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they're gone -- and they leave behind grieving families, and grieving classmates, and a grieving nation.

In such times as this, we look for sources of strength to sustain us. And in this moment of loss, you're finding these sources everywhere around you. These sources of strength are in this community, this college community. You have a compassionate and resilient community here at Virginia Tech. Even as yesterday's events were still unfolding, members of this community found each other; you came together in dorm rooms and dining halls and on blogs. One recent graduate wrote this: "I don't know most of you guys, but we're all Hokies, which means we're family. To all of you who are okay, I'm happy for that. For those of you who are in pain or have lost someone close to you, I'm sure you can call on anyone of us and have help any time you need it."

These sources of strength are with your loved ones. For many of you, your first instinct was to call home and let your moms and dads know that you were okay. Others took on the terrible duty of calling the relatives of a classmate or a colleague who had been wounded or lost. I know many of you feel awfully far away from people you lean on and people you count on during difficult times. But as a dad, I can assure you, a parent's love is never far from their child's heart. And as you draw closer to your own families in the coming days, I ask you to reach out to those who ache for sons and daughters who will never come home.

These sources of strength are also in the faith that sustains so many of us. Across the town of Blacksburg and in towns all across America, houses of worship from every faith have opened their doors and have lifted you up in prayer. People who have never met you are praying for you; they're praying for your friends who have fallen and who are injured. There's a power in these prayers, real power. In times like this, we can find comfort in the grace and guidance of a loving God. As the Scriptures tell us, "Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

And on this terrible day of mourning, it's hard to imagine that a time will come when life at Virginia Tech will return to normal. But such a day will come. And when it does, you will always remember the friends and teachers who were lost yesterday, and the time you shared with them, and the lives they hoped to lead. May God bless you. May God bless and keep the souls of the lost. And may His love touch all those who suffer and grieve. (Applause.)



END 2:45 P.M. EDT

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on. We are embracing our mourning. We are Virginia Tech ... - Nikki Giovanni, VA Tech University Distinguished Professor, poet, activist

Everyone at some point in their lives will experience a mini-Katrina. The question is what do you do after the storm? This week that raging storm hit the quaint collegial community of Roanoke, VA – home to Virginia Tech. Our focus should be on healing, supporting and reflecting how do we plant seeds of hope to prevent violence. The storm was building overtime within the young man who committed this violent act and expanded into other peoples worlds.

Following Hurricane Katrina, the Plant Hope project was created with the focus on how do we help and give hope to other people everyday such as the quiet person. With the recent passing of my father, a retired Corporal of the Oklahoma City Fire Department for 26 years and was commended for his volunteerism while off-duty during the Oklahoma City Bombing, I rededicated the project in his honor.

So this Saturday, April 21st, we kick off the Plant Hope initiative at McKinley Tech High School in Washington, DC for National and Global Service Day, which youth and adults to come plant hope in the community and the Gulf. That day youth will create postcards and poetry of hope for VA Tech and the Gulf showing the value of art for healing and public service.

Also the community can join in the are encouraged to plant hope on April 29th at the Kogan Plaza on the campus of George Washington University from 2-4pm with Creative Cause, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Chapter of GWU, Influence PR (Public Relations Student Society of America Chapter). The community will have a chance to make postcards of hope for VA Tech and the Gulf.

In a society that’s always on the go, sometimes we need to step back and take time to plant hope from what we say to people in the morning. Give a smile, a hug, or a thank you will do to your neighbor, child, parent, teacher or co-worker. That’s on an individual level. An on a societal /policy/media level, we can plant hope by strengthening youth programs in our communities giving youth creative outlets and mentorship to give them a sense of purpose.

Also we plant hope with images in ad campaigns and media with positive personal stories to inform and inspire all people to feel like they can make a difference in the world and starting within their life. We each can do our part in building a better community together and that involves planting hope. First we all should start with ourselves because we cannot give what we do not have. And this young man did not see hope. And when there is no hope there is no future.

Why do I know you need to plant hope? Because I had no feeling of a future as a child while growing up in Oklahoma City living through the OKC bombing and formerly worked on youth trauma programs in mental health; and now my future is full of hope because my community and I planted hope in me.

–Tambra Stevenson, Creator of Postcards from Katrina, a program of Creative Cause

Let me know how you planted hope today! Email me at tambra at planthope dot org.

The clock is ticking for 19th National & Global Youth Service Day (NGYSD) and Earth Day in the District of Columbia! National & Global Youth Service Day, the largest service event in the world, will take place on April 20-22, 2007.

In partnership with Yayah's, Inc., Creative Cause brings to the community its pilot program, 'Plant Hope in the City.' The initiative presents a healthy challenge to our nation's capitol on how we all--young professionals, community members, parents, educators, and students-- can plant hope in our community.

On April 21st, we invite youth to take the Plant Hope Challenge at McKinley Tech High School(151 T St, NE) in Washington, DC. Starting at 9am, the PlantHope in the City event is part of a national effort to mobilize over 9,000 youth volunteers in 80 community service projects through a large coalition of local organizations. Space is limited; so register online today! Refreshments and limited on site registration begin at 8-9am!
That day, youth volunteers from middle school to college age will have fun participating in taking the plant hope challenge, developing postcards for the Postcards from Katrina project, and winning hot prizes while meeting other students and young professionals who care about making a difference.

Also youth will develop ways they can ‘plant hope’ in the city through plant hope challenge –a great team building activity. The goal is to engage youth in a creative community service project and kick off the Plant Hope pilot initiative.

We also want to increase the number of youth service opportunities in the District to counter youth violence and promote civic engagement. It’s great opportunity to meet the Plant Hope youth ambassador, learn about how you can play

The postcards created by youth will be incorporated into the 2010 goal of displaying postcards of hope for the community by the community for the 5th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

In support of the promote walk DC initiative and Earth Day, that afternoon youth walk to the neighborhood park to beautify Crispus Attucks Park located in the Bloomingdale area NW DC from 1-4pm with college students and community volunteers. BBQ will be served afterwards.

Creative Cause gives special thanks to the Freddie Mac Foundation, Youth Service America, Capital One and Serve DC for their support. Free parking is available. Closest metro is Rhode Island Avenue (red line) or take the metrobus G8 or 80 to McKinley Tech High. Breakfast, snacks, and lunch will be provided. For questions about this day, email info@postcardsfromkatrina.com.


Promoting service-learning through the arts, Postcards from Katrina is a refreshing public service arts project developed by Creative Cause, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit social enterprise connecting creativity to bring awareness and action around public health and social causes. Postcards from Katrina TM, a project of Creative Cause, is a community arts and health prevention project to build promote arts and writing for healing after crisis. (http://www.creativecause.org)

Register at http://www.postcardsfromkatrina.com

Learn more at http://www.planthope.org