Exchange Stimulus Package

03/05/2009

The wound is the place where the light enters you.
Jalaluddin Rumi, Poet

Everyone is offering theories on how to survive the current economic downturn. The common theme to much of the advice is: “Cut back, pull in, weather the storm.” And, this sounds sensible at a time when businesses are failing right and left, when every day brings news of more lay offs and cut backs.

We seem to be a nation holding our breath, waiting for the new president to perform a miracle, to make everything right again. But what happens if everyone pulls back, plays it safe, stops growing, stops looking outward? Can we afford to dig in and wait for the federal government to solve all our problems? Should we simply sit back and wait for change to happen?

At Exchange, we have a wildly divergent theory: We believe that even though this crisis was primarily caused by Wall Street executives who got greedy and public officials who looked the other way, its up to the everyday workers in our society, to turn this sinking ship around. In the just released March issue of Exchange we announced the "Exchange Stimulus Package". Exchange and our advertising partners Community Playthings, Teaching Strategies, Inc, and Kaplan Early Learning Company have teamed together to offer $10,000 to stimulate your ideas and actions.

Exchange and our partners are challenging you to make change happen. We invite you to share your ideas on the steps your program can take, big and little, to start reversing the downturn one family, one neighborhood at a time. In your next staff meeting, hold a brainstorming session on what you can do to support each other, to help families weather the storm, and to assist small businesses in your community to start growing. Then tell us about your best "Make Change Happen" idea on our web site by March 20, 2009.

We will share many of the ideas received and ask the readers of ExchangeEveryDay to vote on the most creative ones. The top ten vote getters will each receive $1,000 in no-strings-attached gift certificates. The winners will be announced in the May issue of Exchange and in ExchangeEveryDay.

Don’t sit back … step up and Make Change Happen!

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