ReAudio: ReAssess Your Workers Comp Toolbox
ReInvent your Workers' Comp Perspective!
Things change. In fact, that’s one of the most sure things in life. Haven’t we learned that these past few years? ReAudio has changed too. Starting as a way to provide tools and value to our partners in the Workers' Compensation Industry, we have changed into a human interest podcast, primarily interviewing people who have overcome adversity to achieve success, however, that’s defined by them. Because change is a permanent reality, ReAudio is hoping to help you see our industry a little differently. Through storytelling and exploring different perspectives, Season 4 will guide you to ReImagine your Workers' Comp ReAlity.
Winner of the BLOOM Excellence Awards 2023 Podcast of the Year
Thanks for listening!
ReAudio: ReAssess Your Workers Comp Toolbox
Adventures in Philanthropy: Pirates to Helpers
Have you ever thought about how dressing up as a pirate could help fund college scholarships or how a monkey might become someone's most valuable helper? In this exploration of unconventional and heartwarming nonprofit initiatives, we begin with the origins of International Talk Like a Pirate Day and its connection to Tampa Bay’s Gasparilla Pirate Festival, where pirate-themed fun generates over $1.1 million for local charities.
Next, we highlight extraordinary organizations making a global impact, such as Helping Hands Monkey Helpers, which trains capuchin monkeys to assist individuals with disabilities, and APOPO, which uses African giant pouched rats to detect landmines. Supporting nonprofits that resonate with you is vital, and resources like charitynavigator.org can help ensure your donations make a meaningful impact. Join us for stories that inspire and motivate action toward these unique causes.
Thank you to Medium.com for the list of unique Nonprofits: hhtps://medium.com
Check out some videos from the nonprofits mentioned in this ReAudio episode:
Helping Hands Monkey Helpers: https://youtu.be/MKpTGJ7mD58
APOPO: https://youtu.be/L0swUc492hU
ColaLife: https://youtu.be/hH2D2tYgxn8
Perspective. Perspective is spelled P-E-R-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E. Perspective the 30,000 foot view. Perspective Put on someone else's shoes. Perspective can also refer to the state of existing in space or one's view of the world. Perspective R-E-A audio.
Speaker 2:Reemployability. If you're listening to this on September 19th, 2024, then you may or may not know that today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Yep, this thing goes way beyond our country's borders and is apparently celebrated across the globe. Well, according to Wikipedia, International Talk Like a Pirate Day was begun as an inside joke between two friends, John Burr and Mark Summers, when one of them got hurt during a racquetball game and yelled Arr. They agreed that there should be a day when people all over the world talked like pirates. So they contacted a syndicated humor columnist named Dave Barry in 2002, who promoted the idea, and the rest is, as they say, history. So Talk Like a Pirate Day resonates with us here in the Tampa Bay area.
Speaker 2:As the story goes, the dreaded pirate Jose Gaspar, a real guy, was famous for invading the coast of Florida in the 19th century. However, in 1821, the US Navy confronted Gaspar's ship and a furious battle occurred, With defeat inevitable. The pirate tied himself to an anchor chain and jumped into the sea, never to be seen again. Well, in 1904, local Tampa leaders were looking for a way to promote the emerging city, and what better way than to create a legend and a festival around a man who captured ships, collecting a fortune that was never found, injuring and killing many people who eventually committed suicide. We think Now, every year in January, hordes of Tamponians dressed as pirates and known as crews invade the city in what's now the third largest parade in the country. The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a fun event that has spurred off shoots like the Gasparilla Music Festival, the Gasparilla Distance Classic, and so on and so on.
Speaker 2:Anytime large events captivate a city, it gives rise to opportunities for charity work and giving. Gasparilla is no different. According to their website, Ye, Mystic Crew of Gasparilla is no different. According to their website, Ye, Mystic Crew of Gasparilla has awarded over $1.1 million in college scholarships to students in the Tampa Bay area, and this is just one organization. Considering that dozens of events, each of which has a charity component, dressing up as a pirate really helps a lot of people out. It got me thinking. What sort of other nonprofits exist that are a bit unique in what they do, who they serve and how they impact their communities? Maybe you're familiar with one or two, but then again maybe not. Are you ready to find out what's out there?
Speaker 1:A nonprofit organization, also known as a non-business entity, nonprofit institution or simply a nonprofit organization, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, as opposed to an entity that operates as a business aiming to generate a profit for its owners.
Speaker 2:I've heard of service dogs, but what about service monkeys? Now, this is a unique nonprofit Helping Hands Monkey Helpers brings primates to the assistance of people with limited mobility.
Speaker 3:The average person has never had a monkey in their living room.
Speaker 4:I remember seeing a monkey for the first time. I've never been that close to a monkey.
Speaker 3:I remember Craig just saying over and over again this is awesome, this is awesome, this is so cool, Like he just had this smile on his face and he was just amazed by watching her.
Speaker 4:This is like a little person coming here. It's not like a dog or a cat.
Speaker 3:It's not any other animal that you can possibly imagine In 1979, a researcher by the name of MJ Willard had the idea to train capuchin monkeys to help people with spinal cord injuries. In the beginning of our program we were only placing monkeys with spinal cord injury patients. Now we place monkeys with people with all types of physical disabilities. Let's draw.
Speaker 2:Good job. Thank you, allie, what a good job.
Speaker 4:I broke my neck in a car accident about oh coming up on 12 years ago. Now I don't have any fingers or hands that function normally anymore. I don't have any legs that function anymore and I have no feeling from about my shoulders down. So when Minnie showed up, one of the biggest, biggest lifesavers that she could possibly offer me was fetching a phone. If I drop the phone, that's my lifeline to 911 and emergencies. I'm pretty much done until somebody comes and picks it up, and before Minnie that could be hours. Way to go, way to go. High five that a girl. She'll start rubbing my ear or she'll start rubbing the back of my neck, and no matter if I'm down or not, you can't help but laugh. Grooming and the ability to take care of each other to a monkey or a primate is the ultimate sign of trust, and you could just tell that the bond had been made between me and Minnie.
Speaker 2:She really, really alleviates the pain of being in a wheelchair. She really does. And, what's even better, 96% of Monkey Helper's revenue goes to the program. I'll post a link to the video so you can see these little guys in action. You'll be sold on the idea and the mission. Now, in certain parts of the world, a real danger is unexploded landmines. In fact, in 2022 alone, at least 4,710 people were killed or injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war. So how do you find these hidden menaces before they kill or maim more innocent people? Well, rats, of course. Apopo is a Belgian non-profit whose letters, translated into English, stand for Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development. The organization uses giant African pouched rats to sniff out and indicate the location of landmines. Check it out.
Speaker 5:It's early morning and Mandy is boarding the bus for her regular journey to the training fields. But today she has a big test ahead to see if she's ready to join an elite team on a mine clearing mission to Mozambique. In the past, dogs have been used for mine detection, but African pouch rats like Mandy have distinct advantages.
Speaker 6:Rats have some advantages to dogs, that is, of course, they're smaller in size. They're much cheaper, especially the transport Our animals which we're using. They're almost blind or they don't see much because they're night animals, so they're completely depending on their sense of smell and hearing. And if you look at them, they're sniffing all the time.
Speaker 5:As with the TB training, mandy and chums have spent several months in laboratories tuning their noses to the smell of TNT, the explosive in landmines. Having completed this stage, they put their nose to the test in the field on a series of courses designed to stretch their mind-sniffing capabilities.
Speaker 7:We use three metres and we call it contamination, whereby we use iron casings so we put them down in the field. They are three metres wide, that's why we call them three metres. Then the light when it's used with that system, then the light goes to five meter. The distance from each landmine is much further, to make the rat work more to get to find the landmines. They are like humans. Some of them they are good, some they are not good. So they have different capabilities.
Speaker 5:Mandy is one of the rat school's high achievers. Most take about a year to train, but she has made it to the final test in a mere eight months.
Speaker 6:The rats have to do a few hundred square metres containing, let's say, five, six, seven mines, and they're not allowed to miss one mine. When they miss one mine, they cannot operate on the minefield.
Speaker 5:Today, nine real landmines have been hidden. Mandy will have to find them with 100% accuracy, guided by a search string which is connected between her two trainers. Mandy moves systematically up and down the course, processing lane by lane. Every time she sniffs a mine, she scratches the surface at the spot, weighing less than 5 kilograms she's too light to set off the explosive device. And when she indicates a mine, she gets what she's in it for A click, followed by a reward. With nine mines to find. That's a lot of bananas to eat, and, as Mandy's ever-expanding pouches show, she's doing rather well.
Speaker 6:They work for their food and they work a bit mechanical. Once they know something, they love to repeat it. To repeat it all the time, as long as they know they're going to get the food and they're confident they can do the job. So that makes them very well suited for this job.
Speaker 5:Finally, when Mandy's cheeks can take no more banana. The test is over. She has passed with flying colours and will head to Mozambique on a mind-clearing mission.
Speaker 2:Believe it or not, these rats have also been trained to sniff out tuberculosis. There's a link to this video in the show notes as well. Now, did you realize that diarrhea is still a leading killer in some countries? It's a totally preventable condition if you have the right medicine. Introduce Coca-Cola into the mix. No, Coke isn't the cure for diarrhea, but you can truly find it anywhere in the world. So what if you could piggyback the right medicine onto Coca-Cola's efficient distribution network onto Coca-Cola's efficient distribution network. So was born Cola Life, the unique nonprofit dedicated to saving the lives of African children by hitching a ride with Coke bottles.
Speaker 7:Diarrhea is still a leading killer in children under five. This is really a huge problem. You will find Coca-Cola in any village at any time, but you will not find medicines. What's the difference? There is something there to learn from.
Speaker 8:There is something there to learn from. Colalife has now trialled the Kit Yomoyo anti-diarrhoea kit. 400,000 have been distributed in Zambia. Let's show the kit in use, filmed using a prototype Kit. Yomoyo co-packages ORS and zinc. This format is government branded. It pops open easily. There's a commercial format too, for small shops and supermarkets. Inside are four 200 millilitre sachets of oral rehydration salts. These stop a child dying of dehydration. It also contains 10 zinc tablets, vital for immunity. Graphics make it easy for non-readers. When taken for 10 days, zinc protects a child for 3 months. Crucially, the pack is marked to show 200ml. It's used as a measure for the right amount of safe water. African mothers rarely have measuring vessels at home. Once you're sure it's right, tip into a cup or glass, add one sachet of ORS and mix. It's an attractive orange color that looks nice. Doesn't taste too bad for medicine either. Thanks, mama.
Speaker 2:This nonprofit is still in its infancy, but has real potential to save lives Super unique.
Speaker 1:From Statistacom, in 2023, roughly 2 million nonprofit organizations were registered with the Internal Revenue Service in the United States.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to REA Audio. Please make sure to follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. We appreciate you have a great rest of your week. You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you. So I hope you can see that with the right intentions, everything, even a silly day dedicated to talking like a pirate even if that's how pirates spoke can bring hope and new life to someone in need. My wish is that this episode inspired you to support a nonprofit doing any kind of work helping others that tugs at your heart. There's more than enough of them out there Now. If you want to make sure that you're working with a legit nonprofit, you can go to charitynavigatororg to see how nonprofits spend their money or to simply search for one that aligns with your passion.
