"Mr Sulu, you have the conn..."
Herein you will find stories of courage, inspiration, and great power. So you think you cannot make a difference in today's world? You are wrong! This page investigates the times when we can get it right and provides examples of "how to" so you can have the power as well.
ps: for the history of "Mr Sulu, you have the conn..." click here http://www.word-detective.com/2007/03/01/conn/
Incredible news. Moments ago, John Key's government responded to the explosion of support for Kirsty McCully's Change.org petition to save the Auckland Sexual Abuse Crisis Centre. It contacted the centre directly, committing to "continued funding for the next 6 months" and pledging to work with them to ensure "a sustainable service for the future."
It's an extraordinary victory -- for Kirsty, for the sexual abuse survivors who will now have somewhere to turn at their darkest moments, and for the staff who can now continue focusing on their important front line work.
Just a few short days ago things weren't looking good. Funding was running desperately low, staff were about to be laid off and almost no one in the public or media was paying attention to the plight of the centre. No one in government was admitting they had responsibility -- in fact no one would even return the centre's desperate calls.
Kirsty McCully used to work at the centre as a researcher into the prevention of sexual violence in Auckland. She worked alongside what she described as "tireless and committed crisis line counselling staff" and saw how they "are there for people when no one else is, and when no one else understands."
Kirsty could not accept the closure of this critical service -- so she started a Change.org petition to John Key, and worked overtime to contact friends, family, staff and anyone she could think of to get involved. Support for her campaign exploded across the country, as thousands joined her in an urgent call to save the centre.
More than seven thousand people signed Kirsty's petition, hundreds posted messages directly to John Key on his Facebook wall, and media attention took off. In fact, PM Key was even questioned about his plans for the centre at a press conference today.
It's an extraordinary example of people power, and a testament to the power of anyone, anywhere to start, join and win campaigns about issues they care about.
Thanks for everything you do,
Nick, Suzanne, Bobbi, Tony, Nathan and the Change.org team.
PS. Kirsty has won an incredible victory today -- but if there's something else that you're passionate about changing in your community, you can start your own Change.org petition at any time. Click here to get started.
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Who is Change.org?
We're a platform that allows anyone, anywhere to start, join and win campaigns about issues that are important to them.
We put the best social change technology in the hands of passionate people everywhere. You can use the Change.org platform to have an email automatically sent to a decision maker every time someone signs your petition. You can recruit more people to your cause, and regularly update your supporters on the progress of the campaign with our easy to use website.
More than 50,000 petitions have been started on the site, and every day, people are winning campaigns on important issues. Click here if you want to start a petition on Change.org right now.