#ChewforChange and small acts that change our world

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign withPollinate Media Group™ and Project 7 but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #chewforchange http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO”

If there is one lesson, one truth, that I want my students to understand when they leave my classroom, it’s not that verb conjugation is the key to success or run-on sentences will one day ruin the world. The lesson I want and need them to know in their whole being is that with an education they can do anything. They can be better, live better, know better. Everything can be better. Changing the world, their world, starts with an education.

So when I had the opportunity to practice changing my world, I started with my fellow teachers. Because if we want the next generation to change the world, we need to make sure those kids have healthy, strong, positive role models to look up to. And home isn’t always a place they get that.

So I shared Project 7 gum with my co-workers recently. I got to tell them how buying a simple pack of gum can change our community. I love this idea, that something I would buy anyway can be used to plant trees in my community or feed people in our own backyard.

And that’s what Project 7 gum is all about. When we think about changing the world, it can seem overwhelming and too much. But changing one person’s world is different, easier. I can change one person’s world every day. And maybe that’s the point, how we get to the changed world. One little change at a time.

Project 7’s mission is simple: to ensure everyone around the globe has access to fundamental human needs for a healthy life. They make everyday products like bottled water, gum, mints, and coffee that everyday people can buy. Then for every purchase of a Project 7 product, good is done in seven areas of need; they feed the hungry, heal the sick, hope for peace, house the homeless, quenchthe thirst, teach them well, and save the earth.

So I got to tell my fellow teachers about the opportunity we have with these products to meet needs. And they got a little pick-me-up on a blah Thursday. It’s amazing how something so little can change your day.

Then, in keeping with the idea that I can change one person’s world, I made a simple and delicious chili for my neighbor and her family. She’s a teacher with two small girls (like me!) and I understand all too well how your own kids sometimes get the short end of the stick when you spend your days with everyone else’s children. So I took her dinner in hopes of freeing up some time for her and her family.

It’s the perfect fall dinner and easily thrown in the slow cooker for an easy meal.

Graham Chili

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

½ large red onion, diced

½ green pepper, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cans of fire-roasted tomatoes

1 can of chili beans

1 can of black beans

1 large (29 oz.) tomato puree

1 lb. ground beef

1 carton of beef stock

1 ½ tablespoons chili powder

1 ½ tablespoons cumin

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Heat olive oil in a pot and add onions, green peppers, and garlic. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Add ground beef and brown thoroughly.

3. Add chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (if you like a little spice!) and combine.

4. Add chili beans, black beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, tomato puree, and beef stock. Combine and then bring to a boil. Once it boils, serve or simmer on the stove until it’s time to eat! Make sure you top your chili with all of your favorites (I love green onions, sour cream, and corn chips.)

And here’s what’s so powerful about small, intentional acts to help others. As my family showed up to drop off our chili dinner (with fixings and potatoes for the next night’s dinner because chili is always better on the second day, right?), my friend got a little choked up and said her husband had recently lost his job and they actually didn’t know where dinner was coming from tonight. So this rocked their world in a way I hadn’t even planned.

And you know what? It changed my world too. Helping others is good for the soul.

But sometimes I don’t have as much time as I’d like, so grabbing a few packs of Project 7 gum at Meijer while I’m doing my weekly grocery shopping makes me feel vested in my community and allows me to give back when I don’t have much time. Because helping shouldn’t be hard.

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