Saturday, October 18, 2003
New York, New York
Minus a few days in Boston, I've been in New York City for nearly two weeks now. I've spent a lot of time in Midtown Manhattan near the United Nations because it's a fun and international area just 10 minutes walk from Grand Central. My church keeps their United Nations Office (the UU-UNO) directly across the street from the UN where they coordinate activites like lobbying for world peace and providing humanitarian aid to the needy. Cool job.
It's not a big space to work with, just two rooms in the basement, but that's Manhattan, and I've seen anywhere from 3 to 10 people in there workin' and chattin'. Like most of these kinds of non-profit/political operations, there are stacks of papers everywhere, posters covering the walls, high-school and college interns doing on-line research, people coming in and out with coffee and Chinese take-away food, etc. It could just be because it's my first time in Manhattan and the United Nations environment, but the office has a very inspirational vibe. It's electric, and I love it.
All of the regulars are volunteers except for Rev. "Fran," the Executive Director, who organizes this whole thang. Some of my favorite UU-UNO regulars include Bonnie, the wise elder who's been handling the accounting for the past 3 years or so and is so excited to have discovered QuickBooks recently which makes "this money business so clicky"; Ben, one of the bright-eyed high-school interns, who is such a serious policy junkie he's sure to be advising some President in 2030; and Mark, an incredibly tall college Junior with a charming smile who's from a congregation in Canada.
During one of our discussions, while we were folding letters and stuffing envelopes, Fran asked me to move to Manhattan and work with the office. I think she could tell that I really loved it there. But, while I love the UU-UNO office and Manhattan, I was not about to be an unpaid intern again. My freebie days have come to a close. My student loan office is calling already. Plus, I still have one course left to complete my Masters degree, which I'll take during January and February in Australia (the most amazing months in Sydney).
But her invitation stuck with me and I thought of a way I could get involved and do the stuff I was good at: raising money and traveling. I presented her with an 11 page fundraising concept paper detailing a plan to raise 1.0 to 1.5 million dollars from UU congregations around the world (which I would go and present to personally) with a matching element of 1.0 million dollars from one hundred high dollar donors. Two days later I went to two interviews in Boston, the headquarters of the UU Church, and just had a final interview back here in New York yesterday, with the President of the UU-UNO Board of Directors. I'll find out if they want to fund me and the project for the one-year campaign tomorrow morning.
A chance to work for an inspiring organization that allows me to be based out of Manhattan, but also allows a lot of traveling, is pretty exciting. Manhattan Andy? Maybe.
Minus a few days in Boston, I've been in New York City for nearly two weeks now. I've spent a lot of time in Midtown Manhattan near the United Nations because it's a fun and international area just 10 minutes walk from Grand Central. My church keeps their United Nations Office (the UU-UNO) directly across the street from the UN where they coordinate activites like lobbying for world peace and providing humanitarian aid to the needy. Cool job.
It's not a big space to work with, just two rooms in the basement, but that's Manhattan, and I've seen anywhere from 3 to 10 people in there workin' and chattin'. Like most of these kinds of non-profit/political operations, there are stacks of papers everywhere, posters covering the walls, high-school and college interns doing on-line research, people coming in and out with coffee and Chinese take-away food, etc. It could just be because it's my first time in Manhattan and the United Nations environment, but the office has a very inspirational vibe. It's electric, and I love it.
All of the regulars are volunteers except for Rev. "Fran," the Executive Director, who organizes this whole thang. Some of my favorite UU-UNO regulars include Bonnie, the wise elder who's been handling the accounting for the past 3 years or so and is so excited to have discovered QuickBooks recently which makes "this money business so clicky"; Ben, one of the bright-eyed high-school interns, who is such a serious policy junkie he's sure to be advising some President in 2030; and Mark, an incredibly tall college Junior with a charming smile who's from a congregation in Canada.
During one of our discussions, while we were folding letters and stuffing envelopes, Fran asked me to move to Manhattan and work with the office. I think she could tell that I really loved it there. But, while I love the UU-UNO office and Manhattan, I was not about to be an unpaid intern again. My freebie days have come to a close. My student loan office is calling already. Plus, I still have one course left to complete my Masters degree, which I'll take during January and February in Australia (the most amazing months in Sydney).
But her invitation stuck with me and I thought of a way I could get involved and do the stuff I was good at: raising money and traveling. I presented her with an 11 page fundraising concept paper detailing a plan to raise 1.0 to 1.5 million dollars from UU congregations around the world (which I would go and present to personally) with a matching element of 1.0 million dollars from one hundred high dollar donors. Two days later I went to two interviews in Boston, the headquarters of the UU Church, and just had a final interview back here in New York yesterday, with the President of the UU-UNO Board of Directors. I'll find out if they want to fund me and the project for the one-year campaign tomorrow morning.
A chance to work for an inspiring organization that allows me to be based out of Manhattan, but also allows a lot of traveling, is pretty exciting. Manhattan Andy? Maybe.
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