“This land is your land, this land is my land.
From the California to the New York Island.
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters.
This land was made for you and me.”
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Woody Gurthrie wrote that lyric in 1956. The sentiment has never been more relevant to us at Areena.
I’m not referring to politics. There’s been enough written on that subject to last a lifetime. Instead I’m referring to the tremendous sense of community Areena has recently experienced. Over the last month, we’ve received the reassuring validation that one thing unites us as a nation: desire to help the less fortunate.
We recently shared with you our partnership with the great folks at Screenvision Media. They ran a trailer describing Areena’s work in movie theaters across the country as part of their Front & Center program. (You can visit that post by CLICKING HERE.)
As a result, Areena’s membership has now expanded across the country into previously untapped regions. People have consistently responded to our message in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles…etc. Now they are responding in places like South Portland, Maine and North Richmond Hills, Texas and Bremerton, Washington and Waterloo, Iowa and Smyrna, Tennessee.
Why? Because the message – help each other live better lives – resonates. It unifies! It connects!
Areena now has members in forty of our fifty states and will work tirelessly to expand into all fifty in the coming months. These men and women are eager to tell us who they are and what they’re capable of doing. Retired teachers. Ex-police officers. Craftsmen of every imaginable discipline. They’ve seen our thirty-second trailer in the movie theater and been moved to put down their bucket of popcorn and act!
We have common ground. When we communicate with one another, we leverage that common ground to do great things. As we activate this new membership and make lasting impacts in communities across the nation, we look forward to sharing with you our continued success!
We extend a special thanks to AJ Simpson, Steve Shaw, Jeff Dash and Matt Arden for helping to make all this happen.
Art Gurwitz
Founder, Areena
Author
