Past Projects

Click on an image to learn more about that project.

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On August 13, 2010, Joe Stone nearly died after crashing into a mountain at almost 50 MPH near Missoula, MT, while speed flying, a form paragliding. The accident left him with a permanent spinal cord injury at the C7 level, rendering him an incomplete quadriplegic, meaning he is paralyzed from the chest down and have impairment in both his hands.

Meet Joe Stone.

And this is his story… 

I was an athlete and avid outdoors man before this injury and at first I felt lost as if I would never be able to do many of those things again. However, through research and determination, I learned that there are many ways to get back into the outdoors even with a physical limitation. I decided to set a large personal goal as a way to find out for myself, what was truly possible with my level of injury. On August 12, 2011, one day before the one year anniversary of my accident, I successfully hand cycled the challenging Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier National Park. When I achieved my goal of finishing that ride, I discovered that my life truly felt limitless again.

I set my sights on completing IRONMAN Florida on Nov 2, and becoming the first known wheelchair-using quadriplegic to complete this grueling race. The Ironman Triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon 26.2-mile run, raced in that order and without a break. Top able-bodied competitors finish the race in about 9-10 hrs; I was hoping to complete it in between 14-15 hrs. The race has a hard time limit and has to be completed in a max of 17 hrs. On the day of the race I battled large swells in the ocean and cool temperatures increasing the risk of hypothermia as I swam for almost two and a half hours completing the 2.4 mile swim but missing the time cutoff by just minutes.

While this was a very large personal goal, the bigger vision and purpose for doing this is to share the experience of this journey as a way to inspire others to push the boundaries of perceived limitations to live rich and fulfilling lives, regardless of their physical and mental abilities. To help further this mission, I speak to groups and organizations, volunteer as a peer mentor, and engage in outdoor activities with people of all abilities. With the guidance and support of A Better Society, I am excited to announce that we are establishing the Joe Stone Foundation. This foundation will offer scholarships and grants, and provide resources and support to others seeking to discover new possibilities in their lives after a challenging life-changing event.

The Joe Stone Foundation’s mission is to help merge the disabled and able-bodied communities through activities that can be experienced together regardless of their ability level.

I am so grateful for your support and energy. Thanks for joining me on this amazing journey!

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Ever feel like the world is against you? Ever wonder if it’s ever going to get any better? Longing for a place to just “be” with people who just “know” what you’re feeling? And can make you laugh. And cry. Together.

Well, this is Malou Watterson’s story…

When Malou first approached us, we were unsure if we had what Malou needed to help her create a cancer foundation that was true to her passion. Now just six months later, we can’t envision A Better Society being the organization we are, without having the experience of working alongside Malou to bring Cancer MY WAY to life.

Malou was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at an early age of 36. After chemo therapy, extensive surgery, radiation therapy, she was given a ‘clean’ bill of health. One year and 10 months later, a recurrence put her into the category of Chronic Cancer patients.

And she was mad. Mad as a hornet actually. Mad enough to want to make cancer her b*#!$! If she was going to have to deal with cancer, she wanted to do it HER WAY.

And thus Cancer MY WAY was born. And while we all liked her original tagline and mission of “Make Cancer Your B*@#^!” (remove the “*@#^!”), we needed to tone it down just a bit for the masses.

Listen to Malou’s story here.

What does “Save the Planet” mean to you?

Does it involve re-cycling?
Do you know what it means to re-use?
Have you ever considered re-creating?

Well, it’s time to give your things a second life…

SecondLife is a new project and builds on our theme of recycle / reuse. We will be expanding this project to encompass a framework that can be used by schools, organizations, and companies to quickly assemble the tools necessary to start their own recycle / reuse project.

We are pleased to announce that A Better Society has been awarded the 2012 Community Power Grant from RethinkRecycling.com and Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board. Through this partnership, we intend to develop an innovative reuse program, Project SecondLife, that can be launched within any school, organization, or business.

 

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Our greatest asset on this earth… our kids. The next generation. Their future success depends on what they learn from us – now.

Kids in Dedicated Service

Project KiDS provides an active learning and collaborative environment for elementary to high school kids. By ingraining the value of community service at a young age, kids have a much greater likelihood to continue their passion throughout their later school and career years.

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Kids Caring for Kids – Here, Near, and Far!

Excelsior Elementary 5th Grade Girl Scout Troop #17126 has created a Bronze Award Project entitled Kids Caring for Kids–Here, Near and Far! It is a weeklong poverty awareness campaign being held at Excelsior Elementary from April 11 – April 15, 2016. Our campaign ends with a “Mock Sleepout” at Gary’s First Class Car Care in downtown Excelsior on Saturday, April 16 from 11am – 7pm. Please visit us during our “sleepout” to learn more about the issue of poverty in Minnetonka, Minneapolis, and Haiti and find out ways that you can help bring hope to people living in poverty. Together we can make a difference!!