Viewpoint

More than $30,000 in donations are helping to relieve children’s hunger around the world thanks to PRISM International President Dennis Barnedt, Access Information Management, Pleasanton, Calif., and a team of volunteers who founded PRISM Gives. The first project for the group was a cross-country motorcycle ride from Florida to California, and the first charity to benefit from the group is Action Against Hunger (AHA). AAH is a crisis response organization that seeks to prevent acute malnutrition in small children—particularly in disaster-related situations.

In addition to Dennis, a small but dedicated team of volunteers helped to construct the prismgives.com Web site, solicit sponsorships for the ride and do the actual cross-country riding for the event. They are: Ian Thomas, O’Neil Software, Irvine, Calif., who engaged in much of the route planning and tracking of the group (Ian and his wife Janice were also two of the riders); Tom Adams, Flourish Press/RIMPro Marketing, San Diego, who donated his time to create and develop the PRISM Gives Web site; and remaining riders and support car drivers Kevin Bell, Datasafe Storage Ltd. in the U.K.; Scott Robertson, Access Information Management; Rob Alston, Access Information Management; and Tayler Robertson, a student at Los Positas College, Livermore.

Dennis says he is excited about the level of support. "When we started PRISM Gives, we wanted to give something back as business owners. We wanted to create an opportunity for other members of PRISM International to coordinate their giving in order to make a significant impact in the world," he says. "Our charity cross-country motorcycle ride created a point of focus for members to come together to make a difference in the lives of hungry children around the world. Those of us who were able to participate in the ride also had an opportunity to enjoy a really unique experience and do good work at the same time."

Dennis says he is particularly pleased that the campaign exceeded its fund-raising goal. "When we were first discussing the campaign, we agreed that all the riders would take care of their own expenses and that all the money from the pledges and sponsorship would go directly to the charity. We set a goal of $25,000 and figured we would be lucky to reach that by the end of the PRISM International Conference, which we saw as our real opportunity for a last push toward our fund-raising goal. The fact that we have now exceeded $30,000 is an extraordinary achievement."

Dennis credits the success of the program to a great working relationship with Ian and Tom. "Ian did all of our route planning, logistics work and many other details of the ride. Tom volunteered his time and resources to design the PRISM Gives Web site and did the liaison work with Action Against Hunger," he says. "This was a real team effort and everyone who participated as a volunteer, rider, sponsor or who contributed in other ways deserves part of the credit for the success of PRISM Gives. All the participants in this year’s event have committed to working on another event in the future."

To learn more about the program and the ride or to make a contribution, visit http://prismgives.com. More information about PRISM International is at www.prismintl.org.