I recently joined members of the North Valley Chamber of Commerce in the annual Installation Luncheon at the Porter Valley Country Club. Wayne Adelstein, President of our local Chamber of Commerce, welcomed me back as Honorary Mayor. I have “worn the honorary mayor’s hat” for a couple years now and am truly grateful to wear it for my third year. (Omygosh-where-did-the-time-go?)

When I started this traditionally-recognized PR-position, I knew I was going to have a lot of fun and meet all sorts of people and that certainly was and continues to be a huge part of why I continue to be involved. That said, my main goal as Honorary Mayor is to help groups who are making a difference and helping others.

I have a terrific group of people who help me keep all my ducks in a row, dress to impress, show up on time and make sure I kiss all the babes…er, um babies. In other words, it takes a whole staff to make sure that this honorary mayor fulfills her obligations and has fun doing it!

Well, we have finally hit on a way that we think can help create even more energy for these already vibrant groups. We are calling it “The Street-Wise Challenge”. This Spring, residents in our San Fernando Valley can be the lucky participants in a simple, effective and fun way for groups to improve conditions in their immediate neighborhood by doing simple community projects.

With Street-Wise, the idea is to reward members of groups who are active in the community, cleaning up the streets or parks, finding ways to improve their environment, helping the elderly, showing respect to parents or teachers, helping prevent crime, etc. – you get the idea.

And like any contest worth its weight, First Prize is $1,000! Second prize is $500 and Third prize is $250!

But the coolest thing – okay, the $1,000 first prize is pretty cool – is that the contestants can videotape their experiences and these videos will be reviewed by some of my friends in “the business.” There will be several special awards for these videos and finally – okay, this is pretty cool too – some of this material will be edited into a documentary film that we will submit to film festivals and to other community outreach programs so that they too can be inspired to make the world a better place. We are calling this part of the Street-Wise Challenge the Life, Camera, Action! Awards.

The Contest is being run through our non-profit, Happy House, and uses The Way to Happiness ® booklet as a framework on which to base your projects. Everyone participating can draw inspiration by reading the 21 common sense points in this little book. They include: Take care of yourself, Be temperate, Love and help children, Honor your parents, Seek to live with the truth, Don’t do anything illegal, Be worthy of trust, Be industrious, Be competent, Respect the religious beliefs of others, Safeguard and improve your environment and many more. Just about any project you can think of that helps others would fall under one of the chapters.

Lots of dedicated groups such as PALS and Explorers, Boys and Girls Clubs and Scouts, the YMCA and so many others are already doing great things in their communities. This competition is just a creative and collaborative way to reward them for their efforts and in turn, gets even more groups involved.

For details on how you can enter the Street-Wise Challenge please visit www.streetwisevideo.org or call 818-882-7483.

See you at the awards ceremony this Spring!

Nancy C.