The Legacy and Gift of Teaching Philanthropy

Never doubt the impact of living your purpose and speaking that truth can have. Bob Hopkins is a Dallas philanthropist who has been teaching elementary school children across the world how to volunteer in order to help them become the best version of...
Never doubt the impact of living your purpose and speaking that truth can have. Bob Hopkins is a Dallas philanthropist who has been teaching elementary school children across the world how to volunteer in order to help them become the best version of themselves and contribute dynamically to their communities. In this episode, we talk about some of his programs and the effect they had on then 9-year old Amit Banerjee who could never forget Bob’s words. He took them home with him and they completely transformed his family conversations and actions to embrace philanthropy. Now at age 20 Amit is running Philanthropy Kids to keep his mission alive and growing by celebrating and inspiring philanthropy in the next generation of youth.
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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,
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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.
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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,
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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and
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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working
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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to
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the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
for tuning in again this week. I'm
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your host, Elise Cortes, joining
you live from Dallas, Texas, which
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is home base for me. If
you've been tuning in for a while,
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then you know this program is all
about helping people create more meaningful and productive
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personal and work lives and equipping leaders
inside organizations to cultivate meaning and purpose that
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elicits passion inspired contribution, innovation,
and persevering performance. I talk with my
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guests to draw on their expertise and
are my own experience consulting, speaking and
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developing workforces across the globe. Every
week. In these conversations, I hope
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you walk away with something you can
immediately put to use in your life that
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you come alive with the possibility of
living with passion, working on purpose,
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and are aspired to discover for yourself
just how big and fulfilling your life,
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work and leadership can be. And
if you do catch fire from anything you
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hear, reach out and tell me
about it. I want to hear from
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you. Email me at Elise at
least cortez dot com or go to my
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website and use the contact me feature
there to message me and tell me what
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you need from me. Whether you
want to hear about what's coming up on
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the radio show, whether you want
to join one of our catch Fire online
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inspiration, accountability or Mastermind communities,
or you want some information about ourposer and
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leadership programs. At any event,
I'm happy to talk with you, and
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I'm glad we're connected. Thanks for
listening this week's program, Here we go
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Today we celebrate philanthropy and living and
working with purpose. With us today is
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the dynamic duo of Bob Hopkins and
Admit Bannergy. Bob is a philanthropist,
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educator, and change make up to
all kinds of things in life, and
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Admit is the CEO of Philanthropy Kids, a nonprofit dedicated at helping and celebrating
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inspiring philanthropy in youth. He's also
a student at SMU studying electrical engineering,
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and, like Bob, involved in
a whole host of other philanthropic efforts.
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We're recording this together in Bob's office
in Dallas, Texas. Bob and admit,
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welcome to working on purpose. Thank
you, thank you, thank you,
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Thanks for having us. It's so
great to have you both here,
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both of you, two handsome in
Sorry listeners that you can't actually see them,
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but I can. So let's start
if we can here. Bob,
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you and I met several years ago, and I had you on the radio
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show a couple of years ago.
We'll talk about that in just a second,
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but catch us up. What are
you up to in the world.
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You're you're out changing the world,
making a difference. You're a role model,
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You're an activist. I don't even
know when you sleep. You're tireless,
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you're writing a book, you're teaching
in Texas and Mexico. What else,
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what else? What else? Whatever
you tell me to do, I'm
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going to do. You know,
at least I'm one of these people that
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takes opportunity and I tell my students
I'm a college professor and tell my students
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take opportunity, don't miss out.
Somebody says let's go someplace, do it.
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Go if she can. Anyway,
thank you for inviting us. I
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have a manergy with me. We've
known each other for a number of years.
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Ad and I have He was in
fourth grade now he's a junior in
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college. He was in fourth grade
when he was in my class. It
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was called Philanthropy and Volunteerism in Entrepreneurship
PAVE. It was an organization that I
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created nineteen ninety seven something like that, And I don't remember exactly when a
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Meat was in my class. But
we've been connected all these years. His
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mother, and his brother and his
dad, they're all connected as well.
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We've even taken a trip together to
Mexico to do good good things like paint
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a school for children and do some
social entrepreneurship work. We took ten other
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people with us, and so we
are now talking about going to India next
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December and take students with us,
and we're going to do the same thing,
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work with children, teaching social entrepreneurship. So back to your question,
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what am I doing these days?
I'm constantly thinking about what I'm going to
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do next, and your program is
about purpose. I think we all are
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hunting for purpose, and I'm hunting
for the next thing I do. But
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right now I'm teaching college and still
working with my paved program. A couple
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of things that I want to say
really quick, and one is that I
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stand for this place of really celebrating
our one precious life. What are you
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going to do with this one precious
life? And I really am struck by
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all the both of you are up
to, and I meet so many people
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and I often wonder to myself,
is that all you really want from this
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one precious life? That's all you
want? You two are the other end
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of the spectrum of course, right
we really really do want and want to
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give a lot to this life.
And I want to share for our listeners,
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Bob, that when I interviewed you, interviewed you back in March of
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twenty sixteen, we were in your
classroom for the radio show conversation. And
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one of the things that I've never
been ab to forget about that conversation is
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when I ask you the question,
I said, Bob, what is it
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that motivates you? Where does all
this energy come to do? Everything you're
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up to do you remember what you
told me. No, you got this
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really soft, thoughtful look on your
face, and you said something along the
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lines of, I just want to
make sure that I've done enough. Isn't
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that beautiful? Oh well, I
don't know, I think this. So
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that's one of the reasons I had
to have you come back. So you
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said in that conversation, one of
the things we talked about is the reason
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you do the work that you do, especially with your with your volunteerism education
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programs, is that you believe,
and maybe you have research on this,
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that when you teach young people to
volunteer and be philanthropic, that you then
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set them on the path of life
to be able to avoid incarceration, to
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avoid being poor. That it's really
it really will lift up a society in
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many, many, very many ways. Can you say more about that perspective?
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Well, now that you're talking and
you're asking me these questions, you
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know, at least people ask me
why do I do what I do?
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And it's not because I feel like
I have to be busy all the time.
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But my answer is quite simple,
it's what makes me happy. And
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I guess then you have to find
what is happiness? And I don't know,
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but when I look at the projects
that I create, or the students
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who are listening to what I have
to say and they respond and they get
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it and they light up, that
makes me happy. And I can remember
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being in Mexico working with children and
after a semester going in once a week
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with students and seeing them shake hands
and see a child change just because of
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a handshake. You know, tears
started rolling down my cheeks because it made
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me happy to see somebody be changed
because of something that I created long ago.
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And I think that's the answer.
Here is what makes you happy?
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And I know purpose obviously is what's
going to make people happy, But can
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you define yourself when you were happy
and what made you happy? Was it
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ice cream? Or was it a
kiss or was it a hug or was
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it somebody who said something to you? I don't know. At the end
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of the day, when you go
to bed and you go to bed happy,
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think you know what happened that day. I guess that's the purpose.
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Well, that's beautiful, and I
think I would add something to that.
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From what I know of you and
how I've seen you work, is that
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when we when we stand in our
purpose and we get to live our purpose
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through our work or through our lives, it gives something to us. Let's
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us stand in a place of inspiration. And I think those tears that you
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felt were probably also tears of being
moved, that you were inspired by what
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you saw in that child. I'm
going to guess in addition to being happy,
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yes, no, kind of sort
of yes, kind of sort of.
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And you know, I'm looking at
him met here, and that's he's
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the one who makes me happy because
I met him when he was nine years
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old and now he's twenty, and
I have seen him develop through the years
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being just a student in my class
and hearing a word philanthropy and I'll let
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him talk and then see what he's
done with his life, which is unbelievable
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and amazing. Well, and talk
about impacting making a difference, And so
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I'll get to that in just a
second, amitt. I definitely want to
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share you with our listeners. But
the thing about this is, I think
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most people get up in the morning, and I don't think few of us
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get up and go. You know, I hope that nobody notices that I'm
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around today. I hope that nobody
really gets the memo that I exist.
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I doubt very few of us get
up that way. Most of us want
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to get up and know that our
lives make a difference, and we individually
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matter. I'm seeing nodding heads,
and so certainly you are an example,
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I believe of somebody who's really mattering, Bob, and so were you,
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Amit. So the reason we're having
this conversation is when I went back and
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revisited that conversation that we had back
in March of twenty sixteen, and I
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looked at that paved program that you're
up to, and I thought, wouldn't
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it be interesting if we could talk
with somebody who's been through that program and
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see how it might have affected them. Did it actually make a difference to
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which is why we're here today.
And you suggested we talk with Amit,
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which I think is fantastic. So
let's turn it over to you, Amit.
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Hello, Welcome to working on Purpose. Hi there, It's just so
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great to see you're twenty years old
and you're you're really up to amazing things.
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I mean, you've got this nonprofit
that you started which we want to
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hear about. You're a student studying
at Southern Methodist University Electrical Engineering, and
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you do all kinds of other volunteer
activities. It's really impressive, amit.
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So first, would you just say
a little bit about help us understand your
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world. Speak up a little bit
so we can hear you what you pour
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yourself into. Say more about who
you are. So I like to live
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my life by this kind of four
part mantra. I like to think,
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I like to learn, I like
to help people, and I like to
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help people help people. And you
say that one more time, place,
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that's great your mantra, one more
time. I like to think, I
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like to learn, I like to
help people, and I like to help
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people help people. And so,
whether it's the academic part of my life
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or the philon part of my life, I'm always trying to incorporate all four
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of those kind of tenants into what
I'm doing. So when I'm in the
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classroom at SMU, while you know
I'm thinking, you know, I'm learning
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about math or history or whatever it
might be, I'm also trying to think,
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how can I put a failm topic
angle to this. And when I'm
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out in the film community, like
I'm volunteering I'm getting my friends involved with
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community service and volunteerism, but I'm
also thinking of it in a kind of
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in a different way, like how
can I be innovative with this? How
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can I be more analytical and how
can I be more thorough to make it
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more make the impact more effective?
And or I guess more or create more
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of an impact. I guess that
is what I'm trying to say. Okay,
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two fault questions if I can.
Yeah, First, we were studying
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electrical engineering. Why electrical engineering?
So I when I was in school,
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like middle school and high school,
I figured that I realized it was good
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at math. And then like when
I started taking physics classes, I really
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liked physics and I thought it was
cool because it kind of explained, oh,
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when you drop a pencil, this
is why it falls to the ground,
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And that was just fascinating me.
And it was something I was better
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at than some of the other subjects. So I thought, let me look
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into that. I also have been
interested in clean energy and finding renewable energy
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sources, and with a background an
electrical engineering, I could be more informed
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when advocating that or even like you
know, developing something if it comes to
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that, Oh my gosh, that's
beautiful, really really impressive. It's just
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so many young people when they're out
considering what shall I study, I don't
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think put that kind of thought into
it. Yes, they think about what
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am I good at, which is
great, that's very very important, But
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then considering what do I do with
that in the world. I think as
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a young person that can be very
hard. So the fact that you can
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connect that with renewable inner and other
things that you're interested in, I think
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that's that's phenomenal. So the second
question is, and it might point to
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what we're going to get to here, is it sounds like you've got this
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lens for philanthropy, so you want
to sprinkle that in what you're doing with
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your conversations and the work that you're
doing with your work with your found your
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organization. What's your bent on that? Why is it so important to you?
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So I'll tell you a little story
about kind of how I got introduced
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to the word philanthropy. As Bob
mentioned, when I was nine, I
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was in fourth grade. I was
I'm a co elementary in Carrollton, Texas,
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and one day my teacher said,
Hey, there's this guy, Bob
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Hopkins. He's going to teach this
course for the next eight weeks. It's
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called PAVE. It's answered Philanthropy and
Volunteer as an Education. And I was
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I was a you know, fourth
grade. I was like, Okay,
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I guess, well, I guess
that's what it's going to be for the
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next eight weeks. And on the
first day of this eight week course,
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uh, miss Shoppins writes on the
board philanthropy, and underneath it he writes
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philos and anthropope the Greek or Latin
stems, the Greek stems for love and
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mankind. And he tells us philanthropy
is a big word, but all it
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means is the love of mankind.
And it was that sentence, that statement
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that kind of got all these gears
turning in my head. And over the
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course of eight weeks, we learned
everything from how to write like a letter
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asking for donations to a specific cause, to how do you interact with the
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high network potential donor and like as
a as a fourth grader, we're learning
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about strong like strong communication skills that
are needed to be effective in the film'sdroper
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community. And so this this class
was super formative in helping me shape my
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worldview and realizing that I can integrate
philanthropy into everything because it's not just about
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raising money or donating money. It's
about showing people that you care. And
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when Miss Hopkins kind of took us
through this course, I realized I can
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live a philanthropic life every single days
as a fourth grader and as a twenty
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year old. That still holds true. I really try to keep that through
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and through and I've stayed connected with
Miss Ropkins. We've done a lot of
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projects together. We're still doing a
lot of projects together. And it's all
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that focus. It's all focused around
helping people realize that you don't want to
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your rich role to be a philanthropist, you just have to care. That's
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beautiful. And on that note,
let's take our first break. I'm a
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Last Cortez, your host live on
the air with Bob Hopkins and Amid Bannergy.
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Bob is a philanthropist, educator,
and change maker up to all kinds
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of things in life and admit is
to see EO of Philanthropy Kids and nonprofit
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dedicated to celebrating and inspiring philanthropy in
youth. We are together in Bob's office
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for this conversation. We've been talking
a bit about the two of them in
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their worlds, what they've been up
to, and how they met. After
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the break, we're going to talk
more about amidst experience in the program and
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why it was so informative to him
and what they're up to together. Stay
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with us, we'll be right back. Alice Cortez is a speaker and engagement
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and development catalyst. She designs and
delivers professional development, leadership and engagement workshops
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and can bring her expertise to your
organization. She will help ignite meaningful development
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within your workforce that will increase employee
engagement, performance and retention. To learn
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00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:03.240
more or to invite Elise to speak
to your organization, please visit her at
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00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.759
www dot Elise Cortez dot com.
She would welcome the opportunity to help get
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00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:18.399
your employees working on purpose. This
is working on Purpose with Elise Cortez.
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To reach our program today, send
an email to Elise ali Se at Elise
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00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:33.799
Cortez dot com. Now back to
working on Purpose. Thanks foresting with us,
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and welcome back to working on Purpose. If you're just joining us,
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My guests are Bob Hopkins and a
Meet Bannershe Emmett Amit Banershe. Bob is
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a philanthropist, educator, and changemaker
up to all kinds of things in life
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and admit is the CEO of Philanthropy
Kids, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating and
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inspiring philanthropy in youth. Is also
a student at Southern Methodist University studying electrical
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engineering, and, like Bob,
involved in a ho host of other philanthropic
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efforts. I'm your host, Police
Cortez, So if we can go back,
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I mean, I want to hear
a little bit more about this whole
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experience because like both of you,
I'm also making a difference in the world
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and being able to really presence for
us. Really, why that that original
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class stuck with you? I mean
you could have forgotten this. I mean
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you were in fourth grade. I
mean it was an eight week class.
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It was we say in Texas.
You have slept since then, so you
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could have forgotten this stuff, but
it did. It didn't leave you.
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So tell us a little bit more
about what's happened over the years and how
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that original class has continued to affect
you. So a little bit of background,
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Like my parents were very involved with
like me, while I was growing
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up, and they were always encouraging
me to be involved in things, and
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you care about the community and be
active in the community. I was also
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involved in Boy Scouts. I was
in a cub Scouts since I was in
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first grade, and I've stayed that
for several years. So when it came
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to a community service and volunteerism,
it wasn't completely foreign to me. But
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PAVE was structured in such a way
that it helped me just really understand the
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like breadth that philanthropy can cover.
And what I really liked about it was
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it was a very kind of academic
approach to something that you kind of quote
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unquote learn on the fly otherwise.
And so it really took us through everything
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regarding the philanthropic world. And it
wasn't it was made to where fourth graders
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could understand, but it wasn't dumbed
down for us, if that makes sense.
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We learned everything about how to identify
causes that we care about. We
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had to choose between several nonprofits to
decide which when we were going to fundraise
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for over the eight week period,
so we had to know how to look
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at an onprofit and say I like
this, I like the goals of this
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organization, and I like what they
stand for and I think they're worth supporting.
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As well as raising money for.
We learn about how to interact with
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potential donors, so when we do, like reach out to them for financial
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support for our donation drive, we
are effective while we're only nine years old.
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We're able to maintain eye contact,
We're able to have a firm handsheet,
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create these really strong first impressions that
just help strengthen the relationship that help
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acquire those donations. And these are
the things that nine year olds are not
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usually exposed to. But it was
the the course itself. It was well
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organized and well executed to where we
can understand what's going on. And this
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is quote unquote an adult topic that, like you know, nine year olds
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are not talking about day to day, but it's something that it entered our
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conversation afterwards. Okay, got it. Now, when did you start philanthropy?
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Kits, what year was at?
How old were you? So after
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I graduated the pay program, the
word philanthropy never left my brain. It
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was always like it just kind of
like in the background, in the foreground.
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It it was always there. I
was still involved in Boy Scouts,
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and I was working on an Eagle
Scout rank and one of the requirements for
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the Eagle Scout rank is to execute
an Eagle Scout service project. And I
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knew that mister Hopkins was the expert
on anything philanthropic, and so we reached
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out to him and said, Hi, mister Hopkins, I'm working on my
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Eagle Scout project and I know you
like have tons of wisdom. Can we
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meet and talk about what potential project
they can undertake? So we meet and
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immediately we like, just it's been
a couple of years, but we reconnect.
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I think it was twenty eleven,
so you were I was thirteen and
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so a few years removed from the
pay program, but we were still hit
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the ground running and decided, let's
create a platform to highlight the stories of
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kids, or highlight kids doing good. However bigue, however small, and
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thus Philanthy Kids started. You were
thirteen years old, going it was a
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magazine. Yes, it's a magazine, okay, because I was publishing a
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magazine at the time called Philanthropy in
Texas and then Philanthropy World Magazine. And
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so we determined through our discussions that
he needed to create a magazine himself,
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but it had a different focus.
It was philanthropy kids, so it was
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about kids doing good things, and
it was a couple of year project,
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but he got it done and did
his first issue that he got his Eagle
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Scout. And we're still continuing.
I mean, here we are. He
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was fourteen then and now he's twenty
and we're still working together. And let
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me just say something really important here. Number one is he comes from an
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upper middle class family. He's got
parents, a mother and a father who
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care a lot about this child,
and they don't ever leave him by to
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do anything by himself. They're they're
they're real parents, which I think is
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really important in the development of a
child, is their parents. Absolutely.
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Okay, So anyway, his mother
is now the executive director of actually my
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nonprofit organization, and he's the CEO
of the board the board of that same
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nonprofit organization. So we're still working
together, and we're going to go to
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India now and take students there to
work with. He's Indian, to work
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with students that he already knows from
his mother's hometown, which is what nagpoor,
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nagpoor, nagpoor in part of India
set. It's like dead in the
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center. Okay, they've already been
and he's already talked to kids there.
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So it was so successful and so
wonderful we decided to make it one of
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our annual trips to go with students
to that activity. So anyway, I
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think the parents thing is really important. Another thing is really what I have
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determined though, is that if we
want to really change the world, we
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need to change kids who are poor. Yes, so how do I get
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to poor kids? Well, I
went to a school and I said,
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usually I get the best, your
best kids. I want the worst kids.
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And they said, no, you
don't want the worst kids because they're
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really bad. And I said,
no, no, we want the worst
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kids. And I took students with
me to go and do the same project
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to see if we could change the
minds and the hearts and maybe the future
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of children who are in poverty and
who will be in poverty generation after generation.
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So that is now our focus is
poor kids, not necessarily going to
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schools where the rich kids are,
because we see that kids are kids,
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and if we can change what they
want to do with their lives instead of
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doing drugs and alcohol and drop out
of school and instead think they want to
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be an electrical engineering engineer because they
have these role models. Now they're coming
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out of colleges and that's where fits
in again, only he's now the teacher.
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I think a really cool aspect of
where you've been focusing on is like
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self esteem and trying to boost that
within a lot of the kids that we're
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working with, helping them find their
purpose and helping them realize I, as
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a kid can do something meaningful.
And that's what that's one of my favorite
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parts about the pay program. As
a student and now as like more an
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administrator, I want to be involved. Pick me, Yeah, you can
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go, you can go. You
want to go to India? Seriously,
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I love India. I've been there
in twenty fourteen. I love it.
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I love your country and it's beautiful. It's the culture is astounding, breathtaking.
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Your food it's magnificent and makes me
fat because I eat a lot of
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it. But that was a great, great edition. Thank you both for
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adding that. And at this point
I do want to I want to just
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surface for our listeners. You're your
connection. So Bob, first, what
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did you see in a met You
met him when he was nine years old,
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what did you see in this young
man? I didn't see anything when
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I taught the class because he was
one of twenty or thirty students, and
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he wasn't necessarily a standout because all
the kids were standouts, right ye.
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But obviously what we said to him
about philanthropy, he went and told his
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dad, I want to do something
in philanthropy. And his dad went found
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my email address and said, you
don't know us, but we know you.
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We met you when E met was
in fourth grade, and this is
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of course five years later. Would
you be willing to meet with us?
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And so the whole family came and
met with me, and we decided to
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meet every month for about six months
to figure out what to do here.
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And you know, again, it
made me happy to see what I had
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created and what was happening now with
this kid, and so I would he's
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so excited to go see the family
because you know what, I changed mom,
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and I changed dad. And then
now their son. They have got
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another son who also got his ego
Scout and he's just as much a part
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of all of this as the and
his mother says, this changed our whole
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family. Oh that's so great,
Bob, I know like our dinner table
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conversation. There's so much different than
what they were, you know before the
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paper room or like the fact that
like you know, I mentioned my mindset
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changed, but yeah, everyone in
my family, like each of their mindset
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changed, like they just continue to
think about philanthropy like with every action they
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have. And so like the pay
program, like definitely like kind of bleeped
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outside of the just the classroom,
it goes back home too. And now
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I have a book called Philanthropy Misunderstood. Yeah, I want to hear about
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that. I'm going to ask you
about that. So this is stories of
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people who are doing great things and
why they do them and what they get
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out of it. Because I think
that everybody is hunting for a purpose.
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I think everybody wants to find out
what can I do? What can I
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do? And so I think that
we learned by other people's experiences and so
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not just my experiences. So I
have one hundred and eleven people who are
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in the book who are and of
course these are people I have worked with
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over the years, and I wasn't
the star. They were the star.
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I worked with them. Though I've
been to Nepaul, I've been the Haiti.
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I've been to Mexico three four times
with people who are doing significant things
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for others, and so it's not
just teaching this. I mean, it's
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you know, it's building something.
And of course the whole purpose of the
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book, it's not what you bought, it's what you've built. And so
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it's programs. And these could be
people who wrote checks, but that's not
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what the focus is. The focus
is people who are doing real things in
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philanthropy, which is called the love
of mankind. Okay, So anyway,
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hopefully people will get ideas from reading
this book about what they could do,
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because we all can do something and
it's just that we just don't know what
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it is. And that's where we
come in. Okay, So a couple
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of things about that, Bob.
When is the book coming out? It'll
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be out in October October twenty nineteen. Let's watch for that listeners. Philanthropy
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Misunderstood. Yeah, that's what it's
called. Okay. So what I want
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to say about that that I think
is so great? One, I know,
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I'm writing a book too. It
takes an awful lot of work to
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write a book, takes something to
birth that thing. What I really appreciate
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about what you're up to, and
that that book initiative is that you're trying
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to one showcase the contributions of other
people, and that's just like you to
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do something like that, but two
to be able to provide something that maybe
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gives ideas to others for how they
Two can one find their own purpose and
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to contribute meaningfully. That's beautiful.
Yeah, that's the purpose of the book.
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People ask me where did I get
my ideas to do things philanthropically?
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And it started with my mother,
you know. And I think I asked.
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I did a questionnaire, are you
born a philanthropist? Are you born
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a giver? Or do you learn
it? And ninety nine percent of the
403
00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:59.920
people say they learned it. I
think I learned mine too. Of course,
404
00:29:00.039 --> 00:29:02.119
who'd you learn it from? Well? I learned it because my mother.
405
00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:03.119
She took me here, here,
here to do this. This.
406
00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:07.759
This My dad, he was in
a Lions club. He was doing pancakes
407
00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:11.000
on Main Street downtown Garden City,
Kansas. And I watched him do that,
408
00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:14.200
and then I watched him knock on
doors asking for money for the church.
409
00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:15.400
And then I saw my mom,
and then I saw my dad,
410
00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:18.200
and then they put me in stuff, and I was doing stuff all the
411
00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:21.720
time, but I didn't know it
was philanthropy. I just figured it was
412
00:29:21.799 --> 00:29:25.599
a way of living. But you
know what, Alis, and this is
413
00:29:25.640 --> 00:29:29.799
what disturbs me, is that there's
so many millions of people in the United
414
00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:33.519
States who don't have a purpose because
nobody ever taught them that they needed one.
415
00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:37.920
We have people in our country who
are just barely getting by. They
416
00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:41.759
don't have time to volunteer, they
don't have time to make a difference.
417
00:29:44.519 --> 00:29:47.400
Oh so well, said Bob.
And on that note, let's take our
418
00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:49.039
last break. I'm Elise Cortez,
your host. We've been on the air
419
00:29:49.079 --> 00:29:53.000
with Bob Hopkins and Admit Bannerge.
Bob is a philanthropist, educator, and
420
00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:56.039
change maker up to all kinds of
things in life, and Admit is the
421
00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:00.720
CEO of Philanthropy Kids, a nonprofit
dedicated to sell writing inspiring philanthropy in youth.
422
00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:04.079
We are together in Bob's office for
this conversation. After the break,
423
00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:06.839
we're going to hear more about what
the two of them are up to.
424
00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:30.640
Stay with us, we'll be right
back. Alise Cortez is a speaker and
425
00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:36.799
engagement and development catalyst. She designs
and delivers professional development, leadership and engagement
426
00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:41.640
workshops and can bring her expertise to
your organization. She will help ignite meaningful
427
00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:47.039
development within your workforce that will increase
employee engagement, performance and retention. To
428
00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:51.119
learn more or to invite Elise to
speak to your organization, please visit her
429
00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:56.599
at www dot Elise Cortez dot com. She would welcome the opportunity to help
430
00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:07.599
get your employees working on purpose.
This is working on Purpose with Elise Cortez.
431
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:12.200
To reach our program today, send
an email to Elise ali Se at
432
00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:21.119
Elise Cortez dot com. Now back
to working on purpose. Thanks for staying
433
00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:23.119
with us, and welcome back to
working on purpose if you just tune in
434
00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:27.440
now. My guest is Bob Hopkins
and Amit Energy. Bob is philanthropist,
435
00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:30.480
educator, and changemaker up to all
kinds of things in life. And Amit
436
00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:36.880
is the CEO of Philanthropy Kids,
a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating and inspiring philanthropy
437
00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:40.440
and youth. And he's also a
student at Southern Methodist University here in Dallas
438
00:31:40.440 --> 00:31:44.839
studying electrical engineering and like Bob,
involved in a ho host of other philanthrophic
439
00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:48.720
efforts. I'm your host, Elise
Cortez. So, gentlemen, for this
440
00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:51.799
last bit of time here together,
let's talk a little bit about what you're
441
00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:56.680
both up to together. So I
met you. You are the CEO of
442
00:31:56.759 --> 00:31:59.599
Philanthropy Kids. I did notice that
there was a person, a woman who
443
00:31:59.640 --> 00:32:02.119
had your similar last name. Now
I know what's your mother that she could
444
00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:06.160
Here's a great thing is I thought
she could actually be your sister, which
445
00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:09.480
is fantastic. I'm envious of that, really, So you can pass that
446
00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:13.160
on to her, would you please? Okay, she can give me a
447
00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:16.519
hug later on. So let's talk
about what you're up to, what do
448
00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:21.160
you do and if we have to
be kids. So right now we're trying
449
00:32:21.160 --> 00:32:25.119
to We're always on the hunt for
stories. We're always asking students, asking
450
00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:30.400
kids around the world like, hey, if you're doing good, send us
451
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:32.240
your story. It could be anything
from holding a door open for someone to
452
00:32:32.759 --> 00:32:39.000
creating an international nonprofit that builds wells
in third world countries. And so we're
453
00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:44.480
always on the hunt for stories and
we're always wanting to publish them. And
454
00:32:44.519 --> 00:32:49.000
we're moving to a digital medium,
integrating more on social media and things like
455
00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:52.720
that. Additionally, We're trying to
expand the pay program as much as we
456
00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:57.759
can because the more kids that we
can reach out to and teach about philanthropy,
457
00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:02.319
the more kids will know about phlanthropy. And as Bob mentioned, it's
458
00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:07.400
incredibly important to like helping them find
their purpose and stuff like that. So
459
00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:10.599
those are kind of the two projects
that we've had and we're still continuing to
460
00:33:10.680 --> 00:33:15.559
do. We have a class starting
actually in June. Every Saturday in June
461
00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:22.160
for three hours from nine until twelve
with lunch. Every Saturday that would be
462
00:33:22.279 --> 00:33:25.960
five we will be working with twenty
students and they have to sign and they
463
00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:29.599
have to pay, and as they
pay fifty bucks or something like that,
464
00:33:29.720 --> 00:33:35.720
and it includes their lunch, and
they get volunteer fundraising people who have been
465
00:33:35.799 --> 00:33:38.920
through the paid program to be part
of this deal, and a meet would
466
00:33:38.920 --> 00:33:40.799
be there. I will be there, his mother will be there. And
467
00:33:40.839 --> 00:33:45.079
then we have a teacher who's been
through the pay program and helped develop it,
468
00:33:45.160 --> 00:33:49.680
named Alison Johnson. She was a
student of mine at Eastfield College ten
469
00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:52.559
years ago, went to SMU,
graduated doing wonderful things as well, but
470
00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:57.759
this is her volunteer activity. So
in June, if you can tell people
471
00:33:57.799 --> 00:33:59.960
how to get in touch with us, of course, and they want us
472
00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:04.640
sign up there would be terrific And
well, let's do this real quick.
473
00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:07.079
Then, So for listeners, you
just heard two things, two calls to
474
00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:09.920
action here. One is if you
know a story of a kid who spent
475
00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:14.039
up to something, you got to
reach out and tell these two about that.
476
00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:16.039
And then two, if you want
to be part of this class in
477
00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:21.559
June or other classes in the future
on the PAVE program, then you want
478
00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:23.840
to reach out to go if they
go to philanthropy Kids dot org. Yeah,
479
00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:27.239
there's a contact feature, right,
Yeah, it is a contact feature.
480
00:34:27.239 --> 00:34:30.079
And if you go to philengthy Kids
dot org slash submit, they'll be
481
00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:32.119
able to submit a story. And
if you go to philengthpy kids dot org
482
00:34:32.280 --> 00:34:37.360
slash pave pa V they'll be able
to find out more information about our upcoming
483
00:34:38.039 --> 00:34:43.559
programs. Okay, so two more
things real quick. So I think it's
484
00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:47.280
important that we that we understand that
just really what's happened here with the two
485
00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:51.559
of you, which I just really
applaud and appreciate and want to celebrate,
486
00:34:51.719 --> 00:34:55.800
is that. So Bob Hopkins started
this PAVE program, this educational outreach and
487
00:34:57.519 --> 00:35:00.480
got involved with you, and you've
grown up as a as a it is
488
00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:04.119
a very entrepreneurial young man. So
I want to talk about entrepreneurship as well.
489
00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:08.639
And somewhere along the line something happened
magically and that those two worlds collided,
490
00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:14.000
and that I believe Philanthropy Kids acquired
the pay Program and now the two
491
00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:19.000
of you were working together. Yeah. So, like I started playing the
492
00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:22.840
Kids as my ecoSCOPE project, and
at the time, the focus was created
493
00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:30.760
this magazine as we collect stories and
publish these stories. And then I was
494
00:35:30.800 --> 00:35:32.840
working with mister Hopkins on it like
as like he was a mentor during the
495
00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:38.119
whole process and he was very involved
in the creation of that. Additionally,
496
00:35:38.599 --> 00:35:45.400
mister Hopkins is still the Pay Program
was still alive and still a functional organization,
497
00:35:47.039 --> 00:35:50.719
and we thought, hey, we're
already working together. Let's see if
498
00:35:50.719 --> 00:35:54.800
we can just you know, do
both. And so mister Hopkins called me,
499
00:35:54.960 --> 00:36:00.440
I think in twenty thirteen and said, hey, let's revamp the pay
500
00:36:00.519 --> 00:36:06.920
Program. It'll be like UNDERFLANDPY Kids
and will integrate entrepreneurship. So instead of
501
00:36:06.920 --> 00:36:12.360
philanthropy and volunteers in education, it'll
be filming philanthropy and volunteerism in entrepreneurship,
502
00:36:12.920 --> 00:36:15.360
and it'll still you know, have
the education aspect in it. It's still
503
00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:22.480
a course, but we not only
do all the nonprofit analysis and all the
504
00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:30.679
communication skills development, we're now also
adding social entrepreneurship skills and things like that
505
00:36:31.320 --> 00:36:36.039
to the curriculum. Brilliant. It's
so brilliant, and that was mister Hopkins's
506
00:36:36.119 --> 00:36:38.639
idea. It's brilliant. It's so
it's so time late, so so relevant.
507
00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:46.320
Who reads your publication? So our
target audience is kids who are you
508
00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:51.119
know, theoretically they see another if
they're in eight year old and they read
509
00:36:51.159 --> 00:36:53.199
a story about another eight year old, they get the idea that, oh,
510
00:36:53.360 --> 00:36:57.159
this eight year old did something cool
that helps someone. I can do
511
00:36:57.280 --> 00:37:00.280
that too. But we also have
a lot of adults that are eating it,
512
00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:02.280
that are just interested in saying,
oh, look at what these kids
513
00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:07.559
are up to. They're doing a
lot of meaningful things with their life at
514
00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:13.400
twelve years old, fourteen years old, five years old. And so it's
515
00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:16.880
kind of a mixed audience in terms
of age ranges. I want to go
516
00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:20.760
back to what you said earlier about
that I was going to pick up on
517
00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:22.239
a night then I forgot about it, and that was what you said when
518
00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:28.039
kids are involved in some kind of
volunteerism and what that does for their lives,
519
00:37:28.519 --> 00:37:30.960
and what you just said there at
so what a beautiful contribution to the
520
00:37:31.159 --> 00:37:37.639
world that you are giving young people, kids an opportunity to see for themselves
521
00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:39.559
what they could contribute to the world
at a very young age. I could
522
00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:42.480
do that too. That kid did
it, I could do it too.
523
00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:45.280
That is such a beautiful contribution.
And so what I know from the work
524
00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:50.880
that I do in the purpose space
is that when we are focused on contributing
525
00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:54.199
to other people, it takes away
our focus on ourselves and it makes us
526
00:37:54.719 --> 00:37:59.719
healthier, happier human beings. And
when we can stand in that place,
527
00:37:59.840 --> 00:38:02.840
it really does take away depression,
which is a big problem in the world
528
00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:07.840
today. And to your point earlier
about helping to start to eradicate poverty and
529
00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:14.480
a life of crime, that goes
a long long way. And if you're
530
00:38:14.599 --> 00:38:17.800
here together working where you're trying to
really help instill in the young minds of
531
00:38:17.880 --> 00:38:22.199
people the possibility of really contributing on
this kind of a scale and starting to
532
00:38:22.280 --> 00:38:27.599
discover their own purpose again, I'm
completely in I want to completely celebrate anything
533
00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:30.840
that you're up to and support it. So I'm happy that you're here sharing
534
00:38:31.559 --> 00:38:36.639
what other programs, what else are
you up to together? Well, I
535
00:38:36.760 --> 00:38:39.000
want to say something about our program
and where it needs to be. It
536
00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:43.679
needs to be in school systems,
in school districts, we have not been
537
00:38:43.719 --> 00:38:47.400
able to significantly get our program in
the inn in the middle of the day.
538
00:38:47.480 --> 00:38:51.280
They say, we can do this
before school or after school, but
539
00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:54.400
we can't take away from science and
math because that's what the tax test is.
540
00:38:54.559 --> 00:39:00.280
That's what these tests are all about. For recognition and for six says.
541
00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:07.159
They think that passion and academics go
together automatically because of what you learn
542
00:39:07.239 --> 00:39:09.000
in science and math, which is
not right. We think that you need
543
00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:13.400
to teach the heart as well.
In fact, when you agree when we
544
00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:15.960
teach the heart, it increases self
esteem, and when you increase self estem
545
00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:20.599
academics get better. Choices are different, And if every school district had a
546
00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:22.679
course like this talking about the heart
instead of just science and math all the
547
00:39:22.719 --> 00:39:27.800
time, we probably would have some
kids who are wholesome and who would not
548
00:39:27.920 --> 00:39:30.800
be in. So many people in
prison and doing so many bad things.
549
00:39:30.760 --> 00:39:37.039
And I've seen it happen individually.
Now I just have to get this transferred
550
00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:42.159
to the minds of administrators of school
districts. Okay, this is such a
551
00:39:42.199 --> 00:39:44.920
great point. So in terms of
what you're both up to. Wow,
552
00:39:45.079 --> 00:39:49.000
this would this is a huge next
step and evolution in what you're doing together
553
00:39:49.519 --> 00:39:52.480
to move this into the pike of
making this part of the everyday part of
554
00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:55.719
going to school. And I am
completely with you. I think it's a
555
00:39:55.840 --> 00:40:00.800
crime that we have one taken out
a lot of the art programs today.
556
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:05.159
Now we take out, we take
out the heart piece of it's what's left.
557
00:40:05.400 --> 00:40:07.920
We just want to become all robots
here in the world, I don't
558
00:40:07.960 --> 00:40:12.000
think so. So what's it going
to take, gentlemen? How do we
559
00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:15.599
Hopefully we've got some administrators listening to
this who maybe can start to move the
560
00:40:15.639 --> 00:40:19.519
dial and reach out to you.
But what's it going to take to get
561
00:40:19.559 --> 00:40:23.920
this mainstream? Well back to me
again just for the thing that let me
562
00:40:24.199 --> 00:40:28.760
make a decision here about what he
wants to say about it. I think
563
00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:31.519
the philanthropy in nineteen ninety didn't exist. Nobody knew what it was. Today
564
00:40:31.599 --> 00:40:35.360
everybody knows about it. I see
it, I read it I hear it
565
00:40:35.559 --> 00:40:38.559
every single day now, philanthropy and
giving back. And now I think there's
566
00:40:38.559 --> 00:40:42.159
a lot of programs out there that
are happening. So I do think things
567
00:40:42.199 --> 00:40:45.599
are happening. I think it's happening
slowly. I just want to encourage everyone
568
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:50.559
to do what they can to make
sure that everybody's involved in a project or
569
00:40:50.599 --> 00:40:54.280
so, and everybody has a purpose
and everybody can do right for the world.
570
00:40:55.280 --> 00:40:59.880
I don't think necessarily a lot of
our role models right now are talking
571
00:41:00.119 --> 00:41:02.880
about the heart and talking about being
kind to each other. And I think
572
00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:07.679
that though those of us who believe
in this can do something every day to
573
00:41:08.079 --> 00:41:13.400
tell somebody else about the need and
the necessity to pay attention and do something
574
00:41:13.440 --> 00:41:17.639
good for somebody else. Just today, I wholeheartedly agree with that. And
575
00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:22.039
to add, I think, yeah, the word philanthropy in the concert for
576
00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:27.400
Philampothy, it's a lot more complace
and a lot more familiar to people now
577
00:41:27.639 --> 00:41:30.519
than I mean, I can't speak
for nineteen ninety, but even it's like
578
00:41:31.920 --> 00:41:37.400
but yeah, like it's it's very
It's talked about a lot, whether kids
579
00:41:37.480 --> 00:41:43.360
my age, like in the early
twenties, or like kids my parents age,
580
00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:46.880
or like kids my brother's age,
who's fifteen, sixteen, sixteen.
581
00:41:47.079 --> 00:41:52.800
Yeah, So but I think like
one thing that we also need to take
582
00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:57.440
into consideration is that, like,
every community has its own culture and its
583
00:41:57.480 --> 00:42:00.679
own identity, and we need to
make sure that, like, while the
584
00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:04.320
pay program should be applied to I
think every school, I agree with that,
585
00:42:05.239 --> 00:42:07.119
we should make sure that, like
we're looking at it holistically and saying,
586
00:42:07.599 --> 00:42:12.000
hey, in this in this uh, at this school, it should
587
00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:15.880
be taught with this small spin on
it or with this small spin on it
588
00:42:15.960 --> 00:42:20.800
at this school. But for the
most part, it's the same overall curriculum.
589
00:42:20.880 --> 00:42:23.119
It just might be different, you
know, a different service project in
590
00:42:23.119 --> 00:42:29.199
a different part of town, or
like a you know, a different format
591
00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:34.239
and another one. So I think
just understanding that, like, while we
592
00:42:34.360 --> 00:42:37.920
want it to be extremely like uh, you know, prevalent, we want
593
00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:43.239
to make sure that we're not just
you know, saying one size fits all,
594
00:42:43.440 --> 00:42:47.440
and understanding that we do need to
take into consideration the individual identity of
595
00:42:49.000 --> 00:42:52.159
each school in each community. I
got that. I got that. So
596
00:42:52.480 --> 00:42:55.199
what I what I want to say
here really quick to what you're both said
597
00:42:55.199 --> 00:42:59.480
about this where you're where you're at
in terms of taking this to another level.
598
00:43:00.920 --> 00:43:04.000
You do that, and you know
you really are going to change the
599
00:43:04.039 --> 00:43:06.760
world. You're already changing the world
today, but you get this into the
600
00:43:06.800 --> 00:43:15.000
school system and we're talking whole next
stratosphere. So is there another step?
601
00:43:15.079 --> 00:43:19.679
Could you start by going into the
private school system? Well, you know,
602
00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:23.480
private schools obviously our children who are
usually upper middle class. Yes,
603
00:43:23.639 --> 00:43:27.840
and I think our focus needs to
be on the poor kids. So we're
604
00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:32.239
working with schools that are predominantly minority. And that's where I really want to
605
00:43:32.280 --> 00:43:36.559
go and what's really what I want
to do, because we have seen the
606
00:43:36.800 --> 00:43:39.760
same success in those kinds of schools
as we have in schools that have upper
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00:43:39.800 --> 00:43:44.480
middle class students. Upper middle class
students come from parents who probably do some
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00:43:44.599 --> 00:43:47.880
volunteers. Unfortunately, I think,
as they say, ten percent of the
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00:43:47.960 --> 00:43:52.199
population does ninety percent of the work. I want to make this sixty percent
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00:43:52.239 --> 00:43:55.119
of the population is doing ninety percent
of the work. You know. I
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00:43:55.159 --> 00:43:59.119
think it's an issue of access,
and we want to promin access to those
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00:43:59.119 --> 00:44:02.400
who don't already have assist to it. With private schools, they would like
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00:44:02.559 --> 00:44:06.039
we have access to it, whether
we were they or not. We might
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00:44:06.159 --> 00:44:09.079
be able to influence some things,
but we can probably make a bigger impact
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00:44:12.079 --> 00:44:15.519
waiting with a different kind of schools. Right, and we have so many
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00:44:15.559 --> 00:44:20.039
cultures now to talk about. I
mean, because of the immigration of this
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00:44:20.199 --> 00:44:22.480
country, which is how we're built, etc. We need to focus on
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00:44:23.159 --> 00:44:27.679
people who've never heard of helping anybody
at all. I went to Mexico and
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00:44:27.840 --> 00:44:30.800
they didn't get it. They don't
understand it. They say the government is
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00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:34.119
responsible for all this. We're not
so responsible. And I had to convince
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00:44:34.239 --> 00:44:36.519
them to do it. And then
when they did it, they gave me
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00:44:36.599 --> 00:44:38.559
an applause. Thank you so much, Thank you so much for helping us
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00:44:38.599 --> 00:44:43.760
and making us do this because we
see now the benefit that we have individually
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00:44:43.880 --> 00:44:45.639
for doing something good for our community
instead of waiting for the government to do
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00:44:45.719 --> 00:44:50.880
everything. Oh that's called empowerment right
there. That is fantastic, and of
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00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:53.880
course I stand for that too.
In our last little bit of time ago,
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00:44:53.880 --> 00:44:57.480
we've just got a few minutes left
here, I think it will be
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00:44:57.559 --> 00:45:00.960
really wonderful a contribution and a gift
to our listener if you could each just
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00:45:00.199 --> 00:45:04.960
say a little something about what is
it. I mean, you've got this
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00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:07.800
one precious life, and if you
don't mind me asking. I know you're
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00:45:07.880 --> 00:45:10.280
twenty, amit, Bob? How
are old are you these days? I'm
632
00:45:13.559 --> 00:45:16.960
he's seventy five, still going strong, and I don't even I don't.
633
00:45:17.119 --> 00:45:22.119
I don't see an endpoint here.
So help us understand, Bob, what
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00:45:22.360 --> 00:45:25.000
is it? What do you really
want your life to stand for? Well,
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00:45:25.079 --> 00:45:28.360
you know, I'm just doing one
project at a time. Right now,
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00:45:28.440 --> 00:45:30.360
I'm doing this book. I'm putting
my whole focus in on this book.
637
00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:34.159
It's two hundred and fifty pages of
wonderful things that people are doing,
638
00:45:34.719 --> 00:45:37.960
and hopefully that people will get into
the hands of a lot of folks who
639
00:45:37.960 --> 00:45:39.360
will say I can do this,
I can do that, I can do
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00:45:39.480 --> 00:45:44.440
this, I can do that.
So my minus distribution of this book right
641
00:45:44.480 --> 00:45:46.559
now, and that's that's my focus. Plus, we're teaching a class and
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00:45:46.840 --> 00:45:50.599
I'm just waiting for the next step. So any of your audience who has
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00:45:50.639 --> 00:45:53.920
an idea of what I should be
doing next? Have it happened? Did
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00:45:53.960 --> 00:45:58.000
you hear that? The listeners?
Yeah? What do you have for mister
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00:45:58.079 --> 00:46:01.159
Bob Hopkins to do next? Okay, amit? What about you? Well,
646
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:04.599
when we started the show, I
mentioned that I like to think,
647
00:46:04.639 --> 00:46:06.360
I like to learn. I like
to help people, and I like to
648
00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:09.559
help people help people. And while
it might be for individual statements, I
649
00:46:09.639 --> 00:46:14.079
think it's a progression at first,
I like to think, and then that
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00:46:14.480 --> 00:46:19.239
moves on to learning, and then
moves on to helping people using what I've
651
00:46:19.320 --> 00:46:22.119
learned, and then it goes to
the empowerment that you mentioned earlier. Helping
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00:46:22.159 --> 00:46:25.519
people help people, And I think
that's what I want to like in my
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00:46:25.639 --> 00:46:30.039
life, knowing that I did a
successful job of getting people involved in causes
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00:46:30.079 --> 00:46:34.159
that they care about and getting them
to sustain that throughout their life. So
655
00:46:34.239 --> 00:46:37.800
that way, while I can volunteer
every weekend, and I probably will,
656
00:46:37.880 --> 00:46:43.119
if I can bring my friends to
it and help other people start volunteering every
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00:46:43.119 --> 00:46:46.800
weekend, then you can just maximize
your impact. Completely agree with that,
658
00:46:46.960 --> 00:46:51.400
And since I think all three of
us care about there seems to be an
659
00:46:51.440 --> 00:46:55.440
interest in the global connection, the
planetary connection here. I love the idea
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00:46:55.519 --> 00:47:00.239
that you're taking this program back home
to India. I just think that it's
661
00:47:00.320 --> 00:47:05.800
just so so important. And so
is there anything about the the the global
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00:47:05.960 --> 00:47:09.079
nature or what you're up to that
calls you so? I mean, like
663
00:47:09.159 --> 00:47:15.760
I was born here, my parents
immigrated here and like it's just like I.
664
00:47:16.599 --> 00:47:20.880
So I grew up with understanding both
cultures, both like the Indian culture
665
00:47:20.880 --> 00:47:24.199
as well as American culture, and
knowing that, like there are differences in
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00:47:24.239 --> 00:47:30.360
the way that like people act and
just interact with each other, there's always
667
00:47:30.440 --> 00:47:32.679
opportunity to, like, you know, learn from other cultures. And if
668
00:47:32.760 --> 00:47:37.519
we can share this with the Indian
people and we can learn something from them,
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00:47:37.559 --> 00:47:43.480
I'm happy to continue that relationship.
I find working with different cultures so
670
00:47:43.679 --> 00:47:47.000
stimulating and yes, learning from them. We're really almost at a time here,
671
00:47:47.199 --> 00:47:51.519
mister Bob Hopkins's final words, last
pearls of wisdom for us. God
672
00:47:51.559 --> 00:47:55.360
grant you the serenity to accept the
things you cannot change, change the things
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00:47:55.480 --> 00:48:00.800
that you can, and then you'll
be at peace. Beautiful last minute for
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00:48:00.880 --> 00:48:02.599
you. I was lucky to have
met mister Hopkins when I was in ninth
675
00:48:02.639 --> 00:48:07.199
grade. But if you didn't get
that opportunity, just remember you know how
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00:48:07.239 --> 00:48:08.559
to be rachel, to be a
philanthropist, you just have to care.
677
00:48:08.960 --> 00:48:14.400
Beautiful. What a way to finished, gentlemen. I am so much bigger
678
00:48:14.519 --> 00:48:16.400
and better having been in your presence
and then part of your lives. I
679
00:48:16.440 --> 00:48:19.880
thank you so very much for being
on the show, contributing your heart,
680
00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:22.719
your passion. Thank you so much, thanks for having us. If you
681
00:48:22.760 --> 00:48:24.440
want to learn more about Bob or
Admitt, and you can probably just start
682
00:48:24.480 --> 00:48:29.239
by going to Philanthropy Kids dot org. You can find them both that way.
683
00:48:29.360 --> 00:48:30.800
And again, that's how you can
reach out and give Bob more work
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00:48:30.840 --> 00:48:34.880
to do, and reach out and
give stories to Admit and the other organization.
685
00:48:35.039 --> 00:48:37.960
So stay with us, look for
you next week. We're gonna have
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00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:40.920
another conversation that nourishes our mind and
heart. And remember that work is at
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00:48:42.000 --> 00:48:45.199
least one third of our life,
So let's work on purpose. We hope
688
00:48:45.199 --> 00:48:50.440
you've enjoyed this week's program. Be
sure to tune in to Working on Purpose,
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00:48:50.800 --> 00:48:54.719
featuring your host at least Cortez,
each week on the Voice America Empowerment
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00:48:54.840 --> 00:48:59.800
channel. This week, find your
life's purpose at work





















































