There are so many rewarding moments that Red Eye gets to be a part of. From seeing the smiling faces of children impacted by AIDS as we have incredible Bubble and Balloon Parties or the tears of joy and pride that stream down the man's face as we hand him the "Strongest Man Competition" trophy. Those are the "Glitz and Glamour" moments of Red Eye. However, those moments don't come without lots of other moments filled with craziness and major doses of CREATIVITY.
There are so many aspects of CREATIVITY. There are actions of creativity, there are mindsets of creativity, and there are even emotions and passions of creativity. So when trying to explain the third focus of Red Eye, the (COMMUNITY, HUMANITY) "CREATIVE" aspect of Red Eye is much bigger than a "broad brush stoke" of explanation. You see, figuratively speaking, we don't just try to find the biggest paintbrush and then throw the whole paint bucket at a canvas and say... "look what we did." HA! Seriously, the creativity that pours from our Red Eye crew is unbelievable. And just for those of you who are unaware of the nonprofit realm... creativity is crucial and can make the difference between surviving and thriving as an organization.
There are numerous days that we sit in the Red Eye headquarters simply strategizing how to effectively utilize and stretch every resource we have. This, in itself, is a great execution of our creativity for sure!
Just to give you an example, we did a full-on Mother's Day Makeover for the amazing ladies that live on the rough streets of Skid Row in Downtown LA. This included not only feeding all the women but also using top of the line make-up, hair products, nail polish, styling, roses and a photo shoot with a rad photo wall for over 75 women! And we did it all for under $50. YES! Creativity comes in MANY forms.
We are always evaluating all of our resources and then stretching and pushing them to their limits to bring about the best creative product possible. So while this is a shorter entry, let this be one of these short little mental notes that you think about every time the creative side of your brain has to go into full-effect and especially when working with a nonprofit. It's definitely not always the most convenient way to do things, but once this creative aspect is fully realized, there is so much that can be utilized if you simply just use all that is available effectively.
Red Eye's creative work ranges from supporting our crew at art walks, putting our own shows together to raise funds for funding public schooling in places like Africa, coordinating "Philanthropic Fashion Shows" to help support arts programs for youth, to even spontaneous flash mobs for Haiti. We're all about taking whatever we have, whether it be our talents, abilities, or just metal concepts, and utilizing such for the bigger picture and striving to simply bring joy to others.
So while there are those incredible smiles of joy that come from the homeless man winning a trophy on Skid Row as well as the child with AIDS realizing that he DOES deserve love, for every moment of "Glitz and Glamour"... there are probably about 50 other moments behind-the-scenes that made that other moment possible. So be encouraged and also challenged to engage all you do with the most CREATIVE mindset... It is through these "behind-the-scenes, late night, creative planning sessions" that these "Glitz and the Glamour" moments become even sweeter!!
Keep creating the "Glitz and Glamour" moments for others... your creative abilities and those waiting on the other side of it deserve nothing less!!