By MEGAN HUSSEY Tribune correspondent
Published: Jun 16, 2007
For Ardian Zika, the road to fulfilling his American dream was a rocky one.
A refugee from war-torn Kosovo, Zika arrived in the United States in 1997 with little command of the English language.
Through intense study and diligence, along with a great enthusiasm for his new homeland, he became a college student who was active in student government and worked part-time at McDonald's. He eventually became a Wachovia bank vice president, husband, father and U.S. citizen.
Zika shared his story this week at the Sixth Congress of The American Dream Practitioners, TAD for short, which gathered delegates to talk about how communities can work together to be more self-sustaining.
"We should never take for granted what we have in this country," Zika told an assemblage that included representatives of Toys For Tots, Habitat For Humanity, Operation Unwrap a Smile, Big Brothers Big Sisters and other social service groups. "I believe in getting an education and moving forward. "Don't be so fast to judge the people you see working behind the counter at McDonald's. Be compassionate."
The concept of compassion, as demonstrated through community service, was the central topic of discussion at Wednesday's gathering, coordinated and hosted by Bob Loring, executive director of East Pasco Toys For Tots.
"This conference is about meeting, networking and sharing skills," he said. Loring put those words into action, coordinating with delegates from churches, fire departments, philanthropic groups and children's charities across the county to broaden the scope of this year's Toys For Tots campaign. Those efforts include the annual School Tools (Formally known as S.T.E.P.S.) campaign to put school supplies in the hands of disadvantaged youngsters; and the student-led Trinkets For Teens.
Another local spinoff is Food For Tots, which New Life Assembly of God church in Trilacoochee helps coordinate.
New Life pastor David Raley gave the invocation at the dreamers conference.
Loring also teaches Community Organization: Theory and Practice at Pasco-Hernando Community College's Dade City campus. The course is designed to foster community awareness and leadership.
"I came to realize that we needed to provide more than toys to children in need," he said.
Providing for people in need is the mission of TAD, which Loring said is intended to "mobilize local communities to address their local poverty situations, and to formulate comprehensive plans to address situations they find. "Regardless of what remedies communities come up with, he said, their leaders will come to many of the same conclusions:
• "A growing number of children live in poverty, with less support from the federal, state and local government."
• "Each community has its own particular poverty pocket, and most people in the community can point it out."
With those needs in common, Loring believes Pasco's citizenry can find solutions together.
"We can rise to the challenge to come up with a clear, well-conceived plan of action," he said. "And all regions of each community will play a unique, vital role."
Marvin Dunn, a retired professor of psychology at Florida International University, presented his version of that plan: Roots in the City, an ongoing effort in Miami's central city based on the idea that modern society alienates people from their roots and often leads to the decay of the inner cities.
His solution is to plant community and vegetable gardens, among other ecological projects, to generally improve residents' lives and to give them employment opportunities.
While a teacher, Dunn first offered students the opportunity to earn course credit by cleaning up trash downtown.
"Then we picked one spot to plant a garden; something there for the sake of being beautiful," he said. The garden evolved to growing fruit and vegetables.
Soon, people in need lined up each week to get free produce and Dunn was hiring people to tend the garden. "We selected the poorest, least qualified people to become full-time steady employees," he said. "It's a wonderful thing."
Dunn believes the success of such efforts boils down to one basic fact: "When people produce something other people will buy, they become self-sustaining."
Hans and Sigrid Geissler of Dade City-based Morningstar Fishermen talked about how they fight hunger by teaching people how to raise high-protein tilapia and then use waste byproducts of the fish as fertilizer to grow vegetables.
"We want to teach those who will teach others," Hans Geissler said. "In this way, we take a bite out of world hunger."
AT A GLANCE
SOME BACKGROUND: Sponsored by Wachovia bank, the 6th Congress of The American Dream Practitioners, TAD for short, convened Wednesday at Pasco-Hernando Community College's New Port Richey campus.
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS: TAD defines itself as "an assembly of Pasco community leaders and concerned citizens seeking to alleviate the plight of children living in abject poverty."
A LITTLE HISTORY: TAD was founded in 2002 on the principle "Think globally but act locally." Each year, participants meet at places throughout Pasco County (including PHCC and Saint Leo University) to network and discuss ways to help disadvantaged residents in their communities.
Participants include politicians, educators, journalists, and representatives of religious and philanthropic organizations and social service agencies.
HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED: For more information about TAD or Toys For Tots East Pasco, call (352) 588-4230 or visit www.toysfortotspasco.org.
For more on the other programs detailed at the congress, visit www.morningstarfishermen.org or www.rootsinthecity.net.
