Helen Keller Day in Second Life

PRESS RELEASE: Helen Keller Day in Second Life

Contact person: Saxet Uralia

The 24-hour event PDT will be held all day Saturday, June 27 at the four The Ye, Olde, Supporte, Faire sims.

Linden Lab is collaborating with and assisting Virtual Helping Hands and a coalition of community volunteers who are proud to announce Helen Keller Day in Second Life. Helen Keller Day is a community-event exploring how and why to employ, educate, entertain, and engage everyone through virtual worlds.

Helen Keller Day is a day that is set aside for information acquisition, education, exploration of employment opportunities, social engagement, and enjoyment of arts and entertainment… There will be vendors, employers, presentations, and pure, unbridled fun.

It's a day dedicated to raising our level of awareness for our fellow Second Life residents who cope with disabilities. At some time in our lives, we've all felt what it feels like not to be able to participate… not to be included. Knowing how to include someone with a disability, and make them feel welcome, is an important social skill, and a small but significant kindness that we can all benefit from and feel good about.

Participants will meet people learn things, get freebies, and be entertained for their efforts.

You will hear keynote speakers Keller Johnson Thompson, the great grandniece of Helen herself and Linden Labs Education and Healthcare Developer, John Lester, aka Pathfinder Linden. You will hear from experts in the fields of virtual education, employment, social engagement and entertainment. There will be building contests featuring skilled builders doing accessible builds before our virtual eyes. There will be a world premier "movie" featuring "Max," the virtual guide dog developed in Second Life for SL users who are blind or sight impaired. Also featured will be an exhibition of Max's abilities, a fashion show, chess, a Braille chat display, dancing, singing quests and storytelling... even a virtual goldmine!

There will be experiences designed to spark the imagination and "see" and "hear" the world with all the senses in new and thought provoking ways. Join the pioneers in virtual worlds who are inspired by the spirit of Helen Keller to explore ways in which everyone can participate…and create a world that richer for all.

Please come and learn, connect, explore, be entertained, and pick up freebies while sharing this positive and uplifting experience with us.

National Health Care Day of Service Projects in Second Life

June 27 National Health Care Day of Service Projects

This summer, Organizing for America will fight to ensure Americans receive much-needed health care reform in 2009. Community service is a critical piece of our health care campaign. National DOS events are taking place all over the US in RL on June 27th 2009. Organizing for America - SL is organizing the effort in SL.

These health care service projects give volunteers a chance to make an impact in their own communities and improve the lives of their neighbors in the short term while we simultaneously fight for long term, systemic health care reform

To stay informed on Day of Service events please join the Organizing for America SL Group.

Current events planned for Saturday June 27th include:

· SLHealthy is a community of volunteers who collect information about health locations, communities, and events in Second Life, then make the information available to the public and easily discoverable through the SLHealthy wiki. For more information, contact: Perplexity Peccable

· SL Service Opportunities with Virtual Ability Island: The mission of VAI is to enable people with a wide range of disabilities to enter into virtual worlds like Second Life®, and provide them with a supporting environment once there. They are seeking volunteers to assist in publicity efforts and services to members. Contact Gentle Heron in world.

· Service Opportunities for Hospice Development: Kaznats Oh is an SL Builder and owner/operator of a hospice in RL and SL. Utilizing VW's to facilitate meetings with relatives and friends is an important component of Kaz's hospice work. Since LL TOS do not allow children in SL, there is an effort underway to develop a private grid on Open SIM. Grid space has been offered. The vision for this project is a comprehensive health care area with a portion of the grid dedicated to hospice care. Kaz is looking for synergies with other health care related groups that would like to explore expansion to this new grid.

· Organizing for America SL Group membership and participation: As part of the ongoing effort to provide accurate information and a forum for discussion and debate on the Health Care Reform currently being developed in Congress, Organizing for America will be holding weekly hour long meetings at the Nosotr@s cafe on Cedar Island. The first meeting of the OFA in SL group will be on June 27th 2009 as part of the National Day of Service.

· Service Opportunities with Pixel to Pixel: Pixel To Pixel Foundation (P2P) was established by Jadyn Firehawk in 2009 to enhance the Second Life experience for people living with disabilities.

· Helen Keller Day in Second Life: The 24-hour event PDT will be held all day Saturday, June 27 at the four “The Ye, Olde, Supporte, Faire” SIM’s. Contact person: Saxet Uralia

Please contact Siri Vita via note card in world if you can spend a little time on Saturday June 27th helping any of these amazing organizations.