The XOM Greater Good committee's calling is to do as Xena and Gabrielle would do -- to put aside our personal needs and desires and work, instead, for the Greater Good.. We may not have swords or staffs at the ready to fight the evils of the world, but we have our blood, sweat and tears to give to those in need.
The Xenaversity of Minnesota will be there for the Twin Cities/Minnesota community, not so much with money, but with labor, time and energy. If you know of a one-time-need in the community where 6-12 XOMbies could be of help, please feel free to contact us. Anytime.
Our current Greater Good Chair is Elena Beltran. You can reach
her at elena@beltran.nu
Ongoing Project ~ Adopt-A-Highway
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Xenaversity has agreed to "adopt" part of a
highway right here in Minnesota. What does that mean? It means
we agree to clean up all the trash and litter from the sides of a two mile
stretch of road several times a year, and in return we get a beautiful
sign! Not a bad deal, huh?
The sign was put up in October of 1999 and is located on Highway 101 between Hwy 55 and Gleason (north of 55) in Plymouth, MN. |
Ongoing Project ~ Greater Good From Within
| Realizing that good can be applied within as well as without, our Greater Good Chair came up with an award to recognize Xombies working hard behind the scenes at local events. "The Deed is Mightier..." is a scroll passed on from Xombie to Xombie each month to reward that little extra effort that seems to go unoticed. |
December 2000 ~ Adopt-A-Family
| December is a time of celebration for many different faiths. Whether it is Solstice or Christmas or any other holiday, this is a season of giving. Unfortunately, not all families can afford to do that. In the spirit of the season, Xenaversity decided to adopt a family, to try to fill a simple wish list of what is often basic necessities, and try to make at least one family's holiday season a little bit brighter. |
November 2000 ~ Mitten Tree
| In Minnesota, more often than not the cold has hit us by November, and hit us hard. That means it's time to pull out the extra layers, hats, and mittens. Many families, and many families with children, don't have the luxury of those extra layers of warmth. Donations of new or lightly used hats, scarves, and mittens can mean the world to children and provide them with the extra warmth to experience a happier, and healthier, winter. |
September 2000 ~ Second Harvest Food Drive
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Like many ancient people Xena and Gabrielle,
when they finally settle down, and those people whom they've helped over
the years would use this time of the year to begin their first major harvest.
This was a main harvest for the upcoming cold season and the amount of
the harvest would determine if a village would be able to survive the winter
or not. Today we have many families right here in Minnesota who have trouble
surviving the winter and the rest of the year as well. Second Harvest Food
Shelf is a non-profit
organization that helps to distribute food and household goods to Minnesota food shelves. Xenaversity hopes that their contributions to this charity will help ensure no one will go hungry during this time. |
August 2000 ~ Caring Tree
| A member of our group found out about a wonderful organization trying to help children receive the supplies they need for school. At her suggestion, Xenaversity members donated many school supplies - everything from paper and pencils to backpacks and clothing. Hopefully our little donations will help several children have a much better year of classes! |
January 2000 ~ Hollywood Reporter Ad
| A California-based magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, created a special issue in commemoration of Xena's 100th episode. Anyone could take an ad out in this magazine congratulating the stars & crew. With a little financial help from members (one in particular - Thanks Chris!), we were able to get our very own ad in a magazine seen all around the world. Here's what it looks like! |
December 1999 ~ Toy Distribution
| On December 21, 1999 six Xenaversity of Minnesota members met at the Brooklyn Park Community Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP) to help distribute toys and food to needy families for Christmas. They made their way through not-so-nice weather to find the Brooklyn Park Armoury, and a room full of families waiting to make their way through tables of toys, trying to find the ones just right for their children. Each family was also given a bag of food to help fill more than just stockings. The Xombies helping each received a gift too - the gift of appreciation from every family involved. |
December 1999 - KTCA Pledge Drive
| Matt organized a group of 16 members to meet
at the KTCA (our local PBS affiliate)
broadcast station in St. Paul to answer phone calls for the pledge drive
they were doing. We thought this idea was great since it would be for the
greater good and because it would give us some publicity. The event turned
out to be fun because of our great camaraderie, but we were told at the
last minute that it would not be live. Unfortunately some of our members
had dressed up in costume, but other than that, it was a memorable night.
It was cool to see the members gathered together in unison, doing someone
else a favor for no cost. KTCA treated us very nice by feeding us and thanking
us for our help.
Special thanks to: Matt, Amiee Jo, Brian, Dave, Bev, Chris, Todd, James, Theresa, Cat, Robin, Jono, Lisa, Amada, Myron, Rob, and Joselyn for devoting their time to the pledge! |
June 1999 ~ A Stand Against Censorship
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Of course, the episode wasn't considered the
season finale, but more so, the season cliffhanger. Ides of March was an
excellent episode that ended with the deaths of our two heroines!! While
watching the episode, there was a scene where Callisto was being made an
offer in hell and then suddenly Caesar wakes up from a nightmare. It didn't
seem to make much sense, but we just blew it off. Then, the final crucifixion/Caesar
death scene seemed very choppy edit wise. Later on, over the internet,
we heard lots of chat about the episode. "Did you see that scene with Xena
and Caesar?" WHAT???? What scene? Well, we soon discovered that our local
Fox affiliate edited the Minneapolis showing of Xena by cutting out a 'questionable'
scene with Xena and Caesar, and even more editing from the death scenes
in the end.
At first we complained among ourselves, but then our President called up Fox to discuss why they had edited. When that didn't suffice him, he then called up the Pioneer Press newspaper and they did an article on the editing. The article is very good and well balanced. The article did exactly as intended. It informed the casual viewer that scenes were cut out of an episode without their knowledge, because they are unable to censor their own television viewing. We found out how much exposure that had received when we manned our booth at Pride, participated in CONvergence and the Minneapolis Xena Con. We had started a petition against censorship and we received over 600 signatures. Fortunately we did not need to use the petition because after all was said and done, when Ides of March was shown as a repeat, they included 90 percent of what they edited out, which we were happy with. Now Fox knows we're watching closely, and we're not afraid to speak up. |
If you have a suggestion for a future Greater Good event, let us know! Please email the Xenaversity of Minnesota, or our Greater Good Chair directly.
