Goodman Community Center will host a storytelling event on April 27 called, “Be the Good: Celebrating Kindness in Our Community.” The event will highlight stories from community members looking to share some of the positive and lasting experiences they have had in the community.
Madison365 is the media partner of this event.
Chief Development Officer Dani Luckett is no stranger to good experiences at Goodman, and spoke to how the drive to share the goodness developed.
“We do see, around the center, good things are happening all the time,” Luckett told Madison365. “Seeds are being planted, and flowers are blossoming in people at the center all the time. Whether you’re a staff person, participant, or community member, there’s always good stuff happening. We’re like, we should really lean into this and encourage our community to join us.”
What started as a call from CEO Letesha Nelson finding inspiration in a quote from Mahatma Gandhi to spread the good, ended up being an opportunity for not only Goodman to spread positivity, but for people in the community to spread it too; a valiant and rejuvenating effort at a time where bad news seems to come from everywhere. Luckett spoke of how the Goodman team considered many ideas, but ultimately, inspiration from The Moth, a non-profit storytelling group that offers events around the country, brought their sights on the power of storytelling.
“Each person that gets up there to tell their story, it’s their story unique to them, and they tell it only in a way that they can,” said Luckett. “We were very inspired by that. I think that’s what’s going to make this program interesting is that people that are brave enough to stand up there and share from their perspective what they’ve seen and heard and benefited from in the community. I think it’s going to be a really cool insight, from firsthand experience.”
Madison’s own storytelling culture and spaces gave the opportunity for members of the Goodman team to see firsthand how captivating the artform can be. The artform of storytelling is captivating for audiences and storytellers alike, and it also can serve as a means of bringing communities closer together. Through sharing stories and hearing others’ experiences, especially the positive ones, people can feel welcome to engage with fellow community members in understanding, something Luckett spoke to as a common occurrence as Goodman.
“There’s a lot of volunteers, for instance, who may have come but may not have intended to come back or be a volunteer again,” Luckett said. “Fast forward three years, five years, they’re still coming in, and they’re still participating day to day or week to week in the pantry and making connections with our participants and staff. I think they might come in with this notion that they’re going to do something for someone else, and in fact, if they become part of the fabric here, everyone here does something for them too. It’s a very reciprocal experience and a very intimate community.”
Another wonderful aspect of Goodman’s push to share the good is the effect it has had on younger people being able to develop their skills of storytelling. While it can be difficult enough as an adult to share personal experiences or thoughts with people in a public setting, it can be an unthinkable act for many younger people with less experience. Luckett assured that community members should feel free to reach out and share their stories however they feel comfortable, even if they want to be anonymous, but was happy to know that they were helping give confidence for those who want to take that step.
“Our goal is that all of the community feels like they can be part of this event,” said Luckett. “We are encouraging and inviting all the community to be as intimately engaged or not. For instance, we did a couple of storytelling workshops last month. Because of the notion of storytelling, we didn’t want anybody that might want to get up on stage to feel ill prepared. We want them to feel good about sharing their story.”
Luckett also spoke to hopes of the event offering interactive components, as well as opportunities to engage in your own storytelling, even if you are not up on stage. The call for stories based around kindness and positivity offers an intimate chance at being a part of celebrating good in the community. Luckett was eager to share just how excited the Goodman team is for the event, as well as some of the fun and cool ideas they hope to make part of the event.
“We’re trying to invite the community to tell your story through whatever vehicle is most successful or feels good to use,” Luckett said. “We’ve got a phone line, people can submit an email, and actually, one of our TEENworks interns works with our design team in the marketing group, and she’s working with some of the submissions stories that have come through and will be coming through to do some illustrations and digital design. She’s very talented, so we’re super excited.”
To find out more about the Be the Good: Celebrating Kindness in Our Community event on April 27, visit the event site link here. To share your own story or learn more about the Goodman Community Center, check out their website here.
