The inspiration for the Compassion Games comes from our friends in Louisville, Kentucky. Mayor Greg Fischer and his team are implementing their compassionate cities program in a remarkable fashion. After Seattle affirmed the Charter for Compassion and invited other cities around the world to join with us in creating 10 Year Campaigns for Compassionate Cities, Louisville was one of the first and by far the most developed cities campaign we encountered. The Compassionate Action Network International awarded them the International Compassionate City award in 2012.
Mayor Greg Fischer would welcome a rivalry. “I’ve said from day one that we’re going to pursue being recognized as the most compassionate city in the world – and if that prods other cities to try to outdo us, then ‘Game On.’ In a competition centered on compassion, everyone wins!”
Compassionate Louisville recently amassed over 90,000 hours of community service during their one-week long Give a Day program. We’re following their lead and measuring the number of hours of community service and are encouraging other cities to agree upon this simple measure of hours of community service. From their community challenge:
“We challenge you to volunteer more, to give more blood, to share more resources and to top our collective mark with the goal of leaving our world a better place. If a city tops us, next year we will step up our devotion because we know that in our garden of compassion, there is still rocky soil and arid places that need tending; and there always will be. We are not so naive as to think this is not a community with more than its fair share of pain and suffering. We know it is. We, however,believe compassion is good soil for the garden of community.”
“All I have tried to do,” Fischer said, “is pull the good hearts and good hands of Louisville together. From our cathedrals to our temples and mosques, from the Muhammad Ali Center to our Christian seminaries, we are a community that is built on faith, love and tolerance. This is who we’ve always been. All I’m doing is rallying the troops.”
Of course, Louisville has also been extremely compassionate in their support of us and other cities taking on this challenge. It has made all their materials available and if you’re interested you can access them here. You can watch a video of their Livable City Award and their issuing the Community Challenge. And yes Tom we intend to kick your butts!