Here are some ideas. The way that an organic movement works is that everything needs to be adaptable for time, place, and personalities. Don’t be afraid to do it your way.
If you’re not sure, just check with the Five principles and our core values and then you’ll know if you’re on the right track. Or, contact us and we’ll talk it through with you.
FIND Other PowerUps in Your Area
- Follow my mother’s advice – “Go. You might meet someone.”
- Join a group, club, or recreational activity or event.
- Check out your local drinker-y (if it’s your thing.)
- Volunteer for a worthwhile project or cause.
START A LOCAL PowerUp GROUP
- Make it a community or county group
- Main thing – no officers, mandatory dues, or strict schedule of meetings.
- Talk about things that mean something. Don’t just meet, but do. Don’t just do anything, but do something meaningful. It can be anything, even having fun. Just make it worth your time and do it in a way that will move you, and your community forward.
- We’re working on topic cards.
- What does your community need? Or, what do PowerUps in your community need? Maybe the first step is to get them together and dream together about how you’d like the community to look. Make it happen. Talk to public officials or just form an ad hoc group and do it!
- What do any of you need individually? Can your new PowerUp group help them?
- What kind of presence do you want in the community? Put it in motion.
- Maybe you all just need to share experiences. That’s good, too!
- Decide how your group wants to function – no negativity, communicate on FB, plan impromptu gatherings, get speakers, different people in charge. It’s all up to you. Just make it work.
- Stuck? Contact the PowerUp core team and we’ll help.
Connect PowerUps
- Get friends together for a pick-up game of your favorite sport or activity.
- Attend a local cultural event together. And by cultural, we mean whatever appeals! It could be a pub crawl or a crafts fair, a 5K or a city council meeting. Invite an event, even playing board games on main street.
- Make post-game, post-church, post-work, or post-workout plans to gather at your favorite “third-place.” What’s a third place, you ask? It’s best described as an informal meeting place, with the following traits: free or inexpensive; food and drink, while not essential, are important; highly accessible; proximate for many (it says walking distance, but c’mon, this is rural Kansas!); involve regulars – those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; and both new and old friends should be found there.
- Light the fire pit, invite friends over, and make s’mores.
- Start a game of “Pass the Pyrex.” Drop off a Pyrex dish filled with food to another PowerUp. Tell them to pass it on to another PowerUp and keep the dish moving.
- Coordinate a game night. Telestrations is always fun and can be safely played with people you don’t know very well. If you’re with more intimate friends, consider Quelf or Loaded Questions.
- Cheer on the home team – support local school districts’ events. Attend with other PowerUps.
- Take part in (or host!) holiday events. Halloween gives everyone a chance to be who they’ve always wanted while New Year’s is a time for reflection and new beginnings. For added fun, get creative. An Ugly Christmas Sweater Party or Fat Tuesday Parade might spark long-lasting friendships.
- Embrace your inner child. Mud volleyball? Floating down a river? Throwing a birthday parade for a friend? We say do what makes you happy.
- Relax socially. Need inspiration? How about Wine-y Wednesdays or Fridays at Five?
- Explore your own backyard. Get a group together and think like tourists in your own community.
Want more?
- Join our Facebook Page or post to our Pinterest Boards.
- Invite PowerUps to a community event
- Host a PowerUp exchange
- Organize a PowerUp get together or outting in your town and invite us to attend!
- Share your Rural by Choice story with others.
Claiming Signs
We believe in declaring loudly and often that we’re “Rural by Choice.” In that spirit, here are a couple of “Rural by Choice” signs you can use to “claim” your version of rural. Submit your picture to us and we’ll include it on the website.
PowerOns (40+), Engage PowerUps in Your Community
- Ask a PowerUp how they would like to be involved
- Personally invite a PowerUp to attend an event or meeting
- Listen to the ideas and suggestions of PowerUps
- Support PowerUp entrepreneurs
- Consider succession planning to keep storefronts, businesses, and PowerUp opportunities vibrant
- Match the interests and abilities of PowerUps to needs in your community
- Engage PowerUps by offering age appropriate venues/programs
- “Like” the PowerUp Facebook page to stay up-to-date on happenings with the core group and with PowerUps from across the state.
- Follow and share our PowerUp Pinterest boards
- Connect with PowerUps through events such as the We KAN conference, Big Rural Brainstorm, and other Kansas Sampler Foundation functions
- Request a PowerUp program by contacting Liaisons Liz or Erika.
Connect to government officials
- Each of us has a voice – sometimes, we just don’t know who to talk to! Use the links below to find the elected officials serving your community.
- For near one-stop shopping, visit the Kansas Directory of Public Officials, hosted by the Kansas League of Municipalities. You’ll find information on national and state senators and representatives, city councils and officials, school boards, and more.
- Then, give your county courthouse a call to find out who your county commissioners are.
- You can also follow the links below for specific representatives only.
- Find your U.S. Senator
- Find your U.S. Representative
- Find your Kansas Senator
- Find your Kansas Representative
STAY CONNECTED