Friend(s) of the Month 

By Les Conklin 

February 15, 2002

This is B.J. and Edie Shannon on a February Saturday morning. Perhaps you saw them along the  northern reaches of Scottsdale Road helping with our litter cleanup effort.  If they are in town, you can count on seeing them again on Saturday, April  6 [Read More]. 

When photographed, B.J. and Edie  were wearing Friends' t-shirts,  just like the ones that are now being worn in places that most of us only hear about on CNN News.

The people in these distant places are surprised and thrilled to receive these gifts from America. They are even more surprised to learn that Americans donate their time and energy to help others and their communities. They are amazed that Friends of the Scenic Drive volunteers – people who seemingly have so much – would stoop to clean-up roadside litter deposited by others.

You may be wondering how Friends’ t-shirts and the message of American volunteerism are finding their way to Nigeria, Russia, Siberia, Armenia and other emerging democracies. B.J. and Edie Shannon - in addition to carrying bags of litter along Scottsdale Road - are carrying American goodwill and know-how to distant lands.   

For the past six years, B.J. and Edie have worked in many of the emerging democracies, in the area of business and association development, as unpaid volunteers for various agencies, the International Executive Service Corps, Citizens Democracy Corps, Winrock International, ACDI/VOCA, all funded by the US State Department.

They have shared their skills and knowledge in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Jordan, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Uganda, Nigeria, Siberia and with Bosnian's.

In most cases, they are the first people from the U.S. that their clients have met. According to Edie, "The people are wonderful.  But suspicious!"  So much so, that in fact, B.J. and Edie are often viewed with distrust, partly because they are Americans and also when people learn that B.J. and Edie are in their country as unpaid workers. There have been times that they have not divulged that they are donating their time, as the clients would not be able to give credulity to someone who was not being paid.

You Pick Up Trash?

One of the ways Edie and B.J. try to convey to their clients what the U.S. is really all about is to share some of their lives with them.  To quote Edie,

"We talk about the Friends of the Scenic Drive in terms of what citizens can do in  lobbying, saving the environment, working toward a common goal, having pride in their neighborhoods."

"And then we tell them of the every-six weeks, give-up-your-Saturday-morning to pick up trash someone else has thrown out.  They are incredulous!  "You do this?" Because in most of these countries, picking up trash is not what "important" business people like us do. It gives them an insight into what Americans really are, and helps counteract the rotten movies and TV programs we send them."

Bearing Chest for Scottsdale

Edie and B.J. – who handle some assignments together and others separately  train in the areas of strategic planning, marketing, management, human resources, land transfer, association development. The training is highly interactive.  "We don't lecture, we explain, and then the trainees are broken into groups which are assigned a specific task.  Hands on, and experiential learning."  

B.J. and Edie like to reward achievement, and that is where the leftover shirts from the Friends of the Scenic Drive. come in.  The shirts are given to the people who best demonstrate the learning.  And the recipients are thrilled.  According to the Shannons, "One man in Armenia stripped off the shirt he was wearing, bearing a hairy chest, and pulled the Scenic Drive shirt on.  Another in  Georgia was awarded a T-shirt and he said he couldn't have been happier as he loved cowboy movies and horses and the shirt he received had the Scottsdale logo with the horse on the back."

"After we award the shirts, we will see them worn on the subsequent days of training.  In a least one case, the boss (in real life) of the shirt winner pressured the winner to hand over the shirt.  We intervened but wonder what happened after we left for home."  

Friends has happily donated some of its t-shirts to assist the Shannons’ work abroad. How do the Shannons feel about leaving their comfortable life in Scottsdale, enduring long flights and less than five-star accommodations to serve abroad? This is Edie’s response.

"Of all the things we have done in our lives, B.J. as a practicing Optometrist, and then as a VP of an International Corporation and  I as teacher, Realtor, and HR consultant, this is the most fun, and extremely gratifying.

No heat or running water often, too many bugs, too little sleep, but working with people who want to learn, want to change, want to achieve.   What fun!"

 More Reasons

Their work abroad is an interesting facet of the  Shannons' life, but it is not the primary reason they were chosen Friend of the Month. They have participated in our litter pickup efforts for more than five years and when called upon, run our "northern" sign-in center.  

Edie and B.J., Thank you. If you are not in Siberia or some other far away place on April 6, 2002, we'll see you at the next cleanup. Don't forget to wear your   t-shirts. 

Meet our the previous winner of Friend of the Month. [Read More] 

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