Corporate Description

Mission Statement:
project323, is at its core, a network that links business groups, community groups, church groups, student groups and others with identified Christian ministry and outreach organizations that need service volunteers. The 323network, the cornerstone of project323, will identify and connect people/groups seeking service opportunities with local, regional, or national entities looking for volunteers.

History:
During the summer of 2009, project323 was just an idea.

“Working in a media ministry at the time, I was heading up a radio department when I felt a strong push to move forward – to move deeper into a hands-on, in-the-trenches type of work – yet utilizing the networking and media skills God was providing me through the ministry. I called out for God’s direction, and it seemed as though He flooded my mind with an idea. The idea was to motivate businesses to plug into their communities in a new way – through service. It seemed to make perfect sense that the best way for a Christian to impact the secular marketplace was to teach them how to express care and concern for communities around them, all the while having the ability to share the love of Christ with them through example and results. I knew that once a business could establish a volunteer core, those employees would come back changed, further impacting the business culture they already enjoy. As I drove through a city block, noticing there were easily 100 businesses around me, I imagined what that city might look like if someone could bring a vision of "volunteerism" to even a small percentage of those businesses. I thought, if even ten percent of these businesses would commit to one community service project per quarter, they could change the city. I also realized that feeding into their community would change their work environment, their business profile, and their bottom line. That vision began to look at the involvement of student groups, church groups and community groups – then it became the network. Furthermore, facilitating the opportunity for people to serve arm and arm with Christian ministry task forces - experiencing Love expressed with no expectation of return - would provide life changing moments and challenges. It would spawn questions and answers, and the places where God "tugs at our heart strings" to dig deeper. It might spark a desire to continue serving with those ministries or others. Finally, it made perfect sense, because nobody loses.” – Ken Whatmore, founder and CEO

Values:
project323, the organization, stands on the following: that foundationally we seek to share the unconditional love of Jesus Christ through unconditional service. No reciprocation. Christ directed us time and again throughout the Scriptures, notably in the book of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31-46. In summary of those verses, Christ speaks of the return of the Son of Man, the nations gathered before Him, and the separation of peoples as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He speaks to those separated as the ones who have helped those in need and the ones who have not. In vs. 40, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’" And then in verse 45, “He will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’" We are called to serve others. In the book of James, chapter 2, verse 26, the Bible says, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” Once saved, the love of Christ should overwhelm us. Acts of service, outreach, caring – “works” – should represent that love, and in fact, God has given a perfect example of that love. The Bible clearly states that “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8), and “works” will never result in our salvation. Rather, that “works” should be a natural result of our faith in the One who already saved us. Without works, our faith is dead. The project323 organization is alive with faith, because of Jesus Christ. project323 seeks to share that we are "alive" through service, as a result of that faith – and finally, in everything we do. Be it community impact, service, project development, media outreach, team building, corporate service mentoring; we wish to do everything for, and because of, the Lord. The organization name expresses that, and it is taken directly from the book Colossians, chapter 3, verse 23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

Function:
project323 will develop a network of volunteers and connect them to a network of Christian ministry and outreach organizations. project323 will maintain and facilitate a calendar of volunteer service opportunities, plugging groups within the network into these opportunities. The organization begins with a community impact resource center, where teams will develop, plan and be sent out to various community projects. A project leader will ensure the needs of the service organization are met and that the community network group will be given all of the resources they need to complete the project. project323 will develop an online network platform to allow the groups to interact socially with one another, as well as post information, photos and videos from their outreach projects. Better still, the platform will have all of the information regarding any upcoming projects, as well as links to all of the Christian ministry and outreach groups' websites. project323 desires to encourage continued involvement in those groups we will be serving with, and will add presence and accessibility to those groups through the network and marketing efforts.

Leadership:
Founder and CEO, Ken Whatmore, has been a leader in sales, sales management, marketing and promotion throughout his professional career. At a point, he felt called into a ministry opportunity through radio and mixed media, where he has been working now for 5 years. This led to a networking opportunity with ministry groups, professional athletes, entertainers and business leaders around the globe.

“Hosting radio programs and short video projects left me feeling like I wanted to do more, and help other people get more involved also. Two things were really clear: that every ministry I spoke with needed people, and a lot of people I spoke with really wanted to get involved but didn’t know where to start. I also felt like God gave me a "vision" to meet people in the place they were already - that the businesses where people work, the schools and churches they attend, and the community groups they are part of was the key, and that it could be a winning formula for everyone involved. The businesses, the schools, the groups, the ministries and those whom they serve ALL win! It put the built-in desire we all have into a model that everyone gets. It really made sense, and I couldn’t find a reason not to start this organization!”