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This year, I’m creating a Christmas list. Instead of asking for gifts, I’m asking for people to give to one or more from a list of non-profits that I’ve found to do good work, and/or serve causes that are close to my heart. I found out about Bolder Options through work earlier this year, and have been really impressed, not only by the work that they do, but the way that they do it. So I’m glad to have Bolder Options on this list

Bolder Options is a youth mentoring program uses running and biking to intervene in the lives 10-14 year olds in order to combat truancy and juvenile delinquency.  To be fair, it’s not just running and biking. Here’s a quote from their website

The Bolder Options’ program combines mentoring, goal setting, athletic activities, learning support, case management, life-skills education, volunteerism, community support, and parental involvement to foster the social and academic success of youth who are at risk of academic failure, dropping out of school, and developing delinquent behaviors.

Working in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Bolder Option pairs up youth and mentors. Each pair meets between 2 – 4 hours per week and work on a variety of health, academic and community involvement goals with the aim of “forming healthy habits, building confidence, instilling trust, and improving the quality of life for youth and their families.”  Check out the following video that talks about their program.

There are two reasons that I am including Bolder Options on the Christmas list this year. The first, is that it definitely works. Since I first heard of them, I’ve been hearing lot’s of stories about their successes, and you can see the program’s evaluation data on the Impact page of their site. The second reason is that I am impressed by how much passion and care Bolder Options puts into making sure they work well. They are relentlessly data and research-driven. They care about the kids that they serve, and that care shows up in the way they run, and evaluate, their programs.

There are two ways you can support Bolder Options. The first is simply to give to Bolder Options.  The second way, is to apply to be a mentor. I know several of you already enjoy running and/or biking, consider using something that you already enjoy to make a difference in the life of a 10 – 14 year old youth.

This year, I’m creating a Christmas list. Instead of asking for gifts, I’m asking for people to give to one or more from a list of non-profits that I’ve found to do good work, and/or serve causes that are close to my heart. This is the first organization on my Christmas List for 2009. I probably found out about the Children At Risk Foundation(CARF) shortly after I got introduced to City of Men. This is an organization that I’ve been really impressed with as I’ve been following their flickr photostream. They are definitely worthy of your support.

Eduardo to the left, abandoned street kid in 1998. Eduardo to the right, youth mobiliser and capoeira trainer at Hummingbird in 2005.

Sometimes, incredible problems meet incredible solutions, and nobody knows about it. Or at least that’s how I’ve felt ever since hearing about the work of CARF – Brazil. The Children At Risk Foundation is dedicated to helping street children in Brazil leave the streets and reintegrate into society. Or at least that’s what they started doing in 1993.

Capoeira Show - VIII on Flickr - Photo Sharing!.

They’ve grown a lot  since then and now they use sports, arts, vocational training and community involvement to help change the lives of at-risk children in Brazil and have been finding great success in doing so.

Surma style...

Gregory Smith is the founder of CARF Brazil and, I believe, the photographer behind all the pictures I’m including in this post. The reason that the CARF photostream is a permanent part of my feed reader is because you can see the love and the respect he has for these kids coming through the pictures he posts, even when their stories end in sadness.

Claudiney & Roney - Will They Survive?

On January 15th 2007,  Roney (pictured above) was murdered in cold blood. About six months later Claudiney was dead too. You can check out pictures of their time in this photoset, and read their stories as well.  In a couple of places on the website and on their Flickr account you can find the following line

The essence of our work lies in the interest taken in and the knowledge of the personal situation of each child or young person right from the first moment he or she is in contact with our organisation.

If you take five minutes to look through their pictures, you can see that this is true.

Happy_Capoeira_Kids

This Christmas, I would ask you to consider making a donation to the Children at Risk Foundation through their Reaching For A Star Christmas Campaign.

What’s Christmas about?

As a single adult away from my family, I’ve been wrestling with that question for the last couple of years. I’ve found that all the pageantry, the gifts, and decorations never get to the heart of it for me, even though they can be beautiful. So as I shape my life as an adult, and begin to build my own traditions here’s what I’ve decided I want Christmas to be about for me.

Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ, helping others, and celebrating the friends and family around me.

In service of that second goal, I’m creating a Christmas list. Instead of asking for gifts, I’m asking for people to give to one or more from a list of non-profits that I’ve found to do good work, and serve causes that are close to my heart. Between now and Christmas, I’ll be posting some of the stories of these organizations on my blog and on Facebook. If you were planning on buying me a gift (and even if you weren’t), please consider making a donation to one of these organizations.

Also, if you have any organizations that would be a part of your Christmas List, let me know and I’ll see if I can do the same.