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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. 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.

photo:X-mas Season by bosela

This Christmas we are looking at a global recession. And when the economy goes bad, donations to non-profit organizations drop, and those who most need help are often the most effected. So this year I want to do something different. I’ve never been particularly huge on Christmas gifts, and so instead of receiving gifts, I’m asking anyone who would consider buying me a gift (or even if they weren’t considering it) to give to one or more organizations from a list of non-profits. I’m going to be posting a series of entries between now and Christmas highlighting these orgs/causes both here and on facebook. Here’s where I need your help. If there orgs/causes that I should consider adding to my Christmas list, let me know.