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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.

I have a personal connection with this Organization and it’s mission. Firstly, I used to work with Admission Possible as a student. Secondly, a similar program helped me, as well as several friends from rural Jamaica to navigate the byzantine process of applying to college, and being able to afford to go. I will talk your ear off about why AP is needed and why they are awesome, but I’ll keep to about 300 words and simply say that it would be an amazing gift to me and to Minnesota students if you would consider supporting Admission Possible.

Admission Possible

Admission Possible’s mission is to make college admission possible for talented, motivated and economically disadvantaged students. Here’s something that you may find surprising, there is an almost direct correlation between parental income and SAT scores. There’s a number of factors that may play into this, including the ways that schools are funded, access to Test Prep, as well as various social factors that affect low income communities. Admission Possible works to level the playing field so that lower income kids have the same chances as richer kids in getting a good tertiary education.

The best part is that Admission Possible works. Their test prep boasts an average score increase of 18% (compared to Kaplan’s 12-14%). Ninety Eight Percent of their students get into college, and 80 percent are either still enrolled or have graduated. Admssion Possible was recently recognized by Growth and Justice as one of seven Smart Investments in Minnesota’s Students. They are making the phenomenal kind of difference that only a group of smart, dedicated and passionate group of people can make.

I used to work with Admission Possible while I was in school, and can tell you first hand that this is an amazing and committed group of people who have taught me so much about what it means to serve others, and to make the world a better place. If you care about the future of Minnesota Teens, then please consider making a donation to Admission Possible this Christmas.

Blog readers can see other entries on my list and an explanation of the list by clicking the Christmas List tag.

There are many things I would like to give to, and causes I would like to support. Sadly I can’t give all that I want. Knowing my friends (you) I know that many of you are also passionate about making the world a better place. When the economy is bad, giving to non-profits fall. Between now and Christmas I’ ll be doing a series of posts pointing folks towards different organizations that have caught my eye, or my heart. It would be a wonderful Christmas gift to me if you would consider giving to one of them this year. While a new digital camera is nice, this is my real Christmas List.

Kiva.org

Here’s an interesting thought, what if you could use $25 to give someone a hand out of poverty, get that money back, and then use it again to help someone else? That’s basically the idea of Kiva. Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Around the world, and in many countries poorer than our own, there are people who have the ability and determination to become economically independent, but don’t have the money they need to do so. You choose what you want your money to go to, whether it’s enabling a widow in the Dominican Republic to start selling pig food to the neighboring farms, or to help a fisherman in Benin buy rods and nets. Go check out Kiva.org and consider lending some money.

P.S. Specifically for blog readers. I’d be extra happy if you considered giving by joining my lending team EscapingPoverty.

P.P.S If you have suggestions of organizations I should add to the list you can tell me here.

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.