Mission

 

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. -- Muhammad Ali


To me, racing and not giving of myself is the most selfish of pursuits. Below please find the charities on a global, national and local level that inspire me. Thank you for your consideration.

 

From the start The Foundation For Tomorrow (TFFT) has and continues to invest in enhancing the QUALITY of education throughout Tanzania, focusing our efforts on marginalized children and youth. Unlike other well meaning NGOs, TFFT takes a different tact. The TFFT team identifies the need, sources the expertise and resources, develops programs and then personally executes the programs we believe and have seen have true impact on the communities we're working in.  Currently TFFT has 82 children on full boarding school scholarships and reaches over 600 children through our outreach programs. Beyond scholarships to boarding school for these kids, we provide educational initiatives for them as well as for our partner orphanages; building libraries, computer centers, tutoring and after school initiatives as well as a teacher training program. Our leadership on the ground is and will continued to be run and directed by Tanzanians. Ideas and programs are developed not based on what has worked in the West, but more so what we know can work in the context of Tanzania with the resources, staff and expertise that is readily available here. We do this because we are working to educate a population that believes in and understands the potential and power within their own communities, so that the result of our work comes back to benefit the communities we actually work and draw from. We're looking to build the future leaders of tomorrow and in the 5 years since our inception have seen the workings of just this.


For donations, please follow this link.


The Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF), founded by Billie Jean King in 1974, is a national non-profit dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity.  The WSF fulfills its mission through Travel and Training Grants to aspiring athletes, advocacy, public policy and research efforts.  Their signature GoGirlGo! program is designed to get girls active, and to improve their health and wellbeing today and for the rest of their lives.  The Foundation is committed to getting girls active at a young age because:

 

• If a girl does not participate in sports by the time she is 10, there is only a 10% chance she will participate when she is 25.

• Through sports, girls learn important life lessons such as confidence, to be assertive, take criticism and make decisions.

• Girls who play sports in high school go further in their education and are more likely to work full-time, including non-traditional careers, such as science, law and medicine.

• Girls active in sports during adolescence and young adulthood are 20% less likely to get breast cancer later in life.


Watch this short video for more information: www.womenssportsfoundation.org/home/about-us


For donations, please follow this link.

It is the mission of the Challenged Athletes Foundation® (CAF) to provide opportunities and support to people with physical disabilities so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics. CAF believes that involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence and enhances quality of life. Established in 1997 from the desire to help one athlete paralyzed in a triathlon (the amazing Jim MacLaren), CAF recognizes the athletic greatness inherent in all people with physical challenges and supports their athletic endeavors by providing unparalleled sports opportunities. From this modest beginning arose a more important mission to make sure people with physical challenges have the same freedom to enjoy sports as everyone else.


For donations, please follow this link.

Founded in 1994, the Urban Ministry Center is an interfaith organization that serves poor and homeless people with love, compassion and tangible help that comes in countless forms. Last year, for example, our Soup Kitchen served more than 106,000 lunches to poor men, women and children, and we offered yoga instruction to homeless men struggling with addiction. We offered the privacy of a bathroom, the relief of a hot shower, the dignity of clean laundry to thousands of people…and volunteer dental professionals brought smiles to hundreds. More than 16,000 nights’ lodging were offered through our Room in the Inn winter shelter program…and 12 chronically homeless people got the keys to their very own apartment. Our community garden grows organic vegetables for the Soup Kitchen…and creativity and self-respect thrive in the fertile ground of our ArtWorks program. An army of 10,000 regular, seasonal and one-time volunteers made it all happen.  They are the heart and hands behind everything we do. 


http://www.urbanministrycenter.org/about-us


For donations, please follow this link.


Or, please stop by to help anytime! 

945 N. College St 

Charlotte, NC 28206

Phone: 704-347-0278

Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm 

Soup Kitchen: Lunch served everyday from 11:15am-12:15pm

CSF-C awards partial tuition assistance to economically disadvantaged families so that their children may attend independent schools which best address their academic, emotional, physical and/or spiritual needs and can reach their highest potential. CSF-C believes that by providing a change in class size, teaching methods, school environment, individual attention or overall enrichment, children at risk of failing and being “left behind” can:

• be taught the way they learn best
• build a strong academic foundation in their elementary/middle school years
• integrate successfully into their assigned public high school in the 9th grade
• graduate in the 12th grade
• aspire to attend college
• become productive citizens

Since 1999, CSF-C has invested over $6.5 million for approximately 4,750 scholarships. Through the generosity of our donors, we are “opening doors of opportunity” every school year so that parents can have a choice in their children’s educational options and children can have a chance to succeed!

 

www.csfcharlotte.org


For donations, please follow this link.

Description: Julie Foudy w/GGG participants

Photo file name: OneWorldFutbol (c) marcmonaghan.com.jpg

Photo credit:  Photo © marcmonaghan.com

Description: GGG Challenge Race

Photo file name: GoGirlGo Challenge Race

Photo credit: Photo © S. Levitz/Women’s Sports Foundation

Description: Katie playing baseball

Photo file name: Katie Bilan Fielding.jpg

Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Maria Bilan