Last year my daughter played soccer through a really great program called Soccer Shots. I liked that at 5 years of age she was learning the basics of soccer set in a fun environment. There was a lot of focus on character building and on how we treat others as part of the program. I met the founder of Soccer Shots, JoBen, at one of the practices and we started talking about his organization and the important work they are doing with his nonprofit Beyond Boundaries Academy. I am so impressed with what the organization is doing as far as the character-building emphasis in the program as well as a providing a positive outlet for children in developing countries, that I wanted to see if we could support this great organization in some way this month for the dandelion moms project kindness. Positive change can happen with one person as can be seen with the thousands of unpaid hours JoBen and his workers are donating to help create these soccer academies in countries like Peru and Rwanda.
Read more about the group and the work they are doing to improve the lives of children in Rwanda and other developing countries.
About Soccer Shots Orange County:
Soccer Shots Orange County is a company that is positively impacting kids through the sport of soccer. They combine soccer skill training with character development lessons in a noncompetitive format that 750 kids from ages 2-9 years old are enjoying each week here in Orange County.
Beyond Boundaries Academy:
Soccer Shots has leveraged this experience to start a nonprofit called Beyond Boundaries Academy. Through their nonprofit they travel internationally and donate sustainable soccer academies to communities in developing countries. These academies are award winning in their own countries, recognized not only for the quality of programing that the kids are receiving but also for the strength of the business model that is in place. Their next project is in Rwanda: July 2013, where they will be partnering with a local school and a Boys Home (for street kids) to donate a sustainable soccer academy that provides a revenue stream for the school that currently serves 650 children. This school is closely networked with 50 public schools, so they will be bringing in PE teachers from schools around the country, to train them in the techniques for using sports to teach character development lessons.
The reason they are able to donate these expensive academies is that no one associated with the nonprofit takes a salary for their efforts, 1000’s of hours are donated each year, and its exciting to see how much they are doing on a limited budget through the donation of their time! You can join their team and support them in a number of ways, one is by visiting
www.DonateSoccer.com to see more about them, and donate directly to the projects. If you have any questions about what they are doing either here or overseas, they would love to hear from you at
joben@soccershots.org. To read more and see how you can help go to:
https://donatesoccer.com/There are a couple ways to help the Beyond Boundaries Academy:
* Contact your local sporting store and see if they would like to donate some soccer balls for the Rwanda project. Contact Jo-Ben (
joben@soccershots.org) directly to see where to ship the balls. You can let the store know more about the project and since it is a nonprofit, it is a tax-deduction!
Update: I spoke to JoBen and he said to send any new or gently used equipment to their warehouse:
Beyond Boundaries
1835 Newport Blvd
a109-391
Costa Mesa, CA
92627
* Donate a soccer ball to be used in the program. Contact Jo-Ben at
joben@soccershots.org to see where to send the item. This could be a great summer activity to do with your child and opens up the conversation about giving to others.
Thanks dandelion moms! It is great to support good people who are doing grassroots work to help others!
Other ideas for June:
Do some summer cleaning and donate items you no longer need (or used) to your local Salvation Army.
Contact your local women’s shelter to see if they need any donated clothing items. This time of year is usually a slow period for donations and summer clothes for the women and children are always appreciated!
As always, we love to hear about any help you provide for others!
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