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Running head: Chase Your Dreams

Chase Your Dreams Foundation: Foundation to Help Kids of all Ages Chase Their Dreams By: Misty Adee Austin Beauchamp Lexi Jordan Destiny LaFever Matt McWethy Northern Oklahoma College November 20, 2013

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Abstract The Chase Your Dreams Foundation is a non-profit foundation in which the ability and mindset is to help children and young teens have a place to go and to build confidence, be safe, learn new ways to improve and adjust their decision making to help better themselves. Without the help of this foundation there would be a great increase in unsafe environments, crime rate, alcohol consumption in minors, and possible behavior problems. With the help of The Chase Your Dreams Foundation, children are able to express themselves no matter the financial situation as this foundation continually receives generous donations from many sponsor all around the world that go straight to benefit the kids in need. The main purpose of The Chase Your Dreams Foundation is to be yourself without being judged by others. Giving the children and young teens to chase their highest of dreams to make them come true. Improving their overall outlook on life can result in them being more successful and being happier in life. Not only is this to benefit the children, but also to help the families and friends of the child in need and guidance in life. Having someone always there for you when you're in need.

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Introduction Dreams are a very strange phenomenon that are a commonality between humans. We all have them in different forms whether it be the scenarios your mind produces as you sleep, or the concepts we come up with in a more conscious state. As adults these dreams we have may be something like having all the money you would ever need, finding that one true love, or maybe even wishing a loved one was still around. However as children, our dreams were much simpler. A recent study showed that the vast majority of children dream of non-materialistic things such as going fishing, being able to ride a bike, or even just being able to play with their friends more. We at the Chase Your Dreams Foundation believe that these simple ideas are more than achievable with just a small amount of effort. Ten years ago we began in a rental house with a dream of our own. We wanted to help the next generation by giving them the best head start we possibly can. The Idea started out by trying to keep children off of the streets, then it turned into a fun and exciting place for kids to come with their friends. Now the organization has blossomed into a place where kids can get anything from advice about problems they are facing, to help with their history homework. The Research Boys and girls clubs are some of the most important organizations known today for the youth. (Benavente 2004) They focus on getting young adults involved whether thats in the community or in a sports team. Today there are more single/divorced parents than ever before, parents who are working longer hours than what their child attends school. All kids need attention and want to feel loved, this isnt a place for one certain child to shine but more about

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everyone coming together as a team and most of all providing a place where they can feel special and wanted. Financially many families cannot afford extracurricular activities for their child outside of school, especially those who have two or more kids to support. (YMCA Dream House 2007) Kindergarten through twelfth grade is the most important years in a young adults life. These are the years they spend growing into an adult, learning morals and values that will follow them for the rest of their lives. These priceless years need to be spent being proactive. Organizations like the one we have formed go to help young adults find what they are passionate about and excel within that passion. The program we offer will not only keep your childs opportunities wide open but give them the opportunity to be anything he or she want to be. If students are not involved in an after school program how will they be spending their free time? Studies have shown that most of the crimes involving youth occur between the hours of 3-6pm ("After School Programs:," ). Parents would be shockingly surprised in how much illegal activity goes on around or in their neighborhood, The U.S. department of education reported that students who spend no time in after school programs or extracurricular activities are 49% more likely to use drugs and 37% more likely to become teen parents than are program participants ("After School Programs:," ).This all goes to say if we fill in academics, sports or arts into our youths lives instead of having them take care of themsel ves after school, we could make a generations future by only enforcing more after school programs for students to get involved around their community.

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The Population We currently have programs that focus on every age range from preschool all the way up to college students who want to give back. The Chase Your Dreams foundation helps children of all races, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds to reach their goals. If more areas had Chase Your Dreams chapters, then the communities in the area will receive a major boost in the number of kids who have a more positive attitude in their everyday lives. The club can help students prepare for college and help them with the college application process. Qualified teachers and counselors are on hand during the day to help with students homework, school problems, and even home problems. The ties we have formed with schools are very important to us. The club will help prepare kids for the SAT or ACT for college readiness. The foundations policy since day one is that we will help any child in need, no matter what. With that being said we are currently serving a very diverse group. On average, there are about 54% boys and 46% girls who are involved in our mother organization. (DAllesandro 2013) Almost every ethnicity has been represented in our clubs. The vast majority of children are Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic. However, Asian Americans and American Indians also form a large part of our children. There are over 400,000 kids currently involved in the organization, highest impacted age group is six to ten year olds. With this many young ones in our hands, we are in desperate need of help ourselves. As a non-profit organization, funding is hard and support is what we need. Supporting the club will help the club spread. If we can spread the club then it would help impact more kids in different towns. The more the club can reach out into America, the more the club would be able to provide kids with opportunities to reach their goals. The more the club spreads the more kids

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will have a place to go after school and learn incredibly important skills of which will help them in the future. The Benefits Over the past five years we have been developing many exciting programs that pair children with competent, nurturing adults that can interact with the kids and help them chase their dreams in ways that might not be possible otherwise. For instance, if a child has never been able to ride a bike but always wanted to then we can help them step by step until they are sailing through the wind on two wheels. Programs of this nature are capable of benefitting nearly all members of a community. If a parent has young ones who love being with friends after school or if they just want to have fun, then our afterschool programs provide them with a safe haven where they can come and form new friendships or enhance old ones. Having most chapters of this organization open where children can come twenty four hours a day, seven days a week provides single parents the peace of mind that their kids will always have a safe place to go when they need to work or take care of emergencies. One of the biggest fears of being young parents, or parents of young ones is that what to do if something happens where you are unable to take your child and unable to find a babysitter. With a local chapter of our organization in their area, we can eliminate this fear completely. Keeping teens off of the streets and out of gangs is another one of the driving forces behind what we do. We have the capability to give teens a place to come every day with their friends. With the average club offering basketball courts, gloves, balls, bats, and space, there are plenty of options for kids to stay actively engaged in positive, team building activities.

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This in itself is the first domino in a line to clean up our streets, lower our crime rates, and help to brighten everyones future. Having a role model in a childs life is very important. M. Thomas simply states A child without a role model is like a boat without a sail (Thomas 2006). By this she means that without someone to guide a child, that child will float around in life with no real direction. However, having a role model is not the only important part of a persons childhood. According to J. Tullis, allowing children to play with others builds skills that are the building blocks to their future personalities. (Tullis 2010) These programs offer experiences which not only allow children to express their opinions and explore their ideas, but also helps to build their creativity, social skills, and character skills. The organization comes together to also teach these wonderful kids highly valuable skills. These are skills that can be used to help kids reach their dreams of becoming the doctors, vets, and teachers that they plan to be. Clubs and programs such as ours can teach kids to become leaders and contributing members of society. The Conclusion These clubs are a great thing and just like all other great things, there is a downside. No matter how much our team contributes to this cause, we physically cant generate the funds needed alone. This is why we must rely on our generous donors such as the NFL, NHRA, and other organizations who have kept us going through the years. (Charity Navigator 2013) We want to let kids know that no matter what they want to do in life, they can do it. If we can keep the program flowering out and reaching as many cities, towns, and neighborhoods as we can, then we will have a fighting chance at making tomorrow a brighter future for

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everyone. The theory that is thoroughly believed in with everyone from our foundation is that if we can make one childs life just an ounce better, then all of what we are working for is worth all the hard work we put into it.

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References After School Programs: A Needed Resource for Parents?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://youthservicesslc.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/after-school-programs-a-neededresource-for-parents/ Anonymous. (2007). YMCA Dream House. Business People, 19(12), 19. Retrieved from http://argo.library.okstate.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.argo.library.okstate.e du/docview/197364131?accountid=4117 Benavente, J. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/columncc/cc060905.html Boys and Girls Club of America Charity Navigator. 2013 http://charitynavigator.org/index.cmf?bay=search.summary&orgid=3380 DAllesandro, L. (2013). Role Calls for Boys & Girls Clubs. New England Journal Of Higher Education, 2. Http://search.ebscohost.com.argo.libraty.okstate.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN =84980713&site=ehost-live Importance of play, Tullis, J. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.childaction.org/families/publications/docs/guidance The_Importance_of_Play.pdf

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The Importance of Role Models, Thomas, M. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/13288/1/The-Importance-of-Role-Models.html

Biographies

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Austin Beauchamp Raised in a family that went from barely being able to afford clothes when he was younger, to now owning his own home, being in college, and even being able to make donations to the less fortunate, Austin Beauchamp knows how much the simple things mean. Despite the many hardships Austin has faced throughout his childhood, he always had something that kept him going. That drive he had was the passion to be like his role models, or as he called them, mom and dad. He wanted to be brave like his mother and tough like his father. If you were to ask anyone who knows him, theyd say he has surpassed his own dreams. The importance that having a role models in childs life is huge, this is why Austin has put his time and effort into a program by the name of Chase Your Dreams. A place where kids and adults can connect with each other and form a bond that is mutually fruitful.

Destiny LaFever Growing up with a family that had everything and then just one day it was gone would change a little kids life all around without even knowing it. Destiny LaFever grew up very spoiled and having everything she ever wanted until she went into the 9th grade when everything changed. When the Stock Market went down her dad lost a lot of money in the stock and almost lost their house. Watching her grow up you could always tell she was a go getter and never wanted nothing but the best. Her mom was her biggest support through ever move she made. She wanted to be just like her momma when she grew up, strong headed, and very smart. If you were to ask anyone that knew her she would say she was very passion about everything she did and she wanted to better herself once she got older. Also, she wants to give back to her community and help out others just like others helped her growing up.

Lexi Jordan The YMCAs dream house foundation reminded Lexi the most on why she wanted to form a boys and girls club organization. Lexi mainly wanted to focus on scholarships for families who needed financial assistance when getting their child into an after school program. When she was in elementary and even into middle school all her friends at school played a sport after school. She has always been very athletic and participated in sports at school weather that was at recess or joining the cheer and basketball team in seventh grade. She also would always beg her mom to get me into an after school sports program like cheer athletics. Cheer athletics is a competition cheer association be also had classes for learning to tumble etc. her mother would always say the same thing that she could not afford cheer classes or putting me on a soccer team outside of school. Which made Lexi always felt like she could never reach her best potential in sports growing up. Her classmates always had the upper hand being on a team outside of school, they were leaning new techniques and skills that she couldnt teach herself.

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Lexi Jordan would love to provide kids like her, who might have single parents at home and cannot afford extracurricular activities outside of public schooling.

Matt McWethy Make a Wish Foundation is what got me intrigued into helping others in life. When my racing career was on the rise I met someone who has been battling cancer his entire life. Through my deep conversations with this young man I realized that he was very well-known in the racing community where others had already planned on helping his wish to drive a sprint car at the biggest race of the year. Seeing his face along with the excitement enlightened and sparked an interest in helping others make their dreams come true. Matt noticed that he is a lot like his parents when it comes to helping others. Matt's parents opted a family of two (brother and sister) from Africa where his parents help support them in any way such as building a small house or providing meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This motivated Matt to help others in any way he can and thats what he plans on doing for as long as he can.