Make a Difference

As a Board Member of Higher Ground Youth Challenge, I set a personal fundraising goal every year. Unfortunately, I fell short of my goal this past year. Therefore, I am starting early in 2010 to make sure I reach, and hopefully surpass, my goal.

Higher Ground suffered greatly from the recession this past year, much like most other non-profit organizations working in human services. The problem is, though, that when Higher Ground doesn’t raise enough money, the kids suffer the lack in the program.

Higher Ground is run almost entirely by volunteers. Only our Executive Director is minimally compensated for part-time work, despite the fact that she puts in full-time hours. In other words, almost all funds raised for Higher Ground go directly to the kids – sending them to our summer camp and to the mentoring activities throughout the year.

The unfortunate truth is that if we don’t raise enough money early this year, we will have to cut out one of the camps. That means that about 20 girls or boys who could greatly benefit from a chance to do more than just dream will miss that opportunity. About a third of those girls or boys will be returning campers, meaning they’ve been to one or two camps in prior years. You may think that means they don’t need another week at camp, but in fact, the returning kids look forward to that week more than the newbies. The returning campers know that during that week they can show up as the person they truly want to be. They can break out of their daily routines in rough neighborhoods and schools and be a leader for their teammates.They can challenge themselves to go one step further than they were able the year before and complete that high-ropes course or trust fall.

Stan, our Program and Camp Director, always says that all we need to do is change these kids’ course by one degree. It may seem to be a minor impact now, but as they travel along down that new trajectory, they get further and further away from their original course.

Take, for example, my first mentee. We’ll call her Becca. She and I connected two years ago at the first camp I volunteered for. We quickly became good friends and she made some progress toward positive choices in her life. Then, this past spring when circumstances and people in her life steered her away from the Higher Ground program, Becca chose out and our mentor/mentee relationship ended. She missed camp this summer and several mentoring activities. I was disheartened, thinking we’d lost her and that I could have tried harder to make a bigger difference in her life.

A few months later, after I’d been connected with a new mentee, Becca called me saying she was sorry about the way things had happened, she missed the Higher Ground community, and she wanted back in the program. Seeing her true commitment to fulfilling her role as a participant, of course we welcomed her back. While she has a new mentor now, Becca and I correspond regularly as friends. I am extremely proud of her for stepping up, holding herself accountable, and initiating re-engagement in the program. I am also proud to hear from her that she has pulled up all of her grades this year, has her driver’s license, and has a part-time job.

The kids of Higher Ground Youth Challenge have changed my life. Despite being half way around the world, my dedication to them has not changed. I am asking for your support to give them one week that could change their life, as it did for Becca.  Make your donation or pledge early this year. Help give a kid a chance to do more than just dream, one degree at a time.

http://www.highergroundyc.org