At our last Bounce Back program, we were blessed to be donated bearly 100 pairs of brand new and some nearly used sports shoes for our disadvantaged kids. They were so blown away as many of the shoes were high quality Nikes, Jordan's, Adidas, Reeboks and many more. Most of these kids have never owned decent shoes and immediately put on the new shoes and started to play and feel cared for. It's amazing what something small can do to lift someone's spirits and restore a persons faith in humanity. These kids are our future. We will get out what ever we put in. You want a future of thugs and criminals, treat people like that. You want a future with kind hearted individuals running this country, then treat kids with love and respect.
It's 12am midnight and I'm in my home under the blanket watching a movie with my wife. I get a text from one of kids I am teaching from one of my youth mentoring projects and she is hiding in a bush near her house because a family member is trying to harm her with a knife to the point she just barley got out of the house through a window. It's not the first time and it's her legal guardian and the police have taken her away and placed her in foster care a few times before but she ends up back at home and the domestic violence happens again. She doesn't have anyone else she can call, so I drive an hour and a half out to where she is and arrive at 1:30am to find her in the bush completely shaken and distraught. I just got home 3am and gave her a place to stay safe, warm and dry, for tonight. This is the 4th kid this week that has reached out to me for help due to domestic violence and all under 16yrs old and one was beaten and left in a pool of blood. Tomorrow I'm going to start a fund raising project for this girl to launch a micro business that will give her an income stream so she can survive on the street. I'm going to teach her how to stay alive and stay out of trouble with the law while being able to afford to rent a room somewhere safe, get food, continue to go to school and keep getting paid. In the mean time, my message to those parents out there that beat and bash their kids is this:
Treat others how you would like to be treated! And you will find that others will cooperate a lot easier and you will gain respect. We need Domestic Respect, not Domestic Violence.
Our Bounce Back kids off the streets program is growing every week. Tonight we had our biggest group so far, and they are all the same kids that come every week who bring more kids each time! We have a mix of Aboriginal, African, Pacific Islander kids (boys and girls) all coming together to attend this training boot camp and be mentored by our volunteer youth role models. It's now a fully structured program with personal training, mentoring, skills training and professional games. All designed to address any level of skill. The kids love it and keep coming back.
One of our biggest events this year will be the prestigious Pacific Triangle Community Awards. This will be a red carpet event and will be the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. Nominations are now open. You can inbox me their names and why you think they should be nominated. I'll post up the award categories shortly. We will hold this event in November at a prestigious location which we are locking in at the moment! Award Categories are: Sport, Community, Youth, Entrepreneur, politics, Performing and Fine Art, and Justice. You are welcome to message me any nominations you can think of.
