Friday, December 12, 2008

Charity Spotlight

NCN over at No Credit Needed is asking people to write about their favorite charities for his charity spotlight series. What’s your favorite charity? Hop on over and let him know.

A charity that has been near and dear to my heart for many years is SOS Outreach (formerly known and beloved by me as Snowboard Outreach Society). Its mission is to take at risk youth all over the country and introduce them to the sport of snowboarding, giving them a taste of the mountains, the fresh air, and a life outside of what they normally deal with. It’s been shown that this can be a big paradigm shift for kids, and that for many of them, getting this exposure to another part of life can have tremendous affects over the long term for these kids.

I have proudly and gladly donated gear and clothing to this organization, and were my schedule more allowing, I would love to have the opportunity to become a "Learn To Ride" coach for these kids. I am hoping in the coming years to be able to take the opportunity to do exactly that, and when I do, SOS Outreach will be the organization I do it with (they have an affiliate program up and running in the Lake Tahoe area where I regularly ride).

Anyone interested can see more about them at http://www.sosoutreach.org/

3 comments:

Mare's page said...

Hey Michael, I saw the word "Charity" on Christina's blog and I thought I would pop over and see what was up. We are big into charities here at our house. We pay tuition for a little boy in India so that he can go to school (and it helps his farming family who have a hard time making ends meet) on a monthly basis. We give regularly to our local food bank, too. Throughout the year we also give to Samaritan's Purse. You can pick "gifts" to give...whether it be feeding a baby for a week or providing clean water kits to villages that otherwise wouldn't have fresh water to drink. My kids usually get so excited about it that they pull their own money together and buy one of the bigger gifts. I always reccomend that people look into the charities they are giving to and make sure that the money they are sending is going to what they are wanting it to go to. Some of the money does have to go for mailing and etc, but you can get a rating on the charities and how they actually spend their money by looking online. We also try to participate in Coats For Kids and Toys for Tots every year. I really want the kids to see the importance in giving to others in need. I REALLY feel strongly that that is what we are called to do, no matter who you are giving to. If someone is in need, and we can lend a hand, that is what we should do! It's hard times for so many people. Good blog! :)

Mare's page said...

www.charitynavigator.org

You can get the charity rating's here! :)

SevenVillageIdiarts said...

Very cool, I had no idea there were programs like that, sounds like something that can really make a difference!