I’ve just compiled all the hard data from the 2015 reports of our 12 charity partners, and … wow! (If this wasn’t a family-friendly blog, I’d be using positive expletives instead of just “wow!”).
In 2015 alone, 9,057 youth traveled (ran, hiked, biked, danced, and more) 47,640 miles to raise almost One Million Dollars ($917,712), for a dozen nonprofits. Cumulatively, since 2010, we have supported, trained, and encouraged almost 31,000 youth to travel 188,000 miles and generate $5.8 Million for good causes. The power of youth is truly amazing!
Even more powerful than the numbers, for me, are the personal stories of youth civic action and transformation. Each Charity Partner has shared inspiring stories on our Good Sweat Blog, through social media, and Success Stories on our website.
Here’s just one of the nine thousand stories from last year: Jesse Ross spent over half of the first 20 days of his life at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD). Jessie was born with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, a severe pulmonary disorder. Today, he is a healthy 19-year-old who decided to give back to CHaD through fundraising and awareness-raising of this condition by hiking the 2,190 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Jesse used the Positive Tracks platform to shape his fundraising efforts. “It was great working with Hilary, CHaD’s Positive Tracks Coordinator, who was super excited and helped me set up my fundraising page. And it was cool when I could tell my friends at school about the dollar doubling. They’d say, ‘Oh, I can donate $10’ and it felt meaningful to them.”
Jesse raised $8,500 by hiking the Appalachian Trail. In the end though, it’s really not about the money, or even the athletic effort, although they are important byproducts — it’s about how getting active + giving back gave Jesse the understanding that he – just one kid – can make a difference through his own efforts.
By the end of 2016 we project that 11,175 Jesses (youth age 23 and under) will make a huge difference within themselves and in the world by playing soccer and wiffle ball, kayaking, doing burpees, and more for 56,660 miles to raise $1,011,500 for a dozen nonprofits through the Positive Tracks program. Adding in the Positive Tracks Youth Challenge Grants and other matching dollars raised by the charities themselves, over $2 Million will have been raised to help conserve ecologically diverse places, give urban youth their first wilderness experience, help kids and families with cancer, integrate new youth refugees into American life, teach AIDS prevention to African youth, save sea turtles, help people with spinal cord injuries, connect inner city kids to a positive school experience through recess, and help more kids get active and give back. I’ll say it again, Wow…!
By Mary Margaret Sloan, Executive Director
Me in 140 Characters or Less: Grateful To Live In A Place Most Just Dream Of Visiting; Happy When Cooking—Happier When Eating; Adventure And True Love Are What Life’s All About.