Smart Charity

It’s true, Ivy league schools ARE full of smart kids! In the fall of 2006, two seniors at Princeton founded IACT. They believed that the student athletes would be a great vehicle to raise money for charity if given the chance. IACT creates those volunteer opportunities and sends the money raised to the Community House. IACT is smart and has the ability to grow over the next few years to reach other schools. Check out the article here

All that said, when I read the interviews with the founders, I couldn’t help but picture them wearing plaid oxfords, nantucket red khakis and glasses…

Get flocked

This is interesting. Recently a group of high school athletes started “flocking” (click here to read the article) people to raise money. This has the potential to back fire so be careful!

The basics: Buy as many of the MOST OBNOXIOUS cheap lawn ornaments you can get your hands on (they used pink flamingos) and then at night, put them up in someone’s yard. When they wake up, they have to pay to have them removed (yes, the money goes to charity) and they have to tell you who’s lawn to go to next. Obviously, the more obnoxious the object the better chance you have of making big money. I think a nativity scene made of blow up dolls would be your best bet for the big bucks.

Good deed of the week - Recycle your cycle!

This is an awesome cause and a great way to be involved as an athlete. If you’re anything like most athletes, you’re a gear head and gear heads have to have the latest. Thus, they have “leftovers” all over the place. Re-cycle is a great organization that helps you clean the bikes out of your garage and send them to people who use them a their only mode of transportation.

There it is, your good deed! Get r done! Check out how to send your used bike to Re-cycle and/or send a few bucks their way. They’re doing a hell of a job!

This. Is. AWESOME!

I have never found a simpler, funnier or more insightful sight about athletes and their respective charities. This is a great “cliff’s notes” version of what’s out there!

Some of the HIGHLIGHTS:

1. A majority of the foundations focus on “children”. I wish people would actually give to something they really connect with, not just something that’s easy! Take Dikembe Mutomobo’s foundation which paid to build a 300 bed hospital in his native Congo. That’s what I’m talking about!

2. All of the foundations are named after their respective athletes which begs the question we asked earlier, “Are they leveraging their celebrity status for their charity or their charity for their celebrity status.” The proof is in the percent. Check out some of the LOW percentages of dollars actually going towards their chosen causes. WTF?

3. Three of the Keith Brooking Children’s Foundation’s board members included a funeral home owner, a minister and a french teacher. Hey, they always say that you need a diverse board…

This really is worth a read! CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

Waves of courage

As a professional athlete, my biggest fear is a spinal cord injury simply because life continues on around you but the passion you once enjoyed as an athlete is out of reach.

I have been aware of the Life Rolls On (LRO) foundation for a few years now and have always admired their efforts to restore the passion in the lives of people living with spinal cord injuries.

Recently on the Today Show, they did a feature on a young man named Patrick Ivison who is a qaudriplegic and a surfer thanks largely to LRO. A group of surf athletes (including members of his high school surf team) have worked to provide the passion of surfing to a young man who wants it more than most. Click here to check out the piece from the Today Show.

F cancer

I recently received a package from a good friend of mine at Nike full of Livestrong product. Nike has a line inspired by Lance for the purpose of helping Livestrong. www.livestrong.org It prompted me to dig deeper. I have known of Livestrong since the beginning but always love finding inspiration from their site and their cause.

While cruising around their page, I was reminded that Livestrong is fueled by athletes with passion. They have always impressed me with their ability to provide outlets for athletes to connect with their passion of crushing cancer. This video shows how.

You don’t have to love ESPN to love this.

You don’t have to be an ESPN fan to love this video and I’m sure many of you have already seen it a dozen times but it never hurts to watch it again. JMac is the ultimate heartwarming story. He’s a reminder that passion is found in sport and should be followed blindly. He wanted nothing more than to be involved in basketball at any level and happily settled for a spot helping the team out in every way except on the court. He gave and gave and asked nothing in return. We could all learn a lot from this.

When the coach finally put him in it was the highlight of everyone’s game, season, year, career… He never asked for the opportunity to play but embraced it when he had it. Hell, the coach should have put him in sooner judging by how many points he scored in the time he had. This is passion at it’s finest. Good things always come from passion and JMac is proof.

A hero on many levels.

I often consider our servicemen and women to be some of the top athletes in the world.  On top of that they are putting themselves in harms way for a cause.  Whether you agree with the reasons we ask them to serve or not, you cannot deny that they are heroes to us all.

I would consider Troy Crawford among the top of the list of heroes in my book.  He bravely served our country in the middle east and in doing so was severely wounded.  After a lengthy recovery, Troy discovered the sport of kayaking through an amazing organization called Team River Runner (www.teamriverrunner.org).  It allowed him to fill many of the voids in his life after his injury and also became an avenue for him to give back to other wounded soldiers.  Troy is now a certified whitewater kayak instructor and teaches for Team River Runner.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Troy recently.  Please take a few minutes to check it out.  Especially the very end, when he offers a perspective that will knock anyone’s ass back into place.  

Troy, you are the man.

Photo courtesy of: Potomac Paddlers, Kevin King
Music: Evan Bliss
Editing: Trask McFarland/Arris Productions

Here’s how to evaluate your favorite athlete’s nonprofit!

Check out this article from the Seattle Times.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2003855928_webevaluate02.html

It tells you what to look for when you’re looking to give to an nonprofit but more specifically examines various athlete’s charities.  My favorite line:  ”Is the athlete leveraging his celebrity for charity - or leveraging his charity for celebrity?”

It talks about what to look for on a 990 form, what questions you should ask and what red flags you should notice.  It’s a bit tedious but nonprofit records are made public for this very reason and if you can learn some basic things to look for, you can make a much more educated donation.

Be the best athlete possible. Start here! Start Now!

Part of being a philanthropic athlete is being at the top of your game and smart training is the way to get there.  There are so many new outlets for training these days that it can be hard to know where to start.  This is ALL you need to know.  www.crossfit.com  It has everything you need to be a smart, strong, well rounded athlete.  

The best of the best when it comes to crossfit is Kelly Starrett.  He is a PT, was a professional athlete, is a philanthropist, he’s in the process of writing a book, owns San Francisco Crossfit and has his own clinic.  Check out his blog  http://www.sanfranciscocrossfit.blogspot.com/

He has several specialized programs if you’re interested in getting some of the best training in the world.   I recommend the “ultimate athlete” package.  Your athletic life WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.