Life Turns

AG featured an exclusive interview with Max Mancini after we first started this blog. Why? Because Max embodies the giving spirit that every athlete should strive for. He is a long time friend, amazing athlete and all around good guy. I had a chance to visit with Max while filming with Warren Miller this summer about his foundation Life Turns. They hosted their first program last winter and it could not have gone any better. The program marked a big step in a long journey of healing after Max lost his girlfriend and unborn child in a car accident that he himself barely survived. Most people would have given up but Max made a choice to help children by giving them the gift of winter sports. Please read this article by ESPN.com and support Life Turns.

http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/news/story?id=4527311&test=true

Halle Tecco

Halle Tecco is the founder of Yoga Bear and recently posted this article in the Huffington Post. It provides great insight on smaller giving in a tough economy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/halle-tecco/small-is-the-new-big-the_b_307209.html

Run For It

I was fascinated when I read this blog post. Before I give you the link I want to discuss the concept a bit. When I founded AthletesGiving, I did it with the intention of telling the amazing stories of various, lesser known Athletes giving back to those in need through their passion for sport. What I didn’t think of was that the person/people in need might be that Athlete’s family. This blog post tells the story of African runners who rely largely on their earnings from running races to support their families back home in their native Africa. You’ll see what I mean- http://awearnessblog.com/2009/08/elite-runners-are-not-always-r.php

Got Heart?

I read a story on CNN today and it’s one of the more inspiring athletic stories I have read in a long time. After surviving cancer a few times, Kyle Garlett was faced with the realization that he had to face secondary leukemia as a result of his treatment for previous cancer. After 3 more years of chemo, he then faced the reality that he needed a new heart because his had been weakened from his treatment and after several years on a waiting list, he received one. Most people would have considered themselves lucky and taken a break but not Kyle, he decided to push himself and complete an Ironman with his new heart to raise awareness for organ donation.

Check out his story HERE

Sanna Nyassi

What happens when an athlete teams up with the world’s largest charitable fund? Change.

Even after living his dream as a pro soccer player, Sanna Nyassi wasn’t happy. He felt an obligation to help people suffering from something he knew all to well, malaria.

Check out this article for the whole story.

Bike for a good cause.

With Brad out of pocket at First Descents Camp, this is becoming bike week here at Athletes Giving. I see more and more people out on their bikes as the Tour de France heats up. Hopefully all of you guys are catching tour fever and are getting out on the bikes. So why not take your new found Bike-Stoke and use it for a good cause? Every weekend there are fun, well supported group rides that benefit charitable causes. There are rides all over the country to benifit MS. For a ride near you please check out http://www.bikems.org/. To find other charity rides in your area check out http://www.bikeride.com/. Search “touring” or “special events.”

Thanks for reading, now get out and ride!

mike

The Raider’s Nnamdi Asomugha

I love this article. Nnamdi’s Mom talks about how she saw her son’s giving nature when he was young. All too often high profile athletes show their heart by starting a foundation in their own name and using it more as a tax shelter than a vehicle to change lives. Nnamdi shows his heart through his acts of kindness to others and has done so since he was young.

Well worth reading! Click HERE

Voices of Survivors

This is an amazing site (no, I’m not just saying that because I recently wrote for it). The site is called Voices of Survivors and was started by a documentarian and survivor named Lynn Lane. He has used his passion for story telling to tell the stories of other cancer survivors. Here is a bit about their site:

“Voices of Survivors” is an organization devoted to exploring ’survivorship’ and what that means to the individual ’survivor’, whether they are recently diagnosed, undergoing treatment or post-treatment in a variety of documentary formats. “Voices of Survivors” will work with other individuals and organizations collaboratively on a variety of projects to further this exploration. The first of two projects that have been launched is an ongoing online documentary series capturing the ‘voices’ of those living with and surviving in the fight against cancer in all stages of their treatment. In their short interviews, each person defines what it means to be a ’survivor’ in their own terms. The second is the ‘Written Word’ section which gives ‘Survivors’ an opportunity to share their ‘voice’ in any form that they choose to convey their story from poetry to prose and they are quite powerful.

The face of cancer is one that the has been portrayed as that of only older people and children for so long but that face is not reflective of whom cancer truly affects. Cancer affects us all and each person who deals with this has their own definition of what being a ’survivor’ means.

This is just the beginning of what “Voices of Survivors” is to become.

I’m proud to say that Lynn asked me to write about survivorship. Not because I have had cancer (because I haven’t) but because I have had the privilege to interact with those who have and over the years have seen amazing strength, courage and life beyond cancer. Thanks to spell check, I was able to come up with something remotely intelligent (or at least I think so) and am going to toot my own horn by giving you all the link and begging you to check it out as well as the rest of the site!

CLICK HERE!

Nutmeg!

Steve Nash has teamed up with Athletes for Africa to create soccer academies in war torn areas of Africa. For a five dollar donation you can be entered to win a trip to the Showdown in Chinatown, a match between some of the best soccer and basketball athletes. Make your donation at Football for Good. Check out the viral video Steve made to promote the concept.

Steve Nash - ‘The Player’ from meathawk on Vimeo.

US Triathletes for a cause

I just came across this article. The first thing you will notice is that it WAS a time sensitive article and IS old. Yup, that’s how I do things. Everyone talks about things when they first hit the public. It’s way harder to wait 10 months.

Regardless of when it was written, the concept is timeless as are the causes. The article focuses on 4 Olympic Triathletes Hunter Kemper, Matt Reed, Sarah Haskins and Jarrod Shoemaker. It focuses less on their journey to Beijing and more on the causes they will be supporting and why.

I love that it talks about WHY they support those causes and HOW you can give back to them. The causes are each very unique and worth checking out.

Please check out the article and more importantly the causes by clicking HERE