I thought I would take a moment to share what I have been up to on Thursday morning's before I head into HSP. I am a mentor at Lake Park High school in Roselle for their INCubator program. Denise, a long-time donor at HSP introduced me to Dan Colucci who teaches this amazing program, and it is my second school year as a mentor to a team of students. Keep reading because what these four young men are working on is all about serving low-income children in the community.
I bet you are wondering what is the INCubator program?
In the INCubator course, students engage in hands-on, entrepreneurial learning by developing a business of their own. The course culminates in a Pitch Night event, where students present their business plan in a “shark tank” competition where winning projects are awarded scholarships.
And now I am going to shine a light on the work of Henry, Brandon, Cameron and Michael, the four seniors at Lake Park High school that created the charity, Active Beginnings.
Active Beginnings is empowering communities by providing sports equipment to children in need. By fostering a love for sports and promoting an active lifestyle, Active Beginnings aims to not only provide the tools for physical activity but also instill values of teamwork, discipline, and confidence, ensuring that all children have the opportunity to enjoy the numerous benefits that sports participation offers.
This is the first charity that has been developed through this program at Lake Park High School and these fine young men came up with the idea.
This program has been very intense and the path to get to this point has been a lot of work for the team. They developed the idea, created the logo, website, and social media plans. They created surveys for donors and potential clients, projected costs and revenue streams and worked on a pathway to find families to help and children to serve.
This week the team received the names from a local school of the first two families Active Beginnings will purchase equipment for as they prepare to outfit these children to play the sport of their choosing.
Here is the link to the Active Beginnings website so you can learn more about the charity, Henry, Brandon, Cameron and Michael have created. They have more work to do and families to serve before the presentation on May 20th!
I am sharing the website with you, not because I want you to donate but because I am incredibly proud of the fact that these young men want to give children amazing experiences they otherwise could never afford. They recognize the opportunities they have been given and they feel other young children should have the same. This team is a shining example of how the younger generation has incredible ideas about bettering our communities and helping others rise up to their greatest potential. And this is why I couldn't be prouder!
Yours in love and service,
Kristin Senne
Executive Director
