Thanksgiving and Community

 November 23, 2011

 Yesterday our organization was able to be a part of the Thanksgiving Drive held by the  Leadership for Life Foundation.  Leadership For Life is the Foundation of Washington Redskins  Safety LaRon Landry.  The foundation partners with Sasha Bruce Youthwork and Whole Foods  Market to provide 500 turkeys and dinner items to residents of under-served and low income  areas of D.C.  It’s great to see a professional athlete who gives his time and resources to provide a Thanksgiving Day meal to families who may not be able to provide the meal themselves because of rough financial times.

In our programs we remind our students that it is important to be more involved in their communities in a positive way.  Also, we teach that this can be done in many different ways.  Most of the time a student may respond by saying “Don’t we need money to help out the neighborhood?”  Although we get what they are trying to say, we teach them that some of the ways they can be involved their communities in a positive way is by simply doing what they are supposed to be doing in the first place, without large amounts of money:

1. Attend school every day
2. Develop good study habits
3. Pay attention to your teachers and school administrators
4. Keep a positive attitude about education

The good thing about teaching this to youth in our after-school programs is that they are the same principles that apply to being a good athlete in the community.  Either as a school athlete or a recreational athlete, the principles are pretty much the same:

1. Attend practices every day
2. Develop good practice habits
3. Pay attention to your coaches and parents
4. Keep a positive attitude about sports

This is important because most of the students and athletes in our programs aspire to be in the position that LaRon is in today.  Those dreams and visions are excellent to have!  However, we teach youth that there are many ways to get to that point but also remind them that you don’t have to be a pro athlete in order to help out their community.  We hope they strive to become great leaders by practicing the basic principles that we teach and become a model citizen in life.

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