Community Impact Plan - First Step
This blog is the first blog in our Community Impact Plan Blog Series.
Community impact is very important to me and has been my entire life. In my different stops as a director of player development, this was one of the first initiatives that I would start in the role. In the Beyond The Field Program there are four areas in which we impact the community. They are: children, environment, health and hunger. Children may be the first listed because this is in alphabetical order, but impacting the children in the local community through education and other programming was the first order of business.
There are many reasons this was the first part of the community impact plan that we wanted to create generational impact in. Children are:
A significant portion of the population in the local community
They are typically fans of the university
They are typically fans of sports
They are easily mentored and impact can be seen during the time of serving them
They provide leadership development opportunities for student-athletes
They are honest and provide instant feedback (trust me they will let you know LOL)
Serving the children of the local communities I’ve been a part of has been a highlight of my career. You may be in a program and want to impact the children in your local community. Don’t know where to start? Here are some of the steps that I used to make this happen.
I would reach out to the local school district
I emailed the superintendents and their assistants to let them know our intentions of creating impact and how we would do it.
I emailed the principals and secretaries at each elementary and middle school providing them with the same intent message that I sent the superintendents.
I would also ask what we would need to do as far as background and district policy protocols were concerned.
I would reach out to local organizations (Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, etc.)
The message to them would be one like that sent to the local schools, with the intent, how we could help and what would be necessary for us to do before helping.
Everyone has ways of creating impact in the local community and all are effective. I personally think the biggest impact that is made in the community is internationally providing influence, direction and a positive meaning in the young lives of those who live and will grow up in the community.
One of my favorite Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr quotes is, “Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” Consistent with our purpose of creating generational impact, the place to begin is the younger generation that lives in the community where we have influence.
* As stated in the blog post, please abide by the background check and policies put in place by the school districts and organizations that serve the children in your community. *
God bless! Have a great day and CREATE GENERATIONAL IMPACT TODAY!.
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