Last
Call
WHITE WRITES
The future belongs to our children: Pay it forward with positive
role modeling.
BY BRIAN WHITE
AS A SOCIETY, we reap what we sow. Shouldn’t we take
the responsibility of ensuring the growth and development of
successful adults by passing along the wisdom and useful knowledge
that we have accumulated in our lives? If we instill a solid
foundation of positive values within our youth, the fruits
of our labor will surely provide a generous harvest.
It’s really all about mentoring. A Pop Warner football
coach named Dave Mosca in Newton, Massachusetts, taught me
an important lesson by demonstrating that you don’t have
to be a blood relation to treat people like family. Art Kojoyian,
my high school football coach, sat me down one afternoon to
discuss how athletics could enhance my future in conjunction
with higher education. A high school guidance counselor, Betty
Grossman, called me into her office to bring my attention to
a school named Dartmouth College and encouraged me to apply.
And I often recall the day my college football coach, John
Lyons, explained just how far being an athlete could take me
in life—long after my playing days were over.
Such acts of generosity, along with others too numerous to
count, need to be paid forward. With that spirit of mentorship
in mind, I have joined Boston Celtics legend M.L. Carr, himself
a great mentor to so many in our community, and his son Michael,
to bring an extraordinary organization to national consciousness.
The WARM2Kids Charitable Foundation is based on the premise
that while nobody’s perfect, we’re all role models
to someone. It supports youth education, development, and mentoring
programs nationwide, with the hope of inspiring positive life
decisions. In partnership with national youth organizations
such as the YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs, WARM2Kids Learning
and Technology Centers provide teens, parents, and youth leaders
with Internet and computer access. Through its website, Warm2kids.com
(which is a life-skills coaching program for youth), kids can
be connected with socially conscious celebrities such as Carr.
The WARM2Kids Charitable Foundation also distributes awards,
scholarships, and grants to those who need them most.
Our mission is simple: reach kids before it’s
too late. As drive-by shootings and drug-related crimes cripple
our streets, invade our schools, and condemn so many young
people to a future of poverty, drug addiction, and violence,
we must do something. Closing our eyes is not an option.
No matter where you stand on the age-old debate of nature
versus nurture, we cannot deny the importance of reaching out
to one another. Adults hold all the seeds our youth will ever
need to prosper and thrive. We need to sow them. Now.
For more information, visit WARM2Kids.org.
copyright © 2007 Boston Common Magazine.
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