Projects
Project Alaska Turf
"Project Alaska Turf was inspired by an Emmy Award winning ESPN documentary by Wayne Drehs on a community in Barrow, Alaska. The program focused on a football program that was implemented in order to reverse high teen suicide rates, accelerated dropout rates and increased teen drug use.
Band of Brothers Training Camp
For those who participated in Project Alaska, a very special bond was formed, a bond that will not be broken. The people of Barrow and the people who worked so diligently on the project will forever be connected by this dream come true. The players and coaches from both Barrow and Bartram Trial high schools formed very special friendships which have come to be called The Band of Brothers.
How 'bout' those Whalers!
Three years ago, Barrow High School did not even have a football team. Just look at them now! With the help of generous donors like you, we were able to help them with the installation of the artificial turf field (our blue postage stamp on the top of the world!) We also have been able to help them with training. In July, a group of ten players and coaches from Bartram Trail High School were able to travel to Barrow to conduct a training camp for the Barrow Whaler football team. And now, believe it or not, the Whalers have just completed their regular football season, going 6-0! They are now headed to their state play-offs. Albert Gerke, the quarterback for the Whalers, just tied an Alaska State high school record by passing for 378 yards in a single game!! The success stories just keep on coming. Since the coming of the football program, student morale is high, the drop-out rate has decreased and the whole community is alive with football fever. One of the Barrow residents just recently e-mailed us a picture of some graffiti painted on a dumpster near the school superintendent’s home, with the message “What if no one gave 100%?” We love it! Another recent e-mail from a mother in Barrow said that the community has “not been the same” since the artificial turf field has gone in. She reported that some children have been using it to play soccer and she is hopeful that a soccer team might be formed. Where seeds are planted and nourished, a bountiful harvest will grow!
Project Alaska Golf
Football is not the only sport struggling to become established in the United State’s northernmost city. Jerry Hay, a Barrow resident, has taken it upon himself to help young and old alike learn to hit a golf ball. Efforts are underway to provide Jerry’s program with new golf clubs, balls and mats. Of particular need are children’s clubs and left-handed clubs.
Power Cross
Power Cross is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to enrich the lives of young men in Statesville, North Carolina. They are being guided by Jeff and Natalie Storment, who combine sports and Christian-based guidance and to reach out to the youth in their area who have a need to be a part of something, and to be imparted with values which are inherent in sports; leadership, teamwork, and sportsmanship, just to name a few. They teach young men faith-based values of leadership, teamwork, humbleness, and respect through athletics and devotions. Power Cross wants these young men to have the ability to see both their academic and athletic aspirations become a reality in their future, and to provide these young men with the tools to become future leaders.
St. Augustine Pop Warner
Athletes to Champions had been looking for a local cause to be involved with. Bo Reid wanted to start a West Augustine (FL) Pop Warner football team to keep kids involved in the community and out of trouble. It was a match made in heaven.
In their first season, the West Augustine Yellow Jackets signed up more than 130 players, ages five to fifteen. Despite raising more than $20,000 to get the program funded, the Yellow Jackets were still short $8,000 needed for equipment. A volunteer with the league got in touch with Cathy Parker, President of Athletes to Champions. He was familiar with her efforts to install a turf field in Barrow, Alaska and he knew that her organization concentrates on helping at-risk children through athletics. Cathy stated that Athletes to Champions would help financially as the Board had been looking for a worthy project close to home.
On September 6, 2008, Cathy Parker presented the West Augustine Pop Warner League a $2,000 check raised through individual donations. The funds will be matched, up to $5,000, by State Representative Bill Proctor.
“We’re trying to keep more of these kids involved and help them out where they’re not in the streets,” Bo Reid said. “That’s pretty much what our association is tailored around.”