Assistance

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fitn40

Member
Cathe,

I am not sure this is the correct place to ask this question; so accept my apology in advance if it is not and feel free to redirect me. I am wondering if Cathe.com would consider a charitable donation of fitness equipment to a lower socio-economic school?

I spent the last 19+ years as a Cathe fan and fitness instructor in the industry. Three years ago when my youngest of 6 kids went to school I decided it was time to go back into the job market. In order to keep my schedule similar to the kids I went through a certification program to become certified as a science teacher. Last year I worked full time as a high school science teacher. But, I realized that I was not going to be happy unless I found some way to incorporate my fitness background into my regular workday. So, next year I will be a strength and conditioning coach for female athletes in our 4A lower socio-economic public high school. I will be incorporating many exercises from STS and other Cathe videos that I have in my library. The challenge will be starting from ground zero with little to no budget for music appropriate in a school setting, mats, dyna-bands, core balls, etc. The equipment available to the female athletes is the same as what the school has for football players; i.e. a weight room with few hand weights and a track. While I know this is a good start I would very much like to tailor a program that will give these young women an edge in their sport and perhaps an opportunity for scholarship.

I would appreciate any advice or assistance you are able to share.

Sincerely,
cknight
 
bumping

Just trying one more time for a response. Really could use some advice on how to go about getting charitable donations of equipment for these young women in order to present them with a well rounded program. Athletic scholarships may be the best opportunity some of these girls will have to go to college and of course I know you ladies understand how important fitness is to us on so many other levels :)
 
Organizing for girls' fitness in high school

Dear fitn40,
I have virtually no knowledge about what high school girls need for fitness training. Hovever, I have done a lot of volunteer community organizing (currently I am raising food donations through our church, using door-to-door canvassing, for our local community food bank).

There is a general rule of thumb: when one does community volunteer work, one needs two things that are absolutely necessary, volunteer help and money. Actually, there is a third thing, competence in what your volunteer work is about -- i.e., fitness training for high school girls -- but I trust through your Cathe background you have that covered.

1. vounteer help: first, realize that you can't do the entire job on your own. You will burn out. A group of people helping you will achive more than you can by yourself. So go to the people your are setting up the class for -- the parents and the girls themselves -- and ask them for a limited amount of time each week for help. To do this successfully, you need specific projects -- in the fundraising area -- in order to get them involved.

2. money: as you say in your two posts, you need money to get your project off the ground. Where I live, middle-high-and university students do fundrasing for various volunteer clubs and sports teams. There are many way to do this: bake sales, cookie sales, door-to-door donations. One tried and true method in our community -- that's done all of the time -- is (1) to ask a store owner for permission to canvas people as they exit the store for funds (using a donation can), or at least to allow you to set up a table for people to donate money as they pass by the inside-front of the store.

In the city where I live, two big Canadian store chains -- Sobeys and Canadian Tire -- allow such canvassing. Many people think it is to their credit as corporate citizens that the do this. So I would encourage you to approach several large stores (they also have more room for canvassing to go on, as opposed to a smaller store).

One point I want to make, is that personally I always give money to any young person canvassing for one of their team or volunteer activities. If it is a Girl Guide selling cookies, I give $20 and then give away the cookies to my students in class. The Canadian Cadets canvass people leaving our Canadian Tire store -- so I give money. We should leave young people with the impression that we, as adults, care about their school and sports activities. I'd rather a young person be involved with fitness than drugs or crime.

Another point. I recommend you looki at "used sports equipment stores" for used items. We have one in my community of 40,000 people, so they are out there. Currently I will be giving away my exercize videos that I do not like or use, probably to our church yard sale. And create fitness programs that use little equipment, so save money.

Finally, fitn40, I have a couple of questions for you. What is a 4A lower-scoioeconomic school? Please describe in more detail. What are the current sports and gym classes like there? And why is it that the boys in the school have access to equipment and training, whereas the girls do not? I do not live in the U.S., but I thought the U.S. was the leader in giving equal training and sports activities across both sexes. Is there an inequity where you live? I rage inside of me, when such sex discrimination goes on.

At any rate, good luck in setting up your program. Please keep at it, and don't get discouraged. Today, by coincidence, at our church the pastor asked for volunteers for our food drive work. Beyong our pastor and me, we only got five volunteers. But we are not discouraged, since in future years the number of vounteers -- and the amount of food we collect -- will go up.
-- David
 
These are very good ideas! Not being active in large fundraising projects, I don't have too much advice, but have you thought about posting on Craig's List? I know in our area, there are a lot of people always trying to sell workout equipment that they bought with all good intentions and never or hardly used! Try approaching them for a donation of their equipment. You never know!

Tricia
 
Try Freecycle organizations in your area as well.

You'll be surprised that some people are willing to give their equipment away.

Google freecycle and then freecycle will ask you were you are located.
 
what about approaching Target, they always advertise that they give away millions of dollars to their communities. go to the store manager and ask him/her to direct you to the appropriate person in the corporate office handling these issues. perhaps a large sporting goods company has these types of programs to help.

also i would look into contacting professional sports teams in your area. they often have local outreach. i saw on tv recently some NFL players that teamed up to build parks for neighborhoods that didn't have the funds to do so.

send out a letter to the parents, perhaps they know of people/organizations that may be willing to donate equipment and/or funds. you'd be surprised at the contacts people may have and how willing they are to help out.
 
another thought.. if you live near a major corporation or know someone who works for one, many times they will adopt a cause. i once worked on a trading floor and traders used to get together and donate money for a cause that helped others. sometimes companies will match donations.
 
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