Thursday, March 24, 2016

Support Pico-Union Boxing Program because Jennifer Says So

You probably don't hear much about my other middle daughter, Jennifer. She teaches at a middle school in downtown Los Angeles and the student body is pretty much what you would expect - very low income and with almost no access to sports programs.

I normally ignore requests to help with fundraisers because there are so many scam artists out there.

However, Jenn forwarded me this link to donate to the Pico-Union Boxing program.

https://www.gofundme.com/gunf8gek

I know I am the third member of my family to donate to it and I intend to remind a few others.

You can read all about the program in this LA Times article linked here. Frankly, I'm shocked they've only been able to raise around $5,000 so far. 

Maybe it is because, like me, people have become cynical.

Jenn isn't at all a public person. You have to really look to find a picture of her anywhere, so if she speaks up and says something is important to the community, it's important.


She pretty much verified everything the LA Times article said - the boxing program has made a noticeable difference in the lives of the kids she teaches and she sees the difference in them at school. It provides them a place to work out and get physically healthy, working with adults who are good role models and care about them.

The instructor is a doctoral student who is soon graduating and will be moving out of the area, so the gym needs both funds to buy equipment and volunteers to continue teaching and running the program.

I have some friends who know a bit about boxing and I will reach out to them, but I am sure there are a lot more knowledgeable people in the Los Angeles area than just the few that I know.

So ... if you can help this program out in anyway, please do. 


1 comment:

Ardebaren said...

There are actually quite a lot of boxing programs popping up where I'm from too (northeast of the UK), I think they're really beneficial to children, especially in our day and age where technology is running rampant and kids are basically becoming.. lazy, negative layabouts (that sounds really harsh I know! but it's sadly true for the most part)

I think generally anything to keep kids occupied/away from trouble and active is a great thing, it's a shame that local governments don't see the benefits of it and fund it themselves.