Yes We Can For Progress - SUMMER CAMP & CRUISE!!

Yes We Can For Progress started their summer camp in Haiti.
It really is a beautiful initiative to educate our young across the globe.
Thought I'd just let you all know good things are happening :)

For more info, visit their Facebook page. There are also tons of events you can attend to help out. 

The next is a dinner cruise!!! 

CRUISE FOR A CAUSE!

On August 1, come Cruise for a Cause!! Yes We Can For Progress will set sail on a dinner cruise at 6 PM from Manhattan. Tickets are $50 and proceeds will help fund Phase I of our Sustainability Program to be initiated this August.

Date: WEDNESDAY, August 1st

Time: 6pm

Place: Skyport Marina , 2430 FRD Drive, NYC

For more information, to purchase a ticket CLICK HERE, or sponsor a ticket, please call 646-717-0115.

#CF: The Center of Forgiveness

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

*all quotes by Lewis B. Smedes

http://transformationstreatment.com/rhode-island-drug-abuse-treatment/central-falls-ri-drug-abuse-treatment/

           When I was 5 years old, my mother handed over something that may or may not have belonged to her. Technically, it belonged to the undercover who purchased it.  I'm from a place where everyone knows everyone's name and we can be counted on to forget what we have to.  However, everyone saw everything clearly and arrangements were made to ship the kids to where they needed to be while mom prayed in a  cement box, wiping her tears on the stuffed animals she'd send me. Meanwhile, my dad was in a box, tightly packed in a shitty cemetery (because you've got to show baptismal records to get into the nice ones) and my brother + sister's dad pretended like she and his children were in one (until he decided he needed American papers years later) and so, I'm sure you understand, a woman had to do what a man had to do. The US government gladly gave my mother two-years vacation + a one-way ticket back to where the f*ck she came from - Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  At the age of 5, I began living with strangers. From the age of 5, #CF raised me. 

Free Arts Mentoring Program (NYC)

      Calvin is... pretty effin great. I have a couple of bosses, but the big boss is so much more down-to-earth than I'd have ever imagined (+ she's a Jay-Z fan #points). Every interaction I have with her, I respect her so much more. She asked our entire department to dedicate a day to community service projects. I chose to work with kids with Free Arts NYC.

    I wasn't... scared, really. I just knew. I knew that I don't have any children and any child in my possession is a nerve wracking ordeal. Sparing you the details of "kids will be kids" I can say, I learned a ridiculous amount of wisdom from a 7-year-old. I'd say she mentored me more than I did her. 

       The Free Arts NYC program we participated in takes place on Saturdays from 10am - 3pm and all you pretty much do is arts & crafts. *sigh of relief* It's brilliant because you don't really have to teach the kid anything... you simply get to spend time & that was what I found most valuable. Sometimes, all you need is someone to make you feel special. To look you in the eye when you're having conversation. My buddy & I talked about everything and nothing: School, art, birds, architecture, God. "Nobody is perfect," she told me as I tried to manage her and another 6-year-old (who was a boss). "Only God." She finished explained. I sat back and exhaled. I spent lunchtime trying to understand how this little girl understood. I was having a tough time, man. Dealing with another person's child is difficult, but in that, you see how beautiful children are. All they want to do is sit, laugh, glue & eat pizza... and make a new friend here and there. A bit of attention. Isn't that what we all need, though? Not only was this great for the kids, but this gave me a bit of outside time with my 9-5 family that I surely appreciated  :) (#Secretly, I love my day-job.)