If a person or company wants to lend a helping hand to those in need there is never a shortage of people that could use it. In the country today there are a number of people that live on the streets, can’t afford food, were not able to buy toys for their kids at Christmas, and go cold every winter because they can’t afford a coat.
Sometimes people need money; sometimes they need clothes, food, shelter, and/or time. At other times all they need is space.
That is the case for a charity in New London, CT, called Heavy Hitters USA. The program gives area youth the opportunity to learn about boxing, wrestling, and conditioning in the form of an after-school program. The idea is not to just keep kids out of trouble, but to teach kids the value of hard work and responsibility.
"We see these kids walking the street with nowhere to go, no one at home, just looking for something, anything…” said Heavy Hitters director Kent Ward, “the hours between 3 and 6PM are critical, when kids need homework help, tutors, and mentors…[through] constructive stimulating activities that increase confidence and self-awareness, enhance self-esteem, develop trust in relationships and encourage achievement at home, in school and within the community."
To participate in the program all the kids have to do is keep their grades up and meet certain behavior criteria (essentially stay out of trouble). There is no cost to join the program; you just have to study and behave.
With there being no cost to the program fund raising becomes a vital part of the program’s success. That is where the need for space and New London Self Storage comes in.
Heavy Hitters does fundraising events around the local area and have a mobile boxing arena, mats and other equipment that they use in them. Storing the equipment has been an issue. If they were easier to get to the group could either do more events and raise more money or spend more time working the program (and helping more kids).
The good people at New London Self Storage decided to step in and donate exactly what the organization needed, space; more specifically a 250 square foot space to store their equipment.
"Both Kent and I feel the strong sense of urgency in helping kids," says Len Goldstein, owner of New London Self Storage, "and I witnessed that need when we had a business in the same building as Heavy Hitters in New London…”
Sources Used:
"New London Self Storage donates to non-profit to help keep kids off the street." ZIP 06; 01 February 2011.
Heavy Hitters USA.