Saturday, July 25, 2009
Youth Noise: B-Ball on the Block Is Back
Got an email from Cesar Nuñez this morning turning me on to a $500 fundraising challenge for Beyond the Ball, the group that's using basketball and soccer to bring youth onto the streets on Friday evenings in Little Village and North Lawndale.
BBall on the Block has been going for three years now and it's great to see that they're still innovating – adding soccer, for instance – and that they've connected with Youth Noise and Nike on this fundraiser. They need another 32,600 clicks to get that $500, and you can click all you want, so get on over there and help make it happen.
Trina Chiasson, Chicago blogger for Youth Noise Play City, caught some great quotes in that video above. Here's one of them:
"I grew up in this neighborhood, I've seen a lot of violence and poor choices," says Ken Alvarado, soccer director. "And then just getting older, you see that there aren't that many opportunities to escape those places."
BBall on the Block provides that opportunity: "You know you're safe, you know there is nothing to worry about, we have food, you have nice people working here too, so it's just a blessing for the community. And I'm definitely taking it as a blessing for myself as well."
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5 comments:
Great story, Patrick! Metropolitan Planning Council and Placemaking Chicago just did a write-up about Healing in the Hood and B-Ball on the Block on the PlacemakingChicago.com Web site. It's a program that goes beyond helping young people; it really is a great example of Placemaking in that it brings people together in a public space to benefit the entire community.
http://www.placemakingchicago.com/places/placemaking-approach-healing-the-hood.asp
Thanks, Mandy. I see on your site that the deadline for Placemaking contest entries is 5 p.m. tonight (July 27). That means those procrastinators who have a great idea and photo or video better get moving . . .
Have you gotten a lot of entries?
It looks like Beyond the Ball is going to get that $500, since they're at 97,231 clicks (that's almost 65,000 since the original post four days ago, nice going). It's a good lesson in the power of networks, as hundreds of people must have been involved to get all those clicks that quickly.
Busy week, Patrick, so I'm just seeing your comment now. Yes, we received 51 entries! Voting begins Aug. 10, so check back to PlacemakingChicago.com next week to see all of the entries and vote for your favorite!
It's a good lesson in the power of networks, as hundreds of people must have been involved to get all those clicks that quickly.
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Julie
Naton wide cash is easy and fast
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