Sport United States Project #4458

Cal Ripken, Jr.: Send 75 Deserving Kids to Camp!

by Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation

Project Report | Aug 13, 2010
U.S. Marshals help kick off the 2010 camp season

By Janice Chan | Donor Relations Coordinator

This camper wins the style award!

On June 5th, boys and girls from across the country came to Maryland for the first Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation Summer Camp of the year. Kids learn about life through baseball and also participate in team building exercises and other fun activities, like a ropes course and swimming. On Monday, June 7th, after the typical morning drills, the kids were surprised with helicopter landing, followed by guest speakers—including Bill Ripken—and demonstrations from our partner, the U.S. Marshals Service. Through the Badges for Baseball program, Deputy Marshals and local law enforcement are trained as coaches and mentors. They volunteer at camp as well as in their communities.

More boys and girls joined us in July for another session of Summer Camp, and now we are getting ready to welcome another group of kids for our final camp session of the season, starting August 23rd, before they go back to school. (Yes, it is that time of year--can you believe it? Time flies when you're having fun!)

Thank you so very much for your generous support and for giving a wonderful experience to our kids!

Links:

Watch a clip from WBAL of Bill Ripken, US Marshals, and campers

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May 5, 2010
Impact in 2009

By Janice Chan | Donor Relations Coordinator

While we're still in the planning and preparation process for our 2010 summer camps--the first camp of the season starts one month from today!--our Badges for Baseball program is in full swing across the country.

Through Badges for Baseball, law enforcement officers volunteer as mentors. Children and officers get to know each other as individuals through playing team sports like baseball. Using our character education curriculum Healthy Choices, Healthy Children, mentors help youth build decision-making skills by discussing consequences in real situations. This is crime prevention at its core: foster positive relationships between youth and police; teach young people to set life goals; keep them engaged in positive out of school program; and show them choices for a successful future. Together with partner staff, law enforcement volunteers provide supportive relationships, a safe environment, and opportunities to belong and build skills—all features of an effective youth development program.

The kids who come to summer camp participate in Badges for Baseball during the rest of the year, and summer camp is often an incentive for those kids who are truly making positive choices. So, summer camp is really one component of a comprehensive program. We engage a third party to evaluate our programming each year, and since your contributions are supporting kids participating in this program, we thought you'd like to know the type of impact your gift will be making. As an example, we'd like to share last year's evaluation results with you.

In 2009, the Foundation worked with independent evaluators, Keswick Advisors, to evaluate Badges for Baseball. We asked parents, teachers/mentors, and law enforcement volunteers at 25% of program sites for their observations regarding changes in the behavior of youth participating in our program. Here is what they noticed:

• 80% of adults saw participants working harder as a result of program participation. • 74% saw participants behaving more responsibly and being able to give good reasons for their actions. • 67% noticed participants setting short-term goals, showing a willingness and ability to plan for the future. • 91% of law enforcement officers noticed participants becoming more comfortable in their interactions with officers.

These real life changes in behavior and decision making are the reasons behind everything we do. At the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, we believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right, and we will continue to evaluate and improve our programs to give youth important tools that they can use everyday to be successful.

Thank you for helping to create these opportunities for deserving kids across the country!

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