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About Computers 2 SD Kids
Computers 2 SD Kids is a non-profit organization created with the goal of assisting qualified children and their families to obtain computers, software, training and support in order to help them become computer literate as well as increase their access to educational, occupational and financial resources and the related skills to effectively use that technology.
Studies show that, even taking into account socioeconomic status, children with home computers perform at higher academic levels across the board. In today’s technology driven market, the chasm that separates the technologically connected from the technologically unconnected severely limits the overall success of the family thus widening the socioeconomic gap.
We place computers in the homes of low-income families who have a need for technology to enhance their children’s academic success. Our goal is to provide computers to be used for schoolwork; however, we know that having a computer in the home also enables families in many different and positive ways. Whether it’s completing a school assignment, developing job skills, seeking employment opportunities, increasing financial literacy, improving communications, or expanding access, technology helps individuals achieve their goals.
Our prime goal is to place the needed computers into the homes of 28% of San Diego County families who cannot afford this essential educational tool. The size of the low-income families we serve is from 3 to 11 members per household.
Through our Technology Grant Program, applicants are reviewed for socio-economic status and family dynamics, and accepted candidates are contacted to receive training and a computer. To make our program effective we have forged strong relationships with many different organizations from our community to help us identify families where the computers would not only make a significant impact, but a broad impact as well.
Mission
C2SDK believes all children and their families in San Diego, regardless of their economic status, need to be computer literate and have equal access to technology and the crucial educational, occupational, and financial resources that technology can provide to improve their educational options and their futures.
Economic barriers to technology hinder the growth and development of low-income families and perpetuate poverty. C2SDK responds to this digital disparity and the real-world demand for computer literacy through its Technology Assistance Program that recycles and refurbishes used computers and delivers them to families in need. C2SDK also provides each recipient with education, training and technical support necessary to achieve success.
History
Computers 2 SD Kids (C2SDK) was established in late 2004 by Larry Hershfield (the Chief Executive Officer of Hawaiian Holdings, Chairman of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and CEO of Ranch Capital) and his wife Tammy. Their goal was to establish a philanthropic endeavor that would help to reduce the digital divide, the disparity between people who have access to technology and those who don’t.
Through exposure to other kids in their community, the Hershfield’s began to realize that many children did not have equal access to computer technology. As they witnessed many of their friends replacing their computers with the “latest and greatest” they often wondered, “What happened to the old systems?” They knew that the old computers still worked, that most people don’t try to sell them since they aren’t worth much, and that the systems are made of materials that are not environmentally friendly and they wondered how they were being recycled? Eventually the Hershfield’s decided that these systems would be best used toward providing technology to those in need. They knew that in a world that revolves around technology, the digital divide that existed within their community would continue to place many children and their families at a disadvantage, during their school years and beyond. It was this thought that made the Hershfield’s start Computers 2 San Diego Kids (C2SDK).
Today, C2SDK goes far beyond merely collecting, recycling and refurbishing computers from individuals but now works with many large corporations and effectively takes their old systems and repurposes them by giving them to San Diego families in need.
C2SDK responds to this digital disparity and the real-world demand for computer literacy through its Technology Assistance Program that recycles and refurbishes used computers and delivers them to families in need. C2SDK also provides each recipient with education, training and technical support necessary to achieve success.
For more information, please visit: www.c2sdk.org
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History
Pro Kids Golf Academy & Learning Center was incorporated as a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization in 1994. That year, a small group of sports-minded business leaders, led by former San Diego Charger, Ernest H. Wright, Sr., partnered with the City of San Diego to provide inner-city youth with positive recreational activities and to help increase minority participation in junior golf programs. They chose to locate the program in City Heights, a San Diego community known for its racial tension, drug dealings, and gang violence.
A Message from The First Tee
Introduction
Individual responsibility, respect, integrity and confidence are all among the traits that can help a young person on the road to success. Unfortunately, these are also traits that are often identified as missing in the character development of many of our young people today. To the extent these traits are missing, it is not because our youth have rejected them, but it is because they have not had the opportunity to be taught these lessons in an engaging way.
Sports have been traditional vehicles for teaching such lessons, but today, sport at its highest levels, is played in an atmosphere where we have a preponderance of athletes who deny they have responsibility to be role models, let alone idols of the young.
There is, however, a sport that not only continues to teach positive life lessons, but also depends on an adherence to them for its very existence. That sport, of course, is golf.
It is a game in which there are no officials to call a breach of the rules. It is a game where only the individual participants know if the score he or she handed in is the score that was actually shot. It is a game with a rich history and timeless traditions that invites respect for the old and wonderment of the new. Most of all, golf is fun. The game is never solved, perfection is never achieved; there is always the opportunity for improvement and success. It is also a game where the raw beginner can play a competitive match with the most seasoned expert. It is a game where youngsters can delight in playing with each other and it is a game suited to the young and old playing together - if they have a place to learn and play the game at all.
The First Tee, an initiative of the World Golf Foundation, has as its mission to impact the lives of young people by providing learning facilities and educational programs that promote character education and life-enhancing values through the game of golf.
Our goal is to provide the golf learning facilities and the experience that will enable kids from every walk of life to partake of a game that teaches values for life and which can be played for a lifetime.
History and Background
Through research it was determined that the primary reason more children, and especially economically disadvantaged children, did not play golf was because of the lack of� places that welcomed them, places they could physically get to, and places that they could afford. The World Golf Foundation created The First Tee in November of 1997 as a way to bring golf to youngsters that otherwise would not be exposed to the game and its positive values.
The World Golf Foundation also played an important role in garnering the support of golf's major organizations to grow and promote The First Tee. The program is overseen and has the active support of a committee comprised of members representing the Ladies Professional Golf Association, PGA of America, PGA TOUR, United States Golf Association and the Augusta National Golf Club. In addition, former President George Bush serves as Honorary Chairman.
Along with establishing an initial goal of having 100 golf-learning facilities in some form of development by the end of the year 2000, The First Tee realized that there existed a larger opportunity than just teaching the game of golf. The primary objectives began to evolve around providing young people of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop, through golf and character education, life-enhancing values such as honesty, integrity and sportsmanship. This immediately led to the development of The First Tee Life Skills Experience.
The First Tee Life Skills experience was formulated with the help of academic, coaching and golf experts. Although there are many sports that teach valuable lessons, The First Tee is unique in that it proactively teaches these lessons for life as part of the basic instruction program. A child cannot participate in The First Tee and opt out of the Life Skills instruction and learning because these lessons are seamlessly integrated into the physical instruction.
The First Tee surpassed its initial goal of developing100 golf learning facilities across the country in 2000. Since then, The First Tee has redefined its goals for the long term by pledging to impact the lives of 500,000 youth by 2005. Currently, The First Tee has over 140 programming facilities and more than 30 in development, spanning 38 states and three countries, which include Chapters in Canada, Australia and Singapore.
Contact Information:
The First Tee San Diego
Pro Kids
4085 52nd Street
San Diego, CA 92105
Office: (619) 582-7884
Pro Shop: (619) 582-4704
Fax: (619) 582-9377
http://www.thefirstteesandiego.org/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp
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