We have over 25 volunteer trailblazers helping SOSF to raise $50,000 for our end-of-the-year campaign and to help guarantee our programs for at-risk youth in 2016. Please help us reach our goal by making your end-of-the-year donation to our cause and help the at-risk kids in your community. Check out our 2015 final report at the bottom of the newsletter.
Here are three ways for you to participate in the Sean O’Shea Foundation end-of-the-year campaign.
Note: On Tuesday, December 1st, our platform (classy.org) will waive all online service fees in honor of #GivingTuesday a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 1, 2015, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.
1. Donate via our Classy link: www.classy.org/ey2015 (Classy charges a 5.5-6% Service charge)
2. Donate via SOSF website: www.seanosheafoundation.org (PayPal charges a 3% Service Charge)
3. Or…Donate by check to: Sean O’Shea Foundation, 3397 Hollowtree Dr, Oceanside, CA 92058 (0% Service Charge)
As we come to an end of November, the month of gratitude, we at the Sean O’Shea Foundation would like to thank all our volunteers and donors. Because of your generosity and valuable time we have been able to reach over 3,000 at-risk children this year.
The young kids who participate in our programs have an increased optimistic outlook on school, relations and life in general. They show greater confidence and respect for others and learn to have self-compassion for them self. They show a greater maturity and emotional stability and seem to better understand their greatest potential!
Thank you, for supporting our cause and the at-risk youth that we serve! To our good friends, supporters and SOSF family:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie
Ambassador Events Supporting the Sean O'Shea Foundation - Please Support Our Ambassadors!
1. Star wars yoga – December 5th – North County
2. Mindful parenting – December 5th
3. Buddhi Yoga Fundraiser for Sean O’Shea Foundation (Posted on our Facebook) - December 5th - San Diego
4. Sean O’Shea Foundation 9th Annual Winter Solstice at the Ashtanga Yoga Center – December 20th
The SEAN O'SHEA FOUNDATION will be participating in the #GIVINGTUESDAY on DECEMBER 1st! #GIVINGTUESDAY is a powerful national day of giving, raising funds and generating awareness for non-profits.
Our online fundraising platform (Classy.org) has agreed to waive all their transaction fees on December 1st, so that more of your donation goes toward our programs for at-risk kids.
Please remember to give on DECEMBER 1st! Here is our online link for giving: http://www.classy.org/ey2015
The SEAN O’SHEA FOUNDATION Successfully empowering youth with nutrition and mindful practices
PROGRAM/PROJECT DESCRIPTION, GOALS, AND ACTIVITIES
This past school year we have been able to reach nearly 3,000 at-risk youth by empowering them with tools of peace. We reached over 10 schools with our yoga and nutrition programs visiting the kids weekly for the entire semester. Kids learned the basic function of the brain and how to use tools of peace to choose their own behavior.
Our research showed dramatic overall improvement as you can read below.
Programs: We visit the schools each week and teach breathing exercises to help combat the emotional stress kids experience from everyday life. We teach them basic yoga moves that help to relieve stress and tension as well as work on physical fitness. We teach nutrition to help combat the obesity epidemic. Some of the young populations that we work with have a 40% chance of being obese, so nutrition curriculum is desperately needed for their future health. Lastly, we teach mindful practices that help children to be in control of their own behavior and build resilience, character and confidence.
Kids who participate in our programs have an increased optimistic outlook on school, relations and life in general. They show a greater respect for others and learn to have self-compassion for them self. They show a greater maturity and emotional stability. We plan on continuing our traditional mindful program into 2016 by serving an additional 3000 young students!
Other programs; our Yoga 4 Kids With Cancer program is year round where we visit Rady’s Children’s Hospital 3 times per week and teach the poses and breathing taught by the Sean O’Shea Foundation instructors that provide the children invaluable tools to master their symptoms and the side effects of the intensive treatment therapies that they endure. We are taking measure to make sure this program is secure and continues into 2016 thanks to our supporters and donors.
EVALUATION
Outcome via research
The Sean O’Shea Foundation research is showing a restoration of confidence, emotional stability, low anxiety levels, and peaceful attitude as a result of the program. When we look only at the scores of the high school aged children, the improvement was so significant for each factor analyzed that the numbers were astonishing. This shows the potential for a very successful longitudinal study and resilience to life stressors if experiencing the program at a young age. The Sean O’Shea Foundation has decided to continue to research our programs into 2016.
PROJECTS AND GOALS 2016
We are seeking additional funds to train schoolteachers, school psychologists, counselors and nurses to teach our self-sustaining mindful programs, “CALM Kids”. We hope to reach over 300 schoolteachers by spring 2016 and over 500 come fall with our:CALM Kids Program (Chair-based Activity for Learning Mindfulness) We recently received a grant from the Serenity Grace Foundation to continue this training. On December 4th we will be training 130 faculty members from the Bonita School District with our CALM Kids program. Thank you Serenity Grace Foundation!
We are working to grow our Yoga 4 Kids With Cancer by offering our services more often and regularly. We have become a sought out form of healing for these kids and their families. We hope to raise $10,000 to keep this program running into 2016.
We plan on expanding our programs beyond the borders of California by fall of 2016!
We plan on gathering more SOSF Ambassadors to help in raising funds for our ongoing nutrition and mindful program for at-risk youth and partner with many more organizations and yoga studios.
We plan on continuing our orientation and training to insure the best-qualified yoga teachers participate in our nutrition and mindful programs for kids K-12 grades.
We will keep you posted of our work and accomplishments for 2016.
