RMC Research Corporation completed a study about our Champions of Caring alumni. Our former Champions provided very positive feedback about their experiences with our organization.
Nearly all (88%) responded that they were continuing to provide service (many at least once a month.)
Over half (53%) of the students polled indicated that they were pursuing service-related careers.
Almost half (49.6%) believed that their experience with Champions of Caring either influenced their career choice or their desire to continue to volunteer.
Terrell McCray
I was a member of the Ambassadors of Caring Leadership Program for Champions of Caring. Through the inspiration and guidance I received from Champions and Barbara Shaiman at an early stage of life, I was forever inspired to make social changes in my city and community.
Champions of Caring taught me the importance of perseverance and that good people can truly make a difference in this world. I was taught, and it is still my belief to this day, that if our lives are to have any significance, we must do everything within our power to battle indifference in our society. Recognizing the extraordinary acts of kindness of young people, Champions ignited a sense of resilience and passion in me to socially transition myself into adulthood.
Currently, at the age of twenty-five, I have taken on a task bigger than myself. In the spirit of Champions, I decided to start my own non-profit organization called Program W.A.T.C.H. Program W.A.T.C.H stands for Working at Teaching Caring and Hope.
Program W.A.T.C.H was formed with the purpose of combating the seemingly hopeless label that has been placed on our inner-city male youth. This program was founded on the belief that all young men are special and if given the proper tools, role models, love and compassion they will show the world their greatness! The goal of this program is to not only mentor young men but to be a continual support and resource for the single mothers that need help and guidance to raise their children.
Program W.A.T.C.H
Saving Our Community One Young Man at a Time!
Ariel Gold
A Bucks County native, Ariel Gold was both a Champion and Ambassador of Caring. Champions of Caring gave her the encouragement to explore what it means to be an active and engaged member of a community. While attending Council Rock High School, Ariel developed the ICU Bagel Run, a community service program that picked up bagels from area restaurants and brought them to the waiting rooms in area hospitals while loved ones visited patients.
Ariel has always had an interest in community building and is currently working as the Affiliate Program Manger at The Campus Kitchens Project in Washington, DC. The Campus Kitchens Project is an emerging leader in community service for students and a resourceful anti-hunger program for communities around the country. She works with high schools, colleges and farmacia españa en linea universities around the country to open up under utilized kitchen space to meet hunger and nutritional needs in their community. Ariel is excited to work alongside such dedicated students and staff to promote innovative ways of addressing the issues of hunger, poverty, and unfulfilled human potential on a national level.
Ariel holds a Masters of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina and a duel degree in Political Science and Human Services from the George Washington University.
Helen Eisner
During my high school years, Champions of Caring provided me with the support and guidance to turn community service into an enduring pursuit of social justice. I joined Champions of Caring, following in the footsteps of my older brother Ben who had been previously honored as a Champion and Ambassador of Caring. As a teenager, I performed volunteer work at a homeless shelter in West Philadelphia; at a residence for cognitively disabled adults in Media, PA; and in a province in Northern Argentina struggling with abject poverty. Champions of Caring helped me to turn these experiences into a plan for leadership and action. I became increasingly involved in the Ambassadors of Caring program and became chair of the Champions of Caring youth advisory board. In this position I was able to organize a Champions sponsored diversity conference attended by nationally recognized speakers.
In 2002, I attended a Champions of Caring Washington, DC retreat. During our weekend in Washington the other Ambassadors and I lobbied Congressional staff members on behalf of youth leadership and service. This first exposure to political advocacy sparked an ongoing interest in politics. I continued to pursue this interest as a government major at Cornell University with a concentration in domestic politics. My college summers were spent performing volunteer service through internships at organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, and the Center for Women Policy Studies in Washington, DC. In May 2007, I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell. I will soon begin work as a Policy Analyst at the Alliance for Children and Families in Washington, DC. In this position I will be responsible for research and lobbying to improve domestic education policy.
Champions of Caring provided me with the motivation and guidance to make the pursuit of social justice a permanent part of my professional, academic and personal life. I am forever thankful for the groundwork my years at Champions laid for my future aspirations, and for the mentorship of Barbara Shaiman.