Braves2Teens Proposal

1. Braves2TeensProposal By Anya Knower www.braves2teens.com A chapter of Teens2Teens

2. The Goal • History • UNCP Involvement • Partnerships • Robeson County Schools • How to proceed

3. The Goal The goal of Braves2Teens is to collect gently used clothing from students at UNC Pembroke and other universities across the state, and to distribute that clothing to a predefined group of Robeson County high school students.

4. History All teenagers have the same wants and needs no matter who they are or where they come from. Teens want to feel good about themselves. They want to feel self confident. They want to fit in. By offering teens in need gently used clothing, they can feel good about themselves at school and feel more confident and comfortable when they go on class trips and college visits. Teens2Teens is an organization that was created to help teenagers in need. It has been featured on Good Morning America. http://blogs.abcnews.com/gma/2009/05/american-krissi.html My friend Krissi Fajgenbaum, started Teens2Teens in Raleigh, NC. She partnered with Robbinsville High in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. The students at Robbinsville High turned an old storage building into a "boutique" which was filled with clothes and other items donated by Krissi. The students in Robbinsville were allowed to shop for free. It was a huge success! Braves2Teens is the first chapter of Teens2Teens. http://teens2teens.net/ http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6814781

5. UNCP Involvement I am starting the first official chapter of Teens2Teens, called Braves2Teens. It is my hope that this project will become solid enough to be carried forward after my graduation in 3 years. I am a member of the Women’s basketball program and I am working with them to get this going. http://www.uncpbraves.com/sports/wbkb/indexI am also seeking assistance from various fraternities/sororities. It is my goal to move this effort to SAAC, which is a student-athlete advisory committee. This is a committee made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations and polices that affect student-athletes' lives on NCAA member institution campuses. I believe that this group is in a better position to keep this going once I am no longer a student at UNCP. http://www.uncpbraves.com/athletics/SAAC We will conduct clothing drives on campus by advertising at sporting events, posting items in the school paper, putting signs in the cafeteria and dormitories, using the UNCP billboard and by word of mouth. We will challenge the various sports teams to see who can gather the most clothing donations. We will collect donations and do fund raisers by contacting the various local businesses to see if they have any fund raising programs available to us.

6. Partnerships Braves2Teens is working closely with Community In Schools (CIS) of Robeson County. http://communitiesinschools.org/affiliates/robeson/ We have secured a partnership with them so that people can make donations to us and receive a tax deduction for their contribution. Dencie Lambdin, the Executive Director of CIS of Robeson County, is assisting me with this endeavor. Once I can secure our non-profit status, I will be contacting Robeson Community College to see if they would like to partner with us.

7. Robeson County Schools Braves2Teens will supply clothing to high schools that need it the most. The high schools and their percent of students that are needy are as follows (data from 08-09 school year): Site Name # of students Needy % Lumberton Senior High 2,065 64.89% Purnell Swett High 1,472 64.95% Information Technology School 105 67.62% PSRC Early College at RCC 180 69.44% St. Pauls High 849 72.20% Red Springs High 655 76.34% Fairmont High 679 77.76% South Robeson High (already contacted) 520 82.50%

8. Robeson County Schools Contact information for The top 3 schools in need: Red Springs High Principal: Mr. Daniel Ryberg Email: rybergd.rshs@robeson.k12.nc.us 509 N. Vance St., Red Springs, NC 28377 Phone: 910-843-4211 Fairmont High Principal: Mr. Chris Suggs Email: suggsc.fhs@robeson.k12.nc.us 5419 Old Stage Road, Fairmont, NC 28340 Phone: 910-628-6727 South Robeson High (already contacted) Mr. Mark Smith-Principal Email Address: smithm.srhs@robeson.k12.nc.us Phone:(910) 422-4151

9. South Robeson High School I contacted Mr. Mark Smith, the Principal of South Robeson High School, in March of this year. He was very excited to be a part of Braves2Teens. I was unable to provide clothing to his students this spring as I did not have the donations to do so. I would like to reconnect with Mr. Smith and would like for his school to be the first to benefit from our project. http://www.robeson.k12.nc.us/srhs/site/default.asp The options to distribute the clothing to South Robeson High: • Invite the students to the distribution location to be determined. • Set up the clothing display on-site at South Robeson High and give tickets to all juniors and seniors so that those that want to visit the display can do so and each student can take two outfits.

10. How to proceed 1. Finalize non-profit status with NC CIS – done 8/26/10 2. Choose dates for clothing drive – done 8/29/10 3. Reconnect with Mr. Mark Smith and South Robeson High School – done 9/8/10 4. Find a place to store, sort and distribute clothing – done 9/24/10 5. Find clothing racks and hangers to display clothing – due ASAP 6. Discuss ways to get the clothing to the actual students in need – due 10/15/10 7. Finish web site and get the link posted on UNCP SAAC and Women’s basketball sites – due 10/15/10. 8. Recruit other women’s basketball programs to assist with the clothing collection.

11. Braves2Teens By Anya Knower www.braves2teens.com A chapter of Teens2Teens