Become a Dream Maker!

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work." -Colin Powell

How can you help our dreams become reality? Become a  Dream Maker Sponsor! 

The Brandon Foundation is currently looking for 10 student sponsorships for the 2015-16 school year. By donating $30 a month (or $270 for the year), you will be assisting with the finances for students' needs for items or programs, such as: coats, hats, shoes, school supplies, extra-curricular activities, and a gift for their birthday and Christmas. Sponsors and donors will receive progress reports and correspondence from students and will be invited to events at The Brandon Foundation.

 

When we receive more than 10 sponsorships (1 for each student at the foundation), the surplus of donations from sponsorships will go directly into The Brandon Foundation’s College Scholarship Fund. Our goal is to raise $13,500 for our scholarship fund by July 15, 2015. Remember, your gift is tax-deductible. If you have any questions, please contact us via email: brandonfoundation@hotmail.com.

Please know how much we appreciate your consideration and donations -- no matter the amount. Without support and donations from our friends, The Brandon Foundation would not be possible. Fundraising, such as the Dream Maker Sponsorship, helps sustain our organization, benefit our future leaders, and make us a strong presence in our community.

If you wish to donate today, please to submit electronically on our blog homepage or make checks payable to The Brandon Foundation and mail to:

The Brandon Foundation
c/o Caty Holm
PO Box 15966
Fort Wayne, IN  46885

Thank you!

Student Progress: Exciting News!

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." -Henry Ford

 

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

 

These quotes by famous men from our history talk about working together and moving forward, and that is exactly what we've been doing at The Brandon Foundation!

 

Since opening our doors in 2013, and more specifically during the 2014-15 school year, our founder has been working closely with our students' parents and teachers to collect data that supports our mission and the success of our program. Although this is only a portion of the things we do at The Brandon Foundation, we're very happy to share the following:

 

Student Behavior

• increased confidence in school work
• increase in overall leadership potential
• increase in community awareness by participating service projects
• more likely to set, and achieve, short and long term goals
• decrease in student referrals and disciplinary issues at school

Student Academics

• increase in reading fluency and comprehension scores
• increase in math computation scores
• 60% of our students have a 3.0 or higher
• 40% of our students have a 4.0 or higher

It's hard to believe we're almost to the end of our second year, and these students have already achieved so many amazing accomplishments! We're excited to begin wrapping up our year and planning for the 2015-16 school year.

 

 

 

To those who persevered before us...

To those who persevered before us, we accept the baton and will continue to run the race. #perseverance

Perseverance

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, and how you can still come out of it." -- Maya Angelou

Reading the words of the famous Maya Angelou inspires us to keep moving forward, even when we do not think we have it in us to take another step... many of us can relate to this feeling. 

So, what got you through?  

Perseverance is the character trait for February, and the students at the foundation are not discussing it lightly. Many of our students have had to overcome a challenge already in their lives -- challenges that would be difficult for adults. Yet, here they are... persevering in spite of the odds against them.

They know what perseverance means, and they know exactly how to handle it:

Look for God. Find Him in that moment when you need him most. He will be there.


"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." -- Philippians 4:13

Today, we honor...

Despite not being in session today in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we still take time to reflect on the many wonderful things Dr. King, Jr. did for our country. His many words of wisdom still guide us today and are so important to our students:

"If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward."

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?"

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character -- that is the goal of true education."

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

And, arguably his most well-known words...

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

New Year, New Choices...

We got right back to work this week after having two weeks off! Everyone was glad to be back and ready to talk about their goals for 2015. Students were given time to consider what their new goals would be and were able to compare their new goals to last year's. The start of a new year is a great time to reflect. Consider your own goals for this year. How have your goals changed from last year's?

Our character trait for January is responsibility, and along with celebrating the new year, our students are being asked to make new choices. When we talk about their responsibility when making choices, we focus on making good choices for ourselves and for our community. To encourage responsibility, each student at The Brandon Foundation is being given a special task to complete during our program; they're learning how to be trusted with responsibilities that foster good choices. Making good choices can be challenging, but our students are learning that making good choices is a part of growing up and becoming responsible.

On the 17th of January, we are going to volunteer at the SPCA. We have several animal lovers in our program, so we're excited to see how much they enjoy working with and helping the animals. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updates on this event, as well as upcoming events.

We will also be continuing our basketball program with Always 100 and our reading with Kava the dog every other Monday. The students love both of these programs and have really built some incredible relationships by participating in both!

Join our students in learning about responsibility and what it takes to "cross the line" by watching this short video here. Will you "cross the line," too?

Wish List

On a regular basis, and several times recently, we have been asked how people can help and what we need... other than monetary gifts. Since it is the season of giving, we decided to create a list of our immediate needs. 

Please know that we appreciate any item you have that may help our students. 

The need for snacks/drinks is ongoing, as we give our students a snack during each session. Also, we will gladly accept gently used games or items for the kids, and we're willing to pick the items up! Please contact us if you're interested in helping us with any of the items below.

Games/Items for Kids
corn hole

board games

construction paper

poster board

electric pencil sharpener

bean bag chairs

books

chapter books (ages 11-14)

comic books

drawing books

Snacks

Pretzels
Chips

Cookies

Popcorn

Animal Crackers

Cases of bottled water/juice boxes