The Washington, D.C. area is just brimming with charities devoted to raising money for children. In addition to the Capital Athletic Foundation, there's Joe Gibbs' Youth for Tomorow Fund, the Mody Foundation and Fight for Children, to name just a few. Obviously, their endeavors are too broad to cover in a little diary on KOS, but Fight for Children might provide a good example.
Just a taste, following the break.
The singular event for Fight for Children, whose home page is currently "under construction," is the Annual Fight Night, a "smoker" event:
Proceeds from the 16th Annual Fight Night benefit the following organizations and programs:
Alexandria Boxing Club
American Academy of Achievement
Best Friends Foundation
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the National Capital Area
Children's National Medical Center
Hoop Dreams
Junior Achievement
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Latin American Youth Center, Silent Auction Proceeds Recipient
While the Kennedy Center looks to be a bit of a stretch when it comes to helping children, the American Academy of Achievement looks promising. And there's a nice newsletter about their latest big event, in New York City.
http://www.achievement.org/...
Past and present honorees of the Academy of Achievement convened in New York City for the 2005 International Achievement Summit. From June 1 through June 4, a host of internationally renowned statesmen, scientists, artists and humanitarians shared their wisdom and experience with 260 outstanding graduate students from 50 countries and inducted more than 25 new members into the Academy.
[...]
Leaders of the motion picture industry and the acting profession included Star Wars creator George Lucas and actors Sally Field, Michael J. Fox, James Earl Jones and Denzel Washington. Journalism and the news media were represented by Academy members Katie Couric, Sam Donaldson, Chris Matthews, Tim Russert and Mike Wallace.
[...]
The Summit opened at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art with a stirring address by a member of the Academy's Class of 2002, the 42nd President of the United States, William J. Clinton.....
President Clinton also re-affirmed the importance of America's historic role as an exemplary democracy, and praised the American people's consistent preference for optimistic leadership in the nation's highest office.
[...]
That there were actually students (somebody's children) present, is attested by the report that
The first morning's proceedings began in the Roof Ballroom of the St. Regis Hotel, as MSNBC Hardball Host Chris Matthews moderated a thought-provoking discussion between the Academy's students and former CIA Director George Tenet.
[...]
The United Nations' Undersecretary General for Communications and Public Information, Shashi Tharoor, introduced an extraordinary panel on the Future of Sub-Saharan Africa. Participants included: the President of Botswana, His Excellency Festus Mogae; the President of Senegal, His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade; the UN's Undersecretary General and Special Advisor for Africa, Ibrahim Gambari; and the Director of UNICEF, the Honorable Ann Veneman.
[...]
But, it seems that the "children" will not benefit directly. Rather, money will be made available to some of our struggling educational institutions: "The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation announced a grant of $20 million to fund the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellows for Social Entrepreneurship at Harvard and New York University."
These fellowships will make it possible for over 100 students at each of these universities to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to create financially self-sustaining not-for-profit organizations that will address the most pressing challenges facing America and the world in the 21st Century.
[...]
And, of course, 9/11 must be milked for all it's worth.
In a city that only a few years ago was traumatized by a brutal act of hatred, talented students from around the world had a chance to see and hear all that human beings can accomplish when they set aside their differences and pursue their highest ideals. By taking to heart the example of the Academy's distinguished honorees, the student delegates may learn to fulfill their own potential for leadership and build a better world for all.
Seems that the "trickle-down theory of economics" has been joined by the "trickle-down theory of virtue."