Some of the Best Non-Profit Organizations Are Ones You’ve Likely Never Heard Of

The Leaders Institute® Charity Team Building Activities Support Unsung Heroes Across the US.

ARLINGTON, Texas, July 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Companies often schedule charity team-building activities to jazz up their meetings. These activities do three things. First, they add fun and camaraderie to the meeting. They also build solid teamwork and improve communication. But they also allow the group to donate their time, money, or resources to non-profit groups in their local communities.

Over the years, we’ve met a few special unsung heroes at these organizations. These people give back to others in need without ever getting a lot of publicity or credit. “I think it’s time to change that,” said Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leaders Institute®. “Every once in a while, we hear a story during a team activity where – afterwards – there isn’t a dry eye in the place.”

These are some of those stories. (Have the Kleenex nearby.)

Race4Chase – Rebecca Kowalski of the CMAK Foundation came to a Build-A-Bike® team activity to accept bikes on behalf of the organization named after her son, Chase Kowalski, he tragically passed away at the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2016 at the age of seven. She decided to turn the worst day of her life into a blessing. Chase ran his first triathlon when he was six – and he won. The bikes donated went to other young people training for their first triathlon as well.

Support Our Soldiers – Teresa Nelson started an organization that sends care packages to soldiers overseas. Many of the recipients are service people who have no family back at home to support them. Some come from broken homes where their dad is absent or incarcerated. Others come from drug-addict mothers. So, Teresa adopts them, and sends packages to each one every month.

HopeKids – This organization provides ongoing events, activities and a powerful, unique support community for families who have a child with cancer or some other life-­threatening medical condition. We donated bikes to these kids. One of the boys was carrying a tiny stuffed unicorn. When asked about the unicorn, he said, “It was my sister’s. She died recently. And I wanted her to be able to still come to the HopeKids’ events.” The kid stole the show (and quite a few hugs.)

Candlelighters (Houston, TX) – Many of the cancer patients who go to MD Anderson for treatment are children. Six years ago, Opal Goodman’s oldest son was one of those kids. He had a rare form of cancer, and his chance of survival wasn’t positive. In addition to the hospital bills, she and her husband had costs like food, hotels, transportation, parking, and regularly scheduled bills that added to the burden. During the worst tragedy a family can face, they made it through, only to be handed a massive bill. Candlelighters stepped in to help with some of these costs. And a volunteer who was also a mother of a surviving child, helped her through the process. Opal’s son was officially diagnosed cancer-free two years ago. Now she is a Candlelighter volunteer and helps other families.

One Heart for Women and Children (Orlando, FL) – Stephanie Bowman was a young mother of two when she narrowly escaped domestic violence. She battled addiction and was homeless for several weeks. After a life-changing act of kindness, Stephanie decided she wanted more for her family. Her daughters went into foster care for a short time so she could begin treatment. 20+ years later, she is the hero creating these life-changing acts of kindness for others.

Rose of Sharon Food Bank (Denver, CO) – Gloria Stevenson operates a food bank out of a small building in Denver, CO. Every day, she has a long line of folks who need food. Transcarent’s donated over two tons of food to Gloria during their annual meeting. Using her can for balance, she inched her way to the microphone to accept the donation. Looking at all the boxes, she asked, “How much of this is going to our families?” When we told her all of it, she burst into tears. It was the biggest donation she had ever received. Most of the donations that she uses to serve her families comes from individuals – one can at a time.

These are just a few of the inspirational heroes that we come across every week. Whether you are doing a charity team activity or just a fun service project, these heroes would love your support.

About The Leaders Institute, LLC

The Leaders Institute, LLC is one of the largest and most influential corporate team building companies in the world. We work with over 400 of The Fortune 500 companies and invented the concept of a “charity team activity” when we released the Build-A-Bike® team event in 2005. Since then, over 47,200 bicycles (over $8 million dollars worth of bikes!) have been donated to kids all over the world. The Leaders Institute® has delivered over 5000 Build-A-Bike® programs over the years with over 330,000 volunteers participating in the bike builds.

Contact:

Doug Staneart
CEO
The Leaders Institute
214-766-2313
[email protected]
https://www.leadersinstitute.com

SOURCE The Leader’s Institute LLC