Champions for Kids

Contact Information

26 W Center Suite 215, Fayetteville

479-582-2008

Organization Information

Mission:  We work to mobilize MILLIONS of people to improve the lives of children in their communities by ensuring children have the resources and opportunities they need to start school fit, strong and ready to learn.  We pay particular attention to help low-income schools and nonprofit leaders provide children with the resources and opportunities they need to transition successfully to adulthood.  We work to ensure all children have a healthy start (access to healthy foods and nutrition education), a strong stride (physical activity and social engagement opportunities), fuel for endurance (access to programs that provide emotional, spiritual and psychological wellness), and resources and opportunities to support educational achievement.  No child should go to bed afraid, alone, hungry and wondering if someone cares.  ALL children should have someone who cares, a place to belong, hope for tomorrow, and provisions for their journey.  We work to make this happen.

Vision:  Our vision is to change the culture.  Ultimate success is when there is a transfer of identity from Champions for Kids as an organization to Champions for Kids as part of our collective identity, who we are as a community and as citizens.  Each year millions of children suffer silently and in many cases, die, not because we don’t have the resources but because of a massive failure of our imagination to engage more people in efforts to improve the lives of children in our communities.  People care about our youth.  They will help.  We work to mobilize MILLIONS of people to be a force for good in their communities.  If our plan works, then we change the life course for millions of children – for generations to come.

About:  Champions for Kids was founded in 2004.  In our formative years, we worked with a broad range of nonprofit organizations.  We learned early to recognize that at their core, many of the organizations were focused on health issues.  We recognized that child health is not only important for physical well-being.  Healthy children are more likely to become healthy adults and productive members of society.

Our focus on children’s health now expands to provide people in communities across America with SIMPLE ways they can improve the lives of children where they live and work.  The solution is in the leverage of people.  There are about 74 million children in the United States and approximately 2.2 billion children in the world.
People care about our children and they will help.  People want to be a part of a solution.  They want to create a better world for and with our youth.  We also learned that the only way we knew to accelerate impact is to massively increase the number of people to be a force for good in their communities.  In 2010 we strengthened and expanded our mission.  Our four cornerstone programs reflect our reach to encourage and support citizen engagement.

Programs:
With a goal of engaging 20 MILLION people by 2020 to provide resources and opportunities to MILLIONS of children, Champions for Kids offers the following opportunities and programs.

Abbott Nutrition Razorfest - Our flagship event is our beacon for all that we do – reminding us that on THIS day, this state-wide FREE family event works to mobilize thousands of people to improve the lives of children in their communities.  This fun-packed day includes: Fun Zones, concerts, autographs, mascots and giveaways.  The day ends with the University of Arkansas Razorback Red-White game.

SIMPLE Service Projects - Choose to participate in one of the projects (Disney Stocking Stuffer Celebration or Abbott Nutrition 30 Day Challenge) an improve the lives of children in your community.

Global Leadership Fellows - This is an intensive, one-year program designed to assist leaders to take a proven local idea to the next level of impact.  During the one-year fellowship, Global Leadership Fellows will develop the skills, connections and insights they need to lead innovative change. They will participate in a dynamic learning community comprised of innovative nonprofit, academic, corporate and government leaders engaged and committed to working for transformative impact for children.  The Global Leadership Fellows experience will be anchored in dynamic forums that engage participants in unique learning experiences and conversations with corporate, nonprofit and government leaders.  Champions for Kids selects leaders who have strong leadership track records, innovative ideas that can lead to meaningful impact, are surrounded with strong leadership support and are well-positioned for growth.

Henkel Global Leadership Conference - This is the annual gathering for all of our partners working across America and beyond to improve the lives of children.  At the Henkel Global Leadership Conference, we leverage our partnerships with companies that share our commitment to helping social entrepreneurs to increase their social impact and widespread change to improve the lives of children – worldwide.  At the Henkel Global Leadership Conference, we engage their leadership gifts to share knowledge and expertise across our network.  The two-day gathering of leaders includes workshops for social impact by corporate and social sector leaders, insights by corporate, foundation and government leaders on effective social change strategies, premier networking opportunities with corporate and social sector leaders, annual awards for exemplary Champions for Kids, annual update for Champions for Kids efforts to mobilize millions of people to improve the lives of children in their communities, compelling stories from teachers and social workers on the impacts local efforts have for children in their communities, and an annual on-site community service project benefitting children in Arkansas.

If you’d like to help meet the goal of 20 million people by 2020, visit www.championsforkids.org to sign up.