Can you spare 2 minutes? Please watch this short video to find out how FOY makes a difference.
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A personal story from Sitta Cole and how FOY changed his life.
I came to Focus on Youth in 2008 and started learning photography. When I am taking photographs I see the beauty and I just go for it. The beauty I see and am able to photograph makes me forget the painful things that happened in Liberia.
I was born in Liberia, Africa, and I am the third of seven children. My father was a fishermen and my mom sold the fish at the market and my life with my family was good until the war. When I was seven years old the rebels woke my family up in the middle of the night, dragged my mom out of the house by her hair, and beat our entire family with the butts of AK47 rifles. The Rebels forced us to walk from our village to the city, beating us all along the way for two days. When we got to the city they locked us up in a house, but we were able to escape and ran away. We walked for 4 days to Sierra Leone to a village so that we would not be killed. We had no food, no clothes, nothing. At a refugee camp they gave us tents and bulgur wheat and rice. Every day we had to get up at 5 AM and stand in line for several hours to get food to eat. My father went everyday to the river to fish and the rebels killed him. For three years we lived in the refugee camp until we were allowed to come to the United States.
I joined Focus on Youth in 2008 and Donna Lee was my teacher and the director of Focus on Youth. She is an amazing kind person, and she loves working with kids from difference countries. Donna Lee encourages me to believe in myself and she helps me achieve my goals. Every time we go out taking photos Donna Lee always tells me I am a great photographer. She encourages me to stay in school and do my best.
Focus on Youth today announced that it has been selected by multi-platinum singer-songwriter Josh Groban to receive a donation from his new Find Your Light Foundation, which is dedicated to enriching the lives of young people through arts, education and cultural awareness. Focus on Youth is one of 29 arts education nonprofit organizations selected by Groban to receive funds from The Find Your Light Foundation during his “Straight to You” tour.
“Obviously, working with our students is the source of my greatest pleasure, but I have to admit that when I learned that Mr. Groban was so generously acknowledging our work, I literally burst into tears of joy”, said Donna Lee Holmes, Founder and Executive Director of Focus on Youth. “It speaks to the kind of human being Mr. Groban is that his foundation would choose to honor and encourage a small shoestring effort like ours. It’s an important validation of the hours and effort of our mentors and other volunteers put into having a positive impact on the lives of these young people.”
“Ensuring every child has the opportunity to experience an arts education is very important to me,” said Groban. Focus on Youth shares this goal with me, and it gives me great pleasure to highlight the work they do.”
While Groban tours the U.S. on his “Straight to You” tour, his Find Your Light Foundation will make a cash donation to a nonprofit arts education organization that operates in each locale n which the tour stops. In addition, Groban is inviting the head of that nonprofit and the young people who receive services from the nonprofit to attend his concert and be recognized from the stage. They will also have the opportunity to meet Groban prior to the performance.
Taking the foundation’s mission one step further, Groban is partnering with Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education, to launch a joint text-to-give campaign, which will run for the duration of his “Straight to You” tour in 2011. Proceeds from the campaign will go to support both the Find Your Light Foundation and Americans for the Arts as they work to ensure every child and young adult in America has access to quality arts education. Text ART to 50555 to make a $10 donation to the support the cause.
Groban will be in Portland Oregon to perform on August 26, 2011 as part of his “Straight To You” worldwide tour running through November. The tour supports his recent and fifth studio album, “Illuminations” which has already been certified platinum in the U>S. Its No.4 debut on Billboards’s Top 200 chart is Groban’s fourth consecutive Top 5 Chart. Tickets for Josh’s upcoming shows are available through http://www.ticketmaster.com.
About Find Your Light
To find our more please visit the website at http://www.findyourlightfounation.org and /or its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/findyourlightfoundation.
About Americans for the Arts
American for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With offices in WAshington D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.
How our students feel about Focus on Youth………
Our lives were shut off…Some blinded by heartbreak…
Others standing alone in a colorless world.
Some suffering in silence, scared to speak, yet longing to be heard…
Others, hiding in the shadows, yet pleading to be seen….
Some searching for a hand to hold…others for a shoulder to cry on…
We all were praying for a miracle…a special sign to point the way…
Someone to show us how to fill the “empty frames” in our lives…
Then together you came…inviting us all into your circle of inspiration!
Breaking through our silence…you offered to share our dreams…
You showed us what we couldn’t see…and how to capture the moments!
To look for the miraculous…in places others miss.
How to write our own stories through a camera’s lens….
To trace our own journey, as each new exposure came into view…
Then, miraculously one click at a time…the shadows disappeared!
Clear new found images of light chased away our darkness…
Empty frames vanished…revealing instead new full impressions of life.
Through you all…our wise and trusted mentors…Our faithful friends…
You show us how to bring into focus…amazing images…
You taught us how to discover our own special legacy.
We found our voice in each landscape you helped us capture…
We were touched deeply by the passion and skills you shared…
Everyone changed forever by the visual autographs you left in our lives.
We feel honored to have been given this fresh glimpse of the world…
A chance to view the beauty of life through a photographer’s lens…
You are our heroes…We are your legacy…Please remember us all…
For…we are your best work yet!
Your personal photographs of hope!
