Help the Santa Ana Boxing Club win $250,000 from Pepsi

Did you know that Pepsi is giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars every month to charitable organizations that have good ideas?

The Santa Ana Boxing Club/Orange County Youth Commission, needs your help to win a $250,000 grant from Pepsi.  Click here to vote. Hurry and vote as the voting ends on Jan. 31.

The Santa Ana Boxing Club/Orange County Youth Commission’s goals are:

• To open a 2nd OC Youth Commission Sports Club in Santa Ana
• To give the Santa Ana Boxing Club a Face Lift!
• To help more youth in Santa Ana to stay off drugs & out of gangs
• To give youth a safe place to go after school & during summer.
• To help youth to understand that their lives have value.

The “Open New Sport Center to Keep Inner City Youth Out of Gangs.” project encourages Sports, Education and Mentoring to all youth in Santa Ana.

For 13 years they have helped hundreds of youth Stay Off Drugs & Stay Out of Gangs but there are hundreds more that need help. Young people are being killed by gangs every year in Santa Ana and they help to prevent that. Their goal is to help youth understand that their lives have value and purpose. Getting them involved in sports helps them develop discipline, team work and to set goals.

They need a 2nd location in Santa Ana to be able to work with MORE at risk youth. They have more youth that want to join than they have room for and many of them come from the north side of Santa Ana, where they would like to open their 2nd club. They also provide each youth with free tutoring and mentoring. Their project also includes reviving their 40-year-old Boxing Club.

Let’s keep these kids off the streets and get them into the Boxing Ring!

How will the 250K be Used?

Budget Notes: What is not covered in the budget is the planning and volunteer hours to set up New Sports Club and continued hours of volunteered time at both of the Sports Clubs. Budget will not cover other staff positions that are covered by other grants or rent and utilities for the Santa Ana Boxing Club.

• $ 30,000 Equipment for New Sports Club
• $ 24,000 Rent for New Club for 1 Year
• $ 100,000 Salaries for Employees, Coaches & Trainers
• $ 5,000 Insurance and Permits
• $ 35,000 Face Lift for Santa Ana Boxing Club
• $ 40,000 Supplement for Employees Salaries
• $ 10,000 Buy a used van to transport youth to tournaments and on field trips
• $ 6,000 Funding for Field trips and tournaments

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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