Mr. October Foundation
I started The Mr. October Foundation for Kids in 1997 with the simple desire to provide access to computers and the Internet for kids who needed it. I saw that this technology was the path to a student’s success and a way for them to compete on a global basis. Without access to computers and the Internet they would fall further behind and never catch up.
Our mission has evolved beyond this simple desire to “bridge the digital divide”. With our collective brain power, economic power and technological power we wish to build as many bridges as we can to create a better world for today’s at-risk children. Access to technology is one bridge but next, and even more importantly, is the relevant content area. We must attack the financial hardships for the student, the schools, the teachers and families at home. To improve educational opportunities for at-risk youth, the foundation:
* Acts as a stimulus for increased charitable giving by individuals, foundations and corporations for the benefit of our youth;
* Builds a permanent endowment;
* Makes grants from these endowment funds to address current and future needs as providing hardware and software to schools, tutoring programs for discouraged learners, funding for sports programs, offering incentive-based scholarships and internship/employment opportunities.
I can work alone to help these children but together we have before us the resources to address and work toward solving these problems. My hope for the future is that these problems will be behind us and we will see our children succeeding beyond our expectations and dreams.
BRIDGE BUILDING SUCCESSES:
The Mr. October Foundation for Kids has spent more than $600,000 to help enhance children’s educational opportunities. Some of those the Foundation has helped include:
* $50,000 five year, commitment Morehouse College Scholarship directed toward bridging the digital divide.
* $275,000 to the Oakland Unified School District, which has been taken over by the state due to bankruptcy, for establishing a truancy center. (within one year of the center’s opening, daytime crime in Oakland had decreased by 57% and the average daily school attendance is continuing to climb).
* $30,000 to East Harlem School at Essex House in New York City, a favorite charity of Paul Newman, for after school programs.
* $100,000 to City of Hope in conjunction with HP, dedicated to the prevention and cure of cancer, HIV /AIDS, diabetes and other life threatening diseases.
* $5,000 to Don Mattingly’s Foundation (Impact Ministries) in Evansville, Indiana for work with the underprivileged in education and sports in the inner city.
* $7,500 to the Boys & Girls Hope in Colorado to further the opportunity for education for children in need.
* $13,000 to The Kinship Center, which assists high school and college students further their educational studies. We have helped three children through school with a grant in the name of Mr. October Foundation for Kids.
* $10,000 to Fitch Middle School in Seaside, CA toward technology equipment and improvements in the science department.
* $7,500 to Seaside High School, Seaside, CA to assist with their technology and sports needs.
* $5,000 to Concerned Partnership for Youth (CPY) in Seaside, CA which is a support and learning center for children who need structure after school. The program was able to provide additional mentors and tutors.
* $10,000 to Darrell Gywnn Foundation which “exists to prevent, provide for and ultimately cure spinal cord injuries and other debilitating illnesses… with special emphasis on programs targeting children”.
* $10,000 to All Stars Helping Kids, Ronnie Lott foundation, which promotes a safe, healthy environment for disadvantaged children in low income communities.
* $15,000 to The Amer-I-Can Foundation, Jim Brown foundation, whose emphasis is on programs involving youth in high crime and low income communities.
* $32,000 to Southern Highlands Charitable Foundation which supports numerous programs “designed to improve the quality of life for families, women and children in Southern Nevada.
* $15,000 to Stable Hands, working with handicapped children.
* $7,500 to University of California in San Francisco for their brain tumor research.
* $21,000 to UNICEF and Hurricane Relief Fund
* $7,500.00 to Red Mountain Academy in Phoenix, AZ whose goal is to provide to “at risk” inner-city youth an environment that improves self-esteem, a spiritual foundation, job and life skills, academics and service.
The foundation this year plans to contribute additional funds to support several charities already in our list.
* Morehouse College
* UCSF – Brain Tumor Research program
* The Amer-I-Can Foundation
* Oakland Unified School District – Truancy Center
* All Stars Helping Kids
* Red Mountain Academy
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