One of the truly wonderful benefits of living in this country is that everyone, regardless of their situation in life, has access to education. Sadly, that is not the case in many parts of the world.
Continue reading “Bringing hope through education”
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Because of my family history and my own personal experiences, there are two subjects that will immediately grab my attention when I hear about them — the plight of refugees and lack of access to education.
As a child, I still remember very clearly my family members telling us of the hopelessness and fear that comes when you are forced, with little warning, to abandon your long-time home because of political turmoil. And as I have written many times, I also know that I would not be where I am today if not for the caring teachers and support I received when my family moved to the United States and I was trying to learn a new language and culture.
That’s why I was immediately touched by a story I heard on the radio recently about the work being done by the Syrian Kids Foundation and its Al Salam School.
The school, near Turkey’s busiest border crossing with Syria, provides educational opportunities for almost 2,000 Syrian refugee children. The school was created by a Syrian-Canadian pharmacist who still runs the school with fellow Syrian-Canadian volunteers.
The plight of refugees—especially Syrian refugees—has reached epic proportions and is one that should concern us all. According to UNICEF, approximately 2.7 million Syrian children do not have access to schools, either in Syria or in countries such as Turkey, Lebanon or Jordan to which they have fled.
One of the aspects of the Al Salam School that especially caught my attention is the fact that almost all of the teachers and staff members are also Syrian refugees. That means that not only is the school helping refugee children, but it’s also providing gainful employment to adult refugees.
The work that the team at the Syrian Kids Foundation is doing is critical in providing hope to thousands of children who currently find themselves in hopeless situations. That’s why I did not hesitate to contact them as soon as I heard the news story and offer the support of the Tariq Farid Foundation.
Following are a few photos of the terrific work the organization is doing. To learn more about the Syrian Kids Foundation and how you can show your support, I encourage you to visit syriankids.ca.
(Photos by Mohamad Ojjeh)
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Tyrese Sullivan (second from right), Kermit Carolina (far right) and Chazz Breland (far left) with the Sullivan Basketball Academy team.
As I have written before, few things are as inspiring to me as coming across someone who is passionate about helping others. Meet Tyrese Sullivan and Kermit Carolina.
Tyrese was a basketball star at New Haven’s James Hillhouse High School and Rhode Island University. Kermit is Executive Principal at Hillhouse.
“Kermit saved my life,” Tyrese told me. “He introduced me to basketball and taught me the importance of education and healthy living. That allowed me to go to college, but I always knew that I wanted to come back and do something similar to help the youth.”
And that is exactly what he has done.
After graduating from Rhode Island, Tyrese returned to New Haven and has teamed up with Kermit again to create the Sullivan Basketball Academy Mentoring Program.
The Academy promotes education, healthy eating and exercise among New Haven’s youth while also teaching them basketball skills. The program challenges the youth to succeed academically by providing constant monitoring and mentoring. In return, the athletes have the opportunity to travel around the country where they visit colleges and compete in basketball tournaments, as they will this month when they travel to Massachusetts, Atlantic City and Maryland.
“Some of these kids have never had a chance to leave New Haven,” Tyrese said.
Tyrese, who was born and raised in New Haven, said he is a living example of the impact such a program can have on a young man or woman. After graduating in 2006, Tyrese returned to New Haven and took over a youth program that had been developed by Kermit. After several years they decided to establish a non-profit organization and thus the Sullivan Academy was born.
“We are taking baby steps right now, but our plan is to grow this into something special,” Tyrese said. “We’ve received tremendous feedback from the community, but the biggest issue has been resources. Fundraising is so difficult, and I hate to ask the parents to reach into their pockets because they are already so stretched.”
That’s why it was an easy decision for the Tariq Farid Foundation to lend its support the Sullivan Academy. They are doing a tremendously important job of giving hope to our youth and helping them learn to become successful men and women. And that aligns perfectly with one of our missions, which is to support educational and skill development opportunities that enable individuals to reach their full potential.
“We are trying to give them balance in their lives,” Tyrese said. “We want let them know that there is much more to life than drugs, alcohol and violence.”
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Today, I am happy to announce that I am launching my own YouTube.com channel!
Here I will share news about Edible Arrangements (and our amazing franchisees!), the work of the Tariq Farid Foundation and other fun and interesting topics.
The first video I am posting is very special to me. It is an interview that I did at a small business incubator and co-working space in Wallingford, Connecticut, called Hubcap Wallingford.
I hope you enjoy it!
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Google does it. Major cities across the world do it. And now, thanks to a group of inspiring individuals, a small town of about 45,000 people in Connecticut is doing it — providing support for aspiring entrepreneurs with a small business incubator and co-working space.
HUBCAP Wallingford is the name of this special incubator, and what makes it so unique is that it is a collaboration between the local business community, entrepreneurs and the local school district designed to strengthen and expand downtown Wallingford as well as the entire state of Connecticut. Everyone wins and the community is made stronger.
The visionaries behind HUBCAP Wallingford are Dr. Salvatore Menzo, Wallingford Public Schools Superintendent; Liz Landow, Executive Director of Wallingford Center, Inc.; Vincenzo Landino, Global Community Manager, Market Edge; and Joe Mirra, the chairman of the Wallingford Economic Development Commission.
The Tariq Farid Foundation is a contributor to the project and in the time that I have spent with these individuals, it is clear that they have developed a program that could serve as a model for other communities across the United States.
They understand that technology has made it much easier to bring innovation and ideas to life. Often missing, however, are the means and resources to help today’s entrepreneurs follow their dreams and test the feasibility of their business ideas. By helping these entrepreneurs, HUBCAP is also helping the local economy and protecting the long-term health of the state’s economy.
The founders of HUBCAP also understand that often the most creative innovators and entrepreneurs can be found right in your own back yard. Given the encouragement and the resources, the youth of Wallingford are just as capable of developing the next big idea as anyone, thus the importance of the close partnership between HUBCAP and the Wallingford public school system.
In less than a year of operation, HUBCAP Wallingford has already helped 17-year-old Denisha Kuhlor turn her idea for a business into reality.
Why do I feel that the work of HUBCAP is so important?
While some private schools sit on endowments of millions or billions, many public school systems—such as Wallingford’s—struggle to find the funding for basic, much less innovative, programs. This didn’t stop Wallingford Superintendent Dr. Menzo from searching for ways to provide the opportunities, such as those provided by HUBCAP, that his students deserve and need to become competitive in today’s global marketplace.
Last night, I was honored to take part in HUBCAP Wallingford’s inaugural “Entrepreneurs Speak” series. This intimate Q&A session provided an opportunity to share my experience of starting small businesses and growing them into large, successful companies. The conversation was made great by the questions of those who attended, including entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, students and those who were simply curious to learn more.
When it was over, several people told me that they were inspired by my talk. I was very appreciative of their thoughts, however, I was the one who ended up being so impressed and inspired by what this small group of dedicated men and women have accomplished. It makes me very encouraged to know that tomorrow’s entrepreneurs are in such good hands today.
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