Tariq Farid Foundation | Tariq Farid - Founder of Edible Arrangements ® and Entrepreneur

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.

Tyrese College LO — Tyrese during his playing days at Rhode Island.

“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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Jessica (far left) with Cindy (second from left) along with sisters Lauren and Julie.

When the Tariq Farid Foundation makes a contribution to support a worthwhile cause, I am often given an opportunity to meet the people behind the scenes. And each time I am moved by the dedication and passion of the people involved. That was once again the case when we recently selected the Cindy Lynn Sherwin Memorial Foundation to receive a grant to go toward the creation of a new park in a very needy area of New Haven, Connecticut.

Few people I have met are as dedicated and as passionate about their cause as is Jessica DaSilva. What she has done is simply amazing.

Seven years ago Jessica’s older sister, Cindy, died unexpectedly of an aneurism while training for an Ironman competition. Cindy, who was only 33 at the time, was a triathlete and fitness instructor. As a way to honor her sister’s memory and her dedication to promoting health and fitness, Jessica recently competed in a 100-mile race to raise funds for the Cindy Sherwin Foundation. The foundation was established following Cindy’s death by family and friends as a way to promote Cindy’s passions of fitness, well-being and healthy living.

Jessica was one of only 25 ultra athletes, and one of only three women, who started the 100-mile race last March. If you read her blog, you get a feel for the toll such a race takes on the body . . . and on the mind. Of the 25 athletes who began the race, Jessica was one of only nine to make it to the finish. It took her 27 hours and 55 minutes.

The money Jessica raised for her effort will now go toward construction of the Cindy Lynn Sherwin Memorial Playground at an elementary school in a needy area of New Haven, Connecticut.

Jessica said the Foundation approached the City of New Haven about where they should build a park. The city selected the West Rock Author’s Academy, a pre-K – 4th Grade magnet school that serves a large housing project in New Haven. The school offers advanced programs in writing and computer skills, but the children had no access to good physical fitness programs and equipment. Now they will, thanks to Jessica’s love for her sister.

“Cindy had no idea she would have playgrounds named after her or that people would run in her name, and I know for sure she never thought I would run 100 miles,” Jessica wrote on her blog following her grueling run, “… but life is crazy.”

Yes it is, and thankfully there are people like Jessica willing to take on whatever “crazy” challenge comes their way to make our world a better place for others.

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Giving back is very important to me because, as I often say, with success comes responsibility. I adhere to this belief and am both honored and humbled to be able to support many organizations that help those in need, through the Tariq Farid Foundation.

One of my foundation’s goals is to improve the lives of women and children, and one amazing organization that we support is BHcare’s Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services.

As its name suggests, the Umbrella Center provides domestic violence services for women and children, including an emergency shelter, long term housing, support groups and counseling. This amazing organization serves an astonishing 19 towns in southern Connecticut.

Unfortunately, the need for BHcare’s services is great. It is estimated that every nine seconds, a woman is battered in the United States. Every year, the Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services provides emergency shelter, a 24-hour crisis hotline, counseling, court advocacy and support services to over 7,000 victims and their children, all from the 19 towns they serve in Connecticut.

On Saturday, March 14th, BHcare will be holding its 27th Annual Bowl-2-Benefit, in Milford, Connecticut. This fundraiser is one of the largest of its kind in Connecticut with over 1,200 people participating!

And why not? You can enjoy a fun time with family or friends, while supporting an important cause. The cost to register is only $5 per person and it is requested that bowlers try to raise $50 each. This can be easily accomplished by securing $10 donations from five different people.

So, if you are a resident of central or southern Connecticut, please consider taking part in this fundraiser. You will have fun, meet amazing people and help support an important cause all at once! What could be better than that?

For more information or to sign up for the Bowl to Benefit, please click here.

bhcare — Last year’s Bowl-2-Benefit supporting BHcare’s Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services attracted more than 1200 participants (above and below).

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One of the great advantages of living in the United States is the access we have to excellent healthcare. Unfortunately, in some parts of the world people still needlessly die because of lack of vaccines for diseases that have been eradicated here.

For example, approximately 1.5 million children die every year from diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, measles and polio that are preventable with vaccines.

Take polio, for example. This horribly debilitating disease attacks the nervous system and can cause muscle weakness, paralysis and even death. While eradicated in the US in 1979, polio has recently reemerged in areas that had been polio-free for years and is currently endemic in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. Angola, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are also experiencing a resurgence in polio cases.

That is why I am excited to announce that The Tariq Farid Foundation is joining forces with the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign to fight polio in developing countries.

Specifically, the Foundation is making a contribution to Shot@Life that will provide 10,000 polio vaccines to children.

As Shot@Life Director Devi Thomas said in announcing our contribution, the world is close to eradicating polio. It is my hope that our support will play a role in putting us that much closer.

The mission of the Shot@Life campaign is to educate, connect and empower Americans to help protect children in developing countries from vaccine-preventable diseases, as well as provide life-saving vaccines to children in need. If you would like to learn more about Shot@Life or to donate, fundraise or advocate, I encourage you to visit the organization’s website by clicking here.

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Some of the amazing Chrysalis volunteers and staff.

One of the aims of the Tariq Farid Foundation is to improve the lives of women and children. As a result, we support quite a few organizations that achieve this.

One of these organizations, the Meriden-Wallingford Chrysalis, provides safety and support for women and children at a time when they need it most — when they are trying to escape a violent situation.

In addition to providing a short-term emergency shelter and longer-term transitional housing, Chrysalis provides a continuum of care that includes individual in-person and/or phone support. They also provide advocacy through the medical, legal, police or social services systems as well as providing support groups and safety planning.

All this remarkable work and the vital services are provided to women and children absolutely free.

As an organization, Chrysalis lives and operates under this truth: “No matter what the situation, nobody deserves to be battered or abused. Everybody deserves to live a life free from violence, fear and abuse. These are universal truths, no matter what your situation.”

Equally impressive, the organization is now partnering with other organizations to prevent violence before it starts by working with men and with youth. To learn more about this amazing organization, you can check out their Facebook page here or their website here.

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Tag: Tariq Farid Foundation

Tyrese Sullivan is giving others the same chance he was given

Jessica DaSilva shows us all what extreme passion can accomplish

An easy and fun way to support an important cause

Tariq Farid Foundation Joins the United Nations Foundation to give children a Shot at Life!

Chrysalis provides safety and support when it is needed most