Your gift this holiday season has the potential to give one kid a coach to guide them through the daily challenges they face on the field, in school and in the community. Here's how:

I want you to imagine.

A child who knows that he or she is capable of being someone. This child deep down inside wants to make the right decisions in life…to stay in school…to read out loud in the classroom when the teacher calls on her...to say no to the kids who want him to do drugs or join a gang…but there is no one in that child’s life to encourage him or her to make these kinds of decisions.

This child is not a bad person, but is surrounded by other kids who laugh at education, who are moms at 15, who want him to participate in a drug deal. He does not want to do any of it. But there’s no one there. Not one positive influence. Not one person to believe in him and say: “You don’t have to do that because you are better than that. You are special. You have your whole life in front of you.”

Was that child you? Did an adult tell you that you mattered at a time in your life when you were alone or dealing with a family issue or unsure of yourself? Did a coach encourage you to quietly walk away from trouble and open that math book late at night? Did a coach make you feel you belong, you can accomplish, you are a leader?

This holiday season, I ask you to please change a child’s life by supporting Up2Us. Up2Us believes that one of the most transformative adults in child’s life is a coach. Not just any coach, but an Up2Us coach. A coach who’s trained to use that kid’s love of sports to build a relationship that guides him away from making bad choices.

If you have a son or daughter who plays sports, you know more than anyone that a coach has this kind of influence. That’s why I am building a national workforce of coaches who use the trust they develop with kids to end violence, increase academic participation and inspire future leaders.

It takes no imagination to find the child who sits on a curb in our cities with no one to inspire him or her. I can point this child out in every community in America. But through your caring, you can jump into this picture and change it forever. With your support, I will hire and train a basketball coach, soccer coach, baseball coach, tennis coach, and lacrosse coach, to walk over to that child and say:

“I believe in you.  Let’s play ball.”

It takes only one adult to see the child who wants to be more than the negative behavior that is reinforced all around him.

Please support Up2Us in your holiday giving and change a young person’s life.

Click here to donate. Every child deserves a coach!

Happy Holidays!

Paul Caccamo