Sean's Smile - What We Fund

http://www.righttoplay.com

righttoplaylogo

The UN recognizes play as the right of every child. Play is NOT a luxury; it is a tool for education and health. It can bring entire communities together and inspire every individual. A game of football can teach children about tolerance and peace, and a game of tag can teach about malaria. Play helps teach important life lessons and develop skills like cooperation, leadership, and teamwork.

Mission:

Right To Play's mission is to use sport and play to educate and empower children and youth to overcome the effects of poverty, conflict, and disease in disadvantaged communities.

Vision:

Right To Play's vision is to create a healthy and safe world through the power of sport and play

http://www.boomerslegacy.ca

boomers legacy logo

Founded by Maureen Eykelenboom and named in memory of her son Corporal Andrew “Boomer” Eykelenboom, after he was killed by a suicide bomber in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, in August 2006. Andrew was a soldier, a medic who went to save lives, he was committed to helping the people of Afghanistan realize freedom. Through personal acts of kindness and compassion Andrew and his comrades made a positive difference in the lives of men,women and especially children. Today, Andrew's humanitarian spirit lives on through Boomer's Legacy. By honouring and supporting our Canadian Forces members, and by participating in or supporting Boomer's Legacy initiatives, you too are part of the legacy and you are making a difference!

What We Do:

Boomer's Legacy helps provide aid to areas of need as identified by our soldiers on the ground. We do this by raising funds through special events, projects and donations, 100 per cent of receipted funds are given to the Assistance to Afghanistan Trust Fund (AATF) within the Department of National Defence (DND). By enabling our soldiers to recommend how the funds are spent, those soldiers will know their presence has made a positive difference at a very personal level for individual families and communities. As of February 2009, Boomer's Legacy has raised over $210,000 for the AATF, for basic humanitarian needs, medical care and tools for education, under the authority of the Commander, Task Force Afghanistan.

AFGHANS4TOMORROW

In their honour, we can grow.

The Sean's Smile project has again teamed up with the amazing people at Afghans 4 Tomorrow to bring some much needed love to the once beautiful country of Afghanistan.

Afghans4Tomorrow (A4T), is a non-profit 501(C)(3), non-political, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. A4T has volunteer members across the United States and in Afghanistan. Their focus is on sustainable Education, Agriculture and Health projects.

One of the initiatives of Afghans4Tomorrow and the First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo is the Bare Root Trees Project.

The purpose of this project is to plant trees in rural and urban Afghanistan. Trees are planted with the participation of local community members. This promotes a positive step in establishing relationships between the people of North America and Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a beautiful country that has seen many of its orchards and forests destroyed by the ravages of war. Many of the trees that lined Kabul streets and grew in urban open space and parks were cut down in the civil war after the Soviet armies left Kabul so that there would be less tree cover to hide opposing fighters. Many other trees were cut down by urban poor desperate for firewood.

Last year, Sean's Smile raised enough money to plant 350 trees. Thanks to these donations a grove of trees now stand tall in the Pacha Khan Community Park in Sapper Sean David Greenfield's memory, in the village of Shah rake Aliceghan, Shomali Valley. This holiday season we would like to plant tree's to honour all Canadian soldiers that have lost their lives, while trying to repair a country in such desperate need. Please visit http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/news-nouvelles/fallen-disparus/index-eng.asp, for a list of their names and photos. Their memories will always live on in our hearts and in our minds. Theses trees will grow, stand strong and be representative of their journey and selflessness to making this world a better place. Please join Sean's Smile on this new journey.

To learn more about Afghans4Tomorrow and the Bare Roots Tree Project please follow the following links:
http://www.afghans4tomorrow.org/default.asp?contentID=66
http://www.togetherweserve.org/index.htm
http://www.togetherweserve.org/BareRoots.htm

The cost per tree is $3.00. An additional $2.00 will pay for the transportation and lunch for the villagers helping to plant the trees. A tree can be purchased through the link or address below. When making a donation, please write ‘In honour of...' in the box entitled 'Add Special Instructions to the Seller’. Or if making a donation by check, please note in the memo: 'donation in honour of...'. Afghans4Tomorrow will keep track of how many trees have been donated to be planted I will update the website at a later date.