When I worked on the RM Foundation piece earlier this year, what stayed with me wasn’t the gala. It was the kids.
Some children in Philadelphia grow up without anyone telling them they can be more. No one sits with them after school. No one hands them a book and says, read this, you’ll like it. No one notices when they’re good at something. And when nobody believes in you, it gets really hard to believe in yourself.
I think about my own kids when I write this. How much it means that someone is there. That someone asks how the day went. Not every child has that.
That’s what the Roberto Martinez Foundation is trying to give them. A place to learn. People who show up. A feeling that their future actually matters to someone.
What is the $1 Challenge?
Right now the foundation is running the $1 Challenge, a charity campaign for Philadelphia youth. The goal is $50,000, and they’re asking people to give one dollar. That’s it. More if you want to, but one is enough to be part of it.
Where does your donation go?
The money goes to young people in Philadelphia. To education and learning, to workshops, to school supplies for kids who would otherwise start the year with an empty backpack. To health and to the community around them. Small things, maybe. But small things are often what change the direction of a life.
One drop is just rain. A million drops become a river strong enough to carve a new path.
Why one dollar matters
I know a dollar sounds like nothing. That’s kind of the point. If everyone in our cigar community gave one and shared it once, this goal would be reached fast. Somewhere there’s a kid who will never know your name, but who might one day stand a little taller because you cared for a moment.
If you can’t give right now, a share helps just as much.
Disclaimer: VDG Cigars is not affiliated with the Roberto Martinez Foundation and receives no compensation for this post. All donations go directly to the foundation. Information about the campaign is based on material shared by the foundation.
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