While it’s true that the Pull Your Own Weight Foundation is an IRS approved, Illinois based, tax exempt 501c3 organization, it’s also true that we are unlike any not-for-profit organization you’ve ever seen before.
You see, we’re not asking for donations. We’re not asking for contributions. We’re not asking anyone to GIVE us anything. On the contrary, we aim to work with partners including schools and other well conceived NFP groups who are short on funds. We want to show them how to raise significant funds by systematically defeating childhood obesity in the populations of kids they work with.
In other words, we insist on EARNING every single dime that anyone invests in our functional childhood obesity prevention project, and generating boatloads of return on investment (ROI) in the process. We refuse to accept charity of any kind.
A Tangible ROI for All Participants
We not only expect to deliver a handsome, tangible ROI to all the kids and families we work with, but we also expect to deliver a handsome, tangible ROI to those who clearly see the potential of this project and who have courage enough to take a public stand, shoulder to shoulder with us, in order to help make it happen.
This ROI will come in the form of great PR, in the form of better, safer, and more productive families, schools, and communities, in the form of a more creative and more efficient workforce. Anybody who gets involved with this project with us should expect to win and to be able to document that win in solid black and white terms.
Respect NOT Sympathy
No, we’re not a church. We’re not a charity. We don’t want anyone’s sympathy or anyone’s gift. We don’t want anyone to feel sorry for us or the kids we work with - even though some of them are labeled disadvantaged. We (including the kids) want your respect because we all bring VALUE to the table. We want partners who recognize a good idea when they see one and who are willing to take action instead of just talk.
We have great potential. And the kids we work with have every bit as much potential as any other kids on planet Earth. And they’ll enthusiastically grasp the chance to develop their potential if they’re presented with a genuine opportunity to do so.
No Free Fish
In other words, we’re not passing out free fish for the asking. We’re teaching future generations of kids how to fish so they can feed themselves (with good food not modern junk food) for a lifetime. With the right experiences and the right encouragement these kids will grow into strong, resilient, resourceful, self-reliant, and independent adults because that’s what human beings in the best sense inevitably become.
Yes, We Are a 501c3 But…
So yes, we are a 501c3 not-for-profit, tax exempt organization. But we certainly are not a charity in any conventional sense of the word. We are indeed the most unusual not for profit group you’ve ever seen because we aim to make everyone we work with stronger week after week, month after month, all year long. And if that fails to happen, something is seriously wrong with the relationship.
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