Richmond, VA--The Salvation Army Boys & Girls club is in the running
to win $10,000 from Coca Cola and Family Dollar, and you can help the club win
the big prize.
How the club landed this opportunity to win thousands of
dollars, is as a result of a University of Richmond student. Rachel Brown is a
junior, and she has been volunteering with the club for three years. Brown, who
created her own major in social entrepreneurship, realized that many of the
children who visited the club after school loved hip hop, but they were gleaning
many of the negative elements from the culture, instead of the positive ones.
"Many people see today's hip hop culture as an evil entity
tearing our children apart"' says Brown. "For this very same reason, I believe
that hip hop can be a powerful coping mechanism. Instead of taking away this
identity, I am proposing to use the very same elements that sometimes promoted
negativity and ultimately shed light on its positivity, relevance, and
significance."
So Brown used her
academic experience to create a business plan for a nonprofit that would
collaborate with the Boys & Girls Club in Church Hill, to foster the
students' love for hip hop in a positive way. It's a business plan that Coca
Cola and Family Dollar liked. As a result, Brown was entered in a national
completion to win $10,000; money that will go to the club.
"We have
been talking about the influence all forms if media have on the teens"; says
Paul Granger, a team director at the club. "We talk about how a lot of hip hop
has a lot of negative influence and it does not have to be that way."
The club is
up against 29 other locations across the country for the top prize. If the club
wins the top prize based on the essay Brown wrote, the University of Richmond
student hopes to build a better dance studio, and purchase better equipment for
students who have an interest in dancing, writing lyrics or even mixing music.
You can vote
for the Salvation Army Boys and Girls club in Richmond to win $10,000 from Coca
Cola and Family Dollar by following this link, then search "Rachel". Her
essay is titled "Hip Hope: Shifting Perspectives to Maximize
Impact". You may vote once a day until March 20th.
Copyright 2013 by Young Broadcasting of Richmond
