- project leader
- Lawrence S
- location
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4100 E. 71st St(n/a)
- latest update rss
- No updates yet.
the project
Our goal at L.U.N.G.E. is to broaden the reach of the sport of fencing and make the art more accessible to people of underrepresented backgrounds. While it is certainly our pleasure to accept all people into our club, we pay special attention to the opportunity we have to reach those who would otherwise be unaware of the sport or be unable to participate due to financial or social boundaries. It is through the support from our donors that will give us the ability to cross those boundaries and reach the underrepresented.
Both location and price prove to be deterrents in choosing activities, and fencing can be one of the more costly and least available sports. Due to the nature of the sport, fencers need specially designated spaces to practice, which cannot be easily found in inner-city locations. Additionally, private lessons start around $90/hr and group lessons are often infrequent and/or too expensive - usually one to two times per week. High prices and inflexibility make the sport less attractive to those with lower incomes and who have busier schedules. Our program plans to solve these issues by opening a club in a location that has already proven to be accessible to the underserved community, while using funds to lower the price for our students.
the steps
After receiving these funds, we will use them to purchase supplies for coaching, advertise our project and club, provide a space for practicing the sport, and support our fencers in any additional ways to allow them to grow and develop. We will begin by advertising through demonstrations, flyers, and word of mouth in recreational centers, places of worship, and schools. After gauging interest, and by using the experience of the more seasoned coaches, we will begin purchasing coaching and fencing equipment based on the volume of students we anticipate. The space has already been arranged, and beginning to use the space will simply be a matter of covering the rental cost. Throughout the year, we will use these resources to build up and prepare our students for competitions that take place during the winter season. At this point, we recognize that the price of competitions may become an additional boundary, as well as finding transportation. We plan to help our students out however we can in this way, whether it is by allowing the use of club equipment at competitions, aiding families with competition costs, or renting transportation to and from these competitions. The competitions will not only serve as opportunities for our students to grow in new ways, but they will also give them the chance to truly put all the things they've learned to the test. For this reason, competitions work well as an end goal for our students and are highly emphasized and focused on in our support of our students.
why we're doing it
While this project is certainly here to start a fencing club for developing our underrepresented youth, the true beauty of this project is in the particular areas of development that we focus on. As a black man who was born and raised in Cleveland, and an alumnus of the Dartmouth College Fencing Club, I can attest that our developmental goals for our youth are things that have changed the trajectory of my development. And I wish to share my knowledge and experience with our youth.
As a youth, the two major things that made me more confident in myself were: being able to learn from people who look like me, and having people care about what I think and feel. This is what we want to give to these youth to show them that fencing is not just a sport for their more affluent counterparts. We coaches at L.U.N.G.E. are all images of how minorities can succeed in any space. And we draw out their thoughts, goals, intentions, and feelings to help them grow in the sport and in knowing themselves. This club serves as a safe space for the youth to experiment, make mistakes, and learn more about themselves.
Not only will this club be great for their social and emotional development, but it will also open up new pathways for their future. The average fencing scholarship in the US is over $17,000. Investing in these youth now is a small price to pay for the futures it will make possible for them. Imagine how powerful a youth who knows themself, invests in themself, and demonstrates commendable skills in the prestigious sport of fencing could be! Many of our underrepresented youth have gone so long thinking that this kind of future is not available to them. This future is for them! We, as the adults, just need to bring those resources and changes to this community for our youth so that they can see this future. And I want to be a vehicle for this change.
budget
| TOTAL PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED | $5,000 |
| ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%) | $272 |
| ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) (Donation processing fee does not apply to match funding.) |
$163 |
| TOTAL TO RAISE= | $5,435 |
Advertising and Promotion: $150
Competition Costs: $360
Rental Space: $4490
updates
Sorry, but this project doesn't have any updates yet.
photos
This is where photos will go once we build flickr integrationdonors
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Josh J.
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Dick Cahoon
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Michael G.
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Jake Streeter
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Anonymous
