Feature Story and Photos by Larry H. Oskin, South Lake Tablet
Champion Circle is a youth empowerment mentoring program for young men, ages 14 to 18-years-old. By founding the Give a Day Foundation, Otis Taylor has made hundreds of volunteers, mentors, students and non-profit organizations into everyday heroes who help make a difference!
Champion Circle has been designed to help mentor, equip and empower young men with the proper life skills that will guide them in a positive direction and help them open up possibilities to build a successful future.
There are twenty-two students and 12 mentors already in the program which just launched. A complete schedule of tutorial meetings, educational workshops, community and sports activities have already been scheduled. Workshops will consist of special guest speakers including local government and business leaders who will help teach Champion Circle Core Values.
Champion Circle Core Values:
1. Identity Discovery, to help them discover the person in the mirror.
2. Career Development to help them find professionals that will lead to a successful lifetime career,
3. Health Awareness to learn the importance of being and staying healthy,
4. Financial Identity, to learn how to make wise choices with their money,
5. Volunteerism to help them gain a better understanding of why it is so important to give back to your community.
Community activities include interactive tours of the Clermont Police and Fire Departments, as well as team-building activities such as basketball and extreme frisbee. Lion Club members will teach the youth gun safety and skeet shooting. UCF, Lake Technical College and Sterling Reed of Vibrantek will teach computer technology. Hands-on automotive workshops are planned to teach how to change a flat tire, change oil, jump dead batteries and more. The members will work together on a Habitat for Humanity home building project and visit a water treatment facility.
Sessions on resume writing and interview training, as well as and real-life training by Chic-Fil-a will prepare the youth for college and starting careers. The Champion Circle program is free, though the youth will be required to volunteer five hours of community service each month. Each of the young men is paired with a mentor who will continue to help guide him through the next academic school year. With the help of numerous donors and sponsors, the students are given shirts, neckties, tote bags, calculators and notebook portfolios. Workshops and events take place on Fridays and Saturdays, while lunch and refreshments are being provided at all events.
The Founder Otis Taylor has been recognized as A Volunteer of the Year by the South Lake Chamber of Commerce and Lake County. In a recent interview, Taylor said, “We will build champions! We want to help change the choices and opportunities for young men. Boys are often late bloomers, with limited attention spans. We want to build these young men to become respected champions for themselves, their families and their communities with better and different solutions for their future life challenges. They will be groomed to be our future champion leaders, as individuals and as a group through teamwork!”
Clermont Mayor Tim Murry was at the opening event and said he will hold a workshop event. He noted, “It does my heart good to see so many young men working together to help themselves get on the right path. These young men need time and attention to help them mature, find themselves and work towards a successful college and career path!”
The Give a Day Foundation partners with local area non-profit organizations to support seniors, families, teens, children, animal rescue, arts, culture, Special Olympics sports and recreational activities. Its mission is to help the community through volunteerism.
Give A Day Volunteers come from every religious, ethnic and economic background imaginable and share one thing in common, they help improve the lives of individuals and families while helping build a stronger community.
GADF Sponsors, Donors, Mentors & Volunteers Welcome: Their services are offered for free or for some form of donation. Everyone is invited to become a GADF volunteer, sponsor or donor. Monetary donations are always greatly appreciated. You can donate gift cards, supplies, tools, products and opportunities to help their team of volunteers better achieve their work. The Give a Day Foundation is a self-funded, non-profit organization.
Give A Day Foundation: To learn more about GADF and Champion Circle, visit its websites at: https://www.giveadayfoundation.org/and https://gadfchamp.org/. Visit and like its Facebook pages at: https://www.facebook.com/gadfchamp.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/GiveADayFoundation/. Call: 407-864-3303 or email Otis Taylor directly at: Otis@GiveADayFoundation.org.
