Olympic Hopeful Looking for Sponsorship

Our mission at A Bridge for Kids is to build a bridge between teens who are in need of educational and financial assistance and those people that can provide these resources. In doing so, we strive to make lasting improvements in the lives of young people and the society in which they live.Through a rigorous interview process, we identify high achieving, low income teens, ages 13-19, who show exceptional academic, athletic, and/or artistic talents but are lacking the financial means to develop these talents to their full potential.  Teens are matched with a sponsor who provides them with financial support to help them reach their dreams and with mentoring support to help guide them through on their journey. Each teen has specific financial needs depending on their individual talents and goals; and they use their sponsorship accordingly.  The sponsorship could be used for something as simple as paying an application fee that helps a student apply and ultimately get into to their dream college, buying a pair of track shoes that allows an athlete to achieve their personal best, or purchasing art supplies that helps a low income artist build a portfolio that will strengthen their college application.Since our first sponsorship in 2012 we have awarded in excess of $200,000 to over 175 deserving students.  However, given the success of our program we have hundreds more that are awaiting someone in the community to step forward to pledge their support.Brendan, an Olympic hopeful and senior at University City High School, is one of 100's of students waiting for a sponsor.  His current financial situation makes it nearly impossible to pursue his Olympic aspirations.  Your support would allow him to pursue his dreams and achieve success in both academics and athletics.  If you would like to make a difference in the life of a teen today please make a donation today.  If you would like help Brendan specifically you can also donate any amount and just type his name in the "notes" section.  To learn more about this high achieving, highly motivated scholar athlete please read his personal statement below:Hi my name is Brendan and I am a senior at University City High School. I am a competitive swimmer and have competed at the highest levels against the biggest names in the sport such as Michael Phelps. But getting to these meets isn't important if I don't have the chance to take it to the next level and beat these guys or make the US National Team which is the ultimate goal. I am being followed by some of the top schools in the country like Berkeley, Stanford, USC, Notre Dame, and a couple of the ivy league schools. Swimming is all about stepping stones and gradually progressing to be the very best version of yourself even if thought to be impossible. With my current financial problems it is starting to look like an impossibility. The tools that I need to get in these schools are more expensive than I can handle even with the hours I get for my job it is impossible to take classes for SAT, or pay for coaching fees, meet fees, travel fees, and equipment at this stage in my life. I am competing at Junior Nationals in Minnesota this August and have a shot of making the US National Junior team which is another stepping stone to reach the ultimate goal. Junior Nationals is a swim meet that is flooded with college coaches that can help me progress on these stepping stones but I won’t ever get to train with these colleges if I tell them an SAT score or ACT score that doesn't meet their standards. In order to progress with the stepping stones I am begging for assistance to provide for SAT and ACT classes as well as other tutoring options as well as money to provide for the massive amounts of swimming bills I am dealing with.  I understand that getting a good education is the most important thing and I know that swimming can open a lot of doors for me so I can get a good education but I need help to make this happen. I need tutoring to help get my scores up for the SAT, ACT, and subject tests. Right now I am under a lot of stress trying to balance schoolwork and training and I can’t work enough to pay my bills let alone study and train. I even have to worry about things like how I am going to eat when I go off to nationals because I have no money. I don’t know how we are going to pay for college applications.  It would be nice to have a normal teenage life where I didn’t have to worry so much about bills and it would be nice for my last year before I go off to college to do things like attend graduation with a cap and gown, participate in senior week, go to prom, get a letterman jacket, and other activities teenagers take for granted.