"WHAT DO YOU DO?"

When you mention you're an athlete people often ask: "What do you do?" The question is simple enough in meaning. "What sport do you participate in?" For the competitors out there, however, no matter your sport, we ask that question as a challenge.

"You're an athlete. What do you do with that?" Athletes, what are we doing with our influence, personality and energy? What do we do to make the world a better place because of who we are and what we do in it?

At the Athlete Outreach Project, we've decided to do more. This project is a collection of written, audio and video stories from athletes who overcame the odds and life's challenges to succeed. It is also a resource for those who might be seeking a boost, a little extra support, and even information about how to improve their lives. Its a place to come when we feel broken, down-hearted, or discouraged. Most of all, we wanted this website to be a place of hope.

The Athlete Outreach Project is also actively engaged in planning public events and campaigns that involve our athletes in making a difference in the communities they live in and the world around them.

What began as a project designed to help teens make smart choices in their lives has grown into a global initiative to challenge athletes to become more involved in their communities and to courageously use their own history as a means to lift others. Within this site you will find enriching and inspiring stories that have been shared by some of the biggest names in sport history.

WHAT'S OUR MISSION?

As athletes we have committed to using our influence and our stories to help make the world a better place. The Project originally started as a place for teens to come watch or listen to athletes tell their stories of overcoming adversity in the hopes that those teens, their parents and even educators would look at hard-times in a different light. The website quickly evolved into a full resource with crisis support, health news, and interactive elements for site visitors.

There is hope, there is help and there is a way through it. It can be easy for someone to look at one of our athletes and see their accomplishments and assume they've led a charmed life. But one of the main goals of the Athlete Outreach Project is to show that everyone faces adversity, even professional and Olympic athletes, and then show how adversity can be overcome.

Our goals can be broken up into three main directives:

• As athletes we will  share our stories of sport, adversity and goals to help struggling individuals understand that they are not alone
• As athletes we will use our influence to raise awareness of specific challenges/adversities/illnesses and increase understanding and support for those going through them
• Finally, as athletes we will seek to make a difference in our communities and our nations by raising the torch of hope and motivation in everything we do

HOW DO WE DO IT?

While the scope of the Project encompasses many different service outreaches, organizations, educational process and scientific research, our main goal is to reach out to those who need it and lift those we come in contact with. At times as athletes we can affect thousands of people at once while at others it is just one-on-one.

But it doesn't matter if we speak to world leaders of today or at a school with the leaders of tomorrow, as Mother Teresa, the incredible example of kindness, once said, "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."

Our athletes are very service-oriented and we would be happy to field any requests for speakers or an athlete visit at your organization's facility or seminars.

Please visit our Contact page for ways to get in touch.



Want more insight into The Project? Check out the hidden meanings behind our logo or read a welcome message from our founder, Jeremy Holm.