All great things start with just an idea and some action. The school district where my step son goes to school and plays high school football has been in a financial strain and has been looking at ways to reduce the the budget. Sports were on the chopping block along with a long list of other necessary programs and services. Our community was really up in arms so to speak. Our school board meeting were packed with what I call the angry people. People just so mad all they could do was to point fingers, yell and just beg the board not to cut the program they wanted to keep. No one was offering solutions. I took a step back and thought, “How can this be fixed?”. While I could not balance their budget, I did decide I could do something for Athletics. The district was about to cut all funding or reduce funding, so we needed to be proactive in the approach.

I had an idea to form a 501 c 3 non profit charity and raise either all the money or raise some money to supplement what the district reduces. I took my idea to the head football coach and the athletics director. They loved it. We took it to all the coaches, they loved it. So CHAMPS was created. We are just in two shorts weeks and this is what we have done:

CHAMPS is the official non-profit organization supporting the Calaveras Unified School District’s Athletic programs in elementary school, middle school and high school.

CHAMPS is dedicated to:

• Enriching the lives of our student athletes by providing services that focus on education, self-improvement, and athletics
• Becoming a resource for student athletes who are looking for scholarship information
• Provide financial support to the athletic programs in grades K-12 in the Calaveras Unified School District

CHAMPS is in the process of filing with the IRS to receive a 501 c 3 status. Donations will be tax deductible. The IRS will make our status retroactive from the date we have formed our organization. See the news section on the menu to read more about the Crisis at Calaveras School District.

Keep watching www.SaveChamps.org