To celebrate his 13th birthday, Christian Philson of Lincoln, Nebraska decided to help 13 kids who are blind enjoy summer camp. At $679 per attendee, he faced a daunting fund-raising challenge. A March 25 pancake breakfast at College View Seventh-day Adventist Church raised about half his goal. Then the Harlem Globetrotters, the world-famous basketball exhibition team, became involved.
Known worldwide as the Ambassadors of Goodwill™, the Globetrotters team takes part in multiple community outreach programs and charitable efforts each year. Their publicist heard about Philson’s campaign of compassion. With the Globetrotters coming to Lincoln, she arranged for the local teen to be acknowledged as an honorary Ambassador of Goodwill. He received an autographed jersey and basketball from the Globetrotters during half-time of their April 4 game at Pershing Center. The team also donated autographed memorabilia for a fundraiser raffle, with all proceeds awarded to National Camps for the Blind. (When the total amount raised is announced, it will be posted below.)
Philson says he is amazed by the help he has received toward making his birthday dream come true. One of his biggest supporters is his grandfather, Jose Martinez, who works at Christian Record Services for the Blind. The Lincoln-based charity provides spiritual materials and other services, such as National Camps for the Blind, for visually handicapped adults and children.
“We at the Christian Record home office applaud the efforts of Christian Philson,” said Rajmund Dabrowski, assistant to the president for marketing. “His philanthropic spirit, at such an early age, is a testament to the creativity of our church’s youth. Christian is an inspiration to us, and we would love to see this idea catch on with other young people.”
For more information about National Camps for the Blind or to contribute please visit www.christianrecord.org.
A great personal initiative, an example of volunteerism par excellence, and a great example of not “sitting while the world is passing by.” A response to a human need is a great Christian virtue, and the young man’s name is … Christian!
Thank you, Martin and the Outlook team, for your coverage. First there is an initiative. The local media is involved in making it a “good news” story (most of what gets printed or shared is bad new, right!), a publicist for the Harlem Globetrotters reads it in the paper, and the rest is history. No it isn’t. Christian plans to do more, if I am correct.
All of this is inspirational and and an example of imagination and creativity to make a difference in today’s world. A group of blind kids will be embraced.