Help Us Ignite Change in the Parramore Community of Orlando: The GIVE TEAM's Journey
The Parramore neighborhood of Orlando faces overwhelming challenges. Once labeled as one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in America, it struggles with high crime rates, soaring poverty levels, and pervasive unemployment. For many young men and women growing up here, the pressures can be stifling, laying a dreary future of hopelessness and despair.
Our Solution: The GIVE TEAM
Introducing THE GIVE TEAM—a beacon of hope determined to change the narrative for the youth of Parramore. Our team provides a safe space for young men and women to thrive and embrace challenges that foster strength, leadership, and the determination to achieve their goals. Engaging in endurance events and obstacle course races, we believe that conquering hard tasks equips our team with resilience and fortitude to face life's adversities head-on.
A Historical Journey Awaits
This year, we are taking our mission to a historical level. We need your support to send our dedicated young leaders to Selma, Alabama, where they will trace the courageous steps of the voting rights marchers from 1965—led by iconic figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis. The path we will tread spans 54 miles, challenging TEAM members to complete this journey in less than 27 hours. It's not just a race; it's a pilgrimage that empowers them to realize what they can overcome.
Your Contribution Matters
Your support will directly fund supplies necessary for this monumental event— including food, electrolytes, headlamps, replacement socks, as well as accommodation and transportation costs. More importantly, your help will open doors for these young men and women, encouraging them to envision futures beyond what they've known.
The Impact of Your Support
We firmly believe in the idea that exposure to new experiences can spark revolutionary change. By venturing outside their immediate reality, our team members gain insights into their potential, pushing past self-imposed limits. This journey will allow them to bond with one another, instilling companionship and teamwork that reinforce their spirits as they tackle the arduous path ahead. Every difficult step will carve memories and provide invaluable life lessons— resilience, courage, and an enduring sense of pride.
Join Us on This Journey
We want you to be part of this transformative experience! We promise to keep our supporters intimately connected to our journey. Throughout our training and during the event, team members will share progress updates, and every donor who helps with a $20 or higher donation will receive an exclusive GIVE TEAM patch featuring our motto for 2025: Energy is Contagious. You Get What You Give. BE STRONG! GIVE MORE!
Together, we can be catalysts for change in Parramore. Let’s uplift our community, honor the legacy of those who fought for equality, and inspire the next generation to break the cycle of adversity. Join us in making memories that last a lifetime!
Help Us Empower the Future of Parramore
The Parramore community of Orlando has long been labeled one of America's most dangerous areas. With high poverty rates, alarming crime statistics, and soaring unemployment, hope often feels like a distant dream for its young inhabitants. Many young men and women navigate their formative years in unsafe environments, grappling with the anxiety and fear that come with limited options. Our hearts ache knowing that so many eager and motivated youths are being turned away from the opportunities they desperately seek.
Our Mission
THE GIVE TEAM stands as the sole obstacle course racing and endurance event team in the country dedicated to empowering underserved youth. Our focus is on fostering goal achievement and nurturing leadership skills. We live by the motto, "No matter how little you have, you ALWAYS have something to give." Whether it's time, effort, kind words, or compassion, giving is key to building strength and community.
Our Urgent Need
To truly make an impact, we require a 15-passenger van. This vehicle isn't just a means of transportation; it's a tool that will unlock countless doors for our young members. With this van, we'll be able to transport more team members for our transformative weekly workouts and exciting events, expanding their exposure to new experiences and inspiring them to dream bigger.
Where Your Contributions Will Go
Your generous donations will be allocated towards securing a 15-passenger van and funding our events for 2025. Together, we can enhance our program's capacity and empower even more young individuals in the Parramore community.
The Impact of Your Support
By contributing to our cause, you will enable us to serve more kids, providing them with vital opportunities to push beyond their self-imposed limits. We have witnessed countless transformations in the lives of the young men and women we support—strength, confidence, and clarity of purpose emerge when they dare to strive for their full potential. Your support will also allow us to engage in healthy post-workout meals, instilling the importance of nutrition in their journey to physical and mental strength. Furthermore, with the ability to organize travel for overnight events, we will open their eyes to cities and experiences they might never encounter otherwise.
Stay Connected With Us
Your involvement matters greatly to us. We'll keep you informed on our journey through weekly updates and exciting social media posts on Instagram (@thegiveteam). Additionally, to express our gratitude for your support, every donor will receive a special GIVE TEAM PATCH featuring our 2025 motto: Energy is Contagious. YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE! BE STRONG! GIVE MORE!
Join us on this vital mission to empower the youth of Parramore. Together, we can turn the tide of hopelessness into a wave of strength and community. Thank you for your kindness and support!
Perks
THANK YOU to SPARTAN and JOE DE SENA for donating 100 FREE RACE ENTRIES to any Spartan Race. Join us on March 1 in Jacksonville, May 10 in Tampa, Central Florida in December, or run on your own!
Highlights
See all activity52SELMA EVENT INFO
THAT'S A CRAZY IDEA. CAN I COME?
What's YOUR epic adventure of 2025? Do you have something on the calendar that'll test your boundaries, something you're not quite sure you'll be able to complete? Want to experience history and walk with spirits? We have something for you.
The key is to show up with ZERO EXPECTATIONS, because this isn't catered, there are no massage therapists, and there's no place to plug in hairdryers. This is a trek across ditches with thigh high grass, uneven terrain, and not particularly safe. When this was originally proposed as a challenge from GORUCK to the team in 2001, the idea was to ruck 54 miles over the month of March in a safe setting of our choosing, and proceeds were being raised to benefit the team. When I told the team, Smit Charles said, "We should do that." I told him we were. 54 miles over March. He said, "No. We should do the 54 miles path from Selma to Montgomery."
"But we're not trained for that," I replied.
"Those marchers weren't trained."
That's what led to us going 54 miles in March of 2021. And hopefully that's what'll lead several others to join us to commemorate the 10th anniversary of THE GIVE TEAM and the 60th year since the original march in 1965. What the marchers completed in 5 days and 4 nights, we completed in 27 hours. This time it might take us longer. Might be shorter. We're not sure. But if you join us, one thing we DO know . . . it'll only change your life. Nothing more. Nothing less.
HIGH LEVEL AGENDA:
For those interested in attending the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, retracing the steps of those fighting for voting rights in 1965, here's the early agenda for THE GIVE TEAM:
THURSDAY, MARCH 20: Arrive in Selma
FRIDAY, MARCH 21:
- 10:00 - ORIENTATION: Meet at Brown Chapel AME Church, 410 Martin Luther King St., Selma, AL. Find a place where you can park overnight, and a ride to the chapel.
- 11:00 - STEP OFF: Start the journey through Selma, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and en route to where the original marchers camped their first night (the David Hall Farm).
SATURDAY, MARCH 22: NO LATER THAN 6pm (likely closer to 4pm), leave the site of the final camp where marchers stayed (St. Jude Educational Institute), pass the statue of Rosa Parks commemorating the Montgomery Bus Boycott, pass the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (the first church where Martin Luther King, Jr. served as a pastor) and to the Alabama State Capitol. Drive back to Selma to spend the night.
SUNDAY, MARCH 23: Grab breakfast at site TBD, and drive home.
WANNA GO FOR A WALK? THE OPTIONS :
For those interested in attending the march from SELMA to MONTGOMERY, we're making it ACCESSIBLE to nearly EVERYBODY! Our partners at GORUCK will be providing the platform to sign up and participate in the actual ruck. STAY TUNED FOR THE LINK TO SIGN UP!
- The Whole 54: Lace 'em up, suck it up, and let's go. Even if you're not 100% certain, we have a backup plan. We have three 7-passenger vans available to assist for resupply throughout the route, and to pick up those who aren't able to continue on.
- The First and Last Leg: For those who don't have 54 miles in the tank, just do the first and the last leg. This experience will make it similar to the original march in 1965. The original march saw THOUSANDS start from the church, cross the bridge, and stay the night at the first campsite (7 miles). Their permit only allowed for 250 through the Alabama countryside, so a much smaller crew marched the majority of the 54 miles. Then that last leg saw THOUSANDS join overnight at the last campsite and walk that final leg to the Alabama State Capitol (3 miles). This is an option if you’re not comfortable getting uncomfortable for the entire 54 miles.
- Get a Team, Run a Relay: Get some friends. Get a car. Ruck the first leg across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, then take turns along the route, and then have everyone join for that final leg.
If you have questions, give BRAD MASON a call at 407.920.3674.
Activity
THANK YOU to SPARTAN and JOE DE SENA for donating 100 FREE RACE ENTRIES to any Spartan Race. Join us on March 1 in Jacksonville, May 10 in Tampa, Central Florida in December, or run on your own!
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