Ultimate Peace 2010!
Matthew Knowles
I am writing to tell you about Ultimate Peace, an amazing organization
that my brother, Kerric, and I are excited to be involved with.
I know some people don't like to read long e-mails, so here's the
short version: you can find information about us and our plans for a
full-week summer camp this July at http://www.ultimatepeace.org/, or
in the attached document. We are in serious fundraising mode, so
please consider supporting us at http://www.ultimatepeace.org/donate/
I also know that many of us are unable to financially support this
effort, so if you can spread the word (especially to people who COULD
possibly donate) by forwarding this or contacting news sources, I
would really appreciate it.
If you are up for the longer version, or want to know why I'm taking
the uncomfortable step of asking for money, please read below. I've
also attached some pretty awesome pictures of last year's efforts at a
one-day clinic and village visits and here is a slideshow to check out
at your leisure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm15xJyyWVk
Thanks all, so much,
Matthew
---
I’m writing to tell you about my involvement with the Ultimate Peace
program and, yes, to ask you for money. We are applying for grants
but the program’s success hinges at least in part on the support of
our family and friends and so we’re once again launching a major
fundraising effort. So here I am…but, before you decide what to do,
please allow me to give this plea some context.
Ultimate Peace is an organization that uses Ultimate to bring youth
together to learn and play in regions where political and social
tensions exist. Our focus on youth is particularly important to me:
as a coach (this summer I have been asked to be the head coach of the
Israeli national juniors ultimate team at the world championships!),
I’m already a great believer in focusing on young adults as a way of
addressing social and global concerns. That Ultimate Peace does this
through Ultimate – a sport with an amazing approach to sportsmanship,
an approach that has quite literally changed my life – may help
explain just why I’m such a fan of what Ultimate Peace is doing. More
information is found on the Ultimate Peace website,
http://www.ultimatepeace.org/
Last year was the inaugural year of Ultimate Peace and, I’m thrilled
to say, it was wildly successful. A group of American Ultimate
players and coaches traveled to the Middle East and hosted a series of
clinics for local youth – Palestinian and Israeli Jewish and Arab
Israeli, together – to introduce them to the sport of Ultimate and the
respect between players that’s inherent in the sport. The kids
learned, they played together, they self-officiated and at the end of
the day they truly were excited about getting to play more in the
months to come. I can't wait to see where these kids are now with
their skills, sportsmanship and love of the sport.
You can read more about these successes at
http://www.ultimatepeace.org/media/; be sure to check out the Al
Jazeera articles and Marc Altman photos to get a sense of just how
amazing it was. If you know of any other ways to spread the word of
Ultimate Peace, please let me know about that, particularly if you are
unable to contribute monetarily - educating people about our work is
very important.
While last year was amazing, there are many ways in which we hope to
improve upon last year's experience. Some people are better at
teaching Ultimate than team building and helping break down cultural
barriers (not surprisingly). While there were many successes, it was
agreed that the next time around, some things needed to be done
differently to be truly effective. It was absolutely critical that
there be a next time: without appropriate follow-up, nothing that had
begun would last.
With all that in our heads, we’re planning to make this year’s
Ultimate Peace even better. Instead of one-day clinics, we will be
hosting a week-long camp for 120 local Jewish and Palestinian youth.
The players will learn and play Ultimate, but also experience a week
of living with their fellow campers. We are also working on leaving
behind an infrastructure of Ultimate – neighborhood/school teams, and
a regional league where they can continue to play and connect.
This will be amazing, but it won’t be cheap: we are, in short, in
heavy fundraising mode and every dollar counts. I know this is a hard
time financially, but if you are able to contribute to Ultimate Peace
– at any level – please consider helping to make this happen.
Donations are tax-deductible, and can be made by credit card, PayPal
or check at http://www.ultimatepeace.org/donate/ If you do choose to
support us financially, please let them know that it was me (Matthew)
who sent you.
Lastly, if you know of anyone who might be interested in or moved by
this, please feel free to put them in touch with me or share these
links with them. Thank you so much for considering this and for
supporting me – financially or otherwise – in what I do.
With much love - Shalom and Salaam,
-Matthew
