“I Have a Dream”

We, like Martin Luther King, Jr., have a dream.  Our dream is that in our hemisphere we will unite to fight common enemies:  poverty and disease.  Our dream is that our family of Americans, North, Central and South Americans, will join with others to help those less fortunate.

2010 marks the 31^st anniversary, and the beginning of the 4^th decade, of U.S. – Sino relations.  We want to celebrate this date as well as the 37^th anniversary of the first visit of U.S. White House Fellows to China .  In 1973, relations between China and the U.S. were enhanced by this visit. We want to honor the class of 1972 – 1973 and carry on their desire to strengthen our friendship between our two great countries.

China is no stranger to our hemisphere.  Chinese ships allegedly were here before Columbus .  More recently, Chinese citizens have helped to rebuild homes destroyed after hurricanes in Florida , as well as sponsoring impoverished children in the U.S. and Latin America . Today, they are selflessly serving in Haiti , where they suffered several casualties as a result of the recent earthquake. 

We are using this celebration to pledge alongside our Chinese friends to address poverty and disease in the Americas .  We will teach one child at a time the benefits of preventative medicine.  That child will then teach the family, thus impacting the health of the community. West Point Cadets and U.S. children are already doing this.  We now want to work together with our Chinese friends in the Americas .

We have chosen Ferebee-Hope Community School Complex in our nation’s capital as the place to start.  As part of today’s ceremony, the children of Ferebee-Hope will teach us the Chinese and U.S. ways to better health.  We will learn how to prevent heart attacks, recognize the signs of a stroke, reduce stress, and enhance the immune system.  We will also learn a simple technique used in China that is believed to reduce the incidence of breast cancer.

Thank you for supporting our dream.  We believe that poverty and disease can be alleviated through the education of a community’s children – the future of that community. 

Kristina, Marc, Burn Loeffke                           Marian G. Cummins                            Tobeka Green

Founders of Helping Others Today                  President & CEO                                  CEO

www.helpingotherstoday.com                           Children, Incorporated                        Communities In Schools of

                                                                                www.ChildrenIncorporated.org         the Nation’s Capital

                                                                                                                                                www.communitiesinschools.org

www.ChildrenIncorporated.org