We Are Passionate About The Cause

Reach Out For Life Youth Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting quality, positive after school programs and activities for at risk youth.

The Reach Out for Life Youth Foundation (ROL) is guided by a strongly held sense of mission and values. The mission—to promote and fund programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.

ROL culture and programming are grounded in our four core values:

• Respect - All people have worth and value.
• Caring - We are sensitive and nurturing.
• Responsibility - We use our resources to serve the diverse community.
• Honesty - We trust and earn the trust of others.

The ROL knows that the future depends on the strength of our children, our families and our communities. So while children have fun in afterschool programming, it's our goal that they participate in activities that develop character as well as core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility that stay with them for a lifetime.

Funding programs for children and youth is part of the ROL’s charitable mission. We help people develop as a whole and complete human being. Our programs and activities are dedicated to building strong spirit and mind—and body.

 The Afterschool Hours in America - The Facts

1.  More than 15 million school-age (26 percent) are on their own after school.  Among them are more than 1 million in grades K to 5.

2. The parents of more than 28 million school-age children work outside the home. (U.S. Department of Labor, 1998)

3. Only 8.4 million K-12 children (15 percent) participate in afterschool programs. An additional 18.5 million would participate if a quality program were available in their community. (Afterschool Alliance, 2009)

4. The hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. are the peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex. (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2002)

5. Nine in 10 Americans want all children and teens to have some type of organized activity or safe place to go after school. (Afterschool Alliance & Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates Inc., 2004)

6. Over three-quarters of Americans (76 percent) agree that members of Congress, state and local elected officials should increase funding for afterschool programs. (Afterschool Alliance & Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates, Inc., 2008)

7. Currently, the federal government contributes only 11 percent of the cost of afterschool, while 29 percent of the children in afterschool meet the federal government’s definition of low-income and in need of federal assistance. (Afterschool Alliance, 2009)

Afterschool and Healthy Youth

Afterschool programs often play an important role in promoting healthy lifestyles for youth. Many programs offer youth opportunities to engage in an array of organized physical activities such as softball, martial arts or ballet. Most programs also serve healthy afternoon snacks while emphasizing the value of a nutritious diet. Physical fitness activities after school not only promote health but also serve as crime deterrents, teach youth positive values, and impart knowledge and skills to help youth establish lifelong healthy habits.
Promoting Healthy Habits

Since the Surgeon General declared childhood obesity a national epidemic, much attention has been focused on the health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles and poor nutrition. Of particular concern is the parallel increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in youth.

Recently, the CDC estimated that one in three U.S. children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. The odds for African-American and Hispanic children are much worse: nearly half are likely to develop the disease. There is also increasing concern about the costs related to unhealthy lifestyles. Direct medical costs related to physical inactivity in 2000, were estimated to be $76.6 billion. The public-health costs related to obesity were estimated to be $117 billion in 2000, nearly as much as the $140 billion in costs associated with smoking.

According to the CDC, 61.5 percent of children ages 9-13 do not participate in any organized physical activity outside of school hours, and 22.6 percent do not engage in any type of physical activity during free time. Experts agree that strategies to promote healthy behaviors in our youth must focus on reducing sedentary activities, ensuring that all youth have access to daily, quality opportunities for physical activity, and providing nutrition education and access to healthy foods. Afterschool programs provide much-needed opportunities to promote and support healthy lifestyles in our youth.

Physical activity also promotes a heightened sense of well-being and confidence through both teamwork and individual accomplishments. One study found that children ages 9 and 10 who participate in sports tend to have a higher sense of self-worth and physical competence than their peers who do not participate in sports. Physical fitness activities and sports also offer youth an opportunity to challenge cultural and gender stereotypes. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, supervised physical activity may also help steer youth away from crime and delinquency.