Dylan's Wings For Change Releases Success Stories

From Dylan's Wings of Change: Welcome to our third newsletter of 2016. We are very grateful for your continued support of the foundation. Read on for more amazing stories of the positive change you have enabled. You can also read more at the Dylan's Wings of Change website.

From its inception in 2014 Wingman has been spreading its reach to sports clubs, schools and dance studios. You can read updates from each of the programs below.

A Wingman is the person who has got your back, is looking out for those struggling and has the courage and leadership to step in and make a change. They have learned to see beyond differences and embrace everyone. Please share your stories with us on social media with #iamawingman.

"As a child, my family moved around so many times that I attended 8 different schools growing up. I was already a shy child and always being the “new kid” didn’t help. As a dance teacher, I now look for the shy, new kid and make sure they feel safe and welcomed by the whole class so they never feel as alone or scared as I did."

September is back to school and this year seven middle schools have enrolled in the Wingman program, aiming to build strong and resilient communities and inspire their children to go above and beyond for each other. Your can read more about the amazing launch events in four of these schools. Students, teachers, community representatives and a very special guest from Chicago came together to create a huge buzz about Wingman.

The Wingman for Dance website is now live! Enrolled member studios can access the online program guides. Studio owners and teachers can find out more about Wingman and how to apply for membership. You can also read amazing stories about how Wingman is inspiring children to create change in their communities.

We are very grateful to Holly Archibald from Yale Community Rowing who adopted elements of ourWingman for Sports program and integrated them into her summer camp curriculum. Read Holly's full story here. Other collaborations are in the pipeline, with Sacred Heart University set to use Wingman activities in their upcoming mentoring program for local middle school students, and their development of a full Wingman for Camps module for launch in 2017.

Grants Program Update
In 2014, Dylan's Wings of Change was honored to become one of the many supporters of Unified Sports in Connecticut's Schools. This premier program, overseen by the state's Interscholastic Athletics Conference, continues to go from strength to strength. Read this report from George Synott, CIAC Director of Unified Sports, detailing how the grant enabled by your donations continues to create change in hundreds of students lives.

Fundraising Update
As we look forward to the end of the year we have one final event. Eight athletes are rising to the challenge of one of the world's highest profile road races, tackling the New York Marathon on November 6th. If you can support the foundations mission once again with a donation this year, please head over to their fundraising page and help one of the team get closer to target!

Our Wingman and Grants programs are only possible with your support, through your generous donations and Running for Dylan in the Wingathlon, Ragnar Relays and New York Marathon.

In the next few weeks we will be announcing an exciting Call to Action that will set the scene for our 2017 fundraising campaign and encourage participation in events across the country. Connect with us on Social Media using the icons below and look out for our email coming soon with more details!

Images Courtesy Of Dylan's Wings Of Change