I would like to recognize and extend our sincere gratitude to Stephen Schirra who visited our home to conduct a soccer clinic for the children and teens living here.
Stephen adhered to the visitor policy of our property and interacted with the children, teens and staff in a courteous, professional manner. Our Sports Instructor was very pleased to have Stephen conduct his soccer clinic as his athletic skill set is very high and he was very effective in encouraging and engaging the participants.
Stephen has an open invitation for similar soccer clinic activities for the children and teens of Casa Hogar de Cabo San Lucas. I confidently suggest receiving his volunteer services at any similar facility.
It is with great pleasure that we write this letter of recommendation, sharing with pleasure the sensitive, available and affectionate person we had the opportunity to meet. Stephen held a football workshop with the 12 children residing in the Casa da Crinca de Tires, which welcomes children of inmates and children at risk who are victims of abuse, neglect, domestic violence and abuse, combining the learning of skills in this area of choice from children to the development of personal and social skills.
Stephen proved to be extremely committed, motivated, dedicated, responsible and committed to his project, whether in the relationship he established with the children, supporting them in establishing positive relationships and communication, or in terms of the excellent interpersonal relationship he had with the institution's employees.
He is an affectionate, attentive and sociable person, with a healthy way of being. For his joy, passion and enthusiasm, he is the person that any institution will want to receive and benefit from an initiative that is a beautiful and pleasant surprise.
E com enorme prazer que escrevemos esta carta de recomendacao partilhando com agrado a pessoa sensivel, disponivel e afetuosa que tivemos a oportunidade de conhecer. O Stephen realizou um workshop de futebol junto das 12 criancas residentes na Casa da Crinca de Tires, que acolhe criancas filhas de reclusas e criancas em perigo vitimas de maus tratos, negligencia, violencia domestica e abusos, aliando a aprendizagem de competencias nesta area de eleicao das criancas ao desenvolvimento de competencias pessoais e sociais.
O Stephen revelou ser extremamente empenhado, motivado, dedicado, responsavel e comprometido com o seu projeto, quer seja na relacao que estebaleceu com as criancas apoiando-as no estabelecimento de relacoes e comunicacao positivas, quer o que refere ao excelente relacionamento interpessoal que teve para com os colaboradores da instituicao.
Trata-se de uma pessoa afetiva, atenta e sociavel, com uma forma de estar salutar. Pela sua alegria, paixao e entusiasmo e a pessoa que qualquer instituicao querera receber e beneficiar de uma iniciativa que e uma bela e agradavel surpresa.
I widely recommend the gentleman Stephen Schirra, who shared a long weekend with us in August, practicing football in our Foundation. I had to wait almost 2 months before we could find a date in common, as his calendar is very demanding.
Upon his arrival at the airport, I was not expecting to find a shy and calm young man, which he arrived with a donation of 15 balls that he had brought along. At the orphanage he immediately started by trying to get to know the kids by their names. He had no problem adapting to the conditions of the orphanage, whether it was sleeping in a small guest room with no air conditioning and mosquito’s, or sharing the daily food (simple rice and beans). Although his Spanish is not fully developed yet, and considering that Dominicans speak another form of Spanish, there were no problems of communication with the kids. The children and teenagers remained constantly around him, requesting his full attention and bombarding him with questions.
Even though he began his training with a big group, some of the older kids were motivated to learn more from Stephen. He especially got the attention of a 14 years old called Gabriel, who was disoriented and rebelling against life but aspires to be a professional football player. They did a lot of football practice just the 2 of them always after dinner when the others were resting, with a lot of patience Stephen taught him all his single tricks and rapidly Gaby was able to catch up to Stephen’s level.
Stephen’s dedication, care and commitment towards Gaby has been really rewarding as Gabriel was then selected and chosen for a sport’s scholarship in a really good school. His attitude and grade’s have now changed for the better, thanks’ to Stephen’s motivation.
Stephen knows how to extract the best out of the boys and dedicate his full attention and focus for a highest purpose. He has shown himself to be very capable and devoted to his cause and belief. At the end of his journey I was able to notice that he is an old soul inside a young body.
The Roblealto Child Care Association is a Christian, non-profit organization helping children
and families at high social risk. Our ultimate goal is to restore families, breaking the cycles of
dysfunction and poverty in one generation. In order to accomplish this, the children’s families receive counseling, Christian education, therapy, participate in workshops and trade training programs. This takes place while the children are being cared for
through Roblealto’s Child Care and Family Development Centers and temporary shelter.
Roblealto welcomes volunteers throughout the year to help us provide to the children
different programs for their holistic development. This year, we were blessed to have had
Stephen Schirra with us, who provided soccer workshops for the children at our shelter, the
Bible Home. In addition to his great support, he donated 15 soccer balls, 20 jerseys and 4 tshirts to the children.
Stephen proved to be, in addition to a fantastic soccer player, a great role model to our kids.
His servant heart and love for children are evident in everything he does.
Destructive. Selfish. Useless. Out of control. Ungrateful. Apathetic.
Youth who experience abuse, neglect, and abandonment are used to adults using these words to describe them. By the time they seek refuge at Promise House, many of these children and teens don't believe they are worth enough to deserve a better future.
At Promise House, we believe each of our young clients deserves a warm bed to sleep in, three hot meals a day, plenty of guidance and encouragement from caring adults, and the freedom to imagine a brighter future. Mr. Schirra has become a part of this mission by partnering with us through his organization Around the Worlds to host a soccer camp for our Emergency Youth Shelter.
Mr. Schirra came out on a Monday afternoon and engaged our youth in exercises that you might typically find at a summer camp with youth who get to enjoy a safe home and normal childhood activities. This was a huge gift for our youth who stay with us during their time of crisis.
In addition to the time invested, Mr. Schirra also donated equipment for future use by Promise House youth so that we can continue to have the resources necessary to give our youth a healthy way to play!
We highly recommend Mr. Schirra's program to similar organizations that serve youth who are in crisis or at risk of becoming so.
Stephen is very passionate about soccer and taught our children leadership skills that they will carry with them throughout their lives. His soccer workshop taught the children new techniques and sparked an interest in pursuing soccer as an extra-curricular activity for many.
Stephen, was very generous and donated soccer balls and t-shirts for each child who attended his workshop. He generates such wonderful energy and was such a positive role model for our children.
We wish Stephen, all of the best with his future endeavours and hope to partner with him again, when next he visits Toronto.
Thank you very much for making the children so happy and for caring about their health by utilizing face masks, gloves, antibacterial gel and maintaining social distancing. We can
confirm that all of our children are happy and healthy after your visit.
Hola buenos días muchísimas gracias por hacer tan felices a los niños y por haberte preocupado de la salud de ellos al venir con tapabocas, guantes, gel antibacterial y guardar la sana distancia. Seguimos felices todos nuestros niños siguen sanos.
[Escuela Hogar Perpetuo Socorro] grants this
recognition and thanks to Stephen Schirra for
sharing his teachings in soccer workshops and
for being part of our cause in favor of our girls in
their integral development.
Thank you very much for the attention and the
wonderful experience that the girls had. I saw
them happy, and I hope this clinic will be
repeated in the future.
[Escuela Hogar Perpetuo Socorro] otorga este
reconocimiento y agradecimiento a Stephen
Schirra por compartir sus enseñanzas en talleres
de fútbol y por ser parte de nuestra causa a favor
de nuestras niñas en su desarrollo integral.
Muchas gracias por la atención y la maravillosa
experiencia que tuvieron las niñas. Las vi felices,
y espero que este programa se repita en el
futuro.
Our non-profit organization, Educacion y Deportes Para Una Vida Mejor A.C.
(Education and Sports for a Better Life) want to thank and recognize the
importance of Stephen Schirra and his project Around the Worlds.
Here in Mexico, soccer is a passion. Kids are born with a soccer ball on their
feet. Our organization began working with children and teens in the poorest
neighborhoods of Puerto Vallarta in 2017. One of the fastest ways we saw of
reaching these kids was through soccer and other sports. Our philosophy was
not only to offer these kids sports opportunities that they wouldn´t have
otherwise, but to use soccer as a means of education: teaching important
values like teamwork, discipline, respect, perseverance, tolerance and
sportsmanship.
From two initial teams, we have grown to become a league made up of
teams from all the poorest neighborhoods in our city. We have police
officers, ex-gang members, coaches with degrees in physical education, and
various other volunteers who are participating in this worthwhile project.
Stephen Schirra and his Around the Worlds project has added another
exciting and important aspect to our organization. His passion for soccer and
for helping kids is infectious and we love when he visits our teams. He has
teamed up with us on three occasions, with different teams, and the
excitement our players demonstrate for Around the Worlds is inspiring to
see. Most of these kids have never owned a new soccer ball and you can see
the pride in their eyes when they are gifted one by Stephen. As President of
our nonprofit, and a coach of four teams in our league, I have seen firsthand the impact and the joy our players have felt with a new soccer ball in their
hands.
Thank you, Stephen, and Around the Worlds for everything you do for
children and teens worldwide. Rest assured that your project is making a
difference and planting seeds that will bear fruit in the future.
I’ve loosely followed ATW for a while now, as it’s mission is something I believe in. I used to help out at an orphanage in Mexico each summer with my church, and the easiest way to connect to the kids was through playing soccer in the evenings.
I love that Stephen and the team have been able to change so many lives and teach so many lessons through their shared love of the game. The effort put in to share his gift with youth all around the world is truly inspiring and love to see the growth and love of ATW.
I started getting involved with Around The Worlds back in 2018 and couldn't be more proud of the impact this organization has had since its early beginnings with Stephen as its founder and only member. Nowadays, we have an amazing team working towards spreading hope and joy through "the beautiful game". This organization has given me a place to apply and grow my professional skills, as well as given my the opportunity to give back.
Over the years I have been the largest single, non-corporate donor (~ 30% of individual contributions) in support of Around the Worlds' mission. I'm exceptionally impressed with their financial responsibility and transparency. They work diligently to maximize the impact of the resources they receive and minimize all unnecessary expenses ensuring that over 99% of all funding is utilized in direct support of their programs and impacting the lives and spirits of the children they serve. In addition to their international outreach, they spearheaded an effort with an initial challenge donation to secure and leverage partner contributions to establish a permanent scholarship administered by the community organization in the town where the charity was founded. This scholarship is named in honor of one of the first beneficiaries of the organization's programs and is given to a high school student who uses sports as a means for the good of the community.
In this era of inflated administrative costs where charitable contributions can be significantly diluted, this charity demonstrates the fiduciary characteristics that all organizations should strive for.
I have volunteered at Around The Worlds since 2017. After meeting Stephen and learning about the vision he had for ATWs, I knew I had to get involved. Since that time, it has been an amazing journey as we have reached another ~1200 participants in an additional ~20 countries.
ATWs is a unique non-profit organization as it is one of the few focused purely on meeting an often-overlooked basic need for all of the underserved youth. As identified in Article 31 of the U.N. Right of Child (https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx), every child has the right to engage in play and recreational activities and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts. However, this reconfirmed in 2013, this right is one of the most overlooked and under-met for children. (ipaworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/G1342828-3.pdf)
However, for many children globally, they remain unable to exercise this basic human right due to competing economic needs, lack of opportunity, or societal barriers. Stephen's vision for ATWs is one where we take the youth off the sideline and empower them to exercise their right to play and engage in recreational activities and participate in the global sports culture of soccer. In these free-of-cost programs, ATWs delivers a message of teamwork, local leadership, and self-empowerment through the medium of soccer.
Finally, a gift of soccer balls enables the participants to keep being kids long after Around The Worlds has left.
ATW was our first huge collaboration in Trinidad and Tobago. The Canbouplay Foundation was highly impressed by the class and love showed towards our children by ATW...
They showed us that we too can inspire and give hope not only to those in need, but to those serving...
Our children had an incredible time learning and having fun... but most importantly they felt LOVED and not alone in their hardship...
We IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO are grateful for ATW...
Around the Worlds impacts children in such a positive way. Hearing about the joy that Stephen brings out from each of them during his programs is wonderful. Stephen cares deeply about providing the most he can for the beneficiaries of the global programs. During my time volunteering, I've learned about the struggles the children face. I know everyone on the team works their hardest ensuring the programs reach as many communities as possible each year. I'm proud to work with an organization that brings soccer, a sport that may be completely new to the children, to deserving people providing an outlet for children to reach their goals.
An amazing charity, that transcends touching the lives of just the kids impacted, but also positively impacts communities, and the Around The Worlds staff themselves. To see the growth from an initial idea, to a transcontinental entity, is a marvel. The founder, Stephen Schirra, risks his own life going to impoverished areas "around the world" all for the sake of making other people's lives better and to promote soccer, the wonderful game. In addition, Stephen's record keeping is impeccable, meaning easy access and transparency to see who is being helped, where, and how. I would highly recommend Around The Worlds to those looking for volunteering opportunities, those looking for soccer instruction, and for anyone looking to contribute to a positive initiative world wide.
ATW was the epitome of class during their visit to Trinidad. Could not ask for a better partner for our Can Bou Play Foundation. The kids impacted, now have memories and experiences to serve as a foundation for their growth
Around the Worlds, Around the World partnered with Caring Crew, another non-profit focused on children in underserved communities, in late February 2020. Our two organizations worked together just outside of Bogota, Colombia, with a school program VAHUM, to run a day camp for local kids and their families. It was an incredible experience! This was the first time Caring Crew had partnered with another organization, and I can tell you Stephen and Roxanne Schirra three their whole hearts into the programs! I truly believe the kids we worked with could feel how loved they are, simply by interacting with the Around the Worlds and Caring Crew Team. Caring Crew and Around the Worlds through volunteering separately at a school in Guatemala City, and the partnership grew from there, knowing we all had the goal of loving and dignifying children all over the world.
Stephen ran the soccer program in Vahum. During the camp, we would take large groups of children (groups determined by age) down a massively steep hill to the local basketball court, which doubled as a soccer field. He ran skills challenges and games that were age-appropriate so the kids all had fun, and also gave each child a soccer ball and tee shirt from his sponsors. The kids’ eyes would light up, and many children said the soccer program was their favorite activity of the week.
Even in the pandemic, Stephen Schirra and the Around the Worlds team worked hard to stay connected to students they’d worked with before the world shut down. Stephen was able to record videos depicting different soccer skills, then challenging the kids to accomplish the same skill. He was even able to have professional soccer players compete in the challenge! He would then send the videos to different programs, beneficiaries, and schools he’d worked with in the past, and the kids would send videos back proving their success with the challenges! Stephen was also thoughtful to try to include different language translations in the videos.
Around the Worlds is an organization that means what they say; they want to show love to kids all over the world through soccer.
We've been in the process of building Around the Worlds from the ground up for just about five years now. What began as a far-fetched dream has turned into an award-winning program impacting youth all over the world through the game of soccer. Thanks to the help of partners in both giving and community, we have been able to offer children from circumstance a no-cost, instructional soccer curriculum along with the necessary resources to continue it long after the final whistle has blown.
Around the Worlds is an amazing organization, making an impact around the globe. Through their mission, Play Together, Learn Together, Dream Together, Around the Worlds works with beneficiaries to develop soccer and leadership skills. As a volunteer, I love working with the Around the Worlds team in a fun, inclusive and goal focused environment.