SPONSOR OUR ORGANIZATION
ABOUT US
We formed PowerUP Scholarship Fund, Inc. (“PowerUP”) to provide scholarships for underprivileged children to partake in enriching after school and summer activities. We are starting with martial arts training as the first activity. We believe that martial arts training instills important core values, and that martial arts studio owners will welcome subsidized students. Many gym owners already provide discounted tuition for students who can’t afford to train.
Mission
Our mission is to provide underprivileged children access to strong mentorship, and fitness for life while also providing a safe place to socialize and do schoolwork. The core values we instill are SELF-CONTROL, RESILIENCE, and RESPECT.
Vision
We believe the PowerUP model is a highly scalable mentorship model.
- Martial Arts gyms are generally run by practitioners who have dedicated their lives to teaching, and to a set of core values.
- One Sensei or gym owner can mentor 40-60 scholarship kids at a time, and gyms are open after school and on the weekends.
- Many gym owners have excess capacity, and lumpy businesses. A base of recurring revenue is highly attractive to them.
- PowerUP Scholarship Fund can provide gym owners with marketing help and infrastructure to increase the number of paying students in addition to scholarship students.
- This virtuous cycle enables us to serve underprivileged kids, and support local businesses that create jobs.
How it works
Private donors, schools, and communities provide money and other resources. Schools and the community refer scholarship candidates. PowerUP grants scholarships to underprivileged and at-risk kids. PowerUP recruits, trains, and monitors a network of participating senseis. Senseis provide mentorship, a safe place, and martial arts training.