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Israel Idonije Research Paper

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Israel Idonije should win the Good Samaritan of Sports Award. Israel Idonije's whole life has been about giving back; which is what the Good Samaritan of Sports Award was meant to honor, and why he should win it. Even as a youth, a major part of his life was about giving back. He enjoyed participating in several food drives organized by his father. Later in life, when he joined the Chicago Bears, he started the Israel Idonije Foundation. Over the last three years, the foundation has impacted over 10,000 youth and are taking trips to Africa (Israel's home country) to empower the local children and help communities get medical access.
Through his foundation, Idonije has been able to provide for neighboring Chicago communities. He organizes many food drives and works with kids to help underprivileged neighborhoods. The foundation also sponsors an annual football camp for kids. When asked about his reasons, he said, "I wanted to help kids that are having trouble in school and don't want to go, kids that are starving, kids that are in trouble on the streets or living on the streets, those are the things I like to do with my time. I want to help kids the kids get out of the cycle they're stuck in and become something great." He continued, "Doing it through my own Foundation was not part of my …show more content…

The foundation teaches kids the five core principles to be able to better connect emotionally and understand who they are as a person. The principles are: self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, and effective communication. These are in place to help kids grow as a person and become a good citizen; especially in the unfriendly communities and environments that a lot of the kids are in. "At the end of the day that's what it's all about. Sure, I have fun going out onto the football field, but to change someone's life and to add value to their life, that’s the big

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