“It seems like just yesterday we gathered here. Last year, many of you supported us as we committed to doubling the number of children and families we serve in five years. I’m thrilled to say: we’re making significant progress! This past year alone, we welcomed 30 new Achievers and 6 professional mentors. We provided over 21,000 hours of support, saw 100% of our high school seniors graduate, and watched our alumni do incredible things—like graduate from college, become first-time parents, and crush their goals. We were on a roll, then everything in the world shifted. Funding and services cut, jobs lost, people living in fear, words and identities erased, and agents dressed in military gears terrorizing schools and other safe spaces. We're a gritty crew—we’ve never shied away from hard things. But even the strongest get weary. Holding onto our vision while taking punch after punch has been tough. This reminds me of a girl I knew. A girl nicknamed Duckling - after the story of the ugly duckling - because she didn’t quite fit anywhere. She was a dreamer and she loved many things, but the greatest love of her life was baseball. She dreamt of being a sports broadcaster because she really wanted to be the one to yell “It’s out of here!”. She worked hard, but life had other plans. The school that was supposed to be the safe place of learning was falling apart and doubled as the bomb shelter because of the threats of a war. Her home where her parents fought and disappeared constantly was in disarray and she was often left alone and hungry. It seemed like everyone in her life was too tired, too sad, too stressed, or too angry to see that she had stopped dreaming. And eventually, instead of becoming a baseball broadcaster, Duckling became a high school drop out. This is what can happen to dreams of children living in a world that seems content leaving some people behind. We were all taught to work hard and dream big, and in return, you can be anything you want to be. But there are fine prints in this social contract. It is more likely to happen if you were born with the right conditions - the right zip code, caring adults who have the capacity to protect you from the sharp edges of the world, or to be born when the world is without conflicts and led by leaders with integrity. This is the moral dilemma of our time: what happens to society when only some dreams get to thrive? Personally I don’t care to live in a world where only some of us make it. I want all of us to make it. I know all of you are fighting hard for your dreams. And that is exactly what we are doing at Friends of the Children. We’re fighting for every dream with our most powerful weapon: hope. You heard from our mentors and Achievers tonight - when things are upside down, what our Achievers and their families need the most is Hope. Hope for the possibilities of tomorrow, and hope that your hard work will not be in vain. The reality is we live in an impossible world where things are messy, but we are not waiting for it to get better to get behind our youth. Our mentors show up every day to ignite those dreams. They fight to make sure schools are prepared to support our youth, that families are equipped to create safe and loving homes, and each day, they stand with our Achievers as they dream big in a world that prefers that they play small. Whenever our Achievers ask, “do you think I can really do this?” Our answer is always “Absolutely, I got you”. That is what it’s like to have hope in an impossible world. Remember Duckling? That wasn’t the end of her story. A village came together and helped carry her burdens so she could dream again. Today, she gets to stand in front of all of you at this very moment to ask you to do the same for her Achievers. (yes I am duckling if you haven’t figured it out :)) Right now, we have Achievers who have the dream of becoming a gymnast, an engineer, a pilot, a chef, a nurse, a mentor, a basketball player, and the list goes on. All together 173 Achievers and 173 dreams that we are protecting, and we need your help. I ask that you channel your love and concern for the world into something tangible: invest in the hopes and dreams of our Achievers—and in our goal to provide a professional mentor for every child who needs one. To be honest, thinking about the future keeps me up at night. Making the world care about those who have been systemically left behind is exhausting business. But here’s what I know—if we hold onto hope, we can and will move forward. I will leave you with a quote from Malcolm Gladwell from the book, The Tipping Point. “Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push—in just the right place—it can be tipped.” I say - The place is here and the time is now. Thank you—for your love, for your generosity, and for standing with Friends of the Children–Boston.”