My dad has had been a Blackhawks season ticket holder since long before I was born, so I was raised with an ingrained appreciation for the team and sport. It wasn’t until the Blackhawks became the top sponsor of Dreams for Kids last summer, though, that my respect for the organization reached an entire new level. The amount of resources the Chicago Blackhawks have given to Dreams for Kids and their other charities is truly amazing. I’ve had the great honor of working with their front office throughout the year, and can say with confidence that they demonstrate just as much dedication, commitment, and passion off the ice, as the players do on it.

Still, I think the reason I have become such a devoted fan of the Blackhawks and the sport of hockey is because their resilience and ability to succeed through challenge after challenge reminds me a lot of the youth in our Dream Leaders program. People give hockey players a lot of credit for their toughness, and after attending the infamous Duncan Keith teeth loss game, I am the first to say that credit is deserved. I thought it was absolutely remarkable that Duncan Keith came back on the ice. I saw Marian Hossa wincing with burning pain during Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals after getting cross checked by a Flyer, and was blown away when he came back on the ice. I’ve also seen Brent Seabrook have more bleeding wounds glued together and come back on the ice than should be possible. These guys are undoubtedly heroic.

When our students tell me their struggles—abuse, neglect, grief, violence, disability—my initial reaction is always to tear up and get angry that we live in a world where people so young have to deal with so much. Then, the kids remind me that their stories are not to be pitied but to be respected. Just as Duncan Keith has loved showing off his toothless grin as a badge of courage, we have taught our Dream Leaders to be proud of their stories and share them with others because what they have endured has made them care even deeper about giving back to others. It is fitting that many of our Dream Leaders are graduating high school the same weekend that the Chicago Blackhawks are celebrating their championship, because the fact that our kids have come from such struggle to graduate and go onto college to continue giving their gifts to the world is their Stanley Cup victory. Congratulations to our valued partner the Chicago Blackhawks and congratulations to our graduating Dream Leaders. You all are the most deserving, heroic people I know.

Cortez is one of our most active Dream Leaders, yet his life wasn’t always about helping others. Being born 1 lb 7 ounces due to drug abuse by his parents, Cortez has lived his entire life fighting.  Drugs, violence, and incarceration have been a constant in his family. As a result, Cortez was a self-proclaimed “bad kid,” so much so that he got expelled from school.

Now, Cortez is the Vice President of his senior class, going to Seton Hall in the fall, one of our Dream Leaders Captains and Youth Speakers, and has come to just about every community service event we have offered (with the exception of one that I made him stay home from to do scholarship applications for college).    So what changed? I asked Cortez that exact question, and his answer was simple, yet profound. “I used to wake up every morning and think about all that was wrong with my life and my family. Now, after being in the Dream Leaders program, I wake up and think about who is out there waiting for me to come help them.”

As to Cortez’s point, the reality is there are countless people waiting for him, and that is the exact point of the Dream Leaders program. Last week, we planned a “Give Back Spring Break” so our Dream Leaders who didn’t have anywhere to go on spring break had something positive to do with their time. We joined forces with an organization called Kid Power that works with underserved communities in Washington DC and hosted 11 students visiting from our Nation’s Capital.   We also teamed up with Mercy Home, a long-term residential home for troubled youth, so our Dream Leaders volunteer team brought students together from as far South as 105^th in Chicago, as far North as Highland Park, and as far east as Washington DC!

The week brought a diverse set of opportunities for our youth—Monday, we worked with Monday Night with the Kids to bring a pizza party to homeless youth, Tuesday, we embarked on a Chicago Amazing Race with all tasks revolving around themes of civic engagement, Wednesday, we hosted an Extreme Recess event helping kids with disabilities experience rock climbing, and Thursday, we cleaned up the backyard at Clara’s House homeless shelter in Englewood, so the kids would have a nice place to play now that the weather is warming.

As always, when we do these events, the part that struck the deepest chord within me is that most of the Dream Leaders have so many of their own considerable problems ranging from poverty to abuse to loss of a loved one and so on. Yet, they are so committed to helping others despite or maybe because of their own struggles. When they do this work together, they are no longer from the South Side or the West Side or the North Side. They are on Dreams for Kids side. They are on the side that is determined to help others. So I ask all of you, who is waiting for you to come help them?

Click here to join the Dream Leaders movement.  Click here to see all the pictures from last week’s Give Back Spring Break.

Today, I was talking to one of the Dream Leaders who graduated high school and is now attending University of Illinois.  He’s making great grades, and he seems to be really happy, but I was troubled when he told me that he sees “the racism that people warned me about.”  I thought college was supposed to be the time that everyone breaks away from their sheltered childhood to learn from people different then they are.   When I asked him to explain what he meant, he went on to tell me a number of stories about feeling like the white students in his dorm would barely look at him, let alone talk to him.  He said there had been a number of altercations between students of different races.  He said he was still trying to make friends of different races, but that he was finding comfort in groups like the African Alliance.

I told him how sad I was that those people who weren’t interested in his friendship were missing out so much.  Not only is he an amazing person with a fascinating background that anyone could learn from, but the people I have been most impacted by in my life are those with drastically different backgrounds than I.  I went to a pre-dominantly white high school and college and felt like I really missed out on a lot because of it.  It wasn’t until later in life that my friends became more diverse, and they still aren’t as diverse as I wish they were.

Sometimes when I look at our Dream Leaders, teens as diverse as they come, working together with no recognition of the differences, but rather in celebration of their common goals, I feel a twinge of reflection on my life.  Where was this program when I was in high school?  Why didn’t we reach those U of I students before they became trapped in the comfort of hanging out with friends who look like them?

After that conversation, I am more passionate than ever of the importance of the Dream Leaders program and reaching as many students as we can!