​Originally written for live presentation script by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Central Iowa Chapter, Fall 2015

 

Nelson Mandela once said, “Sport has the power to change the world,” and Dylan DeClerck most certainly agrees. While a high school student, Dylan started the program Opportunity on Deck to teach baseball to economically disadvantaged children. Today, Dylan is a Drake University student and continues to run the program, which since 2012 has taught more than 500 children skills in baseball, soccer, and basketball, as well as –– more importantly –– life.

Dylan is proud of the lives he’s touched through Opportunity on Deck’s free sport clinics. He remembers a conversation with a parent who told him that, before Opportunity on Goal, soccer was banned at Crestview Elementary because the students couldn’t stop fighting. “After five weeks,” Dylan says, “the kids started to play soccer at school again –– without fighting, and with the rules and skills they had recently learned. It was great to know that the participants learned so much from their coaches and taught their friends everything they had learned.”

 

Paying knowledge and opportunity forward is a hallmark of the program, which Dylan says he created to share the opportunities he enjoyed as a youngster. That’s a mature perspective for a then-16-year-old, but Dylan’s nominators say he has always been wise and compassionate beyond his years.

 

“Dylan loves working with children and has an unselfish passion to make a difference,” one of his nominators wrote. “He was humbled to receive numerous prestigious awards as a high school student and even to be recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives. But Dylan’s greatest pride doesn’t come from starting such a wonderful organization at age 16, but in the joy he receives in making a tremendous impact in the lives of the players, their families, and the neighborhoods in which they live.”

 

Well, Dylan –– we do want to add another award to your impressive list today, and we truly can’t think of anyone more deserving. For all you have meant to the children of Des Moines and their grateful families, we are proud to present you with the 2015 Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award.