We have been super short on time with traveling from state to state so we will just be posting pictures this week, we apologize in advance. 
Our fifth stop was in beautiful Virginia to give away a guitar to a young boy named Chris. Chris had previously attended a speaking arrangement where Jimmy Wayne was present advocating on behalf of foster youth. He was inspired by Jimmy and he had instantly become one of his heroes. That night, they were raffling off a guitar signed by Jimmy but unfortunately, Chris did not win. After Chris' foster mom heard about One Simple Wish, she submitted a wish on his behalf.
On this very day, we had the opportunity to surprise Chris with the brand new guitar that was signed by Jimmy himself as well as other goodies & memorabilia. Chris was super excited and thankful for the guitar. Jimmy wrote that he could not wait to hear some of the notes that Chris would learn in the near future. Because of this, we offered to pay for guitar lessons for Chris whenever he was ready!
www.onesimplewish.org / www.303030.org 
Our fourth stop of the tour is one that is the most powerful and meaningful thus far. We drove to Washington D.C. to help provide funding for Sam's Handi-cap Accessible Van. Sam, aka MacDaddy, is a foster youth that is currently beginning the process of transitioning out of care. However, Sam has Cerebral Palsy and is in a wheel chair. Sam is one of the most positive foster youth that we have ever met and is one of the most challenged. Please check out his story. http://www.onesimplewish.org/samswish
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Today we woke up and got ready to grant two wishes at a ceremony for foster youth in Dover, Delaware. We were truly impressed by the amount of foster youth succeeding in their foster care system. We have never seen any other organization providing vital support to foster youth and seeing amazing results. We were happy to join One Simple Wish in providing a brand new kindle and sports package to two different foster youth.
We were privileged to hear and learn about kids in foster care purchasing cars, houses, and graduating from college. Traveling to over 20 states, Dover has definitely set the bar to other foster care providers. We cannot say enough good things about the Murphy House :)
Congrats to all the foster youth present today and we look forward to working with you in the future.
-TWR
Day 1, 2, & 3 by Steve-O ( TWR Team Member )
Saturday night, ( April 28 ) Bobby & I anxiously waited at LAX as they called for our section of seats to board the non-stop flight to JFK. It was our first time being on a plane in a while for me and Bobby so we were definitely nervous. Maybe I shouldn't of had Burger King earlier that day ? As we wait, I said to Bobby, " Yo! that's Jordan Farmar " Bobby replied, "who's that? " --___-- ( Danny saw Rev. Al Sharpton on his flight the next day )
We arrived Sunday, at 1:11 am ( Cali time ) on a 5 hour flight and everyone on the plane is apparently fell asleep but me. I think the nerves got the best of me. We explored New York later that day as we did not have to start until Monday on our tour schedule.
Monday morning we woke up to Danny banging on our door at 7:00 am and he took us to breakfast at Moonstruck in NYC. We then hopped on a train to Trenton, New Jersey. Danny new the train system pretty well as he has been here before but it was a new experience for me and Bobby.
We got picked up by One Simple Wish's founder's husband who gave us a ride to the Kick off party at a local Bar in Trenton. We met the team for the first time, got a tour of our RV ( a little smaller than expected but way bigger than our TWR van that we were used to ), then checked in to our hotel.
Tuesday we attended breakfast with at a team members house from One Simple Wish and went over the tour schedule. We had two stops that day in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Both stops went quick but were very powerful. We were able to grant an amazing wish to a young boy to learn how to fly and to get his group of former foster youth to go on a boat ride provided by the local yacht club. After that we quickly headed over to Philadelphia to grant a wish to Dakota to get a family season pass to the zoo as she requested along with a animal interaction with an animal there. Dakota is an amazing young lady with a lot of courage. She helped feed a polar bear!!
We drove right after and headed over to Delaware and we are currently sleeping at the local Wal-Mart. If you see us tweet us and good night. :)
- Steve 0 ( TWR Team Member )
On Saturday, April 14 at 10 a.m. Together We Rise had an amazing day at McKinley Children's Center in San Dimas. We were blessed to play free-for-all dodgeball with 40 boys who live on the McKinley campus. The boys did not stray away from playing with our team; instead the moment they saw us they were excited and wondered what activities we had in mind for them. When Danny, TWR's founder and CEO, announced that we would be playing dodgeball and gave everyone the rules, the boys started running around throwing balls at everyone, forgetting all the rules just given. The first few rounds were brutal as some of us got hit in the face with balls, while others did their best to dodge any ball that came their way. The excitement could be heard through the children's laughter and shouts of "Hey! You were out!" or "Yes! I'm back in!" The excitement of the game went on for 2 hours before it was time for lunch. As tired as all of our volunteers were, the boys wanted to continue to play. One boy named David said, "NO! NO! NO! Please can we play another round?" Unfortunately, we had to get the boys ready for lunch.
We served the boys hamburgers, hot dogs, and ice cream courtesy of McKinely Children's Center chiefs.
The Executive Director of McKinley Children's Center Foster Care and adoptions, Julissa Castillo, shared her thoughts about TWR and its' founder. "I really do appreciate everything you guys do. It means so much to these boys to come out here and have days like this. I don't think you guys know how much of an affect you guys make. It's an organization like Together We Rise that allows me to feel hope and believe that this is a good thing. I cannot wait to see the what the future has in store for Danny and Together We Rise"
ABC7 also joined TWR at McKinley Children's Center for the day to congratulate Danny on receiving the Jefferson Award. His work has empowered many young adults to improve the lives of children in the foster care system.
"On Saturday March 31 at 9 p.m. there will be a benefit concert at the Fargo VFW. This concert will benefit Together We Rise, a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of foster children across the U.S. Together We Rise is run 100 percent by volunteers and the money raised goes to help build bikes, provide duffle bags and educate foster children to increase graduation rates.
The concert will feature two bands and an acoustic duo. Jared Swanson and Daniel Ellenson will perform together as well as the bands Go Murphy and 3rd and Main. All the money from cover charges and some drinks sale will go to Together We Rise.
The concert is put on by MSUM students Katie Schroepfer and Sam Bruers. Their goal is to raise $500. People can donate to their donation page by going to www.togetherwerise.org/help/campaign/katie."
- The Advocate - Minnesota State University, Moorhead
http://msumadvocate.com/2012/03/together-we-rise-benefit-concert/
Today, our awesome running team gave us some great news from their race this weekend at Knott's Coaster Run. Below is a snippet we got from one of our runners.
" Thank you everyone that participated today in the
Knotts Coaster Run!!...Jose coming in first in his age division after
having run LA marathon last week!! Brianna 1st overall/age division for 10k and I 2nd overall 1st age division for 10k.Thanks
again to Felicia for stepping in an covering the booth while we were
off and running and Maria Monroy, her sister and Richard for joining us
in the race. " - Sharon
More info on TWR Running team:
Join us as we run to fundraise for youth who emancipate out of foster care and Age out.
Together We Rise in collaborations with foster care agencies such as
Mckinley Childrens Center serve over 1000 children and youth. As Youth
age our of the child welfare system resources are scarce. We recognize
we need to do more.
You can do more by donating, or by running to raise funds for
emancipated youth who need assistance with a scholarship to assist with
transportation, living, or educational expenses.
Join us in continuing to serve young adults in hopes of preventing
homelessness as they gain and maintain self sufficiency with our help.
Your support means the world to those we serve.
Together We Rise have been blessed with being the beneficiary at the Grand Opening of the new Chino Hills (CA) hot spot, Dillon's Restaurant & Irish Pub. The Restaurant will opening on March 17th, 2012 on St. Patrick's Day. They will be raffling off trips, tickets, and swag from vendors in order to raise funds to help improve the lives of foster children in our local community.
Today, we partnered with the Los Angeles Lakers in order to take 14 foster children to the game against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers donated 20 tickets to Together We Rise. Four of the tickets were given to our interns as a thank you for their commitment and hard work. The other 16 tickets were donated to the Community Access Network (CAN) foster agency. The game is not quite over, but the kids are having a great time as we are typing this with 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter and they are all to the right of us. Thanks again Lakers :)
FACT: The interns and kids made it on the Jumbotron!
Together We Rise
Here's how you can cast your vote:
Voting ends on March 9, 2012. The Grand Prize winner will be announced on March 12, 2012.
What will we use the office equipment for? As we launch our I'm Aging Out website, we are in need of equipment to help us contact, create, and sustain our site. The phone systems will help us reach out to thousands of group homes around the country regarding the resources available to foster youth. The computers will help us research information online. The printers will help us send out flyers, posters, and mailers to group homes across the country when updates or changes in the law occur on a national and state level. The equipment will be used for so much more at Together We Rise and we are extremely excited to compete and help advocate for foster youth children nationwide.
If you would like to join our team and help us win this grant, please send an email to info@twr08.org
-TWR
UPDATE : 3/15/12
We did not win but we got 2nd place. Thanks to everyone who supported us and Toshiba for giving us the opportunity to compete. We are still receiving awesome prizes from them. Check out the Article here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/toshiba-crowns-winner-of-its-helping-the-helpers-100000-technology-makeover-contest-2012-03-13?reflink=MW_news_stmp
-TWR
