10 Year Master Plan Beginning Fiscal Year 2002 / Ending Fiscal Year 2012  

Background

Sparrow Clubs USA (originally named “The Sparrow Foundation”) was incorporated in the State of Washington and established in 1995 as a public 501 (c) 3 educational charity.  The structuring of the organization came from the outstanding support of Seattle attorney, Roger Lageschulte and the founding Board of Directors: Donald Jacobson, Steve Mezich, Dr. Donald Douglas, Mike Baldassin and Jeff Leeland.

Sparrow Clubs promote healthy youth development, service-learning and character education by establishing and supporting school-based charity clubs that “adopt” and assist local children in medical crisis as Sparrow Projects.  

By the end of our first five years of operation in September of 2000, Sparrow Clubs USA had adopted a total of 40 medically needy children to schools and various youth organizations, mainly in the Pacific Northwest. These first Sparrow Projects helped us perfect our program and prove that the concept of this unprecedented “educational charity” of kids helping kids in medical crisis truly works! Thousands of hours of community service and life-changing lessons for students were inspired.  In addition, $195,000 was also raised for medical expenses and family maintenance needs of those 40  “sparrows” in crisis..

Schools that started Sparrow Clubs became increasingly recognized in their communities for promoting wonderful service-learning experiences. A teacher described her school’s Sparrow Club to parents in a school newsletter.  She wrote, "The benefits for the children at Amity Creek far outweigh the monetary benefit that the sparrow receives.  The Club provides an outlet for kids to express compassion and to contribute their time, energy and talents in an extraordinarily worthwhile manner.  It empowers and legitimizes kids helping kids.  It creates a caring culture.  It promotes the developmental assets that help kids to grow up as healthy, caring and responsible individuals and members of a community."  

Sparrow Clubs became a rapidly growing phenomenon in Central Oregon, the base from which the Sparrow Clubs USA executive director, Jeff Leeland, lived and voluntarily serviced the program and operations. Just prior to receiving a $50,000 grant from the Starview Foundation, Jeff resigned his career as of January 2001 to pursue his passion and dedicate fulltime effort toward directing Sparrow Clubs USA.  

However, the demands for Sparrow Clubs in schools grew faster than Jeff’s ability to service them effectively, especially as a one person staff working from a “kitchen-table” office situation. With the backing of Sparrow Clubs Board of Directors, the Project Sparrow Launch strategic plan and funding proposal was written and submitted to foundations for funding beginning in January 2002.