Stronger

Stronger

As 2022 comes to a close, we hope you’ll take a minute to see the impact of families who have been made STRONGER this past year because of your service, your giving, and your prayers.

Man Up and Go is making a special push between now and June 30, 2023, to see all of our constituents— the foster families and foster children we serve, the young men aging out of foster care we disciple, and the biological fathers we support— made STRONGER over the next 18 months. ​​​

As you look at their pictures and read their stories, our prayer is that you will consider a special year end gift to help us all see STRONGER communities as we fight for the fatherless together in 2023!​​​​

“THANK YOU! Thank you! Thank you! This group of guys cranked out our new play set and trampoline in 5 hours this morning! We are beyond grateful! It was a great morning with a wonderful group of guys and young men!” 

“Thanks so much for the wonderful event at Keystone Ranch! All our kids loved it, and our foster son asked all the way home when the next one would be…can we go every time, “there will be another one and we can go again,” etc… Never have seen him this excited to go back somewhere!”

“Omgosh. That Christmas gift was a literal blessing. Thank you so much! We are blown away by the kindness everyone has showed us and the love and support we feel. Please tell everyone thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
This is really going to help with added expenses this newest case is bringing with it.
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!”

“My family would like to send a huge thank you!!! We attended our first Man Up event as a foster family and the memories made were endless.  A huge goal was met by our 9 yr old foster, B. He loves ducks and has always wanted to hold one and was so excited that his dream came true.  Thank you for everything you do.  A lot of these sweet kids miss out on so much that people take for granted.  Organizations like yours allow us foster parents to give them those moments that make them only focus on being a kid, that is huge!!!!! I have some amazing pictures of our kiddos holding the duck and chickens I would love to share with your volunteers so they can see the joy in their eyes.  Lastly, it was our now 3yr olds actual birthday and he felt like it was all “his party”!We appreciate you all so much!”

Thank you again for making your year-end gift to help us fighting for the fatherless – as always, we are praying God’s richest blessings upon you and your family this Christmas season.​​​

Remember, the best is yet to come! ​

Jeff Ford, CEO

Football Fling 2022!

Football Fling 2022!

At Man Up And Go’s 6th Annual Football Fling, we raised well over the $100,000 goal we had set. (By comparison, the most we had raised at this event in the past was $47,000.) I encourage you to watch this video and check out all the fun we had! (Click the photo below to watch video.)

Not only did we have a record-setting night of giving, a long-time Champion gave an additional $100,000 one-time gift to help propel the organization forward in a unique way. The Lord is opening up doors of opportunity right now and your giving is enabling us to walk through them. 


Why do I mention this? What is the significance, especially if you live in areas where Man Up has yet to launch a local Cohort?

Because right now in the state of Florida, state and local government agencies in charge of child welfare are recognizing what Man Up has been trumpeting for the last 10 years, that fatherlessness negatively impacts a child’s ability to thrive. They passed groundbreaking legislation this year to the tune of 70 million dollars to start addressing it.

Regardless of where you live, the awakening happening within the Florida legislature represents an awakening that is happening across the country. We have an opportunity to bring God’s view on masculinity into environments that are otherwise unavailable to us. Moreover, your giving enables us to provide specific programming that state dollars won’t.

Because of your giving, we have been able to partner with the State to see:
2236 individual support services provided to foster families resulting in 100% retention rate over the last 12 months
– Over 1600 hours volunteered by Man Up 100 Cohort members
– Over 800 hours spent mentoring aged-out foster male youth, resulting in a 75% increase in stable housing, a 73% increase in employment/school, and a 92% decrease in police/criminal interactions

By God’s grace, He has also positioned us to pilot a mentoring initiative for biological fathers to help them safely reunify with their children.

What God is allowing Man Up and Go to build in Florida can be replicated all over the United States– Cohorts of godly men fighting side by side for foster children, foster families, male youth aging out of care, and biological fathers who just need a little support. 

Together, we are breaking the chains of generational fatherlessness. We truly believe the best is yet to come, and we can’t thank you enough for walking with us in this journey!

Regards,

Jeff Ford, CEO