About Fiver

Fiver Children’s Foundation Facts
Founded, 2000

Fiver Web Site: To visit the Fiver Web Site, please click here.

“Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

Our Mission Statement: The Fiver Children's Foundation is a comprehensive youth development organization that empowers children from underserved communities to develop life skills and to reach their full potential. Fiver's 10 year commitment to each child includes year-round mentoring and counseling programs, a character building residential summer program, and partnerships with schools and community based organizations.

“Intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character – That is the goal of true education.”

Key Messages:

• The Fiver Children’s Foundation is a year-round youth development program, not just a camp!
• The Fiver Children’s Foundation commits to its participants for ten years (8-18)
• Fifty percent of students in low-income, high dropout neighborhoods fail to graduate from high school; Fiver is committed to guiding all of its
• participants through high school and onto either college or work
• The Fiver Children’s Foundation has grown in 8 years from 272 participants to almost 500
• Approximately 70 of the children we serve live in Upstate New York
• The Fiver Children’s Foundation works with and recruits participants from 9 community-based organizations who service children from more than 15 schools
• Participants are recruited at age 8 or 9, and must have a spark for and determination in life and qualify for the Federal Reduced Lunch Program ($37,000 for a family of four)
• Fiver programs span the needs of the participants: choosing the right high school, preparing for college, choosing a job, developing leaderships skills and strong character
• Children progress, with age, through the four main program stages of Fiver (LEARN, TAP, LEAD, SERVE)
• Fiver stands for Friend, Individual, Valuable Team Player, Environmentalist, Risk-Taker
• We are currently in the second year of a three year study done by NYU
• More than 50 Fiver children are paired with caring adults in our mentoring program – We are always looking for more mentors!

“Character is the most important determinant of a person’s success, achievement, and ability to handle adversity.”

Financial Information:

• Approximately 1/3 of our budget goes to Camp Fiver, and 2/3 goes to year-round services
• We are 38% Foundation/Corporation and 62% Individual Donors
• A Multi-Year Donation Program is now in place for donors who would like to contribute money to support a Fiver Counselor, Fund a Group of Fivers, or Assist in a Fiver Scholarship
• The price breakdown is about $2,500 per Fiver child
• The operating budget of the Fiver Children’s Foundation is $1.5 million

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

Positive Effects:

• Our retention rate is 82% (measured by the number of children who come back to Camp)
• 28 of Fiver’s high school juniors and seniors participated in an eight week internship program: four weeks at Camp Fiver and four weeks at various companies around NYC – We are always looking for more companies to take interns!
• 14 of our 15* seniors who graduated from high school are enrolled in college. Those colleges are:
  • Fairfield University
  • Lehigh University
  • Medgar Evers College
  • Miami Dade College
  • SUNY Plattsburgh
  • Arcadia University
  • Nassau Community CollegeAdelphi University
  • LaGuardia Community College
  • Saint Francis College of Brooklyn
  • University of Bridgeport
  • CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
• 15th student is pursuing his GED and engaged in job training at Bronx Community College.

“To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act.”

Demographics:

• 85% of our children and families live in Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.
• 15% of the children and families we serve live in Madison County (Upstate New York)
• Our Population Breakdown: 35% African American, 40% Latino, 15% Caucasian, 8% Multi-Racial, and 2% Asian

Inspiration Behind the Name Fiver:

• The Fiver Children’s Foundation takes its name from a celebrated work of fiction. Richard Adams’ novel, Watership Down, focuses on the survival, leadership, and courage of a group of rabbits, led by the visionary rabbit Fiver, who set out to find a better way of life. Inspired by the novel, Founder and Chairman of the Board Tom Tucker sought to build a better society from the ground up by establishing a foundation to benefit underserved children.