Friday afternoon is upon us and as most people are getting their plans together for the upcoming weekend but I am working hard. I working hard on my book and a new article that I will be posting next week about SolidWorks Mates. I wanted to thank all of my readers for being so understanding about the decline in the number of posts lately but I am confident it will get better shortly. Once I get caught up on my edits and my chapter submissions, I will be able to start posting more regularly, so please hang in there.

Now today, I took a quick break from my normal work to take some time to send a quick letter to President Obama. I know you might be wondering why a SolidWorks blogger would send a letter to the President but I assure you it was for a very good cause. As many long time readers know, I started the Design For The Future campaign to help raise money for the Orangewood Children’s Foundation. I wanted to do my small part to help the millions of emancipated youth who were wards of the court prior to turning 18 years old. Design For The Future, I hope, will raise at least $5000 dollars for the benefit of the Orangewood Children’s Foundation. But the way I see it, it is only the first step. I had the goal of not only raising money but also raising awareness. You would be surprised how many people are not even aware that a problem like this exists and I want to change that…one mind at a time.

I did not send the email to ask for money but instead I hoped that I can help make the President aware of what is going on within our own borders. I expect to get some flack for writing this today but I don’t care. I have never met any of these kids but in my mind they are all my brothers and sisters. We all have gone through a traumatic childhood. The system as it is currently in place works for the kids before they turn 18. It has rescued countless youth from a terrible life but unfortunately that is where it seems to stop. Many of these children when they reach adulthood, no longer have a strong support system and some slip through the cracks. I hope with what I wrote to President Obama, maybe he too can be aware of how our system has forgotten these children and maybe he could do something about it.

In case you are interested, here is the letter is sent to President Obama:

As a teenager, I was removed from my home due to child abuse and placed in the care of child protective services. I spent the last years of my childhood living in group homes and even though it was tough at times, it was a great point in my life because it set me on the path I am currently living. Since leaving the system, I managed to go to school to study mechanical drafting. Due to the fact that I had no real support system, I was unable to continue my education beyond receiving an Associates Degree from ITT in Arizona but that didn’t prevent me from moving up in the industry. After years of hard work and learning on my own, I have managed to secure a position as an Engineering Manager for a major Medical Device company in Southern California.

A little over a year ago, I decided to give back to the industry that I love so much and started a blog to share my knowledge of engineering systems. In a short time, I was able to become one of the top bloggers in my industry and currently have readers in 93 countries. Most people would have stopped there but I wanted to give back even more. That is when I started seeing ads about organizations that, with donations, help children in third world nations. This bothered me, being a former ward of the court I know that there is a large group of kids in our own country that the general public is largely unaware of. That is when I decided to take action.

I started a campaign on my site called “Design For The Future” ( http://www.theswgeek.com/design-for-the-future/ ). My goal was to raise money for the Orangewood Children’s Foundation in Orange, California. After 5 months I have managed to raise close to $2000 and I know that it will not be wasted but there is so much more that needs to be done. I don’t know if you are aware but what happens to these children that reach the age of 18 after being in the system is heart breaking. In working with the Orangewood Children’s Foundation, I have learned about what these kids go through and I want to be able to do more. Since most of these kids were removed from households that were physically, mentally or sexually abusive; they do not have the support of their families when they reach adulthood. Because of this many of the kids do not have the means to support themselves and sometimes become homeless. Orangewood Children’s Foundation does an amazing job with the resources they have to support these “Forgotten Youth” by helping them find jobs, proving clothes and food from donations and also gives them a place to come to during the day to eat and take a shower.

I realize that there may not be a whole lot that can be done, but I urge you to please take a look at this. Orangewood Children’s Foundation is not the only organization in the nation that is doing this but I can imagine that the current economic climate has affected all of them. Thank you for your time Mr. President and I hope that I can someday hear back from you about this issue. I have nothing to gain by doing this other then helping other kids who have been unfortunate enough to share many of the same experiences I did.

Anyway, I will get off my soapbox. If you are reading this, please take the time to visit the Design For The Future page at http://www.theswgeek.com/design-for-the-future and make a small tax deductible donation. You can also purchase one of the SolidWorks Geeks Swag items offered on the home page. All of the profits from the SolidWorks Geeks swag store will be donated as well. Any little bit will help and it may make a huge difference in the life of these kids. Thank you.

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