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;void(0)) JR Johnson - Founder Go Back To: FOUNDER'S PAGE THANK YOU for visiting this site and my campaign to challenge my peers, society's youth, to "Start Something," now. The shoe prints to the left and right are symbolic of our march forward. You ask—why am I doing this? In a nutshell, my GOAL is to be the one young person in America who can say he helped to sign up One Million (1,000,000) young people (between the ages of 8 and 17) to the “Start Something” Program. I think it is possible with local community support and the businesses in each community speaking to their customers and employees. This conclusion is a result of several unscientific surveys I've performed. I asked several adults (parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles—not related to me) and several young people (between 8 and 17 years of age—not related to me) if they knew about the “Start Something” program that Tiger Woods and his father started for young people. Surprisingly, eight (8) out of ten (10) said NO. That told me that there was a lot of work for me to do! This introduction might be kind of long, but my parents felt, as the founder, I should make my intentions known as best I can. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m the young guy in the picture above. It was taken on February 22, 2003 at the Verizon Classic Senior Golf Tournament, held at TPC in Tampa, Florida. I was lucky enough to have Lee Trevino, Doug Tewell and James Mason, all gifted golf pros to whom I was assigned as an honorary observer of their round of golf, offer to let me appear with them in a photo. As you might suspect, I am a golfer. I play for Middleton Magnet High School in Tampa, Florida and I am in my junior year at its Academy of Engineering. Yes I’m the 16 year old founder, although I’ve had a lot of help getting this project off the ground. This business idea originally came to me as I thought about what job would best afford me an opportunity to play golf regularly and still earn money. Once I thought of it I then figured that other young people around my age might want to do the same thing, so I decided to set up locations throughout Tampa Bay (eventually I see this going national…a number of adults seem to think so as well). I am a member of the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, Urban Junior Golf—The First Tee of Tampa Bay; the Greater Tampa Junior Golf Association; the “Start Something” program and a regular at the local golf courses (when I can afford it). I joined the First Tee in the fall of 2001 and played my first 9 holes on Sept. 27th, 2001. I have attended the First Tee National Academy at Kansas State University for the past two summers and have volunteered over 150 hours around Tampa (mostly at golf courses) to double my graduation requirements of 75. The thing that struck me the most about starting this business was when I recently learned of the opportunities available through the Tiger Woods Foundation’s “Start Something” program. He also happens to be my favorite golfer on the PGA tour. I learned of this program in July of 2002, yet I never really understood it or looked into it—I thought you had to have a teacher or an adult or group as a sponsor. I recently learned that any young person (ages 8-17) can join as an individual member, but equally important to know is that adults (teachers, adults, business leaders, community organizations) are welcome and can sponsor young people as well. This new insight caused me to design my business toward a specific goal, other than just earning money to play golf and eventually buying a car. I wanted to ‘start something’ too. I want to encourage an army of adults to support young people by making this program better known and understood. I want a legion of young people (at least 1,000,000) to become aware of this opportunity with the “Start Something” program—there’s scholarship money at stake as well (and not just for school - check it out). I’m aiming for the $5000 scholarship to add with the $1500 college scholarship I recently received from Publix Super Markets as the local First Tee Rising Star—all of which will go towards my education; and maybe even a chance to meet Tiger Woods or play a round of golf with him. My business plan is simple—I intend to create “TheBestOfUs.Biz” in the form of community based and targeted names (e.g., TheBestOfBrandon.Biz, TheBestOfPlantCity.Biz, TheBestOfTampa.Biz, TheBestOfAtlanta, TheBestOfKansasCity, etc.—I’ve already got about 100 Internet Domain names saved). My older brother, a Tampa lawyer, has helped me to buy as many names as possible, especially since I intend to go statewide and nationally with this effort. I want as many businesses as possible (est. 60-100) in each "named" community to support the “Start Something” program by pledging to inform their customers and clients. I will provide them with a web page on my/their local community site for just $0.55 per day. The “Start Something” program, in addition to the sign-up info being on their website, also provides free brochures to whomever requests them (hopefully some of the business people in each community will get involved and create groups). That’s the short version of my vision and my mission for this business of mine. What do the businesses get? They get the exposure locally and a chance to say they were a part of this great and positive effort to bring something very positive to the youth in their community. The $.55 per day cost to be on this site will permit each business to LINK to their existing website/email and/or mention their commitment to the community’s youth and even announce what their business offers to the public (e.g., real estate, office supply, car repair, banking, auto sales, drug store, clothing store, record/CD store, appliance store, carpet store, doctors, lawyers, engineers, and just about any business within any community—perhaps a “mention this website and get a discount” can be utilized in their listing). I want the “Start Something” people in Young America, MN to sit up and take notice of how we are making a difference in the lives of our youths (and adults) by going at this task 100%. Also, I will be donating 5% of my earnings to The Tiger Woods Foundation for them to continue their work with the “Start Something” program. I might add, when I was just 4 1/2 years old I started my first business! I got my Mom and Dad to order cookies from Alessi Bakery in Tampa (I didn’t know the name of the place where they would order them at the time—I just needed cookies, so my Dad knew Mr. Phil Alessi and said he had the best bakery goods in Tampa, so I was in business) and then my Mom took me around to offices in Brandon and I left my jars with cookies for sale on the “honor system.” You might already have guessed, that didn’t last very long or turn out very profitable. I think most of the people misunderstood the concept of paying for a kid’s cookies once he left them at their business. I think they thought the cookies were gifts, although the price was on the jars and “honor system” was clearly printed. Well, that didn’t sour me on business, I’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity—and THIS is it. I still trust the honor system, however the stakes are now different and far more serious than a kid’s cookies in a jar. An example of that “honor system” type of trust being employed once again is the “THEBESTOFUS Pledge” each business must make in order to qualify for entry in a “THEBESTOF…” site, i.e., the honor system is my trusting that they will take the pledge seriously and attempt to get the word out about the “Start Something” program to as many people as possible. So, before I say any more that will take several additional paragraphs to explain, let me welcome you to whatever “community site” you may be interested in visiting. And of course, thank you again for your support. The shoe prints on this page are also symbolic of each step being a step closer to my goals, and that the journey towards those goals will involve many steps. My Mom & Dad have taught me to never fear the journey ahead. I thank all of my family members, teachers and coaches, all of whom are responsible for my desire and ability to “Start Something.” Sincerely, JR Johnson, Founder THEBESTOFUS.BIZ Please try to get the word out to each person who signs up to the "Start Something" Program (it's one of the sign-up questions) that they heard about it through your "THEBESTOFUS.BIZ" and JR Johnson's efforts. Thank you. JR See our FAQ (frequently asked questions) LINK for answers to many questions I have been asked, once friends and others learned of my business plans. Thank you. Click for: FAQ Go To: FOUNDER'S PAGE Contact Us with Questions NOW!  The above photo, containing the professional golfers Lee Trevino, Doug Tewell and James Mason is not intended to suggest that either of these men have endorsed this company or its founder or that they have a role in any of the company’s activities whatsoever, albeit each would be warmly welcomed. This photo is the property of JR Johnson and is being used, solely, to demonstrate his high regard for the sport of golf, and his reverence for a few of the great senior players who have helped to inspire him on a daily basis and have exhibited a genuine kindness to him personally. This disclaimer is to publicly state that neither “THEBESTOFUS.BIZ,” JR Johnson nor any of its affiliate names and programs, businesses or representatives are in any way affiliated with the “Start Something” program, the Tiger Woods Foundation, Target Stores or any entity mentioned within the context of the promoting of the “Start Something” program by “THEBESTOFUS.BIZ,” JR Johnson or any of his affiliate names and programs, businesses or representatives. The promotion of the “Start Something” program is an individual objective of JR Johnson, which he formed into a commercial enterprise as a means of further enabling his ability to get the word out about a program which he sincerely believes is a positive tool in the struggle to enlighten our youth, his peers, and provide real opportunities and goals. His personal goal is to be responsible for getting 1,000,000 youths to enroll. It is his firm belief that this venture is in keeping with his mission and the "Start Something" program mission, which is for him to 'start something' and perform a meaningful service in his community and communities throughout the USA. In no way are any of his, or his representatives actions intended to taint or bring ill will to the "Start Something" program, Target Stores, The Tiger Woods Foundation or any of their affiliates, and all precautions shall be taken to prevent any such inappropriate behavior. All trade names, service marks and copyrights of each entity mentioned herein are hereby recognized and respected as solely owned by said entities. Finally, it is the intent of the THEBESTOFUS.BIZ founder to promote said entities to the public without any compensation from either entity named (i.e., Start Something program, Target Stores, The Tiger Woods Foundation and its affiliates). | | | | Return Home | Biz4Kidz Supporters Directory | Contact Us | |
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