SMU students Brad Namdar and James Parker “Dream Big” as they head toward being the next TOMS.
Since February, Dream Big’s website has received more than 17,500 hits from more than 15 countries.
Founder of Dream Big and SMU junior, Brad Namdar “dreamed big” after being inspired by Jose Mourinho’s Dream Big video and Blake Mycoskie’s story. Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes, started his first business, Mustang Laundry, while attending SMU Mourinho spoke as a guest speaker at Carolyn G. Bukhair Elementary School’s Super Saturday. .
“I didn’t want to just mentor one kid. I wanted to mentor 300,” Namdar said.
Namdar and co-founder James Matthew Parker started Dream Big by teaching a soccer camp to 300 children on April 10, 2010 in Vickery Meadows, a refugee community six minutes away from the SMU main campus, near NorthPark Center.
Although it is just on the other side of North Central Expressway, Namdar said, “it is a world away—it has the highest crime rate.”
But Dream Big, which is a for-profit organization driven by the SMU community, is more than a sports camp.
Namdar and Parker, joined by volunteers, are creating a story by forming relationships with less-fortunate children in the Dallas community.
“It started with a conversation—an idea. We shared the dream and got people into it,” said Parker, a SMU senior and a RA in Cockrell-McIntosh.
The first camp was such a success that Namdar and Parker realized they could really make an impact through sports.
“Soccer is a special game. It unites people because it is a sport that you don’t need to speak a language to understand,” Namdar said.
Refugees at Vickery Meadows come from all over, including Myanmar (Burma), Cuba, Nepal and Cambodia.
However, the language barrier was broken as the children laughed and high-fived each other, while having a blast playing soccer.
Fatema Ebrahim, a volunteer at the camp, was not motivated by the sports aspect of Dream Big.
Instead, as a SMU psychology major, she hoped to learn something by working with under-privileged children.
After the camp, a three-year-old boy brought tears to Ebrahim’s eyes after asking her when the next game was going to be.
“It shocked me, the kind of impact we had on this child. I’m not looking to make an impact on every child, but knowing that you can make one kid have hope for something is so inspiring,” Ebrahim said.
Dream Big has helped more than 350 children with the support of numerous sponsors, including Vitamin Water, Frito-Lay, Toni & Guy and FC Dallas.
The founders also spread the word by networking, contacting different social clubs, residence halls and Greek life on the SMU campus.
Many believe they are going to be the next TOMS shoes.
“I love hearing from people that we are the next TOMS. It makes me feel good, but I don’t want this to be the next ‘something’ because its not. It’s the first Dream Big,” Namdar said. “Though it’s an honor to even be compared to TOMS shoes.”
“I didn’t intend for it to turn into this,” Parker said. “We are just sharing the vision.”
Now Dream Big is expanding from just soccer to teaching a basketball camp.
It will also be sending Pumpkin Cards for Halloween to students at J.W. Ray Elementary School, which has approximately 350 students, most of whom are in need.
The Pumpkin Cards were made yesterday in Cockrell-McIntosh by SMU students and Dream Big volunteers.
The school’s basketball team of 20 players in the fourth and fifth grades will take part in the basketball camp Nov. 13.
The team has only 12 uniforms that are shared among the players.
Currently, Dream Big is selling Dream Big T-shirts on campus and planning a fundraiser for the whole school, “Throw Down 4 Yo Hometown-Jersey Party,” on Dec. 4 to raise money to supply the basketball team with new jerseys.
Though Namdar and Parker have touched the lives of many children, the children have also inspired them, as well as the volunteers.
“The kids have taught me to never grow up. Be lighthearted, and have fun,” Parker said.
SMU volunteer, Rashmi Anandampillai said, “Seeing those children, how happy they were, that’s why I came back. I couldn’t get enough of it. It feels good to make a difference.”
Though it is still a day-to-day process, Dream Big has increased exponentially since their first camp in April, hoping to spread all over the world.
“It’s still a learning process for us, but it really feels meant to be,” Parker said. “I believe it is important to be a good person, and people can offer so much more than what they really are.
Our potential as students is so much bigger,” Namdar said.
“As SMU students, we are given a huge opportunity to make a difference, and if we don’t use it, we are wasting our time.”
