2011-08-15T11:23:04-07:00 2010-12-31 Blazek & Vetterling 2900 Weslayan Suite 200 Houston TX 770275132 990 2010-01-01 200726745 Elves & More ELVE 2819070071 2200 Louetta Road Spring TX 77388 David L Moore 2011-08-15 Jody Blazek 7134395739 X 2010 2016-02-24 21:20:13Z David L Moore 2200 Louetta Road Spring TX 77388 911420 false false X www.elvesandmore.org X 2004 TX We use bicycles to (1)Strengthen Education (earn-a-bike contracts between students and teachers), (2)Drive Intervention (connect kids to mentors who keep them in school/out of trouble) and (3)Build Fitness and Health (riding and participating in after-school programs). 16 16 2 3500 0 793816 802623 0 42 247 62163 954 856021 803824 494568 386502 0 156990 141147 0 157402 153991 165143 805549 692792 50472 111032 180473 243469 74477 26441 105996 217028 By partnering with schools and community leaders, Elves & More is changing lives - one bike at a time. Providing bicycles to underprivileged children allows them to get to after school events, tutors, mentors and jobs. false false 485030 386502 Elves & More focuses on at-risk children throughout Greater Houston and uses new bicycles as the principal way of doing this. Here's how:Strengthening Education: We partner with Independent School Districts to let children earn bicycles through contracts with their teachers. Teachers set each child's specific goals-such as improved academics, better attendance, more-positive attitudes and participation in after-school activities; Students and their parents sign contracts to meet those goals. As the semester progresses, teachers use the contracts to motivate students. At semester's end, those students who meet their goals are rewarded with new bicycles from Elves & More. Students who participated in our 2009 earn-a-bike program consistently out-performed their peers in academics, attendance and attitudes. Driving Intervention: In their own neighborhoods, at-risk children have many bad "mentors," such as drug dealers, gang leaders, ex-convicts and those who live lives on welfare or live in the streets. Sadly, they have too few good mentors. With a bike to provide badly needed basic transportation, an at-risk child's world gets much larger. Sure, bikes let kids play, but they also enable them to join after-school programs, attend tutoring classes, go to the library, and participate in church and community center activities of every stripe. At each of these, children encounter caring adult mentors who guide their lives in positive ways, encouraging them to stay in school and out of trouble.Building Fitness & Health: By providing two wheels to serve as basic transportation and permit participation in after-school programs, our bicycles encourage children to get out and ride, as well as participate in a host of other healthy activities which build muscle, burn fat and improve cardiovascular fitness. Studies show that healthier bodies lead to better performance in school. With more time spent in positive activities, the temptation to engage in drug use, crime and gang participation is greatly reduced, thereby reducing those health risks which plague at-risk kids, too. In 2010, using a grant from Humana Corporation, Elves & More conducted a pilot program in Reading for about 2,000 children primarily from Kindergarten through the Third Grade. Among all subjects, Reading is perhaps the single most important, for if children cannot read, they cannot succeed in any of their school work. Reading is so important that Third Grade Reading scores are considered the best predictor of future high-school dropouts as well as future prison beds needed. We have taken these factors into account, and using our bicycles as incentives, have seen remarkable improvement in the Reading scores of these younger children. As a result, it is our intention to focus an increasing share of our bicycles on earn-a-bike contracts in Reading classes. In 2011 we anticipate placing at least fifty percent of our bicycles in Reading programs. In future years we expect that percentage to grow even higher. 108,719 Bicycles to date: During 2010, Elves & More gave 8,000 new bicycles to at-risk children, bringing its cumulative total of bicycles to 108,719 bicycles since the program's inception in 2000. 485030 true true false false false false false false false false false false false false false false true false false false false false false false true false false false true false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false true 5 0 true 2 true false false false false false false false false true true false 0 false false false false false false false false false false false X 16 16 false false false false false false false true true false false false true true true true true false true false false false X X Rebecca LB Roberts 2819070071 2200 Louetta Road 101 Spring TX 77388 Wallis T Marsh 1.00 X 0 0 0 Thomas C Davis 3.00 X X 0 0 0 Sally A Clark 2.00 X 0 0 0 Robert A Marsh 1.00 X 0 0 0 Rebecca Roberts 40.00 X 85417 0 0 Philip L Leggett 1.00 X 0 0 0 Patti Dale Tye 1.00 X 0 0 0 Kelli Weinzierl 1.00 X 0 0 0 John H Miller 1.00 X 0 0 0 Jim Clepper 1.00 X 0 0 0 James M Tidwell 1.00 X X 0 0 0 James Glanville 1.00 X 0 0 0 Howard L DeCastro 1.00 X 0 0 0 David L Moore 15.00 X X 0 0 0 David Key 1.00 X 0 0 0 David Entrekin 1.00 X 0 0 0 Byron N Wrotenbery 1.00 X X 0 0 0 85417 0 false false false 0 364127 438496 4346 802623 0 247 247 0 0 0 0 108550 364127 107596 954 954 0 0 0 803824 1201 0 386502 386502 0 0 85417 21354 21354 42709 0 45700 11426 11426 22848 0 0 10030 2507 2507 5016 0 0 11849 1449 5200 5200 0 0 0 10504 4202 3151 3151 0 21395 3485 811 17099 16498 13142 3356 0 2208 552 828 828 5260 2104 1578 1578 0 0 0 0 0 3848 1924 1924 Other expenses 5269 2106 1581 1582 Other event expenses 54035 54035 Other bicycle program expenses 34277 34277 0 692792 485030 50360 157402 0 149750 204313 22186 34245 1994 2592 0 0 0 6543 2319 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 180473 243469 74477 26441 74477 26441 X 105996 217028 105996 217028 180473 243469 111032 X false true true X false false X 1351723 1078151 892508 793816 802623 4918821 0 0 1351723 1078151 892508 793816 802623 4918821 947494 3971327 239 226 174 42 247 928 0 0 4919749 0.80720 0.74730 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 803824 692792 111032 111032 1205186 293766 107596 401362 803824 803824 1094154 293766 107596 401362 692792 692792 Part XIII, Line 2d Part XIII, Line 2d: Other expenses and losses per audited F/S Direct donor benefits $107596 Part XII, Line 2d Part XII, Line 2d: Other revenue amounts included in F/S but not included on form 990 Direct donor benefits $107596 false Bicycle Ball 388471 285921 102550 622 51506 45501 Marathon 28436 28436 2 51220 45220 6000 9660 307 468127 359577 108550 10282 51813 45501 107596 954 true X 0 0 Bicycles and helmets 8000 386502 Cost Bicycles and helmets Grantmaker's Description of How Grants are Used Elves & More partners with school officials in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and with other ISDs in the eight-county Greater Houston Area. Focusing on children who are at risk, the Charity and ISDs select "feeder patterns" of schools (a High School, and the Middle Schools and Elementary Schools that feed it), and work with administrators and teachers to offer earn-a-bike contracts to all students who want one. Those contracts call for children to improve their performance in at least one of four areas, such as improved academics, improved attendance, improved attitudes and behaviors or greater participation in after-school programs such as tutoring, Saturday school, or mentored programs (like sports). The contracts are aimed at getting children to take a step toward achieving a better education, and a better future in life before the children receive their bicycles. Once children receive their bicycles, they use them for fun, exercise and as basic transportation to and from their homes to participate in after-school sports and other programs where adult mentors help children stay in school and out of trouble. Form 990, Sch. B - Sch. of Contributors The contributions reported in Schedule B are considerably lower than those received due to IRS restrictions on how amounts are reported there. The major differences are: (1) in-kind donations of services and facilities are not reported, (2) contributions from related entities and family members are reported separately and (3) contributions are reduced by any benefits provided by the Charity in exchange for such contributions. In addition, donated auction items are not reported as donations in Schedule B and amounts paid to purchase auction items are reduced by the value of such items. This listing below shows donors who would have been listed on Schedule B if their donations had not been excluded from reporting under item 1 above.Reliant Park/SMG ($200,000), Freeman ($34,037), Continental Airlines ($26,000), Jeff Rando ($812,381), LD Systems ($5,546), RoNan Enterprises ($3,750), Glaziers ($5,000), Houston Technology Services ($3,975) Form 990, Part VI, Line 19 Form 990, Part VI, Line 19: Other Organization Documents Publicly Available Documents are available on the organization's website. Form 990, Part VI, Line 12c Form 990, Part VI, Line 12c: Explanation of Monitoring and Enforcement of Conflicts The conflict of interest policy is monitored by careful scrutiny of the Charity's transactions by the Executive Director, a treasury staff member and a separate accounting staff member. In addition, for key transactions, the President is involved in the selection of vendors and the establishment of terms, and for the most significant transactions, either the Executive Committee (of the Board) or full Board approval is provided. Finally, the Charity obtains independent audits from a third-party auditor who has access to the full Board of Directors. Form 990, Part VI, Line 11 Form 990, Part VI, Line 11: Form 990 Review Process The President reviews the Form 990 and provides a copy to board members before filing.