Last month, a group of Navy Seals lost their lives in the ultimate sacrifice for their country. And in response to this tragedy, Will decided to act.  Will decided to help.

12 years old, Will rallied people around him to donate money to the fallen Seal’s families based on….his basketball shots. In other words, people sponsored Will’s shots in the same way they would the miles of a certain marathon runner, or the number of hot dogs someone inhales during a contest. Super good idea, right? Turns out, it was more than just a good idea, it was a successful one. Over Labor Day weekend, while most people were relaxing, Will was shooting a LOT of baskets for an incredible cause. So how many baskets, how many hours, and how much money are we talking about here? Try a grand total of 50+ hours, over 23,000 shots, and more than $30,000 dollars. …….Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Will, that’s what I’m talking about! We know you’ve probably heard it a lot recently, but we simply want to say how incredibly impressed and proud of you we are. It’s inspiring to see you take action to help such a deserving cause, and to see you do it with a basketball, that really hits home for us. It proves that no matter what you like to do, you can use that passion for a cause much bigger than yourself. Let it be said, let it be written, Will Thomas is the man.

Here’s three action steps for you, and for me (because doing stuff changes stuff).

1. Watch this CNN Interview with THE Will Thomas himself. You’ll learn more about Will’s cool story, and you’ll get to see his legit shooting form (the shooting guard in me gives you mad props. I wish my shot looked that good at your age. Keep it up.)

2. Get involved. If you’d like to donate to the fallen Seal’s families, you can click the following link: Operation Hawkeye. If that’s not for you, share this blog with a few people you know. They’ll be inspired, and they’ll have an opportunity to donate to the cause.

3. Be more like Will. Let’s all ask ourselves these 2 questions, “What do I love to do? And how can I use that thing for a cause greater than myself (to help others)?”

Last thing, and this doesn’t count as an action step because we should be doing this all the time anyways. If you’re up for it, say a prayer of thanks and protection for our troops: the men and women who, like the brave Seals that started this whole thing, literally lay their lives on the line so that we can live freely, work freely, worship God freely, and even shoot basketballs off of tall places freely…in this incredible country. Here at Dude Perfect, we have an incredible amount of appreciation and respect for the men and women in the US military.  Let’s all take every opportunity we can to tell them that.

Thanks for reading, God Bless, and peace out. We’ll hang out again soon.

-the Dude Perfect crew

Face Painting. Well, it was supposed to be face painting. We got a little out of control.

We dare you to have a more life-changing experience than coby and I did in Africa. Seeing some of the things we did, I barely know how to put it into words. We held more children than I can count, all with the biggest eyes and brightest smiles we’ve ever seen in our lives! We hand-fed men with leprosy, walked over a mile to a water source that looked like mud, and It was extremely cool to see God use the 30 of us in a country half way across the world. I can’t wait to go back.

Let me encourage you to tell someone you appreciate them today. The kids we spent time with live most of their lives without someone telling them how much they mean to them. Over and over again, I’d pick up a child, toss them in the air, and look them in the eye as I caught them. Their priceless reaction made me want to smile and cry at the same time. See, it was incredibly possible that each of those kids had never been tossed in the air by a loving father, or father figure. At that moment, just by tossing them in the air–by doing what my father did with me more times than I can remember, I was being a father to them, at least for a little while. That’s what caused the overwhelmingly joyful reaction in them, and the heartbreaking one in me. All this to say, if you have a son or daughter, or little brother or sister, I challenge you to pick them up, look them in the eye and say “_____, I love you, you know that right?” Do it becuase you can, and because they deserve it. Thanks for reading. I’m going to keep updating this page with posts about our crazy experience. If you haven’t already, I pray that you’ll get to experience Africa like I did one day. You guys are the best. Talk to you soon. #RangerClawtoThat

To see more pictures from our African adventure, check out this link to an album on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.192811737450591.47610.133025843429181&type=1

On Saturday, Coby and I will be flying to Africa!! Why? Good question. One of our goals 2 years ago (when we started sponsoring kids overseas) was to head over to Africa and see how we could help out. Over this past year, I got connected with a couple men that have each adopted kids from Ethiopia, and they told me about this crazy awesome trip they were taking in August. They invited me to come along and represent Dude Perfect, and I said yes. So here’s the plan. On Saturday, we’re flying to Ethiopia and Uganda for two weeks, and while we’re there we’ll be doing to main things:

1. Caring for lots and lots of orphans (these kids simply don’t get the love they deserve)

2. Overseeing a water project that will bring much-needed clean water to people that desperately need it. Can you imagine life without clean water?!

As if those weren’t enough reasons for me to go, here’s what really sealed the deal for me. If you’ve ever been on a mission trip of any kind, chances are there were more girls on that trip than guys. And while that’s fine, we’d all agree that it’s pathetic for guys to not step up and lead the charge in something as important as helping people less fortunate than you and me. The special thing about this trip is that it’s set up as an opportunity for guys to Man Up and take responsibility for helping some of the people that need it most. So, out of the 30+ people going on the trip, over 70 percent are guys!! Our goal for the trip: “Man Up. Protect and love the fatherless.” How cool is that!

Needless to say, coby and I are pumped. We’ve gotten all our shots (been rockin’ super-fly cartoon band-aids on our arms) and started packing our bags. We’re almost ready to fly to Africa – something we never thought we’d actually say…or do.

If we have any internet access, we’ll try and post some videos while we’re there…but regardless, we’ll definetly post a sweet video about the trip when we get back! And yes, we will be doing some basketball shots while we’re there …of course we couldn’t pass that up. Thanks for checking in on what we’re up to…we’ll do our best to keep you updated on our orphan-loving, clean water-giving adventure in Africa! To stay super up to date about the trip, check out twitter http://twitter.com/DudePerfect and we’ll be sure to post from Africa as much as we can.

Thanks for reading this. You all are the best…God Bless!

-Cory

Hey guys,

Our Go Big Shirts are finally here!!! We are really excited about them so make sure you check them out before they’re all gone! [Store Link]

Thanks for your continued support of Dude Perfect!

God Bless!

- The Dude Perfect crew

What would happen if the super competitive guys in Dude Perfect competed against each other??

Well, we decided to find out…

Inspired by the TV show “Wipeout,” we put together our own college-budget version…setting the stage for an epic battle. To see the action, check out “Dude Perfect: Wipeout Part 1″ – LIVE NOW!

God Bless,
DP