Kids Helping Kids and "PIF"

Hello,
Greetings from California. I run a non-profit that was started by my then 10 year old son Tyler (now 12).  After watching an episode of Oprah on child slavery in Ghana, Africa he was so moved by how these children were being treated that he knew he had to do something about it.  When he found out that just $240 would keep one child out of slavery for an entire year and before the show was even over he had me pause it and asked if he could have a fundraiser to raise that money. I simply asked him what he would do and how he would do it and 3 weeks later he had his first car wash.  He raised almost $1,200 enough to keep 4.7 out for a year.  That was all it took for him to realize that one person can truly make a difference and he has never wanted to stop.  He set a $50,000 goal which he reached last August through simple car washes, lemonade stands and other small fundraisers.  He has set a new goal of $100,000.  I guess he’s serious about not stopping.
 
Through his vision and heart I began to see an untapped resource in kids.  When we do our fundraisers, the self esteem of the children helping creates this ambiance that is unparalleled and if we could bottle it and sell it we’d be rich in more ways than money. There is absolutely no other feeling in the world that compares to the feeling you get when you genuinely help someone.  This led to opening our non-profit Kids Helping Kids Leadership Academy, Inc. where kids bring their passion and ideas to help others and give them the resources and tools to make it happen.  We also have monthly meetings to teach them invaluable leadership skills such as time management, integrity, accountability, money management, manners & etiquette, health, safety, and more.  In March our meeting was on “Paying It Forward”.  We showed the movie and invited them to participate in our pay it forward challenge.  They had the choice of picking $1 or a $36 bracelet.  Then they had a month to do something nice for someone else with the item they chose.  They could find ways to make more money with what they had or simply give it away at a time they felt someone needed it the most.
 
This was a hit – the kids went home very inspired and excited and shared it with their parents.  Then the parents watched the movie with their entire family.  One family – the Babo’s were so inspired that they googled pay it forward and found your website.  They wrote to you and you sent them some bracelets.  She gave us enough to pass out to our leadership group last month and the kids loved it.  We have now adopted the pay it forward challenge to be a part of our every meeting – each month the kids get a bracelet and come back the next month with their story of who they gave it to and why.  Then they get another one to do it all over again.
 
While I run this non-profit as a volunteer, I work 20 hours a week for Starbucks in a N. California store as a shift manager for their great benefits.  A few days after our pay it forward meeting while working at Starbucks with a line to the door, a man came up to me and handed me his credit card and a Starbucks gift card and said to me, “I’d like to put $50 on the gift card please, and I’d like you to buy each person a drink until the card is empty, all I ask is that you just buy one drink per person”.  Stunned, I asked for clarification and once I realized what he was doing I was ecstatic.  He left and I did what he asked only I added one thing.  I said, “Your drink has been paid for by someone who is paying it forward, all we ask is that you do something nice for someone else by the end of the day to keep it going”.  People lit up, got all excited and even more customers handed me money and asked me to add it on to the gift card to keep it going.  It was amazing.  By far my favorite day at work so far.
 
Because of the long line and the shock I was in that I had been the lucky one to wait on him I didn’t get his name.  Two weeks later he came in again only this time I was wearing the pay it forward bracelet.  I decided to pay for his entire order myself then took off the bracelet and gave it to him, explaining what it meant. It turns out he doesn’t even live here, he lives in L.A.   I got to share with him the reaction of the customers the day he paid it forward and told him about how we had just had our pay it forward meeting and passed out these bracelets to our kids.  He said he would continue to do it and thanked me for the bracelet.  I haven’t seen him since.
 
I would like to start this with my team at our Starbucks store and would like to see if I could purchase 50 bracelets to get this started.

On another note, last week we did an Earth Day presentation at two local schools where we teach them how take care of their planet.  After the presentation we planted some bushes and flowers at the school.  It happened to be 96 degrees that day and the classes ran out of time to finish planting.  So that left my son and I to finish up – in the heat with no water.  A teacher noticed us as she walked by and asked if we would like a cold soda.  We both gratefully accepted and thanked her profusely.  She thanked us for making the school look so nice.  I took off the bracelet and handed it to her and said, “This isn’t really how this works but to thank you I’d like to give you this pay it forward bracelet for giving us a soda.”  I then explained how it worked and off we went.
 
The next day a girl from her class and a neighbor of ours knocked on my door and said her teacher (the one I had given the bracelet to) was wondering if she could buy 35 bracelets for each of her students.  She wanted to do this with her class.  I just gave the teacher your website information this week and I’m sure she will be contacting you.  If it’s easier you could send both together to me and I would be happy to get 35 of them to her (Mrs. Medina).

I have always paid it forward – starting way back in my college years I would pay the bridge toll for the car behind me every time I had the extra cash, bring meals to families that had sick loved ones or new babies.  I LOVE the bracelet because it is a constant reminder and a tangible way to keep it going rather than out of site out of mind.  This is yet another way to keep that self esteem going on a daily basis, especially with our future leaders.
 
Right after we started Kids Helping Kids while in the car he said to me, “Mom, it’s like we are is making a difference one child at a time”.  That’s how our slogan was born.  That’s what you guys are doing – “Paying it forward one bracelet at a time”.  We will continue to email you with compelling stories from our kids as we keep the legacy of the pay it forward bracelet going.
 
Thank you for reading this long email and thank you for all you do.  If there is anything we can do for YOU please don’t hesitate to contact me.
 
Laura Page
Executive Director
Kids Helping Kids
Making a difference one child at a time
www.kidzhelpingkids.org <http://www.kidshelpingkidswithnothing.com/>