2024

KIDS CARE 2024 Impact.pdf

MLK GARDEN sERVICE & PLANNING SESSION: jANUARY 15, 2024

MLK Service Day at Our Giving Garden on 1/15/24. Our volunteers built a small greenhouse, cleaned a large shed, built & installed protective crop row covers, planted winter seeds, stocked the "little pantries", and of course dreamt up new ideas on how we want to serve others this year. We also celebrated KIDS CARE upcoming 5th birthday on January 21st!

What a great day to talk about service and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was lovely to get to tap into his energy and missions of peace, equality, advocacy & service (and so many more). We spent some time inspiring the youth/families to engage their personal powers and shine their passions onto our world. The world needs you!!! We also brain & heartstormed lots of future service ideas!

💙We are so PROUD OF OUR VOLUNTEERS! Thank you for your hard work and the manner in which you all worked together. You all crushed it on big projects and did it with attention, respect & fun - ONCE AGAIN - KIDS CARE has the best volunteers!

If you are not familiar with Our Giving Garden please take a look and get to know them. They are a local nonprofit who supports their local community by growing food and donating it to those in need. Actually, they do way more than that so please check them out and offer your support when you can. https://www.ourgivinggarden.org/

Board games & love for seniors: february 9, 2024

Creating Kindness. Giving Joy. Connecting Generations. Caring for Others. Laughing. Practicing Social Skills. Letting others Win. Learning from Elders. Storytelling. Showing Up. Leading by Example. Making a difference with the power of our Hearts. #choosekindness #findjoy

What a beautiful afternoon we had at Sterling Estates West Cobb on 2/9/24. Playing games, laughing, being with other Kind humans, & connecting to new friends. Connections take skill & practice - and we are SO PROUD of our YOUTH volunteers for working on their social skills. It can really be hard to start a conversation with someone you don't know. But wow did the youth do an outstanding job! And the seniors certainly showed up open hearted and ready to play too! Thanks Sterling for creating this special day with our families!

⭐️ This game day idea came from a very special KIDS CARE volunteer who happens to have just turned 6 years old! THANK YOU "C" for helping us CREATE KINDNESS & JOY! Your idea was Funtastic!

💙 THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS FOR ALL THE GIFTS YOU BROUGHT, YOUR TIME & YOUR KIND HEARTS!!

PLANTING TREES WITH KEEP COBB BEAUTIFUL: FEBRUARY 19, 2024

A few KIDS CARE volunteers were hard at work on 2/19/24. We came together to help our friends from Keep Cobb Beautiful (KCB) with their Georgia Arbor Day Tree Planting.

⭐️ Kids are Strong. And they are 100% capable. We're very proud of our youth volunteers who worked for 2 hours on their day off from school. Thanks to the families who came out & special thanks to Keep Cobb Beautiful for providing this opportunity for our volunteers to serve locally and to grow confidence as valuable community members. We all love tree's and this was a beautiful day to come together for a few hours of environmental service with friends.

🌲 11 different trees were planted at the Noonday Creek Trailhead in Kennesaw thanks to the work of KCB, Cobb Parks, Cobb Arborist and additional volunteers from Kennesaw State University, Eagle Scouts, Keep Smyrna Beautiful and the South Cobb Lions Club.

🌿The 11 native Georgia trees that were planted along the creekside trail were Oak, Sweet Bay Magnolia and Cypress. The mulch came from the chipped-up Christmas trees that were collected by "KCB Bring One For The Chipper" events this past January.

DID YOU KNOW?

🌲That more than 15 billion trees are lost annually to deforestation?

🌲 Every year, the US plants more than 1 billion trees. Canada plants 600 million trees annually. For over 50 consecutive years, both nations have had a net forest growth that superseded annual forest harvests due to sustainable forest management. In North America, many more trees are grown than those harvested. 🌍 😊

🌲 More info at https://8billiontrees.com/

cobb county public safety ambassador council member: march 2024

KIDS CARE co-founder Amie Burke was selected to participate in the 2024 Cobb County Public Safety Foundation Ambassador Council. Meeting once a month, along with a small group of citizens and business leaders selected by the CCPSF, these opportunities taught us how the public safety departments operate, including the needs of the first responders who are dedicated to protecting and serving us. Amie gained valuable insight into the rigorous training and work that these men and women undertake to ensure our community's safety.

Through the CCPSF efforts, we explored the following agencies:

911 Dispatch, Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Rescue, Police, Sheriff, & the Animal Control Dept.

This new knowledge is still being shared with our volunteers, families, the community, and our social media supporters AND inspiring acts of kindness for our local first responders. We truly hope to inspire everyone to reach out in your unique way and support the local men & women serving your community.

Thank you to the CCPSF for this phenomenal opportunity to better understand and support the needs of our neighborhood Heroes!

PLANTING TREES WITH the marietta tree keepers:

march 16, 2024

Big Strength of Character displayed by @kidscare2018 volunteers - planting trees in a local cemetery.

BRAVERY for showing up & digging in a cemetery. TRUSTING the adults leading them. RESPECTING the grave sites while learning cemetery etiquette. Demonstrating HUMILITY for the time, space & place. Having the COURAGE to express their CURIOSITY about the cemetery & exploring the area. Leaning into peer CONNECTIONS and traveling through the Experience Together. WORKING HARD. And staying COMMITTED to SERVING that which is greater than self. #community #humanity

We couldn't be more proud of these kids (& moms) for rocking the Strength of Character category! Exceptional job by all! Everyone left feeling confident, connected & accomplished. 💙💚

⭐️ SPECIAL THANKS to the Marietta Tree Keepers for this great service opportunity & everything you all do to beautify our communities & protect our Earth.🌲

keep cobb beautiful community recycling day: april 13, 2024

TEENS getting to it on a Sat am -always impressive!! Super proud of these kids & their PARENTS for volunteering to help serve our community this weekend at Jim Miller Park. Standing outdoors on pavement for hours and doing physical work is not easy!!

Thanks Keep Cobb Beautiful for letting our older youth help serve at your annual KCB Community Recycling Event. Love the many lessons this experience teaches us all. Thanks for hosting this important (& huge) event for Cobb County.

intergenerational pen pal program: april-november 14, 2024

KIDS CARE service learning nonprofit has launched a new Intergenerational Pen Pal Program with Sterling Estates of West Cobb and Sterling Estates of East Cobb retirement communities. All aged participants (including adults) were welcomed to join and exchange written letters with local seniors. We are pleased to report that we had 70 volunteers sign up with KIDS CARE to become a pen pal! Amazing!

The program ran April - November with a celebration meetup of the pen pals at Sterling Estates of West Cobb Retirement Independent/Assisted Living Center. This was the sweetest meetup that would melted hearts for those witnessing.

Video coming soon! HELPING COMPLETED NOVEMBER 14, 2024

keep cobb beautiful community clean up day: april 20, 2024

EARTH DAY COMMUNITY CLEAN UP

Be the Solution, not the pollution. An overwhelming amount of nasty litter is easy to walk away from. It's hard work facing it & it's hard work cleaning it up. Super proud of our dynamic trio that persevered past the nauseating smells, bugs, a snake, thorns, heat, and getting out of bed/house on a Sat am. Thanks to Commissioner Sheffield & Keep Cobb Beautiful for hosting this community clean up for us all to take part in on Earth Day. Together, 150 volunteers cleared away a remarkable 2,180 pounds of litter from our community. HELPING COMPLETED 4/20/2024

KINDNESS CARDS FOR FEMALE FIRST RESPONDERS: mAY 22, 2024

Happy to give a little bit of Kindness to 40 female first responders. KIDS CARE volunteers created Kindness Cards to sprinkle into Building Strong Horizons custom care packages. The 40 comfort & care kits were delivered to female first responders attending the LIFE Retreat hosted by Project Overwatch. #poweroflove HELPING COMPLETED 5/22/2024

GOOD MEWS CAT TOY MAKING: JUNE 5, 2024

Entertaining kitties, making cat toys & taking a tour of "Good Mews" Animal Foundation" - a no-kill, no cage - cat rescue. KIDS CARE donated supplies, engaged youth/family volunteers to make cat toys & learned all about this special cat shelter who has been saving kitties since 1988! HELPING COMPLETED 6/5/2024

Box Decorating for OUR School Supply Drive:

JUNE 13, 2024

THANKS TO THE VOLUNTEER FAMILIES WHO BEAUTIFIED THESE BOXES!! You all rock!

FUNDRAISING WITH COBB FIRE DEPT TO BENEFIT GFBF:

jUNE 29, 2024

A very special service. Our kids made waffles, shared breakfast with the fire crew, took a tour of the station & worked together to raise funds for the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation. Together, we raised $978.52. Donations are still accepted https://fundraise.gfbf.org/fundraiser/5615016 . HELPING STARTED 6/29/24 & IS ONGOING

"BACKING THE NEED" BACKPACK & SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE: JULY 20, 2024

Working together with the Cobb County Police Department we have given a total of 1,963 new backpacks filled with school supplies to students in need in Cobb County. This could not happen without our fabulous volunteers, donors & business participants! Thank you, everyone!!

70 Volunteers aged 2 - 78 and 228 Combined Hours Served at our July Backpack & School Supply Drive. 19 Local Businesses Stepped In to help KIDS CARE "Backing the Need" Program this past July. Amazing community Support & Leadership! ✨ Together, along with donations from our volunteers & the public, we collected and donated 589 backpacks with school supplies to local students in need. $47,757.45 is the estimated value of new school supplies that our community collected & donated to students in need this past July.

Thank you to all the generous hearts & hard working hands who helped us achieve this great, big helping of Kindness for local students.

589 new backpacks with school supplies were donated to the following nonprofits who passed on our love: -Communities In Schools -Ser Familia -The Center for Children & Young Adults -LiveSafe Resources -Center for Family Resources -Simple Needs GA -Cool Kids Committee

Some of this years supplies included: 9,172 Crayons. 4,676 Pencils. 4,025 Colored Pencils. 3,225 Markers. 1,985 Pens. 1,169 Glue Sticks. 1,162 Pink Erasers. 1,051 Highlighters. 675 Spiral Notebooks. 619 Folders. 446 Packs of Paper. 413 Composition Notebooks. 325 Rulers. 320 Scissors. 277 USB Drives. 250 Calculators and more!

We are looking forward to working hard together for another year of giving hope & stability to local students in 2025.

DISPATCHING KINDNESS: October 11, 2024

911 Dispatchers always deserve big Love & Gratitude. Our families showed up & splashed lots of it on their work walkways. Cobb County 911 Dispatchers answer between 1,800 - 2,200 calls per day. Last year, they answered 905,292 total calls. Serious shout out to ALL 911 DISPATCHERS, OUR LOCAL DISPATCHERS, and our VOLUNTEERS! You all make the world a better place! HELPING COMPLETED 10/11/2024

keep cobb beautiful community reycling event: november 9, 2024

Serving on a Saturday. It takes sacrifice and commitment to step up and help your community...especially if you are a teenager!

So much to see and learn. One young man said at the end that he may have developed "TRASHPHOBIA". When asked what he meant, he said he had never seen such large piles of stuff and it kinda overwhelmed him. We sure did appreciate his viewpoint, voice and honesty.

We paused to talk about it. It sure is easy to forget about our trash/recycling after we take it to the curb. We recognized how we are ONE community who generated this amount of recyclable waste. What must the PLANET'S entire waste pile look like? What can we do to reduce our waste? How can we get better? Etc, etc.

It was a real impactful conversation/realization when we were standing in front of dumpsters of waste to be recycled.

Great job to these families for showing up and staying late, you all were a great big help to our community & we appreciate you.

Special Thanks to Keep Cobb Beautiful for welcoming KIDS CARE youth to volunteer at their Fall Community Recycling Event on 11/9. Thank you for the huge efforts you all make to #keepcobbbeautiful. We love offering families the opportunity to serve and learn at these events.

https://www.cobbcounty.org/keep-cobb-beautiful

For more info on the Hefty Renew Program, hard to recycle plastics/foams: https://www.hefty.com/.../heft.../hefty-renew-accepted-items #hefty

FOR ALL OF US, LETS REMEBER TO KEEP GETTING GREENER EVERYDAY, FOR OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE.

kindness cards for sick/injured kids: november 6, 2024

"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca.

Thank you to Virginia's Rock Ridge High School Key Club for creating and delivering 120 Kindness Cards to Inova Loudoun Children's ER & Hospital. They are beautiful! @rockridgekey Inova Inova Children's

Inspired & led by KIDS CARE Kindness Card Program, these cards were created by high school students to encourage & support sick/injured children.

We're so proud of the time & compassion these high schoolers spent to create these cards. Great work to you all! #kidscare

To date, our Kindness Card Program has now delivered 3,655 Kindness Cards.

() To learn how you/your group can help Create Kindness in this easy way, visit www.kids-care2018.com/kindness-cards.

kindness cards for vets: november 11, 2024

Thank you to the veterans who have dutifully served our country. Your service, courage, sacrifices, leadership, commitment, bravery, and valor are greatly appreciated. Happy Veterans Day!

Thank you to the leadership & employees at CS Construction in Kennesaw for pausing to create 32 Kindness Cards of Appreciation & Support for local Heroes. Well done! We appreciate your participation in our Kindness Card Program.

food pantry service day: november 26, 2024

Taking actions on feelings of wanting to help others is COMPASSION. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes emotionally is EMPATHY. Thanks to the 29 volunteers who showed up on their day off to serve at the local food pantry. We appreciate you & your Compassionate Hearts!

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