Last Saturday I had the privilege of meeting quite a few heroes who participated in Kids Are Heroes Day 2009. Now I know I shouldn’t play favorites, but I have to be honest and say that one particular hero captured my heart more than anyone else has ever been able to in my lifetime. His name is Austin Pierce. He and his family made the trip from northern Pennsylvania — some 300 miles away. His sister Calista helps him by raising money for the local Special Olympics so Austin can pursue his passion which is bowling.
I discovered during the week that Austin has a wish that he registered through the Make-A-Wish foundation. Sadly they told him his wish was too big and could not be done. I was curious to know what it was because from where I sit, no dream is too big. I asked his mom to elaborate which she did:
“Austin’s wish is for an Extreme Makeover (the TV show). He wants Ty Pennington to come, send us to Disney World and make him a new house with no steps, no stairs and a sink where he can help me wash dishes (his favorite thing to do ~ go figure) in his wheelchair. We have stopped letting him help with dishes because he has to stand on a step stool and be completely supported. Also, when he is standing, he leg locks. When he sits down afterwards, he is in a lot of pain and I can’t bear to watch him like that. Unfortunately, Make-A-Wish informed us that Austin’s wish is too big — at least for them. They have a policy of not doing construction. They also don’t work with Extreme Makeover and vice versa, so he has been “on hold” for nearly a year because that is the only wish he has come up with. It’s the only thing he wants in the whole world. We did submit an application and video when we found out that Extreme Makeover was coming to the Erie area earlier this year, but they went with someone who lives in Erie.
Earlier this week, we received the approval from the insurance for him to get a power chair, which will be nearly impossible to use in the house. Not to mention getting it into and out of our van. So, it will more than likely be left at the school for him to use there. Things will definitely change for the better as far as Austin gaining independence, but we’re just not sure what to do as far as this house and vehicle. We’ve talked about putting ramps in, but with the layout of the house, it is nearly impossible without blocking off entrance to rooms or taking out counters in the kitchen. There is a step up onto the porch to get into the house, a step down into the backroom, 2 steps up into the living room, a step up into the bedroom and he isn’t even able to get upstairs ~ that has been shut off because there are no heating vents up there and there are hardwood floors and he has fallen numerous times while crawling, which the only way he can get around in here. When we initially bought this house, we had so much hope that he would eventually walk, but it seemed that every time he hit a growth spurt, his little muscles just couldn’t keep up. Now this house is hindering his independence.”
The funny thing is that I know in my heart that if Ty Pennington ever got a chance to meet Austin this would be a done deal. Austin won my heart immediately when we met him as he gave me his signature smile and his two thumbs up. I’ve never seen a happier boy who has so many struggles to deal with. He is a true inspiration and we could all learn something from him.
So if you are reading this and have any suggestions at all, please leave them in the comments section. Even better, please comment to show your support for Austin — maybe if they know that Austin is supported it might help with their decision. And of course if anyone knows anyone associated with the program, send this post to them. And take a thumbs up from Austin.
(See Austin’s bio on the Kids Are Heroes Web site.)
Many times when a large event is staged, things can seem almost anticlimactic after an arduous journey of planning. The days after can also be a letdown as the anticipation can sometimes be greater than the event itself. Neither of these held true for Kids Are Heroes Day this past Saturday. I am still replaying the images and the emotions I happily experienced over that very short six-hour period. For the second year in a row we were greeted by a heavy downpour whose duration coincided with our entire time slot. But once again it was sunny and beautiful inside the mall.
I was thrilled that all the heroes who were scheduled to be there made it as did the musical performers. Reconnecting with some of the local heroes who were here last year was just great. And we also met some new friends — many heroes and their families came from out of town. I was so impressed with all of them that I cannot say enough about how great they all were. As I write this I find that whatever writing talents I may or may not have, they fall embarrassingly short of being able to convey the wonder that was in the mall that day. It’s kind of like taking a black and white picture of the Grand Canyon, showing it to someone, and saying that’s what it looks like. As the day ended I just remember saying to someone. “..the world should know about this….” Well, the good thing is that we had Michelle Lindsay (photographer) and Digital Bard Video Productions (videographers) there to take a better “black and white” picture than I ever could. So be warned that there will be plenty of related tweets and status updates as this material starts flowing.
I must thank once again all the special heroes who attended: Addison White, Adele Taylor, Anna Lemick, Julia Lemick, Austin Pierce, Calista Pierce, Casey Landahl, Catherine Grant, Emily Zimmerman, Kayleigh Crimmins, Evan Frank, John Sun, Miranda Mossburg, MaryMargaret O’Neill, Mercedes Blouin-Escoto, Nichelle Upton, Winston Duncan and Katie Foxx and Bridget Bittner representing Thurmont Middle School.
And I also must truly thank Christina Steinbrenner of the FSK Mall for creating and hosting this event.
After the event we held a reception at our home and many of the heroes and their parents were in attendance. We got to know some of them for the first time which was a precious opportunity. The kids had a great time in MaryMargaret’s “tween lounge” downstairs, although young Evan was a bit put off as the girls were trying to put makeup on him.
And I must send a very personal thank-you out to Austin Pierce, who touched my heart in a way that no one else in my life has ever done. Austin is the 12-year-old who is involved in Special Olympics in Crawford County, PA. I won’t go into too much detail but suffice it to say that it was a true honor to meet him and I know that my life is now better as I consider him a true friend. I so look forward to next year…
I just became aware of this effort yesterday about a global group of bloggers coming together for one cause: this year the subject is climate change. Not being an expert about the issue I thought I would ask one of our heroes from the Kids Are Heroes web site, Chloe Maxmin, to guest post as this is her passion. She agreed and here is her offering on the subject:
As many of you may know, today is Blog Action Day, and the topic is….CLIMATE CHANGE.
There is no doubt that global warming exists. Science confirms this fact. Humans have induced unnatural climate change, and now we are paying the price. The earth is warming at an alarming rate, glaciers are melting, extreme weather is wreaking havoc, habitats are being destroyed…the list goes on and on.
But the 6 billion people on this planet have the power to change this pattern. We have the power to reverse climate change, save natural ecosystems, and create a better world for future generations of humans, animals, and plants. This power will arise from a commitment from everyone on this planet to make personal lifestyle changes and mobilize others to do the same.
The environment is the basis for all life on earth. Humans cannot exploit it, otherwise we will be sacrificing future lives for present greed. Therefore, on days like today, it is the responsibility for everyone on this planet to look up from their lives and realize that there is a call for action, a call to anyone anywhere to stand up for the environment and fight for ecological justice. Together, we are raising awareness about climate change. But we are also on our to changing the world.
We are rounding the bend to Kids Are Heroes Day which is scheduled for Saturday, October 24th at the Francis Scott Key Mall here in Frederick. Besides having a great gathering of charitable kids at the event who will inspire your own children to get involved, we will have kid friendly entertainment and activities as well. There will be a baloon artist, face painting and music from a DJ. On top of that there will be a number of elementary, middle and high school kids will share their talents on stage with everyone. Here is a list of the “celebrities” that will appear throughout the day:
10:00Laken Weaver is a freshman at Catoctin High School. She has been singing ever since she was three or four years old. She was a member of the Frederick Children’s for two years when she was in elementary school. She has been a member of the Frederick all county chorus for the past three years and a member of the Maryland All State Junior Chorus for the past two. She was also a member of the award winning Thurmont Middle School “Spirit” show choir. In her spare time she enjoys singing just for the fun of it and is a member of the Catoctin High School JV Volleyball team and the Catoctin High School Show Choir. Laken will start us off with the National Anthem.
10:15 Maggie Kaetzel is an 8th grader at Thurmont Middle School. Her hobbies include singing, swimming and hanging out with her friends. Maggie has been a member of the Frederick Children’s Chorus for 3 years and the Thurmont Middle School Chorus for 3 years, as well. In addition, Maggie is a member of the TMS “Spirit” Show Choir and last year she was selected as a member of Maryland’s prestigious All State Chorus. Maggie will be singing “Many A New Day” from Oklahoma.
10:30 Savannah Steinly is an 8th grader whose hobbies include singing, dancing, playing soccer and basketball and hanging out with friends. She has been a member of the Thurmont Middle School Chorus for 2 years and a member of the TMS “Spirit” Show Choir for 3. Last year she was the narrator in Thurmont Middle School’s musical Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. She will be auditioning for this year’s All State Chorus in November. Savannah will be singing “You Raise Me Up”.
10:45 Leah Tester is in the 7th grade and attends Thurmont Middle School. Leah enjoys dancing, singing, acting and basketball. She loves to draw and has had her artwork displayed in the Frederick Gallery. Leah has been in the TMS “Spirit” Show Choir for 2 years and loves the opportunity to perform. Leah will be singing “Concrete Angel”.
11:00 Taylor Zentz is a 7th grader who also attends Thurmont Middle School. Taylor is currently a member of TMS’s “Spirit” Show Choir. She loves to sing and dance and has been doing so since the age of 5. She also loves basketball and golf. Taylor is currently taking private voice lessons from Kathleen Taylor. She will be singing the song “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Cinderella.
11:45Cati Grant is a sixteen-year-old from Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego, California. She is flying across the country partly to be recognized as one of the kids from our web site. Her main motivation for traveling all that way is to bond with the other heroes and take advantage of another chance to raise awareness of her platform which is bullying. She will give a short talk about what kids can do about bullying and why she feels it is so important.
12:15 Evan Frank is a very young boy who within the last year became aware of a problem in other countries: not everyone has clean water to drink. He has taken it upon himself to do what he can to help solve it by raising funds to drill wells in Africa. He is working on his second well. He will speak about his project and why he feels it is important.
12:45 The Oakdale Singing Owls make up a chorus group from Oakdale Elementary School. They jumped at the chance to be able to participate in this event. They will sing a song or two from their repertoire.
1:00 Recognition Ceremony All the heroes from the Kids Are Heroes web site who are in attendance will be recognized on stage by the Francis Scott Key Mall. Here is the list of kids who are scheduled to receive an award: Addison White, Adele Taylor, Anna Lemick, Julia Lemick, Austin Pierce, Calista Pierce, Casey Landahl, Catherine Grant, Emily Zimmerman, Kayleigh Crimmins, Evan Frank, John Sun, Miranda Mossburg, MaryMargaret O’Neill, Mercedes Blouin-Escoto, Nichelle Upton, Winston Duncan and Thurmont Middle School. Giving out the awards will be several local heroes from various disciplines: Staff Sgt. Robert L. Guerra (US Army), Deputy First Class Kevin D. White (Frederick County Sheriff’s Department), Staff Sergeant Stephanie Satinsky (US Air Force), AD1 (AW) Chris Daupert (US Navy), David Shafer (Guidance Counselor at Middletown Elementary School).
2:15MaryMargaret O’Neill is not only the founder of Kids Are Heroes, but she loves to sing, dance and act as well. For the past four years she has been a member of the Musical Theater Factory’s summer musical theater camp. She has participated in 5 productions, including this past summer’s production of High School Musical 2 as “Martha Cox”. MaryMargaret currently participates with the Music Ensemble Theater group in Frederick. She also has enjoyed five years of classical ballet and violin instruction. She is in the sixth grade at the Mother Seton School. She will be singing “Let’s Talk about Love”.
2:30Adele Taylor is coming all the way from New Jersey to be at Kids Are Heroes Day. She is a hero that promotes literacy wherever she can. Adele has been dancing since the age of three and was recently crowned Miss Bonnie Blue Outstanding Teen. She will be performing a tap-dance number for us.
3:00 Brian Kim and Ann Yeh – Violin / Cello
Violinist Brian Kim, a junior at Marriotts Ridge High School, began playing the violin when he was 6 years old. Currently he studies with Matthew Horwitz-Lee at the Peabody Preparatory. Brian has been a featured soloist with the Columbia Orchestra under the direction of Jason Love in 2005 and in 2008. He has also performed as a soloist with the JCC Symphony Orchestra, the Marriotts Ridge High School Symphony Orchestra and Howard County Gifted and Talented Orchestra. As the first place winner of the Young Artists’ String Competition, he has been featured with the Frederick Symphony. He has played in numerous Honors’ Recitals and Vella Silver Recitals at the Peabody Preparatory and has appeared in many outreach concerts as a soloist and as a chamber musician. Currently, Brian is the associate concertmaster of the Peabody Preparatory Youth Orchestra and a member of the Peabody Pre-Conservatory Violin Program. He has been a member of the Howard County Gifted and Talented Orchestra since the third grade and has served as its concertmaster for many years. He attended Interlochen Arts Camp in 2008 as a recipient of the Emerson Scholarship and has had the honor of serving as the concertmaster of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has also played in the Maryland All-State Junior Orchestra as concertmaster for two years. Besides violin, he enjoys running track, playing jazz saxophone, and spending time with friends.
Shing Ann Yeh is a juniorat Centennial High School. She began studying the cello at the age of eight with Donald Watts and currently works with Robert Newkirk. Last summer, Ann received the merit-based Emerson scholarship to the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. Ann has been a principal cellist of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Maryland All-State Junior Orchestra, and is currently the principal cellist of the Howard County Gifted and Talented Orchestra. She is also actively involved in chamber music a member of the Centennial High School String Quartet and the Bransa Trio. In addition to music, Ann loves to play soccer, bake and spend quality time with her family.
Brian and Ann will perform a duet and they will also each perform individually. Please also note that they both performed at one of MaryMargaret’s Music for Life events. They are becoming heroes in their own right. :)
So come down and enjoy a great day at the FSK Mall. Bring your children to engage with the heroes from our web site. Before long you son or daughter might very well join them.
This post was inspired by a recent post written by my friend Danny Brown. Someone called him a Twitter snob, just because he doesn’t follow back everyone who follows him. He even went so far as to say that Danny shouldn’t be “advising” about the use of Twitter because he himself is not following the “correct protocol”.
This raised a number of issues with me. First and foremost, I believe noone has the right or credibility to tell another person how they should use Twitter. That may sound funny coming from a guy who loves to put out posts that describe the proper use of Twitter (at least how I see it). But I have always said, feel free to read my posts and do what you wish – it’s a free country. I have no more authority to tell people what to do regarding the use of Twitter than do its founders. After all they would be the first to admit that it is being used in ways they never dreamed of. What I like to do is to talk about what works best for me – how I get the most out of Twitter and share it with others so they can benefit as well, taking from the posts what they feel makes sense to them.
Now on to this “follow everyone back” concept. I have made it clear in my posts that I do not subscribe to this practice. It has nothing to do with snobbery. I could care less how many or few followers you have. If you are a “bot”, (which unfortunately there are way too many of) I will more than likely block you let alone follow you. If you want to tell me that my teeth are yellow and what I should be reading to make them white then I am sorry, I’ll keep my yellow teeth thank you. I’m a pacifist so please don’t make me part of your Mafia family. I don’t want your gifts so please don’t ask me to give you one. I don’t want to take a poll about what type of cat I’d be thank you very much. I joined Twitter to make real connections with real people. I cannot do that with you if you never converse with people. I am not interested in your web site if that’s all you are going to tweet about. How can I find out about you as a person if you are unwilling to fill out your profile? I can go on and on but the point is I do not follow back everyone. I am not saying that is the way everyone should be either. That is what works best for me. Period.
I wanted to make one more point about this. Danny’s accuser indirectly called him an “elitist” for not following back everyone. Said that he only follows “the elite” on Twitter. That is also a misnomer. There is no such thing as an elite user on Twitter. That’s one reason I love it so much – everyone is on the same level. Some people may have more followers than others, but that I couldn’t care less about. I read your tweets because I am interested in them, not because I care about who else is reading them.
So what do you do? Do you follow back everyone? Tell us about what you do and why you do it.
We recently ordered a bunch of Kids Are Heroes wristbands for our heroes to give out on Kids Are Heroes Day. I decided to use them in a little marketing campaign I call “Wrist Band Tuesday”. Each Tuesday I tweet a picture of them on Twitter and ask for retweets, promising that I will send one wristband to a “lucky winner” – one that I randomly select from the retweets. I think it is a fun little contest and from the number of retweets we get I think other people think it’s fun too.
Well I am fessing up. Coming clean. Wiping the slate. You see this week this contest was fixed. It wasn’t fixed in the beginning – everything was fine until @poulingail entered her name. “I hope she wins,” I thought. Later I remembered the comment she wrote on a recent post. The post was indirectly in support of Alaina Podmorow who is trying to raise funds to come to Kids Are Heroes Day. Some of the people raising the money were questioning the value of sending a kid “to a mall to get an award”. In our eyes it’s much more than that. I asked people to comment stating their perceived value of the event in hopes of convincing others. Here is what Gail posted:
“Kids Are Heroes inspires kids to dream dreams and offer a hand in some personal way. My class of 5 and 6 year olds likes to hear about all the heroes on this site and when schedules get in the way, I hear about it. “Mrs. Poulin, we didn’t do Kids Are Heroes today.” I think they like hearing about real kids who are real heroes. They like composing a class message using their own thoughts and words. And they really love the double thumbs up they get when the Shoutout has been sent off. Any one of these heroes who has worked to help others should be able to enjoy the thrill of meeting other heroes. They are a very special group of people and they continue to make a difference. What more are they actually capable of down the road?”
The part I love is “Mrs. Poulin, we didn’t do Kids Are Heroes today.” Just thinking about those kids who have sent shout-outs to our heroes almost every day since the school year has begun really warms my heart. So guess who won the contest this week? That’s right, Mrs. Poulin, kindergarten teacher. And guess what else? Each kid in her class is going to get one too. So sue me, yell at me, unfollow me, never retweet me again – I will take all the punishment but will still have a smile on my face as I think of the looks on the kids’ faces when their new wristbands arrive.
I discovered today that one person’s perception of Kids Are Heroes Day is that it is just an award ceremony at a mall for a bunch of kids. They didn’t see the real meaning of it. Maybe that is my fault because I haven’t written a post like this explaining what it means to at least one person – me. To an outsider maybe that is all it appears to be. Let’s see if we can correct that.
Kids Are Heroes Day is a celebration of all the kids on our web site regardless of whether or not they are in attendance – it is another avenue to inspire like minded children to get involved in their communities. This is the spirit of the children on the site – to be able to bond with fellow “heroes” and raise awareness to her cause in any way they can. It has little to do about receiving a certificate from a mall. If that were the case I doubt that any of the kids would attempt to come from out of town.
Although this is a local event the Kids Are Heroes concept is a global one. We plan to use this event as a springboard to get national attention. Through our Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts we are doing just that.
Let me quote a person who also “gets” what Kids Are Heroes Day really means: “It is events like these that can create a new and different awareness not only about the causes these kids are pushing forward, but more importantly to awaken the sleeping activist in all of us!” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks Jamie.
Every child that attends Kids Are Heroes Day will put a stamp of approval on what the Kids Are Heroes community represents – and that is to inspire other children to join them in doing good things for other people. Each child will raise awareness about what he/she is doing and perhaps inspire one or more kids to follow in their footsteps. The concept of the Kids Are Heroes web site has already been proven – it is acting to motivate children all over the world to emulate their peers by giving to others.
Let’s take a look at the kids who will be at Kids Are Heroes Day:
Winston Duncan started Wheels to Africa which has supplied over 2000 bikes to people in Africa. Addison White is a 10-year-old who takes his rescued greyhound to nursing homes to visit the elderly. Mercy Escoto is an 8-year-old spokesperson for MDA and raises funds for them several times a month. She also suffers from the disease. Calista Pierce is a 9-year-old who makes crafts and sells them so that her brother Austin can participate in the local chapter of the Special Olympics. She (and Austin) are coming from 300 miles away. They sold candy bars to support their trip. Evan Frank is a 7-year-old who is funding his second well to be drilled in Africa. Cati Grant is a 16-year-old coming all the way from San Diego, California. She has a web site that discourages bullying and cyberbullying and also created a club in her school that is anti-bullying. Adele Taylor is coming from 180 miles away – she is 14 years old and has created Adele’s Literacy Library where she promotes literacy by giving away books to libraries, schools and hospitals. John Sun is 9 years old and last Christmas he delivered 35 gift baskets to Shady Grove Hospital – specifically to go to the premature ward as he was premature when he was born. He got people to knit caps, blankets and make quilts and convinced Boyd’s Bears to give him a discount so that he could purchase toys for them. MaryMargaret O’Neill is a ten-year-old girl who started the Kids Are Heroes web site and who has raised over $2700.00 to give the gift of music to kids in Children’s Hospital. Miranda Mossburg raised $400.00 to fix a roof being used to shelter two blind horses. Julia and Anna Lemick have given up their birthday gifts to provide funds for their favorite charities – Toys for Tots and Labrador Retriever Rescue. Casey Landahl is just 5 years old. She gave up her birthday gifts for a local cat rescue organization. Kayleigh Crimmins is just 6 years old. She sells toys and whatever else she can to provide ballistic vests for K9s. Emily Zimmerman held a basket bingo that raised over $6300.00 to support two organizations that help families deal with catastrophic illnesses. Nichelle Upton is always giving of herself through the Youth Action Corps. She works with seniors at a nursing home, raises funds for the Lions Club – her list goes on and on.
Kids from Thurmont Middle School collected over $1400.00 for the St. Jude’s Research Hospital.
We have several key people (our “adult heroes”) from the local armed forces, the sheriff’s department and a school guidance counselor handing out the awards. In addition we have chorus groups and other young musicians from various schools to come and play so that they can be a part of this event.
So no, this is not just an awards ceremony at a mall.
Some of the kids are still trying to fund raise to get here from out of town. It would be helpful if you left a comment telling others why you think this event is worth sending kids to.
Kids Are Heroes day is Saturday, October 24, 2009 from 10AM-4PM at the Francis Scott Key mall in Frederick, Maryland.
Recently I wrote about my decision to step down as president of Wags for Hope. Well just yesterday I delivered my final orientation to about 30 new volunteers. The orientation is an introduction that explains all the steps on how to get involved in the various programs offered by the pet therapy organization. Since its inception in 2006, I have given them all. Besides talking about the programs we provide a multimedia presentation that offers a taste of what it is like to volunteer for Wags for Hope. Of course the pictures and video are full of Charlie, our Bernese Mountain dog who founded the group about 3½ years ago. It was indeed a sad moment for me, because I still hold passion for that organization. And it was also a proud moment as I watched the videos of Charlie I was glad to see his legacy would live on far beyond his years. At the same time it was a hopeful moment as we welcomed a whole new cluster of excited volunteers eager to get started in our program. One of the volunteers has a horse who is a bit arthritic and since she cannot ride her as much she wanted to come up with another activity for them both. If they figure out a way to test the temperament of the horse, then that will mark another new beginning for the organization.
So now more of my attention can be focused on Kids Are Heroes. And that couldn’t have come at a better time as Kids Are Heroes Day approaches in just three weeks. I can move on with confidence that Wags for Hope will thrive and grow beyond my imagination as I left it in hands far more capable than mine.
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“Austin’s wish is for an Extreme Makeover (the TV show). He wants Ty Pennington to come, send us to Disney World and make him a new house with no steps, no stairs and a sink where he can help me wash dishes (his favorite thing to do ~ go figure) in his wheelchair. We have stopped letting him help with dishes because he has to stand on a step stool and be completely supported. Also, when he is standing, he leg locks. When he sits down afterwards, he is in a lot of pain and I can’t bear to watch him like that. Unfortunately, Make-A-Wish informed us that Austin’s wish is too big — at least for them. They have a policy of not doing construction. They also don’t work with Extreme Makeover and vice versa, so he has been “on hold” for nearly a year because that is the only wish he has come up with. It’s the only thing he wants in the whole world. We did submit an application and video when we found out that Extreme Makeover was coming to the Erie area earlier this year, but they went with someone who lives in Erie.
Many times when a large event is staged, things can seem almost anticlimactic after an arduous journey of planning. The days after can also be a letdown as the anticipation can sometimes be greater than the event itself. Neither of these held true for Kids Are Heroes Day this past Saturday. I am still replaying the images and the emotions I happily experienced over that very short six-hour period. For the second year in a row we were greeted by a heavy downpour whose duration coincided with our entire time slot. But once again it was sunny and beautiful inside the mall.
I just became aware of this effort yesterday about a global group of bloggers coming together for one cause: this year the subject is climate change. Not being an expert about the issue I thought I would ask one of our heroes from the Kids Are Heroes web site, Chloe Maxmin, to guest post as this is her passion. She agreed and here is her offering on the subject:
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