If any of you have read more than one post of mine and happened to read the last one, you’ll note the similarity in last names from our first two spotlights. That is no coincidence. Conrad is indeed Laken’s father. We met Conrad at a networking event last winter. That is where I learned of his prowess with the video camera. I’m not a bold person usually, until it comes to Kids Are Heroes, when I step into high gear and indeed I have to be. I asked him to videotape a local elementary school choir singing our theme song. I just wanted the raw video as we don’t have the budget for an expensive piece. I thought I could put something together myself. Not only did he give us a break on the price but went way over and above what was expected and produced an awesome video, something I could NEVER have done, seen here:
Well Conrad has offered his services this time pro bono to stream the Kids Are Heroes Day event LIVE on October 29th so that those who cannot make the trip can get a peek to see what it’s actually like. We are so privileged and thankful for him and his awesome work.
Now getting back to the connection with his daughter, after we met and he discussed it with his family, he discovered that Laken had sang the national anthem at a previous Kids Are Heroes Day event for us. We are very excited to have her repeat this year and I bet there will be a proud dad in the audience filming her.
So here is some more information about Conrad and his business. I for one would recommend him highly and I think we are very fortunate to have him.
Conrad Weaver is the President and Owner of Conjostudios, LLC, a video production company based out of Frederick, MD. Conrad’s award-winning work has taken him from the halls of Capitol Hill to the streets of Guatemala. He has provided video services for numerous local businesses and non-profits, as well as national organizations and government agencies. In 2010 Conrad received an International AVA Award for his documentary about the Vigilant Hose Company in Emmitsburg, MD – telling the story of their 125 years of volunteer service. And in 2011 Conrad was awarded a prestigious Telly-Award for his documentary called “Mi Refugio.” This short film tells the story about a school in Guatemala that helps children who live and grow up in and around the garbage dump.
Currently Conrad is producing a documentary called “The Wheat Harvest Movie” that tells the story about the people who harvest the wheat that feeds the world. This project is scheduled for completion in late 2012, and will be aired on a national cable channel. To see a short trailer about this movie, visit: wheatharvestmovie.com
In his spare time Conrad enjoys skiing, hiking, backpacking, sailing, and traveling. He lives in Emmitsburg, MD with his wife and two children.
It’s not even September and already I am waking up in the middle of the night thinking about Kids Are Heroes Day. We are exactly eight weeks away from the big event. It has been my goal to make each event bigger and better than the last one. This starts to become a challenge after you’ve had ex-NFL players put on a show during one of them. But already I’m pretty confident we will live up to the task. More on why a bit later.
For the unaware this will be our third annual Kids Are Heroes Day to be held at the Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick, Maryland. Christina Steinbrenner, marketing director of the mall, has been very generous to us since our inception. The fountain coins are donated to a different hero’s charity each month, and Christina makes every effort to ensure that Kids Are Heroes Day is something special.
So what makes this year stand above the rest? Well last year we had Cati Grant travel all the way from San Diego, California to be with us. Cati, whose platform is against bullying, held the record for traveling the furthest to be at one of our events. Well her record will be shattered this year by Diana Onyonyi who will be coming all the way from Nairobi, Kenya!! We are so excited to be able to meet and welcome her. Diana is a fifteen-year-old young woman who was instrumental in building a school dormitory and library for the Karura school in Nairobi. She is a Global Teen Leader through the Three Dot Dash organization. According to an email I just received from her she “was named as a contributor in the process of building the second republic” of Kenya as “His Excellency Mwai Kibaki promulgated Kenya’s new constitution.” Diana is scheduled to be here the entire week of the event, so we will be scheduling appearances for her all over the county at schools, public meetings and press interviews. The topic for her speech at Kids Are Heroes Day is “Peace is Possible.” This is something that should not be missed.
This year we will also welcome the support of our local government which plans to issue an official proclamation declaring October 23rd, 2010 as “Kids Are Heroes” Day. Ms.Jan Gardner, current County Commissioner President, has offered to send official county award certificates to all of our heroes, regardless of their location. As I mentioned before we still haven’t hit September yet. There are other things we are working on to make this event more special than ever. So please stay tuned. There’s lots more to come.
I bet I am not alone in still feeling uplifted by what happened last weekend at Kids Are Heroes Day. I am seeing pictures posted, comments being made that would indicate that the other parents are still thinking about it too. My excitement is driven not only by the fact that it was an amazing day, but I also can see how we can use that energy for future events as well. Kids Are Heroes is all about getting other kids involved. We have had our share of successes in the past with this concept, but I bet we will impact many more kids much faster if we are able to put on similar events in a larger venue.
Case in point: One of MaryMargaret’s best friends is named Emma. Emma has joined us on several occasions to help out with whatever we were working on at the time. Even though she knew what KAH was all about, that was as far as she went with it and that’s totally OK. We always say we never sell what we do to kids or parents — we just want them to know we are here in case they become inspired by what other kids are doing.
So Emma was there again to help MaryMargaret at her table. They “scored” the indoor “football” game. It was a very long day so Emma slept over that night. The next morning at breakfast I casually asked MaryMargaret if she had thought about her next project. “I’m going to help with the oil spill” were the words that immediately came out of her mouth. We had been talking about this for a while but weren’t sure if she was passionate enough about it. No sooner had she said that when Emma chimed in, “I want to help!!” So they talked about it for a while and dubbed their new project “Black to Blue”. Since then MaryMargaret has been off making an inspirational movie about the subject. What’s so cool about it is that she has not asked for nor wanted my help. She used Windows Movie Maker (which I have never even tried) to do it. The movie brought my wife to tears, so I know it’s going to be a hit. Her goal is $5000 to help with the cleanup efforts. So what about Emma? We hadn’t spoken to her in a few days and were wondering if she was still committed. Just so happens I saw her mom last night and she told me “Absolutely!” She has been drawing pictures of pelicans in distress for the fund raisers, and to put on “Black to Blue” T-Shirts to sell. So it looks like we will be featuring a new hero pretty soon.
Former Arizona Cardinal Levar Fisher
So was this newfound motivation a coincidence for Emma? What about MaryMargaret? We are no different than other parents. We have no magic dust that keeps our child motivated to do such things. This activity can be hard on kids and parents alike. It’s a constant battle to raise awareness and donations. We might be out at a fund raiser in the heat for four hours and come back with few donations. Many of the parents said this weekend really recharged all of their batteries because it was so inspiring. I am no different in feeling that sentiment. So what did it? I believe there were two major factors. First, Levar and Devin put on a wonderful show. Many people told me they were surprised at how giving they were when it came to personal attention, signing autographs, etc. NFL players have a reputation of being prima donnas, but definitely not these two. And Levar’s charisma and natural ability to relate to kids really drew them towards him. Kids wanted to be in that special group of kids who were deemed “heroes”. Levar spoke of many of the heroes in his speech. Kids want to be part of that. But that wasn’t the only motivating factor. Later on that day we had a reception for the “hero” families at the hotel pool area. The kids couldn’t jump in the pool fast enough. They were together for four hours, playing, laughing and cajoling as if they were all best friends. Emma was there too. I think she really wanted to be a part of this “club” cause these kids (and what they are doing) are really cool. And I also know she wasn’t the only one who was motivated that day.
Since Saturday I have added two goals to my list. The first is to repeat Saturday’s events on a much grander stage. (Hint hint, Hershey Park!) What happened Saturday is deserving of national attention. Second I want to develop a platform where the heroes can collaborate with each other as they grow up. Many companies offer grants, scholarships and large donations to kids who are doing great things. Often times it’s about how many votes they can get. That means it comes right down to how connected they are. This promotes an atmosphere of competition and resentment. I want to do just the opposite. These are the leaders of tomorrow and how much more will they be able to accomplish if they work together and support each other?
So if you have any ideas on how I can get there with both of these goals, I’m all ears.
This video is of the pictures from Kids Are Heroes Day. The wonderful photos were taken by Tracy Timmester. (Thanks Tracy!!!)
Normally when we have an event like we did Saturday I write about it right away. This day was so powerful I have been simply enjoying the thoughts that have been bouncing in my head over the last couple of days. If only everyone could experience something like this.
Saturday, June 26 marked the first Kids Are Heroes Day held at Boyd’s Bear Country in Gettysburg, PA. Heroes from our web site traveled from all over the country (and even Canada) to be there and raise awareness for their causes. Special guest stars Levar Fisher (ex-NFL star, former Arizona Cardinal) and Devin Wyman (ex Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots) put on a show that both young and old will never forget. We ended the day with a private reception at the hotel where all the heroes made lasting friendships, (yes, some were even crushes) and the parents celebrated the day by establishing their own bonds.
The Heroes
In attendance were Casey Landahl (MD), Ricky Springer (GA), JT Robertson (NY), Wesley Prankard (Ont, Canada), Bailey Reese (FL), Kennedy Kulish (PA) and MaryMargaret O’Neill (MD). As many of you know, Levar Fisher has been a partner of Kids Are Heroes for a few months now, but this was the first time I had the privilege of meeting him in person. It was important to me to have him meet all the heroes and get to hear from their own voices what their passions were. In doing so I was also hearing some of them for the first time and I admit I was moved to tears when I experienced the focus, determination, clarity and passion coming from these kids who are so young. Levar did indeed draw inspiration from them as you could tell from his speech.
The Show
We started by introducing the “adult heroes” so that they could in turn give out awards to the younger ones. Joddie Walker, Founder of the Children’s Advocacy Center, Richard Baumgardner, Commander of the American Legion Post 202 and Officer Mark Landahl gave heartfelt tributes to the kids and Boyd’s had prepared awards for them. All the kids are so humble and they do not seek out accolades, but that is part of the reason they deserve them. I had been hearing a lot about the speech Levar and Devin were going to deliver, but nothing can compare to seeing it in person. It had a great mix of fun and inspiration as the kids were giddy with excitement. Devin Wyman is a big boy. His 6’8″ frame boasting 350 lbs can never go unnoticed. When I shook his hand for the first time I had to look down because I thought he was wearing a catcher’s mitt. Nope, it was just his hand. He thrilled the audience by lifting two children up over his head, bent a steel bar with his bare hands while holding it in his teeth, turned a frying pan into a burrito with his hands and exploded a Sprite can all over the heroes to their amazement. All these “tricks” came with a message made to both teach and entertain. Levar then spoke about a lot of things, but with great skill took the heroes’ stories and related them with inspiration for both young and old to enjoy. His sense of humor and eloquence will have a lasting impression on all of those who had the privilege to hear him.
The Reception
Have you ever dreaded going to a party where you didn’t know anyone? Well before this weekend we had only met the Landahls as they have attended several of our local events. You know how sometimes kids can be shy around new kids? All that went out the window on this wonderful day. The reception was specifically for the heroes and their families (Levar attended as well) so that they could get to know each other. It was held poolside at the hotel so the kids could play and have fun. It was scheduled for 6-8PM. Well we had to leave “early” at 9:45 because we had a 45 minute drive back home and had to tend to our dogs. The kids simply didn’t want it to end and quite frankly neither did I. It reminded me that whenever we do this an “after-party” is as important as any other event during the day. It was so moving it led to an idea. Many other sites that recognize kids award money to their charities but they have to get votes to get the funds. It promotes competition among the kids who are just trying to do good for other people. I think this is the wrong message. These kids are the future leaders of tomorrow, so why not teach and encourage them to collaborate with each other at an early age? Non-profits would do better to help each other than to compete. I plan to develop this idea and incorporate it into our web site somehow.
My heartfelt thanks go out to all the heroes who attended, to Levar and Devin for being so awesome, to my wife Michelle for making it so special, and to Dan at Boyd’s Bear Country for working so hard to support us.
Everything that happened on Saturday deserved nothing less than a national stage. I can’t remember the last time I have been so moved. Being involved in a non-profit can be trying and very difficult at times. This is true for both the parents and the heroes. Events like these remind us why we do it and recharge all of our batteries. I think mine’s a little overcharged right now. I just made an appointment with Christina at the FSK Mall to start planning Kids Are Heroes Day in October.
Some days I wonder if not enough is happening with Kids Are Heroes, while other days I think that soon we won’t be able to handle the expansion that is certain to come. One thing is for sure, we have been gradually getting bigger and bigger, and forging more relationships with people and companies that can further our cause. Case in point: In February we got an idea with the help of one of our heroes’ moms to approach Boyd’s Bear Country and see if they would be interested in hosting a “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” at their store. They agreed, and thanks to the success of the TWO events we had there they also offered to host a Kids Are Heroes Day in the summer time. If you have never been to this store it’s hard to describe because it is SO different than any other experience you have ever had with a retail store. Actually it doesn’t even look like a store — it’s a HUGE four-story barn that boasts 130,000 square feet of retail space and sits on 123 acres nestled in the mountains of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. And even though it’s called Bear Country they sell a lot more than just bears. It’s definitely something all kids and adults alike should experience.
So why is this such a big event? There are several answers to this:
1) This will be our first event where special guest star (and ex-NFL player) Levar Fisher will not only be giving a motivational speech to kids and parents in the afternoon, but he will also be hosting a mini-football camp in the morning.
2) The folks at Boyd’s have estimated there will be at least 500 kids in attendance.
3) There will be 11 heroes from our web site coming from all over the US and Canada.
4) This will be our third bear donation event where kids can collect money to pay for stuffed bears at a discount price. If they donate a minimum of two bears, Boyd’s will let them build an additional bear for free for them to donate or keep for themselves. All donated bears will be given to the Philadelphia Police Department of behalf of Bears on Patrol, a non-profit that supplies bears to the police so that they can in turn hand them out to kids who are in difficult situations.
Kids Are Heroes Day at Boyd’s will occur on Saturday, June 26th, 2010. This is truly going to be an incredible day your family won’t want to miss.
Here are the heroes scheduled to appear:
Evan Frank
Harper’s Ferry, WV
Recently, Evan opted to not receive gifts for his 8th birthday party, but rather asked his guests to make donations to the “Water for Life” project. Evan has planned a Valentine’s Dinner and mini-concert at his church with all proceeds going to the project. At last count, Evan had raised $7000.00. He is an ambassador for the Water for Life project where a goal of $4800 has been set. $4800 is needed to install a complete well and provide clean drinking water for an entire village. Evan has set a goal of 100 wells in his lifetime.
Kennedy Kulish
Lancaster, PA
Kennedy Kulish started her self initiated service project of “Kisses for Kaeden” in November of 2003 on behalf of her baby brother Kaeden who was born with several heart defects and needing several open heart surgeries before his 1st birthday. Kennedy (who was only 6 at the time) wanted to make a difference in helping other “Kaeden’s” and their families. Recruiting friends, classmates and team mates Kennedy held a fundraiser for Kaeden’s first birthday celebration asking family and friends to bring monetary donations for the hospital that helped Kaeden instead of normal birthday gifts for the already “spoiled” lil Kaeden. Raising over $2000.00, Kennedy was inspired to do more.
Casey Landahl
New Market, MD
Casey is no stranger to donating. She has grown and donated her hair to “Locks of Love” twice, participates in the annual “Buddy Walk” for Down Syndrome, and helps her elderly neighbors. Many of her guests found it hard to believe Casey wanted to do this. They called and asked if she was serious and thought she would cry when no gifts came for her. Casey continued to say that she wanted to help the cats and did not care about gifts. She had a wonderful time at her party and feels great to have “helped the cats find a new home”. Casey is wise and generous beyond her years. I am so proud to have daughter like her and am thankful her younger sister has such a special big sister to look up to!
MaryMargaret O’Neill
Ijamsville, MD
MaryMargaret O’Neill is the founder of Kids Are Heroes. In March of 2008, she asked her dad to build her a web site. “I want to help animals,” she said. Out of that discussion came the beginning of the Kids Are Heroes organization. She has been featured on the site three separate times. For her ninth birthday she gave up her gifts for the Defenders of Wildlife. In the summer of 2008 she and her friends held a lemonade stand which turned into a donation of 80 Webkinz for kids at a local cancer camp. Her most recent accomplishment was to deliver 250 MP3 players to two area youth hospitals. She purchased them with money she raised over the course of more than a year.
Wesley Prankard
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Wesley Prankard camped out in the cold for 24 hours during March break. His goal was to raise $2400.00 and awareness for the conditions in Attawapiskat, Ontario; a First Nation reserve on James Bay in which 1,000 of the 1,300 residents are said to be homeless. In the end Wesley raised over $5,800.00!
In recognition of his efforts, Wesley was asked to go and deliver the aid in person to the community along with other TrueNorthAid volunteers and workers. While in Attawapiskat, the Deputy Chief presented Wesley with gifts including an Eagle’s Feather to honour him and his fundraising achievements on their behalf.
Bailey Reese
Niceville, FLA
Bailey Reese was 7 when she founded Hero Hugs in 2004. After a hurricane hit the area where she lives, Bailey noticed people were not thanking soldiers passing out ice and water, but instead complaining about long lines and not getting enough. The soldiers had left the comforts of their homes and families to come help and should have been being thanked! Bailey gathered some friends to make thank-you cards for the soldiers and since has made it her passion to be sure the men and women who serve our country know someone is thinking of them even when we don’t like what they are doing or how they are doing it.
JT Robertson
Cuba, NY
JT Robertson collects cans and returnables. He then uses the deposit money from those returnables to buy tickets for less fortunate children on the Arcade and Attica Railroad for a trip on Make A Difference Day every October. When JT first started, there was a problem with boarding the train for children with disabilities – especially wheelchairs. So JT continued to collect returnables to fund the trips but also started to raise awareness of the problem. He made a video and asked for letters of support for an Extreme Train Makeover.
Lexxi Saal
New York, USA
At the age of eight Lexxi started a fundraiser to gather donations for the kids in foster care.
Over the years she has received wonderful donations from her supporters. “Lexxi Loves” has inspired some of her peers to join and help support.
Ricky Springer
Dexter, GA
Eight year old Ricky Springer is not your typical kid. On the outside he is the picture of perfect health, but on the inside his immune system wages war against the most common substance needed for life: Food. Ricky lives with an Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorder, a distinct disease which affects the gastrointestinal track, rendering the patient unable to tolerate food protein.
In 2009 he initiated the Racing for a Cause campaign. As a dirt track go-kart racer, Ricky is using his racing platform to educate everyone he meets about these disorders, as well as raise money to support APFED (The American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders) in educating physicians and the general public about these disorders.
Last October was our second annual Kids Are Heroes Day. This is a yearly event held at our local mall where kids from our web site who are local and others who are not but can still get here come to celebrate the spirit of youth philanthropy. The Francis Scott Key Mall has been very generous to us from the start, having come up with this idea and also donating their fountain coins to a different local hero each month. Another company that has been generous to us is Digital Bard Video Productions, who created our wonderful video pro bono on that same day. In their main video, there are several stories you can branch out to specific to one hero’s efforts. I thought that they are all so great that I would feature them all here. Oh and special shout-outs go to Michelle Lindsay Photography and Mary Kate McKenna Photography whose pictures are also featured in the videos.
The first video is the main one taken mostly from that day. The others are the six choices you get in the middle of the main video. Every second of footage of these kids is so inspiring to me and I hope also to you and your children.
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…
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.
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.
This is the third in our series of kids wanting to come to Kids Are Heroes Day. Cati Grant hails from San Diego, California and she wants to come all the way over to the opposite coast so that she can spread the word about her cause, which just happens to be the cessation of cyber-bullying.
In Cati’s words:
What a great honor to have been invited to Kids Are Heroes Day!
Please help with travel expenses so I may attend to continue to raise awareness about the epidemic of cyber bullying among kids!
WHAT: Kids Are Heroes Day
WHEN: Saturday October 24. 2009
TIME: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
WHERE: Francis Scott Key Mall (Center Court) in Frederick, Maryland
This is an amazing chance to meet young philanthropists from all over the country and learn about their inspiring causes.
Please help me to be a part of it :) Cati
MY MISSION: Please Help Me STOP CYBER BULLYING
and Help Keep Teens Using the Internet SAFE!
Cati Cares is dedicated to serving teens in our community by providing a valuable resource for internet safety tips and cyber bullying prevention.
My name is Cati and I am a 16 year old junior at a local high school in San Diego, CA. I want to help make our world a safer place! I decided to start this site on my 15th birthday as a way to reach out to other teens about how important INTERNET SAFETY is and how we can join together to STOP CYBER BULLYING.
TURNING TEARS INTO ACTION…….
Unfortunately, many teens have been the victims of internet crimes and cyber bullying.
Take the pledge to not be a bully and to BE THE BEST YOU CAN BE!
If you have a problem and don’t know where to turn, please CONTACT ME and I will offer some helpful advice and a safe haven to share your story and seek help.
I continue to strive to be better everyday of my life and I live my life to the fullest. Being a teen isn’t easy and each teen should be able to face middle school and high school prepared and ready for some of the tough issues they may face.
I want everyone to be able to feel safe on the internet and be confident that they WILL NOT be cyber bullied. Join ME and use my tips to stay safe and to stop the vicious trend of cyber bullying.
Please help with travel expenses so I may travel to be a part of Kids Are Heroes Day on October 24, 2009! Thank you and God Bless!
Read the First Comment 
If any of you have read more than one post of mine and happened to read the last one, you’ll note the similarity in last names from our first two spotlights. That is no coincidence. Conrad is indeed Laken’s father. We met Conrad at a networking event last winter. That is where I learned of his prowess with the video camera. I’m not a bold person usually, until it comes to Kids Are Heroes, when I step into high gear and indeed I have to be. I asked him to videotape a local elementary school choir singing our theme song. I just wanted the raw video as we don’t have the budget for an expensive piece. I thought I could put something together myself. Not only did he give us a break on the price but went way over and above what was expected and produced an awesome video, something I could NEVER have done, seen here:
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.
We are rounding the bend to 
I discovered today that one person’s perception of 
This is the third in our series of kids wanting to come to Kids Are Heroes Day. Cati Grant hails from San Diego, California and she wants to come all the way over to the opposite coast so that she can spread the word about her cause, which just happens to be the cessation of cyber-bullying.
