In 2002 while just entering the NFL Levar founded a non-profit organization called “Fisher of Men”, which provide resources and opportunities for youth inspiring good decision-making and boosting self confidence. Levar is currently embarking on his brand new ”Believe Again 2010″ tour that will have him traveling the country speaking to kids of all ages.  In addition to his usual message he will be telling stories of the kids on the Kids Are Heroes web site and what they have accomplished.  This fits right in with his confidence building speech.  He will be telling kids all over the country that they too can affect change by emulating the children on our site.  I am so excited about this relationship as this is the kind of boost we need.  But I wouldn’t enter in an arrangement like this just because someone wanted me to.  For me the final test before we sealed this partnership was that Levar had to sincerely believe in what we are doing.  During one of our conversations as he was recounting some of the heroes’ stories back to me I could tell he was full of excitement and anticipation.  I sat back and listened as all of a sudden paused and said, “This can change the world!”  That’s when I knew this partnership would work.

When I first watched a tape of Levar speaking, I immediately sought out our local Toastmasters club as he made me realize how much improvement I need to gain as an accomplished speaker.  For forty minutes he was fluid and eloquent, with no need for notes of any kind.  And when I heard the speech he gave to a large group of kids I was even more excited. He engaged them and they hung on his every word.  They laughed and giggled at his jokes.  He is intelligent, funny and very pleasant to listen to.  He was able to keep their undying attention for the entire time.

If you are an educator I would highly suggest calling Levar and having him speak at your school or kids’ group.  He can be reached through his web site.  I look forward to witnessing the fruit that is borne from this relationship, and I just can’t wait to see what happens next!

The weather has been bitterly cold around these parts the last few weeks. About a week ago, Mischa spied a homeless woman outside, legs exposed, who appeared to be suffering from the cold. Mischa thought, “I wish there was something I could give her!” Not wanting to be faced with that circumstance again, Mischa went off to the thrift store and bought some sleeping bags and blankets to carry around in the car with her, in case she became faced with that same situation in the future.

Today was Mischa’s day to go to the library.  As she was leaving she discovered three homeless people keeping warm inside. She has noticed them in the past as they come in to use the facilities and get out of the cold for a couple of hours. Mischa asked “Does anyone need an extra blanket or a sleeping bag?” All three said yes. So Mischa went out to the car and brought two blankets and a sleeping bag back to these people who were very grateful.

When Mischa relayed the story to me she told me that she didn’t know if it was right to feel this way but she felt really good after having done it. I told her that she had every right to feel good. Why wouldn’t you get a sense of warmth inside if you knew that you had just really helped someone? I’ve always felt that people should revel in that feeling because it will make them want to do it again.

So here is such a simple idea that can have a great impact on someone else’s life.  Mischa pays $2.00 for “gently used” sleeping bags and blankets at the local thrift store. Keep them in your car and you never know when your day will be brightened by helping someone else.

So why the change for me? Why do I do it? The answer is because it changed my life for the much better.  I remember the first time I brought my dog Charlie to a nursing home and he brought an ear-to-ear grin to a woman who had been paralyzed in an auto accident since 1984.  The warmth that immediately surged through my body was indescribable.  The pride I took in my best friend Charlie was unmatched.  Do I get something out of volunteering? The answer is “every time I do it”.

So what about Kids Are Heroes? You might be asking “what can Kids Are Heroes offer my children?  The stories are nice and heartwarming, but what do my kids gain from joining in?”

The answer is a better life. A much better life, regardless of socio-economic status.  I came to realize this gradually as I heard back from featured children’s parents, and as I watch my own daughter develop.  J.T. Robertson is one of our heroes from New York. His mom won’t mind (I hope) that I repeat the gist of a conversation we had recently by phone.  She related to me that she lives in one of the poorest counties in New York.  Kids in her neighborhood are overlooked because the general feeling is there is no hope for them.  For a number of years now, J.T. has been raising funds so that disadvantaged children can enjoy something he treasures — a train ride on the Arcade and Attica Railroad.  This event takes he and his mom all year to plan. That is not all thirteen-year-old J.T is involved with. He brings toys to the hospital and plays with the children, among other things.  (See J.T.’s profile on the Kids Are Heroes site.)  He speaks at events and one of his speaking points is the Kids Are Heroes web site.  It’s not “look at the recognition I got” — it’s more ”look at what you can do and how it can affect others.”  His mom flat out told me that Kids Are Heroes is a great opportunity for kids in this situation to rise above the statistics that plague them.  His efforts got him on Good Morning America.  As a child when you see the results that you are really helping others, it gives you the same feeling as if you were an adult — it’s a really good feeling that boosts self-confidence and develops leadership skills.

Update: 6/29/10 Want another selfish reason for your kids to become involved in KAH? So they can participate in events like this!

When my daughter MaryMargaret started our web site she was just nine years old.  She is now eleven.  She has been involved in many volunteering efforts in those two years, and she would join us at the nursing homes before that.  She has learned to think outside of herself which is hard to do for many kids.  She has gained respect and empathy for older people, and kids who are very sick.  Her confidence has risen immeasurably due to the speeches she is asked to give about what she does.  She has just completed a year-long effort to raise money to buy MP3 players for kids at the Children’s Hospital in D.C.  When she was just six, she spent a harrowing ten days there and thought that the gift of music will help that time go easier for these unfortunate kids.  She recently purchased 250 MP3 players and delivered them to two area youth hospitals.  What a sense of accomplishment she felt as it took her over a year to raise the money!  Her latest project is called “Black to Blue”.  She and two friends plan to raise $5000 to help clean the animals affected by the Gulf oil spill.  The kids have planning meetings where tasks get delegated.  This is encouraging teamwork.  They plan to visit radio stations to enlist help.  This will also boost their self confidence.  There is a lot of research that needs to be done for this project.  To be effective all three of the kids will have to know the facts.  All three are very passionate about doing this which will also show in their presentations.  There are just so many life lessons they will learn because of this project.

So what does this all mean?  Am I in this for the “wrong” reasons?  Am I only passionate about Kids Are Heroes because of the benefit to my daughter?  I would be lying if I said that part didn’t matter to me. Of course I am happy that her efforts will help her develop into a well rounded, socially responsible citizen.  But I can’t ignore the other perks.  One of them I just mentioned — it’s very heartening to know something we created has touched a boy like J.T. in such a way that he wants to tell others about it.  I enjoy every opportunity we get in meeting the other wonderful kids and their families who are involved with KAH.  I get that same warmth I described earlier when my daughter brings smiles to cancer-stricken children by bringing them Webkinz she paid for from the donations she collected.  I get warm feelings every day when people encourage what we are doing. I get a sense of hope dreaming about the global effect we will have some day.

So shouldn’t volunteering be a thankless activity?  Shouldn’t we just do it without wanting anything in return?  Maybe that works for some people, but not for me. As I have said before, I’m not that nice of a person.

Wow. What a great question. It’s not as if I haven’t thought about it, it’s just that noone has ever asked me that question before.  I know that when you write things down more ideas come flowing out, so I decided to write a blog post about it.

Kids Are Heroes began in March of 2008, so we are just finishing up our second year.  During that time we have featured close to 100 kids, had two Kids Are Heroes Days and been on Virgin Atlantic planes for one month, thanks to Sir Richard Branson.  We have also created our first major project where we plan to involve kids from all over.  I am happy with our progress, especially since we have become involved with social media.  But at the moment we are still very small with big plans.

It is hard to develop exact timetables, especially when I know that there are so many unknowns.  A lot of what we do will depend on what kind of financial help we can get.  We are lucky to have a few business partners who support us but I would sure love to get a bunch more. :)  Having said that plans are meant to be flexible, so let me at least speak to what we would like to do.

• Drill our first well with the help of kids out there who don’t have their own project.  We still want to encourage kids to follow their own passions, but also want to offer an alternative.  This will be done through Project KAH2O.
• Develop other projects so kids can select among them.
• Secure our 501c3 status.
• Finish our business plan (will it ever be finished?).
• Provide funding for more kids to attend Kids Are Heroes Day in October.
• Feature at least 150 more kids.
• Start to provide web site development to help jump-start kids’ projects.
• Develop materials that can be sent to schools. This will include a video (already produced) explaining what we do at Kids Are Heroes along with added resources.
• Achieve mentions in several national media outlets.
• Start to travel the country to spead the word.

We have felt from the beginning that Kids Are Heroes is something that works in every community and hope it will eventually become a household word.  Just the other night my 11-year-old daughter MaryMargaret received an email from a 12-year-old girl named Lily. She is just getting started in her project to “help the world in its desperate struggle to stop the pollution and clean up our mess.”  She noted that MaryMargaret “had some experience” and could she “give me some advice”.  This is another role we really hope to develop — to help nurture kids’ ideas and help them maintain their focus so they can follow through with their projects. You bet we are following up with Lily and watching her progress.

So, I welcome the next year and hope we can indeed accomplish many of those things.  One thing I am sure of, we will certainly be writing about it along the way!

I’ve always been of the sort to try new things, and that is the way I believe we must effect our fund raising.  Thankfully, I have had people approach me with their unique ideas.  Our kids have inspired them so much that they want to help.  Mary Kate of Mary Kate McKenna Photography approached us last week about wanting to do a fund raiser for us.  She plans to take holiday pictures at an outdoor location for two days this coming weekend.  She is offering a 15-minute session and your choice of two hi-res pictures for just $40.00, and the entire disk can be purchased for an additional $30.  Families like ours simply cannot normally afford a photographer of her caliber, but you know we signed ourselves up for a slot!  It is a great value and half the proceeds will go to Kids Are Heroes.  We are so thankful for that.  (As of this writing there are still a few slots available – if interested click here.)  Now my head is spinning to see how I can tie in other similar services.  This is a win-win situation as it is simply good business for Mary Kate to do this. UPDATE -11/18/09: Mary Kate raised a grand total of $890.00 for us during this event!! Thanks SO MUCH!!!

A Twitter friend who has also been following our progress for quite some time now has also come up with a different plan to help us financially.  Zephora Haddon is a social entrepreneur who has extended a very generous offer to us.  She owns a company called “Amber Alert Registry”.  For every family that signs up and selects our organization as the beneficiary (it will be evident how to do that on her web site), her company will donate $5.00 to us on a quarterly basis.  I have also been watching her progress at the same time and she is doing great things with her organization.  Those numbers can add up to a significant revenue stream for us as time progresses.  To explain what Zephora’s company does, I will use her own words:  “Amber Alert Registry is a secure online database that captures key information on children for parents to be empowered to disseminate the information in an emergency – whether your child goes missing, has a medical emergency, or legal or personal information needs to be on hand for caregivers and parents.  We support parents living without fear, but with tools to protect their family and assist law enforcement from anywhere in the world. We have babies to university students registered, and new schools signing up every day.“  So please check it out and if you do sign up your family kindly select Kids Are Heroes as your charity of choice.  Thanks so much, Zephora!!

We also plan to sell Kids Are Heroes branded items in our store to help offset costs. Currently we do have wrist bands and piggy banks available. (Great stocking stuffers!!)

UPDATE - 11/09/09: As a response to this post I was contacted by Christy Mossburg who just happens to be the mom of our very own Mandy Mossburg.  (See Mandy’s Kids Are Heroes bio here.)  Christy is also an Arbonne consultant.  For the unaware, Arbonne makes all kinds of skin products for women.  They likely do more than that, but you probably already know that too.  For the entire month of November, Christy will give 100% of her commissions for all sales if you purchase from her web site, provided you put the letters “KAH” in the middle name. Even if you have trouble ordering from the site itself, you may contact Christy directly and order through her. If you mention Kids Are Heroes then she will still donate all her commissions to us as long as it is done by the end of the month!  This couldn’t come at a better time since the holidays are coming up.  So you can get your shopping done and know that you have helped a charity at the same time.  Thanks Christy!!

I would be interested in hearing any other different ideas you might have.  If you have a business that wants to help us in some way, we will be glad promote you in our Businesses section as we have others.  We have seen first hand how we have affected people, both kids and adults alike.  We are changing people’s lives by opening up a whole new world of philanthropy to people who may have never discovered it.  With your help, we can continue to do that. Oh, and if you would like to chip in to the cause, you can do that here. Thank you.