"Our Kids Care Club is really the buzz around school. So many teachers have come up to me to tell me one of their students is participating and how proud the student is to be part of the club."

Elizabeth Sousa
Co-facilitator, Consolidated School Kids Care Club
New Fairfield, CT

The Consolidated School Kids Care Club started in 2001, but has been under new "management" since September of 2004 with co-chairs Elizabeth Sousa and Maureen Barbour. Their goal is to promote a sense of empathy in children, an understanding for those less fortunate and a spirit of volunteerism. In less than a year the duo has galvanized 87 children from kindergarten to second grade to make a difference in their community. Between 30 and 60 kids attend each meeting. The school has become so enthusiastic and supportive that they have dedicated a large bulletin board in the school lobby where the Club can post project information and report back to the families with pictures and press clippings. Their principal, Jane Harwood, praises the club and its leaders. She says, "I think the club is spectacular because it really makes children attune to the needs of other people. You're never too young to start learning about the needs of others."

The Club has been busy! In October, the Club set the tone of the school year by constructing a Friendship Link. They distributed strips of construction paper of different colors, shapes and sizes to each class. Students were asked to sign their name on a strip, confirming their commitment. When the 300 strips were returned, the Club joined them together and hung it in the school lobby under a sign that reads, "We come in different shapes and colors and are committed to friendship and unity."

Halloween parades followed later that month at neighborhood nursing homes. Decked out in their Halloween costumes, the kids gave each of the elderly residents a decorated pumpkin (donated by a local nurseries). Each group serenaded the other with their favorite songs. Second grader Julia commented, "They were happy and they were smiling. I felt happy."

In November the Club created Holiday Cards for Danbury Hospital's Pediatric Unit. With the New England winter upon them, they reached out to needy families with their Ready for the Cold project. Kids decorated large boxes and made huge snowman posters to hang above them, soliciting families to bring in their gently used coats. As 6-year-old Shannon sorted through the 308 coats collected, she said, "I want to give other people coats to make them really happy." The Salvation Army of Western Connecticut was really delighted to receive the coats for their clients.

Their outreach to the cold and needy continued in December after getting an urgent request for blankets from the Danbury Adult Homeless Shelter. The club created Warm Hugs. It was more than a blanket collection. The facilitators bought fleece blankets from Walmart with the intent to "sell" them to the school families. The club created a flyer entitled "Help A Homeless Person" by purchasing a fleece blanket for $5.50. They explained that the Club would be tracing their hands on construction paper and wrapping them around the rolled blanket. This way, the person would receive both a blanket and a hug from a kid who cared. An order form was placed at the bottom of the flyer. With the positive response from children and families the facilitators felt encouraged to apply to Walmart for a matching grant. The local store manager was very supportive, but the grant had to be approved by the Foundation. Five days before the project date, the store awarded them a $500 grant. The grant enabled the club to purchase 80 winter hats, 122 pairs of gloves and 63 additional blankets. With the 191 blankets "purchased" by the Consolidated School families, the Club was able to donate 254 fleece blankets to the shelter.

The Club will start the New Year by responding to the Tsunami disaster. Children will collect change and donate it to the American Red Cross. The facilitators have mapped out the rest of the year: Kids Care Baby Bags for Haiti in February and Wonderful Earth, Part I and II in March and April. (The kids will assemble and color an 11 page, EPA approved book to be used by the teachers in honor of Earth Day and plant 10 trees ordered from the National Arbor Day Foundation in town.) Their final project, Kids Care Clubs First Aid Kits for Cameroon will be in May, when they will decorate shoeboxes and fill them with first aid items to be sent to Africa. First-grader, Amanda is looking forward to the meetings. She says, "You get to make stuff and it's fun. You can help people and the kids care for people. It's a very kind thing to do!" Her mother, co-facilitator, Maureen says of her daughters' involvement (she has two in the club), "It's something they're proud of, so I think that [serving others] will carry on with them."

Elizabeth reflects on why the club is a success. "Maureen and I have devoted a great amount of time to the Club's projects. It's our teamwork, cooperation, mutual feedback and the children's enthusiasm and hard work that has made the club a huge success."

Kids Care Clubs commends the Consolidated School Kids Care Club and its facilitators for working hard to reach out to the people in their community through their deeds and their donations. They are making good on their promise to friendship and unity by setting their horizon farther than their own town. They are reaching out to those who are "all shapes colors and sizes," including those who live on the other side of the world.

The KUDOS Brand