"Through the Kids Care Clubs website we've gained access to information and resources that we matched with lots of energy to encourage new members, plan events and spread the word about Kids Care Clubs."

Kathleen Greenwell, Facilitator, Wildes Corner Kids Care Club

The WILDES CORNER KIDS CARE CLUB in Warwick, Rhode Island was started by five energetic neighborhood children and facilitator Kathleen Greenwell in 2007 with neighborhood clean-ups and community service projects.  When they discovered the Kids Care Clubs website they decided to make it official and register as a Kids Care Club.

Over the last year, Wildes Corner Kids Care Club has completed three neighborhood clean-ups.  Their first project involved a clean up of a meeting area at the end of their street they called the “climbing tree”.  Debris and leaves in the area created a real eyesore.  The children got to work and bagged 35 bags of leaves and sent them off to the local compost center.  They had such a great time that they soon volunteered to work at two clean ups at their elementary school.

The next project began when a middle school teacher mentioned to some of the Club members that most of the students at her school had no reading books in their homes.  The Club got right to work planning a summer book drive. They used resources, fact sheets and Compassion Education stories from the Kids Care Clubs website to learn about the importance of reading and owning books.  They donated four large boxes of gently used children’s books to the school with the premise that children were allowed to bring the books home to keep as their own and share additional books with siblings.  

Thank you letters received from teachers and students encouraged the kids to continue their summer book drive.  It is now a continuous all year-round drive. By the beginning of October, Wildes Care Kids Club had collected an additional 300 books to donate.  The book drive program never stops exciting the children. Britney, a sixth grader, said “It was fun to do the book drive and know that you were giving something to someone that they didn’t have before.”

The Club was thrilled to receive a Kids Care Week 2008 mini-grant thanks to Kids Care Clubs' premier partner, Quaker.  Using the "Party Pals" theme, the Club decided to create School Party Pal Packages for the middle school, that had received the books, after they learned that the school also had a great need for basic school supplies. The teacher told them that she often purchased supplies for her students with her own money.  The Club was pretty shocked to learn that students in neighboring schools could not afford supplies.

The Wildes Corner Kids Care Club planned to provide two notebooks, some folders, pencils and erasers.  The Club was able to purchase backpacks on sale and fill them with four times the amount of supplies they had originally anticipated purchasing.  They were able to provide two other classrooms at another school with backpacks and supplies.  On a Friday night, the Club worked hard, in assembly line fashion, to assemble the “School Party Pal Packages”.  “We collected pencils, crayons, markers – we had a big list, but I had fun packing everything for the kids,”  commented Hannah, a third grader.

For Veterans Day, the Club plans to make cards to send to veterans.  They will use the resources found in the Kids Care Clubs Veterans Day and Operation Kids Care projects to discuss the the day, as well as the needs of our troops and veterans. 

They have created a new project for December -- Movie Night Packages.  The economic downturn is affecting many local families.  This will be a fun project to give to famillies a "movie night."  The packages will be complete with popcorn, drinks and "The Incredibles" DVD and Quaker Chewy Bars, (available through Kids Care Clubs).  

The School Party Pal Packages were a great thrill for the Club to make because they were able to increase their outreach to many students in need.  Kathleen says it has been a great experience working with the Wildes Corner Kids Care Club members.  She says, "Working together on the projects brings the children closer together. It is wonderful to see their excitement and enjoyment in helping other people. They are always eager to do more!” 

Congratulations to our busy Club in Rhode Island!

Kids Care Clubs is pleased to be joined by Quaker in providing special recognition for the Club of the Month. Members of the Wildes Corner Kids Care Club will receive a special gift directly from Quaker to share with their families and friends.