"Being a club facilitator has not only been a joyful experience but also a learning curve. I've gone from "uptight, let's do it right" to "we can have fun, and get the job done." We enjoy a casual atmosphere. Most of all, I have been delighted by the children's generous spirit." 
Jacqueline Fischer, Facilitator
West Heights Caring Kids Care Club
Mission, BC, Canada

The West Heights Caring Kids Care Club, in Mission, British Columbia, Canada, was started by Jacqueline Fisher, after she read and was inspired by the book Me to We by Marc and Craig Kielburger.  She checked out the Kids Care Clubs website  and decided to organize a Kids Care Club at her elementary school as a way to start teaching children the joy of giving, including her own six children which range in age from 10 months to 12 years.  

The staff and administration of West Heights are very supportive. To help the Club financially, they held  a treasure box raffle to contribute all that was needed for the projects and to cover future projects. The Club is truly grateful for their support. West Heights Elementary is a very community-oriented school and the Club now provides more opportunities for families to show their generosity. Many parents help little hands with the club activities.

The club is open to all. Eleven to fifteen children attend the meetings regularly. They start their meetings by discussing the issue (often in regards to poverty), and then they do a project that relates to it. The projects range from small local acts of cheer to more elaborate efforts to help children in third world countries.

Preparing Hygiene and School Kits for Refugees

The club members learned why people live in refugee camps and what the conditions are like in camps through a picture presentation. To make the project more realistic, they constructed a cloth tent and filled it with some items that might be found inside the tents and used by refugees. Club members then collected and assembled Hygiene and School Kits to send overseas.  The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) would distribute the kits for them. The Club delivered the kits to a local MCC thrift store. These kits were truly appreciated by the recipients.

A favorite project for overseas complimented the communities MultiCultural Festival. Members of the club created decorations and cut out dresses that were later sewed by adults for girls in an orphanage in Africa. When the club saw the finished dresses they were thrilled.

Holidays provide much of the framework for West Heights Caring Kids Care Club activities. The kids are creative. They celebrate and have fun while they learn.

On Halloween- The Club reached out to the elderly by making Halloween bookmarks and placemats for local care homes. They delivered them in their costumes and sang Halloween songs at the home. The children donated much of their Halloween candy to the homeless.  They also used the extra candy to stuff stockings and put in Christmas Crackers to be sold at the Christmas Fair.

Remembrance Day-Christmas Cards for Soldiers

The kids watched a DVD presentation of current pictures of Canadian Soldiers that contained quotes about the sacrifices they make. The Club discussed what they saw and recalled the sacrifices that soldiers in the past have made.

Everyone wrote a personal thank you letter and made at least one beautiful Christmas card for soldiers in Afghanistan along with a picture of the Club. The children also created a thank you poster to be presented at the Remembrance Day assembly to the Royal Canadian Legion. One club member commented, "It made me feel sad that the soldiers have to be away from their family." 

Continuing to give to those at home and abroad, twenty Kids Care Clubs Holiday Hope Chests were assembled for Operation Christmas Child. The Club also made simple crafts to sell at the Christmas Fair. The proceeds from the sale of these items went to purchasing mosquito netting for people in third world countries.

Socks, Gloves and Scarves for the Homeless

What would it be like to be homeless? The children shared their experiences of encounters with homeless in their community. They collected socks and gloves to go in special parcels for the homeless. They made the scarves themselves from fleece fabric. They assembled lunches, made "Christmas Cracker" crafts, and wrote personal cards and letters. Items were placed in white plastic bags that were decorated with permanent markers and ribbon. The Club hoped to help keep those without homes warm inside and out during the winter.

Literacy Celebrations -- Book Collection and Reading to Others

Books were collected and sorted for local charities and donated to the Reading Tree, and a school in Africa. During Literacy Month, club members read books to the Kindergarten class and wrote their own storybook about being a caring hero. Each child illustrated a few pages of the book that was later presented to an early childhood program. "I was excited that kids in Africa could read these really good books!" said a West Heights Caring Kids Care Club member

Valentine's Day-Thank You to Firefighters

Community help and service was discussed and the children decided that they wanted to thank their firefighters with Valentines and a chocolate treat.

They melted chocolate in the school kitchen (microwave) and created delicious treats. They organized three rotating groups to complete the project, Group 1 designed Valentines Thank You cards,  Group 2 made the chocolates and Group 3 assembled the chocolates into disposable plastic cups that they wrapped with cellophane and tied with a bow. The firefighters (all 50 of them!) were delighted with this surprise and sent back coloring books, stickers, pencils and pins for the club.

"Random Acts of Kindness" Week Contest and Pass-Along Kindness Cards

The West Heights Caring Kids Care Club discussed how one child can start "random acts of kindness" and what it can become. They shared ideas about acts of kindness that they could perform and set up a "Random Acts of Kindness" week at their school. Club members made posters for the school encouraging kindness. The children divided up and did presentations in each class. They also gave out handmade "pass-along kindness cards" for keeping track of one's act of kindness. The winning class did 700 acts of kindness during that week!

Of their Easter Project-Easter Baskets for Pediatric Patients that the Club assembled, one member said, "I would love getting the baskets we made!" 

These are only some of the many projects the West Heights Caring Kids Care Club accomplished during the 2008-2009 school year. As the school year comes to a close, they are still not finished.  The members are asking each class for leftover school supplies to ship to children in Haiti.

Kids Care Clubs commends this club for the extensive outreach they have done locally and especially globally in nine short months.

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