If you have found time between downpours to take a stroll along the curvy trail at Rockaway, or have been able to enjoy the huge surf there in the past few weeks, you may have noticed that the trail and beach areas are a little bit cleaner than usual. For their first project of the year, Kids 4 Change decided to clean up. Ten children spent time collecting six bags of trash from our beautiful coastline. Ranging in age from 5 to 8, these children are part of local nonprofit Kids 4 Change, which teaches kids that even small actions can make great change. The kids vote on a service to perform in their community, a way to raise money, and a recipient of their hard-earned cash. This project raised more than $135 to be split between Habitat for Humanity and a project in the Philippines through KIVA, a microlending organization.
On February 12, Kids 4 Change teamed up with Ocean Shore School to increase awareness within our community about heart disease. Ocean Shore teachers educated students about how to keep their hearts healthy, and each student designed a Valentine's Day Card to sell. They raised more than $200 on behalf of the HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY ASSOCIATION and CHILDREN'S CARDIOMYOPATHY FOUNDATION, the leading organizations for funding research and supporting families with these life-threatening conditions. Cardiomyopathy is a chronic disease of the heart that can lead to heart failure and/or sudden death in severe cases. Some 600,000 people in the U.S. suffer from it, and one in 100,000 children are diagnosed every year with it. Cardiomyopathy in children can be acquired (e.g., viral infection or cancer chemotherapy) or inherited through one or both parents.
Kids 4 Change is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that runs charitable projects for children throughout the year. Kids 4 Change empowers our children with the knowledge and tools necessary to act on their innate sense of compassion and to become responsible stewards of society and the environment by committing personal time, ideas, and resources to improving the lives of those less fortunate. For more information or to join a project, visit http://www.kids4change.org.
Photos by Holman Photography. Below: Kaiya and Paige. Above: front row, left to right--Kaiya, Nate, Paige, Peter, Lucca, Calvin, Isaac, Hudson, Solia, Keaton, Ely, Sylvana; back row, left to right--Karla Robbins, Catherine Mehrling, Kim Jones, Amy Mayo, Sarah Northrop.
Jody Webster
Founder & President, Kids 4 Change
http://www.kids4change.org
Teaching kids that small, charitable actions can make a big change
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