We are fortunate to have an exceptional group of young individuals comprising our Kidzz Helping Kidzz Advisory Board. Their unwavering commitment to civic leadership is truly remarkable as they actively pursue initiatives aimed at improving the lives of children in need.
Spotlight on Rising Star: Ava, a Youthful Leader Making a Difference
We are thrilled to introduce our July Rising Star, Ava, a remarkable 12-year-old 8th-grader. Ava has been an invaluable asset to our Advisory Board this past year, bringing her exceptional talents and unwavering dedication to serving kids in need through our toy drive and food drive efforts. Ava currently serves as secretary in her chapter of the National Junior Honor Society and showcases her musical prowess by playing the saxophone in both regular and Jazz Band.
Ava is a true athlete, participating in cross country and track at school, and also enjoys rock climbing, biking, and hiking. During those rainy Washington days, Ava finds joy in reading a captivating book or building with Legos. When she envisions her future, she aspires to be an officer in the military or a marine biologist. Ava, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for your amazing civic leadership! It is a sincere honor to have you as a member of our Kidzz Helping Kidzz Advisory Board!
Behind the Scenes: Summer Refresh for Kidzz Helping Kidzz' Toy Collection Boxes
Have you ever wondered what “summer cleaning/organizing” looks like at Kidzz Helping Kidzz headquarters? Well today, our “cleaning” consisted of meticulously checking all 103 of our toy collection boxes to assess which boxes needed to be replaced and which could be reused for our 2024 toy drive.
Toys can be surprisingly heavy when they pile up, and our boxes take a real beating during the holiday season! Toy collection boxes that need to be “retired” are entrusted to our demolition team. This team, comprised of our most energetic members of our Advisory Board, enthusiastically rip the wrapping paper off of the box and flatten it to make room in the dumpster.
A Fresh Look for the 2024 Toy Drive: Unveiling a New Poster Design
Get ready for an entirely new look for our 2024 toy drive, made possible by a generous grant donation from the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island.
We have a fresh new design for our toy drive posters that will adorn our toy collection boxes, and all of the boxes will be wrapped in festive holiday wrapping paper. Our new poster design, which is much easier to read, now features a QR code listing the locations of our boxes throughout the county. We didn't even know about QR codes when our previous toy drive poster was originally created!
Nourishing Communities: Kidzz Helping Kidzz' Impactful Partnership with Bremerton Backpack Brigade
With summer's arrival, our dedicated work packing backpacks with food for the Bremerton Backpack Brigade takes a well-deserved break until next fall. The Kidzz Helping Kidzz Advisory Board members (all boys this time) diligently filled backpacks with kid-friendly food bank donations, including fresh fruit and vegetables, shelf-stable milk, and juice.
Each backpack is numbered to identify the number of family members, allowing Kidzz Helping Kidzz to pack the appropriate amount of food. The backpacks, filled with food pantry donations, will then be delivered to the elementary schools Friday morning, where school staff will discreetly distribute them to the students enrolled in the backpack program.
Each backpack contains enough food for the entire family for the weekend. The students return the backpacks to their school on Mondays, to be picked up and refilled for the following weekend.
The boys from our Advisory Board packed a remarkable 101 backpacks totaling 651 lbs of food!
After packing so many backpacks, the “Kidzz” definitely earned some downtime at the playground.
You're never too old to have fun!
Preparing for the Future: Kidzz Helping Kidzz' Strategic Planning and Community Engagement
The following week, the Advisory Board met for a snack-filled brainstorming session to prepare for our upcoming presentation for the Poulsbo Rotary Club! We fueled our creativity with chips, veggies, fruit, and chocolate chip cookies while crafting our speech.
We also discussed important issues regarding future expansion of our toy drive and food drive programs. We are passionate about continuing to grow our programs and serve even more children in need!
Strengthening Partnerships: Poulsbo Rotary Club's Generous Support for Kidzz Helping Kidzz
A special thank you to the Poulsbo Rotary Club for inviting Kidzz Helping Kidzz to their June 21 meeting!
Ten inspiring youth from our Kidzz Helping Kidzz Advisory Board eagerly attended the Poulsbo Sons of Norway meeting to share our important work.
The Rotary graciously served us a delicious breakfast and expressed interest in helping us with our upcoming toy and food drive. They even gave the “Kidzz” a standing ovation after their presentation!
We are immensely grateful for our partnership with the Poulsbo Rotary Club and their generous support of our toy drive with a $1500 donation.
Join the Movement: Get Involved with Kidzz Helping Kidzz' Toy Drive and Food Drive
We will now take a short pause during the summer to recharge before ramping up for our 2024 toy drive in September. We are deeply grateful for the many volunteers who make our toy drive and food drive so successful.
If you are a kid (or an adult) and would like to lend a hand during our upcoming toy drive, please contact us here or simply Comment below, we would love to hear from you!
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