“Kids Helping Kids was a foundational part of my high school life and helped me improve crucial skills that I use to this day. As a member of the first ever Youth Advisory Council, I was able to develop crucial administrative, planning, and public speaking skills that have played important roles in my undergraduate life. As co-director of Honors Across State Borders, an alternative spring break group focused on service addressing housing insecurity, I had to utilize all the skills KHK had taught me to ensure our trip to Roanoke, Virginia with 52 participants was both successful and safe. Similarly, as News Editor of The Daily Campus, I was called to regularly lead meetings and ensure our reporting was accurate, timely, and well-written. Without KHK, I do not believe I would have thrived in these positions as I had. Now, as I prepare to attend Harvard Law School in the fall, I am excited to use the skills first developed by KHK in a new context.”
“I learned that age is no barrier between the self and opportunities we can achieve. When we take a moment and take a step back, we can finally see the resources at hand. Learning to embrace these opportunities involves risk taking; when I learned to take risks and apply my own unique qualities – whether it be helping out at KHK events or creating one myself – I think a key skill began to develop. Now that I am in college, I can further apply it. KHK does the annual pumpkin bread sale. While I, of course, enjoyed baking and packaging the breads, I wanted to do more. As a result, I decided to sell bread and recruit volunteers on my high school campus. I beneficially learned that there you can always go a step further. In both the context of the event and in all walks of life, I believe creativity and dedication are two key leadership skills. Through KHK, I was not only able to discover this ability, but I beneficially applied it to my own personal life.”
“In addition to the annual pumpkin bread sale, I really enjoyed the dress boutique. No matter what somebody enjoys doing –helping girls find their dresses, doing makeup, marketing the event, or simply setting up – there is an opportunity for everyone. Given that I was in middle school – a time when I could not wait until my own prom – this event was that much more exciting. Seeing the look of utter pleasure and excitement in these girls’ eyes was and will always be so memorable.”
“Completing an internship with Kids Helping Kids in the summer of my sophomore year of college was a huge determining factor in my pursuit of a career helping others. As an intern, I was involved in all aspects of the organization from grant writing, to project planning, fundraising, and networking; giving me a clear view into the ins and outs of running a non-profit. Working alongside the KHK student ambassadors showed me the impact of community-involved facilitation, something that I still use in my research today. After graduating from the University of Richmond with a degree in Psychology, I have held positions at Yale University, Stanford University, and New York University studying human development from birth up until college-aged. As someone who has a keen interest in studying the impacts of early-life stress on adolescent development, I know all too well the detrimental developmental experiences that many children in Connecticut and across our country face. Having programs like Kids Helping Kids helps mitigate many of these factors, as well as brings community and togetherness in a time where it is needed most. My involvement with KHK has further strengthened my belief that our children are our future, and I am reminded of this every day by working alongside such incredible individuals turning their passion into action to help others in their communities.”
“There are many skills that I’ve acquired and strengthened through KHK that have helped me navigate college. The first few that come to mind would be proactive thinking and attitude as well as confidence. College affords you with a lot of freedom, but can be a bit overwhelming and daunting. With so many choices to make and things to learn, it could be hard to find which doors to walk through that would lead you down the path of achieving your dreams. Because of the skills I was able to cultivate through KHK, I entered college with a sure sense of self and proactive ways to turn my dreams into action.”
“One of my earliest memories of KHK was helping sort all the toy and gift donations at the Salvation Army in the week leading up to our big Gift of Giving event. For hours after school, my sister and I would join a group of people to sort and organize all the donations received, and it’s one of my favorite memories for several reasons. Despite the long days of work and school, there was always a thrum of joy in the air for everyone. There would be Christmas music playing in the background, lots of chatter, and sometimes even pizza. As a small child who loved Christmas, it brought me so much joy just being able to help others celebrate one of my favorite holidays. By the end of the project, my feet were so sore, but my heart was so full.”
“Recently, I’ve been volunteering with a few organizations that tackle food injustices within the DMV community. A majority of the time, I volunteer with organizations called Miriams’s Kitchen and Aracadia’s Farm. Miriam’s Kitchen uses a comprehensive approach to aid in eliminating the housing crisis in DC through the use of some of the most delicious, healthy, made-from-scratch meals to gather and connect those who are homeless with personalized social services that assist them with rebuilding their lives. Arcadia’s farm is a farm that is dedicated to increasing access to healthy, farm-fresh food in underserved neighborhoods while also promoting and educating people about sustainable and environmentally conscious farming methods.”
“I learned many leadership skills during my years as a volunteer for Kids Helping Kids. These skills include; teamwork, communication, public speaking, helping others, and thinking outside of the box. All these skills have helped me evolve not only as a person but as a student in college as well. KHK taught me to browse out of my comfort zone and expand my imagination. Due to the skills I have developed at KHK, I have no issue presenting in front of my classmates, stopping to converse with people while walking on campus, and sharing my ideas with others. These leadership skills benefit me in my everyday life to become the best version of myself. I have been motivated by seeing others’ leadership roles and becoming inspired to be a leader myself. For example, KHK taught me that the most important characteristic one can endure, is kindness. With kindness, anyone can be and do anything they want. I use kindness in my personal life to make friends, stay positive when college can get stressful, and make other people’s days brighter.”
“My favorite KHK project is the annual Thanksgiving Bread Bake. This event not only motivated me to help out the community, but it also gave me an opportunity to build relationships with others, share my ideas, and have fun with others. I not only created the best friendships from this event, but it also caused me to learn the importance of the KHK organization, which is giving back.”
“I am part of Greek Life at Sacred Heart University. Being in a sorority has offered me plenty of opportunities to become a leader and give back to others. I currently use my leadership ideas learned from KHK in my sorority life. I participate in community service in college by hosting events for my sorority’s philanthropy which is Breast cancer education and awareness. We host events such as Dodge For a Cure, which is a dodgeball game that my school’s Greek life organizations participate in to raise money for Breast cancer survivors and patients. We have plenty of events throughout the year that students and people participate in for the good cause.”
“Being part of KHK really helped to solidify my communication, collaboration, and networking skills. KHK events such as the annual Bread Bake provided me with opportunities to learn how to work with both my peers and adults from an early age, which helped me easily transition into university-level discussions and dialogues. I was even able to learn customer service and problem-solving skills through KHK at the Gift of Giving events. These skills were an incredible asset to me as I was applying to college, and they continue to aid me during job interviews. My favorite KHK event has always been the Bread Bake. I really enjoy seeing how the community comes together every year to bake and sell as much as possible for such a great cause, and it’s something I’m grateful to have been a part of. Currently, I’m in the Global Scholars program at American University where I mentor incoming students, and I plan on doing some more volunteering throughout this coming semester. In the future, I would love to have an alumni network, like a LinkedIn or a Facebook group, to facilitate connections between alumni and potential job/internship opportunities.”
“The main leadership skill KHK taught me as a kid was confidence in myself and what I have to say. KHK pushed me to talk to so many different people even when I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with it. Confidence in myself and my ability to talk to others has benefited me so much in college. I am now able to go to events and network and talk to others in order to further my career.”
“My favorite KHK memory is helping sort out the Gift of Giving stuff every year. My whole family would go almost every day and I just remember having so much fun seeing all the stuff and doing it with friends and family!”
“Yes, I am currently a Media Relations Representative at my college helping with the social media platforms for a nonprofit. I am currently raising money and volunteering my time for the non profit UDance at my school. We raise money every year for local kids with cancer and then have a 12 hour dance marathon at the end of the year.”
“KHK helped me become more confident, develop my creative thinking skills, and learn how to be a self-starter. KHK taught me how to take initiative and how to think creatively. At UChicago, I was treasurer for my house, which is a community of around 120 people within a dorm. In the role, I had to come up with new ways to fundraise so that we could have a budget to plan fun events for the house.”
“My sister and I started a creative writing class for elementary and middle school students which we taught at the Boys and Girls Club and over Zoom during Covid. My favorite memory was when we did a fantasy quest exercise, in which we took students on a mythical journey that we planned so that they could learn how to write their own fantasy stories. It was deeply meaningful to see the impact that we had on the kids, as one student’s mother came up to us and told us how much her daughter looked forward to the class.”
“KHK has pushed me to take lead in situations that call for a leader. I have felt more confident to articulating my opinions in class, taking lead in projects, and in myself overall. This skill has lead me to be more confident in my self and come to terms with the fact that my opinion matters.”
“My favorite memory is when I was helping a little girl search for a dress during the HWCDB. She was having trouble deciding on a dress, but once her eyes fell upon a princess dress, her entire face lit up. I am extremely grateful to have been apart of that moment, and just felt such an overwhelming sense of appreciativeness that I had the opportunity to take part in someone else’s happiness.”
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