Canadian Spotlight – Inspirational Charity Group Run By Kids
When my family decided to visit a local charity carnival this past weekend, I had no intention of writing a story about it. In fact, I didn’t even bring our good camera as I figured the iPhone was more than enough to capture a few shots of the kids having fun.
The minute we arrived at the location, I realized very quickly that leaving the camera at home was a huge mistake because something very special was happening.
I didn’t know anything about the event other than the fact that it was for charity and it had the word carnival in it, which was good enough for me. To be honest, when we pulled up to the address and I saw that it was being held on someone’s front lawn instead of at a park, I was kind of shocked.
It took about 3 seconds for the shock to wear off. Once I saw all the kids sitting at their work stations, I knew we were in for something special and it certainly didn’t disappoint!
Luckily, I recognized one of the parent organizers, Pam Dixon, and pestered her for information about what was going on. Here’s what she had to say about the event.
“Two of the girls (one of whom is her daughter) both like doing things, so they decided that they should get a group together of kids and do things together for the community, environment, charities, etc. They called themselves “The Charity Group” and now have 15 kids involved, with 4 others who are interested but not able to make meetings yet.”
The group even have their own blog, which I linked to above and Pam says that “it is run with supervision by one of our charity group members. As you can see from some of his posts, he is pretty great! A few group members and the adult supervisors can post on the blog.”
Back to the charity carnival, the kids had a goal of raising $200 for the Canadian Cancer Society and at last count, I was told that they had raised over $700! It’s no wonder, the place was packed the whole time we were there and the events were amazing! From a puppet show and snow cones to a bake sale and even a Fortune Teller, this carnival was well planned out by the kids.
My Daughter Gets Her Fortune Told
My Fam Enjoying The Puppet Show (Performed By The Kids)
The whole time we were there, I was left shocked in amazement over how these young kids had the awareness and selflessness to want to help others instead of doing things for themselves. It was truly inspiring and even made me look at my own life and what I was doing to make the world a better place.
Clearly the answer was, Not Enough. There’s nothing in it for these kids except the joy of knowing that they are helping others in a time of need and that is the most truly inspiring part of it all.
I know I keep using the world inspired but that’s exactly what happened to me that day. I was inspired. Inspired to look at myself and what I can do for the greater good. Inspired to teach my children the values that these kids have clearly learned from their parents. Inspired to spread the word about wonderful children like the ones involved with this Charity Group. Most importantly, I was inspired to get out there and do something good for someone else.
In a world where a lot of things can go wrong, these kids are a reminder of all the things that are right. Thank You to the Charity Group, for putting on a great event and for inspiring the rest of us to get off our butts and contribute to the world in a meaningful way! You and your parents should all be very proud of yourselves!
Here’s a few more pictures and a video of my kids’ favourite activity from the carnival, where you pop a balloon with a prize written on a piece of paper inside. We scored huge, winning 2 treasure chest toys, a couple tattoos and a delicious tray of chocolate chip muffins (which I ate swiftly)….
The Organizing Committee!
View From The Street
So much fun! Before I left, I asked Pam Dixon if the Charity Group had any other messages to relay and this is what she had to say.
“I think the Charity Group could be done anywhere and the kids are quite excited to hear that other kids have been inspired or motivated by them to do something in their own area. You are never too young to do something (granted you need parent support), but it does not need to be big, you can clean up a park, sing at the senior’s centre, make cards to sell door to door, have a bake sale – all of it shows you are interested in your community and want to make it better and want to make a difference.”
That’s it for this week’s Canadian Spotlight. I hope you took away as much as I did from this experience and I can’t wait to see what the Charity Group has planned for us next!
Cheers!
Wow!! So love this. And yes, before you even ask I’m crying 😉 Happy tears that kids truly are amazing and can inspire us with their sense of hope, selflessness and kindness.
I’m inspired.
Earlier this summer, my sons and a group of their friends held a lemonade stand to raise money for their charity and now they have their sights set on building a school in Africa!
I will read them this post and inspire them, encourage them, that they can and will make a difference in this world.
Thank for sharing this.
That’s incredible Nay! Kids can be very surprising when we let them follow their own path. Good Luck with the school!!
That is so amazing. Good for those kids. Wish we knew about it.
This is so incredibly awesome and wonderful that a group of kids would think to do something like this on their own. How inspiring! Kids like this are the future!
I couldn’t agree more Brandi! I can only hope to teach my kids the values that these parents have!
Aww, what a great post, Chris! Reading this brought a tear to my eye; it is amazing to hear about kids that have such determination to help others. Inspiring is definitely the right word to use!
Thanks Kathryn, I agree about the tear…but don’t tell anyone, okay?
That is lovely and inspiring!
The pictures are great too. Loved seeing your little one getting her fortune told.
Beautiful post…again…very inspiring.
The video of her having her fortune told is even cuter but if I put in every video I took that day there’d be no room for story, haha.
This is as said above truly inspiring, it’s not very often you see kids of such a young age thinking about others. Infact i don’t think i have ever seen or heard of it before, well not without some coaxing from adults and normally being organized by them as well.
This is just truly amazing and well done to the kids for taking their own initiative to make this happen! Big thumbs up from Sweden 🙂
It was very cool and I assure you that the parents were there solely for moral support and muscle, as the kids did 90% of the work on the day. Thanks for visiting from Sweden by the way!
Amazing! We can learn so much from our kids. This post is a nice reminder for all of us to get out and do more.
What an amazing group of kids!! I hope my kids continue on their path of community service like these kids are doing.
Amazing!! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the lovely post. The kids will get a treat out of seeing it. I will forward the link to the group in a few moments.
We appreciate your support. These kids did make all of their parents quite proud.
With school starting, we may slow down a little. Our next meeting will have a great reflection on a wonderful community event and ideas on how to be even better next time!
It was a great event and you parents should be really proud of the amazing kids you’ve raised! I can’t wait to see what they have planned next!
What an amazing opportunity for your children and your family. Simple, yet, very meaningful way to spend the afternoon. Well done!
Wow! This is so inspiring! What a fabulous post and a great opportunity for the kids and your family. Thanks so much for sharing!
This was so great to read – am the fortune teller’s mom and being one of the adult supervisors you really are trying to decide what the ultimate goal is. As much as you want to make money to donate to charity, I personally think the goal is a lot more than that. The goal is for the kids to learn about the process… to run meetings, make interesting posters, unique activities, be responsible to run the activities… there was a whole lot of learning that went on in this process and as a teacher I found the whole thing very interesting. The ultimate goal for me is that these little kids are hopefully encouraging other little kids to do things like this. Your post made me realize we reached more than even little kids and that is truly awesome. We are all thrilled about the outcome and how well the carnival went over. We had no intention of making this an annual thing, but who knows. At our next meeting the kids will vote on what they want to do next and most of the talk has centered around animals, like maybe the bird sanctuary or the humane society. We need something a little lower key as we all go back to school. Thank you for the lovely post, we will be adding the link to our blog and making sure all our members read it. They will be so excited.
I totally agree that the point isn’t about how much money they raise, or even if they are raising money. The creek clean up was great too and I think as long as they are collectively doing something for others, they are doing it right. I’m not sure if others felt the way I did about it but it caught me off guard to see how dedicated they were to making the day work. Kids don’t have personal agendas at that age, you could tell they just really wanted to help out and that was very refreshing. They must have excellent parents to be so socially aware ;D
Please let me know what they decide to do next as I’d love to cover it from the beginning and can hopefully bring out a few more bodies (assuming it’s a fundraising venture).
Cheers!
Wow, that is amazing! Good for those kids. And like you, I don’t do enough either.
I want to get involved in helping out somewhere but I just don’t know where to begin. I do belong to the Kinette club in my town though. So, I do some volunteer work through that.
That is simply awesome! What generous hearts these kids have, but also… what amazing creativity and organization went into this! Wow! Like you said, inspiring on so many levels.
hi I’m Jasmine the forutune teller. I am one of the pepole who made the Charity group. All that was so touching. And acualy were over 800$. The carnival was a huge hit! allthe work we did really paid off ! We got four times our goal. And we do really want to inspire people. After the carnaval I felt great. I am amazed really about how many people came out and donated to our Kids Kancer Karnaval! So I’m happy you guys came out. I hope all of you who came had fun. So long for now
Jasminini
Jasmine, I was genuinely moved by how cool all you kids were. $800 is an amazing total to have raised as well! I hope you all decide to keep doing this together because it is really a great thing! If you need any help next time, you guys just have to ask and I’ll make sure you have a packed house!
Keep up the great work and keep on shining!
PS – My kids love the Great Jasminini!
Now *that’s* a way for kids to learn real values – compassion, empathy, kindness and caring towards others. What a great example they are! And, I loved the reply by Jasmine… how sweet!