Charity starts at home!!

As you know, I leave for Tanzania on Saturday. Surprisingly I came home from my last trip (hopefully) to REI to find a box from Pennsylvania. As I opened it, my eyes just got bigger and bigger. There were two very beautiful cookbooks, one for us and one for Tloma, cards for the kids in Karatu and some quote of the kids along with the commercials they made to sell the books.

It nearly took all my energy and more to stop the tears from rolling out of my eyes. Here at 37 (in my mind 21) years of age, I figured out what true fundraising and charity is, but the kids at the DENVER Primary School, figured in out a few decades before I ever knew what charity is!

Some of the kids said the following (there are more and we will post them on the website)

• It made us work harder because we knew the money was going to a good cause and we wanted to help. Plus we were helping kids like us! (the whole basis for kid4kids360) We can relate to them. Alexa, age 9

• This project tool a lot of teamwork and effort. I enjoyed this project not only because it was fun, by because it is helping a school in need. I am also proud of myself and the other kids for their hard work and time. Adella, age 9

• This was meaningful to me because I knew it was going to help people just like us. Also it could make a difference in someone’s life. Summer, age 10

• It was just amazing to me as a kid, knowing that I could help kids across the world, just by selling cookbooks. Emily, age 11.

Okay, so I am sobbing for joy!! It is so nice to see kids getting the sheer concept of what we are trying to promote at Kids4Kids360 and A School Bell Rings. Kudos to the kids, Amy, student council and Pia for seeing this through and for letting me be the messenger to take this over.

As I climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, it will be this feeling that shall help me summit and conquer as these kids did. I will be leaving a flag for both of our programs ASBR and K4K360 at the top (if I make it). Children and their education shall be at the TOP!!