Kids for a Cause: Barstow Kids Give Back

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Children at Crestline Elementary School in Barstow, CA were extremely eager to raise money to help feed other Barstow kids who may be hungry otherwise. A few weeks ago, elementary students participated in a dance-a-thon in return for pledges and donations totaling $780. 

The school is raising money for United Way, an organization that strives to help children and youth achieve their potential, promote financial stability and independence, and improve peoples' health.

This is the fifth year that Crestline's students have raised money for United Way. According to kindergarten teacher, Kristen Miller, "We were trying to think of a way for our kids to give back to the community. We were looking for something that would mean something to our kids at our school."

The school's fundraiser was inspired after two students and their family lost their home to a fire and received help through United Way.

For more information about United Way, or to make a donation, visit http://liveunited.org/

To support other causes by shopping, visit Uptown Liz. 

Kids for a Cause: Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor's Children Raise Money for Project A.L.S.

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Ben Stiller and wife, Christine Taylor, have always encouraged their children to give back, which recently inspired their eight year old daughter, Ella, to start her own lemonade stand in order to raise money for Project A.L.S. Five year old younger brother, Quinlin, helped with the lemonade stand as well.

The two ended up raising $120 for Project A.L.S., an organization that attempts to recruit the world's finest scientists and clinicians to work together to find the first effective treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

According to Project A.L.S., "ASL is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects adults of all ages. It is closely related to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. It targets large brain cells residing in the brain and along the spinal cord called motor neurons. In ALS, as motor neurons get sick and die, a person progressively loses the ability to move: to walk, speak, swallow, and breathe. ALS is usually fatal within 2-5 years of diagnosis."

Project A.L.S. has already raised $53 million, directing over 82% to research programs. But there is still no cure for this disease, and project A.L.S. could always use more support. 

If these young children were able to help, so can you. For more information or to make a donation, visit http://www.projectals.org/support-us/contribute-now.html.

Kids for a Cause: Over 900 Students Give Back to Community Through Various Projects

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

More than 900 students from Harrison High School in Kennesaw, Georgia participated in the Sixth Annual Community Service Day last Saturday. The students joined with many locals in the effort to make a difference in their own community. 

The students spread out over 30 different projects including visiting nursing homes, landscaping at Harrison High School, park renovations, volunteering at MUST ministries, and holding a pet adoption on the school campus to help the school's animal rescue club, Paws for a Cause. 

The students were not alone in the effort; parents, teachers and bus drivers participated to ensure that the day was a success.

This annual community service day was the idea of Dutch Bickley, a parent-member of Harrison School Council. Besides giving back to the community, they hope to teach their students how to work together and serve others. 

It looks like the students at Harrison High School were able to accomplish these goals set out for them. What can you do to make a difference in your community?

Kids for a Cause: Eighth Graders Volunteer in the Bergenfield Special Improvement District

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

When looking to volunteer, there's no better place to make a difference than in your own community. Three Bergenfield, New Jersey teens recently stepped up to help clean up the decorative planters in the Bergenfield Special Improvement District. 

The young philanthropists, Vincent DeBellis, DJ Haskins and James Hamilton, coordinated a clean-up plan to clean out all of these planters in preparation for spring flower planting. 

According to Hamilton, "If you are going to put time and effort into something, it's great when it benefits everyone in the community."

When looking to volunteer, look around and see what you can do in your own surroundings. Everyone can do something to make their community better. What can you do?

Kids for a Cause: Brooklyn Kids Give Back in South Africa

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Malaak Compton-Rock, avid philanthropist and wife of comedian Chris Rock, has been assisting and funding Bushwick, Brooklyn students to travel to South Africa to help the impoverished and the AIDS orphans.

Compton-Rock is doing more than just assisting the less fortunate in South Africa. You can even say that she is killing two birds with one stone. The kids are sent to South Africa to volunteer in order to help the struggling nation, but what most aren't aware of is that these volunteers are facing their own struggles.

Bushwick, located five miles from Manhattan, is a community of approximately 109,000. According to CNN's Soledad O'Brien, "For years it was a community with a thriving drug trade, severely under-achieving schools, extreme poverty and a staggering rate of teenage pregnancy. It was ravaged by fires and looting during the summer of 1977 and hit hard by the crack epidemic in the 1980s."

The children participating in this program are at-risk youth, meaning they are in greater danger of having babies as teenagers, of never finishing high school or achieving their dreams, or never knowing the world beyond their neighborhood. 

Thirty of these children, ages 12 to 16, were paired with college-aged mentors and brought to South Africa to help with the highest, HIV-infected population in the world. Not only are they making a difference there, but these youth are broadening their horizons and getting a better perspective on their own lives. 

Compton-Rock believes that traveling opens up your life and gives you a sense of confidence. It is her hope that by participating in this program, these kids will rise above the Bushwick stereotypes and statistics, and start to lead positive and fulfilling lives.

To find out how you can help the children of Brooklyn and South Africa, please visit The Angel Rock Project's Web site.

Kids for a Cause: Young Teen Launches her own Charity, If Not You, Who?

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Erica King from Dedham Country Day School seems like an ordinary 13-year-old. She is an active participant in her school and community, playing ice hockey, field hockey and lacrosse. She enjoys spending time with her friends and meeting new people. King is very focused on her goals and having fun while accomplishing them. But this young girl from Massachusetts in not your typical middle schooler; she an extraordinary girl making a difference in the world, one fundraiser at a time. 

In 2008, King launched the charity, If Not You, Who?, which allows people to discover and discuss global and local issues, while finding ways to help.

This wonderful idea was inspired by a gift given to young King: a book consisting of information about different charities. King was immediately intrigued, and did more research more online. She started putting coins in a jar with hopes to collect enough money to be able to make a difference. This immediately followed with potluck dinners and concerts to benefit different charities.

If Not You, Who?supports charities such as Free the Children, The Girl Effect, Orphan Foundation of America, Smile Train, Faces of Children, Snowball Express, Camp No Limits and Dream Far. 

Lead by example like young Erica King and help make a difference in the world we live in. For more information, visit http://www.ifnotyouwhosite.org/

Kids for a Cause: Teens for Jeans

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

Aeropostale's fourth annual Teens for Jeans drive has just ended, but the outcome was phenomenal! In just four weeks, 542,411 pairs of jeans were collected by various participants. After four years, over one million pairs of jeans have been collected from the campaign, which is enough to clothe all the homeless teenagers in the United States and Canada combined!

The campaign gets teens involved by offering an incentive for those who produce the most jeans. This year, the grand prize was $5,000 and a party for the winning school. Other prizes included signed jeans by celebrities, a banner for your school and stylish t-shirts. 

There were many celebrities involved in the Teens for Jeans drive, including Matt Lanter, Keri Hilson, Nikki Blonsky, Nigel Barker, Sara Canning, Shailene Woodley and Jay Sean.  

This year's campaign has ended, but you can always start collecting jeans now to get a head start on next year's competition. For more information about how to participate, or to start a jean drive of your own, visit http://www.dosomething.org/teensforjeans/home

Kids for a Cause: Smith River Elementary School Gives Back

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

The students at Smith River Elementary School are donating their time and effort to do great things. 

The school hosts an annual food drive, and they collected nearly 1,000 food items in just two weeks this year. In order to get the children more enthusiastic about the food drive, there was a competition among K-4 and 5-8 grades to see who could bring in the most food. The incentive was to win an ice cream party, but the children were so wrapped up with giving back that the initial motive wasn’t nearly as important. 

The collected items were given to volunteers at the Smith River United Methodist Church, who helped to distribute the canned foods.

After getting a taste of giving back, the school is now hoping to do even more. The school’s principal wants to have a food pantry stocked at all times of the year in order to give back in the event of a disaster. He claimed that the community is always giving back to them, so they are just doing their party and paying it forward. 

Smith River Elementary School is also starting a shoe drive to help people locally and in Africa. The overflowing amount of shoes that were going to be thrown away are available to local residents for free at the school. The rest of the shoes will be purchased for 20 cents per pound by Thrifty International, an organization that will then donate the shoes to Africa.  

In just a short amount of time, the students at this school have made a huge difference. You, too, can make a difference with very little effort. Do your part and give back to those in need.

To support charitable organizations by shopping, visit Uptown Liz.

Kids for a Cause: Philanthropy Cooked up at George White Elementary

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine 

The Community Service Program at George White Elementary School donated almost 150 new pots and pans to local charitable organizations. 

The students, led by PTA mom, Melissa Pearl, were inspired to give back to their community after seeing their local Albertsons supermarket offer, which gave shoppers one blue reward sticker for every $10 spent. The stickers could then be redeemed, allowing these customers to pay only one cent for Thomas Rosenthal anodized cookware that ranges from $30 to $90. 

They started by having a few friends and family members collect stickers for them, but then realized they could do a lot more if they got the school involved. The families of students at George White Elementary were happy to give back. Overall, they raised more than $8,000 worth of goods and donations.

The students involved, ages nine and up, were excited to participate. They were pleased to see the significant amount of pots and pans piled in the back of trucks, driving off to distribute to families in need. 

The cookware was donated to various charitable foundations, including Toby’s House, the National Council for Jewish Women, Operation Homefront, Military Outreach Ministry and Human Options. 

For more ways to shop for a cause, visit Uptown Liz. 

Kids for a Cause: Students Raise over $2,000 for Fellow Students Experiencing Homelessness

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

A group of seventh and eighth grade students at the Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Ohio came up with a creative and successful way to raise money for fellow students that are currently experiencing homelessness. 

The children decided to design stylish and unique buttons that were to be sold to the school student body and staff members, with proceeds directly donated to Project RISE of the Akron Public Schools.

This group of students helped to raise over $2,000 for Project RISE, which “is committed to helping disadvantage youth improve their self-esteem and academic successes through after school and summer programs.” The money raised through this fundraiser helped to give school supplies for those students experiencing homelessness. 

Students everywhere were very supportive of this good cause and claimed that they were happy to help those less fortunate. Sometimes it can be so simple to make a huge difference in someone's life, and this group of students did just that. For other ways make a difference or to shop for a cause, visit Uptown Liz. 

Kids for a Cause: Nine Year Old Throws Birthday Party for Charitable Cause

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

As Danielle Colburn was nearing her ninth birthday, she decided she wanted to make a difference and do something that most kids her age would never consider. The nine year old wanted to throw a huge birthday party in order to raise money and supplies for the Auburn Area Animal Rescue Foundation.

She approached her parents with the idea, both of whom were shocked and proud of their young daughter’s generosity. Danielle further explained the details she had been imagining. In lieu of presents, guests would be encouraged to donate items to the shelter. And the young girl’s only gifts requested from her parents were dog and cat food, kitty litter, travel cages, chew toys and other similar items.

Danielle’s sacrifice was both admirable and inspiring. For someone so young to be so selfless is extraordinary. One can only hope that this giving act will inspire others to follow Danielle’s lead and give back to a good cause. 

To support animal rescue or other causes by shopping, visit Uptown Liz.

Kids for a Cause: Early Learning Village Gives Back to Soldiers Overseas

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine

The children at Early Learning Village in Frankfort, Kentucky have been recognized for their enthusiasm and efforts to send warm wishes from home to our soldiers serving overseas. 

These patriotic children were encouraged by teachers to give back to our soldiers by gathering supplies to send them care packages. 

The students were more than excited to participate for this good cause. In just one week, the students at Early Learning Village brought in nearly two thousand dollars. 

To recognize their efforts, a special assembly was held at the school for the students. They were surprised when members of the American Legion were invited and Myles Taylor, a soldier who was home on leave, spoke to them about how much their donations will be appreciated. 

There are many organizations that enable you to give back to the United States military. Operation Gratitude is a very popular foundation that works to send care packages containing food, hygiene products, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation to our soldiers. There are a number of jewelry accessories that can be found on our website that donate proceeds to Operation Gratitude. 

To find out more or to support our military by shopping, visit Uptown Liz.

Kids for a Cause: Birthday Party Raises Money to Help AIDS Orphans (Kids Caring 4 Kids)

Written by Marketing Intern Rose Provine         

A few of Chicago’s most giving eighth graders came together and made a difference for hundreds of orphans in Africa. 

Twins, Emily and Cara Mattaliano, and their cousin, Natalie Noland, were inspired after a guest speaker challenged the students to make a difference in children’s lives in Africa at a school assembly.

The three girls decided to throw a combined birthday party, but it was far from ordinary. The invitation suggested making a donation to Kids Caring 4 Kids in lieu of presents. Their party was intended to specifically benefit kids in Africa living with AIDS.

The girls ended up raising $800 dollars from the 50 party attendees. According to Kids Caring for Kids, $800 can:

• Feed 130 kids a nutritious lunch every day for a month at Hope for Life Center, Kenya – a community center built largely with funds from KC4K.
• Provide 80 mosquito bed nets to protect 80 children and their families from malaria, the biggest childhood killer in Africa.
• Provide food, clothing, and school fees for two Kenyan AIDS orphans for a year who live in a dorm built with funds from supporters of KC4K.

You can visit http://www.aids.org to learn more about HIV/AIDs or to make a donation.

To support victims of HIV/AIDS by shopping, go to Uptown Liz.