HOMES FOR THE HOLIDAYS:

NATIONAL TASK FORCE OF CHILDREN

TEAM UP TO REBUILD THE GULF

Aspiring to Raise Millions

As the holiday season approaches, most kids are thinking about what they’d like to receive for Christmas-- making up lists and checking them twice. For eight children from across the nation, thoughts are swirling around about what they’d like to give for Christmas—making up plans and checking their order forms.

They refer to themselves as “The Random Kid National Task Force to Rebuild the Gulf”. They are an unlikely group of children. They range in ages from 9 -14, and come from diverse backgrounds originating from locations across the nation. They are bonded together by two things-- RandomKid, a nonprofit that was born out of the hurricane relief efforts of one of the group’s 11 year-old members, and their raw determination to rebuild what was lost in the hurricanes of 2005.

Two of the group’s other members, Tonisha and Tiron, live on location, in Slidell Louisiana, one of the hardest hit areas. Having received the first Habitat for Humanity home in their small town, they joined the group in order to have the opportunity to pay it forward to the roughly 600 families still on waiting lists for homes in their community. Attending a makeshift school made up of double-wide trailers on another school's campus, they watch, dissatisfied, as a full third of their classmates return home to more trailers--FEMA trailers.

Organized through emails and conference calls, they have BIG plans to make a meaningful dent in the lingering devastation. In a holiday surprise slated for mid-December, they will announce, to hundreds of young hurricane survivors, eager for signs of hope, that their task force has raised nearly $25,000 from Target, Toys " R " Us, and Office Depot, for all kinds of holiday surprises-- from gift cards, to school supplies, to a giant-sized teddy bear.

And those are only the stocking-stuffers.

The prized gift with the biggest bow under the tree is this: A promise to rebuild the homes. Their promise comes in the form of “carabiners”-- the aluminum hooks that mountain climbers use for their ropes. Attached to each of the task force’s home-made holiday cards for the children will be carabiners that are shaped like houses, a product designed and marketed by the task force. They come in five colors, and have a different letter on each of the chimneys that together spell out “H” “O” “M” “E” “S”. The children are selling them on their website (www.randomkid.org). Net proceeds from the sales of these items will go to Habitat for Humanity to build homes in the gulf, and to supporting the efforts of these children through their nonprofit.

"This is a testament to what children can do." said Ken Meinert, Senior Vice President of Habitat's Operation Home Delivery campaign to rebuild the gulf. "Habitat is honored to be a recipient of their hard work and generosity." Currently, 40,000 families are eligible for Habitat for Humanity homes in the gulf as a result of the 2005 hurricanes. At $75,000 a home, it will take 3 billion dollars to fill the order.

The children are not intimidated by the scope of the need. They take pride in every stride that their task force has been able to achieve. Looking back on what they have accomplished so far, and other big plans they have in the works, one task force member reflected, "I feel like a hero."

One carabiner at a time, this task force plans to begin their ascent up this ‘mountain’ of need, eager to reach the place where homes once again line the streets on this corner of our nation.

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Media Contact

Anne Ginther, President
RandomKid

Tel  972.359.0765 office  612.210.9952 mobile
Email  Anne@RandomKid.org