HURRICANE KATRINA – ONE YEAR LATER
NATION’S YOUTH FUNDRAISING RANKS WITH TOP USA CORPORATIONS!
Lemonade Stands + Trick or Treating for Loose Change + Bake Sales + An Iowa Girl's Website =
$10,216,162.80 raised in one year by children for Hurricane Relief!!!
In a time when "donor fatigue" is an instantly recognizable phrase, Americans may be inspired to do more by children coming to the rescue.
"Kids don't get fatigued," said Talia Leman, the 11-year-old Waukee girl who found herself in the middle of this national movement. "They're giving and they can not stop." Leman helped create a new nonprofit called RandomKid (www.randomkid.org) that helps kids help others, and continues to unify children's hurricane relief efforts across the nation.
One year after Katrina, roughly 5000 schools across the USA have reported into a national tally having raised $10,216,162.80 so far--new reports are coming in daily.
On August 23, 2006 children from 8 schools representing different regions of the United States, joined a national teleconference to hear for the first time just how much they raised together for hurricane relief. It was also an opportunity for the child-helpers to talk to the child survivors. Several of the helpers said they got a little teary when they heard a little girl end the call by saying, "I'm a hurricane survivor in Louisiana, still waiting to go home. You don't have to be big to make a big difference. You can be little, because a lot of 'little's' can make something big. One coin at a time can turn into millions of dollars. Please continue to help rebuild our country, by making change for Katrina."
Immediately following the call children across the country began contacting RandomKid about ideas to further this movement. Just as exciting, more children started emailing RandomKid with their wishes to help people in their own communities around the country.
"RandomKid isn't just about hurricane relief," said RandomKid 's President Anne Ginther, "There are a lot of kids across the country just like Talia. Kids often have BIG ideas. RandomKid takes their ideas for a better tomorrow seriously and teaches children across the USA to tap into a variety of resources. RandomKid will allow children's unique abilities to shine as bright as they can and solve real-world problems while doing it.
Available for interviews:
Talia- Cofounder of RandomKid, 11-year-old from Waukee, IA at the center of unifying kids across the nation for hurricane relief. (see http://www.randomkid.org/rockstartalia.asp and http://www.randomkid.org/taliaoped.asp)
Anne Ginther-(currently in Dallas, TX) Cofounder / President of RandomKid--helped Talia with her TLC campaign shortly after Katrina hit (see http://www.randomkid.org/about.asp and http://halloweenhelpers.blogspot.com/2005/09/anne-ginther-youngish-mom-tlc-advisor.html)
Dana Leman - Cofounder of RandomKid, Talia's mom.
Sara--A Waukee, Iowa student who has found helping with this cause "addicting," saying that it's "easy... and great to be able to help someone else."
We can also make children from around the nation (including hurricane survivors) available for an interview. For more on their stories, please see http://www.randomkid.org/KatrinaAnnivKidsRally.asp
**Sound from the children's teleconference is also available upon request.
About RandomKid
RandomKid is an Iowa nonprofit that Helps Kids Help Others. Kids often have BIG ideas. RandomKid takes their ideas for a better tomorrow seriously and helps them harness their power to make their dreams a reality. By creating opportunities for children across the USA to tap into a variety of resources, RandomKid will allow children's unique abilities to shine as bright as they can and solve real-world problems while doing it.
A Special Note: RandomKid was born out of necessity. Millions of children and thousands of schools unified their efforts for hurricane relief on a website that was originally intended to rally kids to Trick-or-Treat for hurricane relief (www.halloweenhelpers.blogspot.com). A miraculous thing happened. Kids started reporting in BEFORE Halloween. They were washing cars, shaving heads, selling lemonade. They were sending donations to the Red Cross, UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity... they were adopting schools and getting personally involved with penpals. They weren't going to stop after Halloween. So on December 1, 2005, when everyone wanted to know how much was raised trick-or-treating, we had to tell America that kids had taken it far beyond that. And we want to be sure every kid, every coin, is counted.
www.randomkid.org
###
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONFERENCE CALL
An Elementary School Hurricane Survivor (Derrion, pictured above) moderated the call from her school in Houston. After a roll call of kids from across the country, Katrina Survivor Students talked briefly about how they're doing. Kids from around the country responded with what they've done to help, and their plans for continued support. Hurricane Survivor Students talked about what it was like to receive the help and extend their thanks. And then the kids gave a HUGE DRUMROLL on their desks just before the latest tally was unveiled!!! RandomKids saw that every penny DOES count. And when you add up all the bake sales and lemonade stand together, kids have a powerful force to continue to rebuild the gulf. The call concluded with the children singing "God Bless America." The kids sang the verse that relates to their region (Mountains, Prairies ....) To get a feel for what it sounded like, listen to one of the links from our previous rally on December 1, 2005.
Media Contact
Anne Ginther
"RandomPrez"
RandomKid
Tel 612.210.9952 mobile
972.359.0765 office
Email Anne@RandomKid.org
|
