What breaks your heart? What makes your heart happy? That’s how it all begins at Kids Boost, a nonprofit where kids are empowered to use their passions for good. The answers to those questions serve as a launching pad for young philanthropists, ages 8 to 14, guiding them to organize and lead a fundraiser for a cause that matters to them.
Kids Boost executive director, Kristen Williams, worked for 15 years as a child life specialist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Around 2012, Williams met a kid named Jared, a former Children’s patient, who wanted to give back to the hospital, but was unsure of what to do.
“He didn’t want to just collect things, he wanted to do something bigger,” said Williams, 42. “He’d suffered a severe arm injury years before and part of his therapy was rock climbing. We met and I tried to help him find a way to fundraise through something he loved, and that’s just what he did. He created Jared’s Climb for Kids. Stone Summit donated the time for him to climb and friends and family pledged donations for every wall he climbed. He raised $2,500.”
Williams’ lightbulb moment occurred at Jared’s check presentation.
“I saw this kid who’d been through so much, beaming with pride,” said Williams. “Wouldn’t it be awesome, I thought, if every kid had the opportunity to use what they love to help a cause that’s important to them? As a mother of a son, I knew I wanted to raise my child to be philanthropic. I wanted it for all children, really. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. It’s like my soul was on fire.”
Williams dreamed about starting Kids Boost for about two years before taking the plunge at the end of 2014 when she attained her 501c3 non-profit status. She continued to work at Children’s Healthcare as able on weekends and poured herself into Kids Boost, which was especially difficult as a single mother.
“I joke that we’ve lived off peanut butter and a prayer,” said Williams, whose son, Parker, is 14. “No one gets into the nonprofit world for money, that’s for sure. There are no benefits and it’s so much work. But it’s also the most rewarding risk of my life.”
When a kid decides to take on a Kids Boost project, they meet with Williams or one of the two other coaches, they’re given a $100 start-up fund, and a fundraising plan is created. The kids learn many business skills, like money management, marketing, even the importance of a thank you note. Their first “no” is celebrated with a gift card to Dunkin Donuts.
“We practice their pitch and prepare them to hear the word no,” said Williams. “We tell them it’s not fun to hear, but you have to keep going, keep knocking and you’ll get that yes.”
The average project spans about three months. The average funds raised is $1,800. Recently, a booster raised over $27,000. To date, 204 kids have completed a Kids Boost project and raised $367,000 and growing. Kids Boost has supported 113 nonprofit organizations around the world.
“It is my hope that kids will catch the bug and become lifelong philanthropists,” said Williams. “I’d love to see Kids Boost chapters open across the nation. I’d love for signing up to run a Kids Boost project to be as common as signing up for piano lessons or soccer. There is great emphasis on sports and academics, rightly so, but what are we doing to teach our kids to be good people?”
Thalia Fung-a-wing, now 12, was 11 when she asked her parents if she could do a Kids Boost project.
“She wanted to fundraise for the End It Movement, which raises awareness for human slavery and trafficking,” said Gabrielle Fung-a-wing, Thalia’s mother. “She learned about the organization through our church, Passion City Church. As a parent, you want to shield your children from those topics for a while. I wasn’t ready to have some of the conversations necessary when she came to me about human trafficking, but she’s very mature for her age and this opportunity allowed me the chance to have a really open, honest conversation about what’s happening all around us and what we can do to help.”
Thalia’s project was set to run in the spring of 2020, but COVID made conventional plans a challenge. Since Thalia is a big fan of cooking, she and her Kids Boost coach decided she could create her own cooking show on YouTube. Viewers were granted access to the protected site by making a donation to the End It Movement. In the end, Thalia raised $1,370.
“It felt so good to hand over the check,” said Thalia, her inflection punctuated by squeals of enthusiasm. “It made me so emotional, and I was, like, trying not to cry because I had worked really hard. I was just so happy I got to do my part to make the world a little bit better.”
If you would like to make a donation to Kids Boost, or if your child would like to lead a Kids Boost project, visit www.kidsboost.org
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