KIDS' DAY FOR HAITI

On Wednesday, January 13 the children of Kids' Day decided to take a stand regarding the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti. 20 children marched proudly across the street dressed in colorful hats, scarfs, and gloves to the Green Street T-station to make some noise and draw attention to their cause.

They screamed, "Raise money for Haiti!". At 4:30pm Kids' Day stood outside with their red and blue painted water bottles and approached commuters for donations as they were on their way home from work. In less than 30 minutes they earned over fifty dollars, which they will donate to hip-hop artist and Haitian activist Wyclef Jean's foundation Yele.

During Wednesday's meeting the Kids' Day kiddies were extremely concerned about the children left behind in Haiti. Where did all the children go? They asked. The staff explained that children were dying and stuck underneath the rubble as they spoke and it would take a lot of effort to save their lives and money to restore their country. One of the children Jonathan Diaz excitedly raised his hand and came up with a thoughtful and heartfelt suggestion, "Why don't we donate all the money from the Yes We Can Can to Haiti."

So, democratically they all voted and decided to donate $115 from the Yes We Can Can, which is Kids' Day personal savings where they have been storing lose change and money from their allowance into for over a year.

Kids' Day staff calculated all the money stored in the YWCC and was astonished when they counted the last penny, which concluded that the children saved $230. The YWCC started by one of the Group Leaders Ife Franklin who was inspired by the election of President Barack Obama. The Yes We Can Can is a communal effort and initiative to educate the children about the importance of finances and restoring it within your community. The kids were saving for childish luxuries such as new scooters, pizza party at Roller World, or basic necessities such as arts supplies, which they sometimes lack for their program, but the earthquake in Haiti overtook the children's original plans for the money and they insisted that they would be the change that we see in their little world's.

The Kids' Day staff are extremely proud and honored to raise up such wonderful children. Sometimes as educators we really don't realize how much of an impact we have on our children, but this week crystalized our moment of clarity...

*To contribute to Wyclef's foundation Yele where 100% of the funds go directly to the people in Haiti log onto http://www.yele.org/.


-Nakia Hill