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Sherley stole the show.
Five-year-old Sherley was the youngest participant in IEUW’s Healthy Kids Mini Grants Ballet Project. Along with her two older sisters and nine other girls, she stretched, twirled and leapt through four weeks of free ballet classes at the Northtown Community Center in Rancho Cucamonga. This project, a collaborative effort of IEUW KidSmart, Inland Empire Youth Ballet, Northtown Housing Development Corporation, City of Rancho Cucamonga/Healthy RC, San Bernardino Dept. of Public Health/Healthy Communities, and Target Corporation, was launched in March 2009 to encourage healthy lifestyles for disadvantaged kids. On the evening of March 28, the girls performed for their family, friends and community. Sherley arrived with her hair neatly pulled into a bun. Her eyes lit up as she changed into her white tutu. She said she felt beautiful. Although she was the tiniest dancer, Sherley’s impact was big. She captured the hearts of the audience with her sweet smile and silly, outgoing personality. After the performance, the girls received a standing ovation in recognition of their hard work. When it was time to hand out their awards, Sherley got the loudest cheers. Even people she didn’t know stopped to hug and congratulate her. That night, Sherley’s mother let us know what a wonderful experience this had been for her daughters. She talked about how happy and proud they felt after their performance, and how grateful she was for her girls to have this opportunity. Healthy Kids Mini-Grants are small grants, awarded for the creation and implementation of health, fitness or nutrition programs that benefit low-income children and their families in their own neighborhoods. Mini-grant programs are matched with local schools and nonprofit programs serving disadvantaged children. KidSmart
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Necessary connections. A woman called 2-1-1 San Bernardino County and needed help with utilities and food. Her gas and electricity were shut off. She said she has three children, including a 3-month old born with a medical condition. I asked if she had ever applied for food stamps. She answered, “No, we’re afraid to apply for that type of service.” When I asked for their source of income, the answer was “none.” The husband was injured on the job, had not yet recovered, and was not receiving any disability benefits. Not having any utilities, she said she cooked the food they had “with a candle.” The family had no transportation, no utilities, very little food, three children, no source of income, and had not been able to pay rent for two months. They did not know where to turn, so I made the necessary connections. After following up, the caller and her family were happy to report that one agency was able to help with utilities and another provided a food voucher to buy groceries. She also told me she was going to apply for food stamps for their children just until they “get back on their feet.” She kept saying “Thank you so much for what you’ve done!” I responded, “I just had the information for social services, and you called the right number.” 2-1-1 San Bernardino County
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Volunteerism.
On the second Saturday of each month, HandsOn Inland Empire volunteers gather at Virginia Primrose Elementary School in Fontana to read aloud to kids, engage them in discussion and arts & crafts activities while sharing their passion for reading. Through the Read to Kids! program, each child who attends receives a free book. For the past year the students have participated consistently in the program. However, more recently the students who regularly participate have been absent from the Saturday book club. Consequently, the principal informed us that the parents at her school have been hit very hard by the economic downturn and that many of them have lost their jobs, which has made an already tight family income extremely tight. This has resulted in students coming to school hungry or missing school frequently, and some even dropping out. This message was then relayed to our project leaders and volunteers. The volunteers who have become attached to the students decided to rally around the school. With students not being fed and a program that needed more resources to provide to the students and parents to help meet their needs during such a difficult time... the volunteers were going to help! A large group of volunteers decided to participate in a local 5k, get sponsors, and donate all the proceeds to the Read to Kids! program. In addition, the volunteers started a book drive to benefit the program. The volunteers have even pledged to seek out donations from community businesses to assure that these kids are well-fed and provided for at the Saturday book club. While the original focus of this program was to encourage a love of reading in students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the volunteers of this program have made it so much larger than that. HandsOn Inland Empire
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I was one of those kids.
Each spring, IEUW KidSmart teams up with Auto Club Speedway, Kids Fitness Challenge Foundation, San Bernardino Dept. of Public Health/Healthy Communities, City of Fontana/Healthy Fontana, and many others to host the premiere fitness event in the Inland Empire. The Kids Fitness Challenge 5K at Auto Club Speedway draws thousands of local kids and their families for a free day of fitness and fun. 2009 was no exception. Nearly 5,000 participants walked, ran, skated, or rode their bikes around the speedway track. After the event, the Health Expo offered demonstrations, giveaways, and activities. For the second year, we teamed up with the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos for our KidSmart Soccer Clinic. These young athletes volunteer their time and talents to help make a great day for our community’s kids. During the clinic, a member of the Broncos men’s soccer team asked about United Way and what KidSmart was all about. We told him that our specific goal was to see low-income kids have the tools and resources to be successful in school. We talked about the impact of fitness and nutrition for disadvantaged kids. We also discussed how important it is for kids to have something they are passionate about, and how they are more likely to stay in school and hopefully continue on to college. He said, “I was one of those kids. My family didn’t have much. We didn’t think college was an option. Soccer is what helped me reach my goals.” We told him that day, he was a role model and inspiration to hundreds of kids. KidSmart
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