Young Philanthropists Make 55 Kid’s Christmas Wishes Come True | #CCPipelineProject
Young Philanthropists Make 55 Kid’s Christmas Wishes Come True | #CCPipelineProject
by: Kyle Bacon
Capital Cause’s Pen Pals are truly making an impact at the U.S. Dream Academy – D.C. Learning Center through the Pipeline Project partnership. Since September, Young Philanthropists participated in the monthly sessions to help foster relationships between the Dream Kids and their Dream Academy mentors through encouraging letters about the school year, inspirational activities designed to conquer fear, and interactive lessons on giving back.
The objective of the October project was to aid the children in their battle with fear. Capital Cause Pen Pals created multiple educational activities ranging from interactive physical games, to students creating comic strips to help them identify the villains (fears) in their lives and imagining a hero strong enough to conquer them. The impact of these activities in the Learning Center was amazing. The activities fostered conversations between the Dream Kids and Dream Academy mentors to discuss their fears and ways to overcome them. They also highlighted the students’ interests, talents and personality traits, as well as building peer-to-peer support through advice and encouragement.
During November, the Pipeline Project’s theme was philanthropy, in honor of National Philanthropy Month, Thanksgiving and the December holidays. The Pen Pals created games and activities teaching the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at U.S. Dream Academy the meaning of philanthropy and how each of them can give to others. For the elementary school students, philanthropy is a big word; breaking it down into the “three T’s”- time, talent, and treasure- helped them to understand how they can help others. The “Giving Card” activity helped put their learning in to action. Each Dream Kid chose a “T” they would offer to improve another person’s life. This encouraged discussions between the students and their Dream Academy mentors on how they could help fix problems in the world. The “Giving Cards” the students made went on a “Giving Tree” and will serve as the base of the center’s Spring Community Service projects.
Capital Cause supporters continued to make an impact beyond participation in the monthly projects. At the YP Dinners, the organization collected donations to support the work of U.S. Dream Academy. These funds, as well as those raised at the Changemakers event in November, helped meet specific needs of students at the Learning Center. New school uniforms and hygiene items were purchased and distributed during U.S. Dream Academy’s annual Christmas store and party. Dream Kids will return in the new year with warm new uniforms, bright smiles, and renewed minds ready to give back and help those around them just as Capital Cause has helped their lives. Additionally, the monetary gifts will purchase a set of books to support the literacy initiatives at Dream Academy.