Teen Korps Feed-A-Family Event

Kids Korps USA/Teen Korps recently completed a large-scale, county-wide food drive in partnership with Starbucks Coffee Company and Feeding America San Diego. 14 Task Force members (ages 12-18) helped to coordinate the food drive through local Starbucks stores collecting thousands of pounds of food for local families in need.

On Saturday, December 10^th, more than 100 volunteers (from 5 years and up) arrived at Feeding America San Diego’s warehouse to help sort food, bag beans, and pack up nutritious donations for the BackPack program, which benefits children in the local school system receiving free-and-reduced lunches. The bags go home with school children over the weekend to keep them nourished with healthy food!

More than 100 Kids Korps & Teen Korps Volunteers gathered for the 2011 Feed-a-Family Project on December 10^th, 2011

Volunteers accomplished a ton during our 3 hour project including: delivering 1,084 pounds of food donations, loading 1,672 BackPack Bags for distribution to local schools, and bagging & labeling 2,800 pounds of pinto beans!!

Along with helping to recruit volunteers and coordinate the packing stations at Saturday’s Feeding America event, the 14 Teen Korps Task Force members worked for two months to lead and implement the larger Feed-a-Family project. Students worked directly with Starbucks store managers and Feeding America Partner recipients to organize the logistics of the food drives, set up donations within their own schools, and utilize their marketing skills by designing posters, writing articles, and promoting the program through social media.

Teen Korps strives to build leadership skills through hands-on service and leadership projects. The Task Force projects empower our students to REALIZE and UTILIZE their talents, while providing them with the tools and guidance to become active community change makers. “Students shouldn’t have to wait until they are adults to make a difference,” says Community Outreach Coordinator, Amber Johnston. “They have so much talent and passion to offer right now—and Teen Korps provides the structure and guidance for them to begin their journey!”

A special “Thank You” to our partners: Starbucks Foundation and Feeding America San Diego!

Teen Korps and Kids Korps Members join their families to sort and pack food for local families this holiday season.

Our kids make a difference in the lives of others, and their own, through volunteerism! For more information about our Teen Korps programs, please visit: http://www.kidskorps.org/member-center/teen-korps-page/

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Rincon Build-A-Bike

Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians Joins Kids Korps in Building Bikes for San Diego Youth

As part of their effort to be good neighbors in the San Diego community, the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians presented Kids Korps USA with a Good Neighbors award to support a Build-a-Bike project that will benefit underserved youth from the Indian Health Center.

“What impressed the Rincon Contributions Committee and Tribal Council about Kids Korps is using kids to help others through meaningful participation, like the Build-a-Bike Project. The idea of taking an active role in caring for your community, especially those less fortunate, not only builds character, it develops generous hearts and loving spirits,” said Bo Mazzetti, Chairman of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians.

On Saturday, December 17, Kids Korps’ staff worked with members of the Rincon Tribe and their families to assemble 25 bicycles for youth ages 3 to 18. Volunteers joined in teams organizing parts, assembling and build the bicycles.  As teams completed bike construction, they hand-made gift cards and added bike locks and helmets for recipient youth. Kids Korps USA is pleased to partner with the Rincon Tribe, and welcomes the support that they provide to our programs.