Fundraising. Top four things kids learn from organizing their own fundraising event.
Confidence, collaboration, teamwork & community: Smiling, making eye contact and clearly communicating with peers or adults to present ideas or complete tasks by working effectively and respectfully.
Left: Hannah, Gemma & Grace at the Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue League, Saint John, NB.
castle. It had bubble wrap behind the felt in the walls. Any cat would really like to sink their nails into that!". Hannah & Grace loved the library's Castle so much, their mom purchased it through Corey Breau's Remax FaceBook auction after the event (all proceeds donated to the shelter). Jeff Willson of Brilliant Labs who supported the smart home CAT-egory powered by Micro:Bits, encourages this form of creative and innovative development through making. “Events like Cardboard for Kitty not only give people a chance to build, but it provides an opportunity to apply some coding and the engineering and design process while reinforcing the importance of a socially responsible entrepreneurial spirit. Teams certainly ran into problems, but like engineers they worked together and problem solved. Teams and volunteers learned a great deal in 2 hours, for example: how to create a design, how to communicate, collaborate, and how to
problem solve creatively. Teams had to be resourceful & innovative using only the components available onsite. These are all elements of 21st century learning in action.� We asked the sisters what they learned through the entire process: "I learned that I'm good at organizing and building things" Hannah shared and "I'm really good at writing invitation letters" added Grace with some additional words of wisdom: "If you want to do something ask your friends, parents or teachers for help. It's a lot of work, but in the end you'll have a lot of fun and it feels really good to help." What do you want to be when you grow up? Hannah: "I want to be an engineer." Grace: "I want to be a veterinarian... or an artist". --- Good advice &"Through awesome job! fundraising experiences young people can learn new skills, gain confidence, see that their efforts can make a difference in their community and be proud of what they have done... all the while learning that volunteering to help others is fun!"
Left to right: Jennifer, Mark, Hannah, Grace, Gary, Joan, _, Lacie.
-Joan Richard, Manager, Saint John Recognition from MP Wayne Long, Saint Animal Rescue League/ SPCA John-Rothesay
Creativity and innovation: creativity is not solely for artistic personalities nor is it is something we are born with or without. Creativity can be nurtured by teachers, parents and other learning environments that welcome openness, questioning and learning from mistakes. Kid inspired fundraisers help foster creative thinking by introducing problems that need to be resolved in order to meet goals. Leadership and responsibility: kid fundraisers promote leadership by helping children organize their thoughts and goals to work within the best interest of the larger community, build collaborative partnerships and learn to inspire others by example. Kids can also learn how to recognize the strengths of others to achieve a common goal. Social, civic, ethical and financial literacy: knowing the difference between right and wrong is one thing, but acting on it to create change is another. Children who fundraise have a greater sense of the world around them. Fundraisers helps young children set social, environmental or financial goals that help them learn more about how society works. These early observations and learnings will help shape their understanding of global (social/environmental) issues and help them be active citizens now and in adulthood.