Volunteers for McKenzie’s Helping Hands gather and
organize items to give to local homeless children.
MISD STUDENT STARTS ORGANIZATION
TO HELP HOMELESS KIDS
A
s she accompanied her mom to help out
those who do not have a permanent place to
live, McKenzie Charles noticed something—the
homeless adults often had children who needed
certain items as well.
Shelter. Those who helped deliver the items said
it was a very humbling experience.
“When we walked into the center, I could tell
that the manager on duty was very happy that we
were there to deliver them,” explained Chaneera
Francis, a kindergarten teacher at Martha Reid
Leadership Academy. “But the children, our kids,
were pretty much quiet and taking in everything
and just having a moment of
gratefulness that they were able to
give back and have an impact on
their community.”
The sixth-grader at Mary Lillard Intermediate
School started thinking about what she could do
to solve the problem and came up with an idea.
“I decided to start McKenzie’s
Helping Hands to specifically
target kids who are less fortunate
and need their own items and
hygienic products,” she said.
She recruited a group of friends
to help plan the execution of the
idea and began raising money
and products for her cause. After
about a month of fundraising and
soliciting donations, she and her
friends spent a day gathering all
the items and preparing them for
distribution.
Francis said the project was
completely student-run, and it
taught the students some valuable
lessons.
Charles (right) hopes her
winter drive is just
the beginning.
“We made blessing bags, and we
put soap, deodorant, toothpaste,
toothbrushes, lotion and feminine products
that they might need,” Charles added. “We also
collected blankets because it’s getting colder
outside, and the kids would have something of
their own to keep them warm.”
“They had real meetings with each
other to go over logistics and ramp
up their fundraising efforts,” Francis
continued. “There were a lot of
learning experiences along the way,
and they were able to hone a lot of
their social and business skills while
helping others.”
Charles said she likes giving back and eventually
wants to make her organization global.
The 11-year-old plans to host another drive to
help local homeless children in the spring. She
said she is already in talks with shelters to see
what items will be needed.
Altogether, 100 blessing bags, 75 blankets and
several books were donated to Arlington Life
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