generationOn and FamilyFun Magazine Partner to Develop Volunteer Project Enabling Kids, Teens and Families to Help Children in Need
During hard times, it is especially important for kids to be comforted and empowered, which is where the FamilyFun Magazine Capes for Kids program steps in to help these children and their families.
Now that summer is here, children across the country can be found outside having fun! However, summer can be hard for some children, especially if they are facing illness or if their families have fallen on hard times and are living in shelters. During these times, it is especially important for kids to be comforted and empowered, which is where the FamilyFun Magazine Capes for Kids program steps in to help these children and their families.
generationOn, the youth division of Points of Light, partnered with FamilyFun Magazine to create a Capes for Kids project guide to encourage kids, teens, and families across the country to make capes for children in homeless shelters and hospitals to remind them to be strong, have hope, and keep going when times are tough. As part of this campaign, generationOn worked with FamilyFun to distribute grants across the country to enable kids across the country to help their peers by making capes and do service projects together.
The generationOn Kids Care Club from P.S. 173Q, The Fresh Meadows School in New York City led by Jean Mendler, received one of the grants. The 40 members of the club were students in third, fourth and fifth grades, and all of them created personalized capes and tote bags filled with school supplies and toys.
Mrs. Mendler said of the experience, “This project made an impact on our Kids Care Club members because they used both their minds and their hearts to create the capes. Every tote and cape included words or designs that would encourage the children in homeless shelters, making them feel good about themselves and stressing that they are important. They really felt for these kids and wanted them to know they cared.”
In addition to the project guide, Mrs. Mendler used a fact sheet and reflection questions provided by generationOn to encourage conversation and critical thinking about how kids in hospitals or homeless shelters might feel, which helped build compassion and empathy in the young club members. One child said during the project, "I liked this project because we were making something to make a homeless kid feel better, and we were having fun with art at the same time!"
A fun and easy project like Capes for Kids is a great opportunity for parents, teachers and caring adults to teach children about the importance of thinking of others and the impact each individual can make from getting involved and giving back to the community. Conversations about homelessness and sickness can be difficult to have with children, but using the generationOn fact sheet and reflection questions highlights age-appropriate ways to share information and help kids think about others, while the FamilyFun project guide provides a tangible way for kids to make a difference.
Whether you bring all the neighborhood kids together or use this project as a quiet, rainy day activity, Capes for Kids is the perfect summer project! It’s great for kids of all ages and helps foster meaningful conversations while having fun. This is one way to truly become a real superhero.
