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"More Opportunities for Youth to
Engage Washington,
D.C, April 2001 -- The Points of Light Foundation announced today that it is
increasing its capacity to engage youth in volunteer community service across
America. It has added two successful programs, Kids Care Clubs
(www.kidscare.org) and FamilyCares (www.familycares.org), formerly associated
with Child Charitable Development Association (CCDA), to its youth outreach
initiatives. “Kids
Care Clubs have been very successful in encouraging the development of
compassion and volunteerism in children,” said Robert K. Goodwin, President
and Chief Executive Officer of the Points of Light Foundation. He went on to
explain that the Foundation has offered a number of youth programs, but really
needed a program to engage elementary and middle school children in volunteer
service. “Kids Care Clubs and FamilyCares has developed a world-class program
for elementary and middle school children,” said Goodwin, “but needed the
support services and national infrastructure that the Foundation could
provide. It was a perfect match for both organizations.” The
Foundation plans to develop additional training materials and resources for
club leaders, encourage more active youth leadership, solicit new partners to
fund the expansion of these programs and work with Volunteer Centers to
integrate the programs locally where feasible. According
to Deborah Spaide, President of CCDA, and Founder of Kids Care Clubs and
FamilyCares, growth of the programs has been phenomenal. “We started these
programs to encourage compassion and charity in our own children, and now
after 10 years, over 25,000 children are engaged in service through clubs
across the country.” Spaide added that the rapid success of the programs necessitated
the need for an organization like the Points of Light Foundation to sustain
the momentum. Founded
ten years ago in New Canaan, CT, Kids Care Clubs have nearly 800 clubs in 49
states, Guatemala and Nepal, located in schools, churches, synagogues,
Volunteer Centers, community centers, and even homeless shelters. Kids
Care Clubs is unique in that it provides service projects, compassion
education, model programs and charity partners monthly, centered on issues
like literacy, hunger and the elderly. Kids Care Clubs also sponsors
FamilyCares, a program to provide families with the information and material
via the web to assist families in engaging in service. Parents,
teachers, individuals or other organizations interested in starting a club
may contact the Kids Care program staff at (914) 533-1101 or kidscare@pointsoflight.org for
additional information about the programs. The
Points of Light Foundation and the Volunteer Center National Network support
millions of volunteers in thousands of communities who are helping to solve
some of our country's serious social problems. Together with local Volunteer
Centers, the Foundation provides national volunteer leadership; raises public
awareness; builds knowledge, skills and programs for volunteers to succeed;
and provides the local delivery systems to mobilize volunteers. Visit www.pointsoflight.org for more
information. CCDA,
a nonprofit, multiracial and non-denominational organization, is dedicated to
the development of compassion and the spirit of charity in children. |
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