Words of wisdom from an eight year-old!

CEO Blog, Community, News from GiftsToGive, Youth Philanthropy

Wisdom is all around us, if we listen. Most recently, brilliant, simple and very clear wisdom came to us from Sophia, our favorite eight year-old, Uber Volunteer!

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Important to us
- UPDATE – (August 13)
  We are (still) temporarily CLOSED for Volunteers at the Factory
  and for Customers at our Thrift Store!
  
  Read More »

Stories – Youth Philanthropy
- Being inspired by Sam
  
  On a cold and drizzly Saturday, October 14, 2014 to be exact, in walks a 13 year-old young woman who matter of factly and unpretentiously tells us that she wants to help local children who don’t have the basic things they need; clothes, books, toys and birthday presents. She goes on to tell us that she wants to start now and off she goes to work in the factory on her first volunteer day!
  
  This remarkable young woman is Sam McGill. Sam is currently a freshman at Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School and has accumulated 470 volunteer hours to date, mostly on Saturdays and we are hard pressed to think of more than a few Saturday’s Sam has not been with us! Sam is currently helping us manage our Thrift Store.
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- Listening to Anastasia
  
  We met a remarkable group of faith-based, high school students this week. Photos from their visit are here. We asked junior, Anastasia to write about her experience. Here is what she had to say.
  
  By Anastasia – “On November 4, 2015, fifteen eleventh-grade students from Cardinal Spellman High School, including myself, hopped in a bus and drove almost an hour to Acushnet for one of the most eye-opening experiences of our lives. As none of us had ever been to GiftsToGive or knew about everything it stands for, we quite frankly didn’t know what to expect for the trip. Despite this, though, the students and I were just as excited as ever to get to work and make a difference in the poverty surrounding our area.
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- Bishop Stang Fresmen Class – Connecting to Giving and Service
  
  One of our annual traditions, is meeting the entire Bishop Stang Freshmen class at the factory.
  
  Photo archive HERE. (This year’s photos are a gift from students; Amelia Bailey and Emily Iovanna)
  
  We could talk all day, about what is right about young people, but we prefer they talk for themselves.
  
  Thank you to student Veronica Bernier for the following essay:
  Read More »
- Student Intern Jonathan Klinker in the News (Again!)
  
  Our Student Intern, Jonathan Klinker, makes the news! We are all so very proud of him!
  
  Reprint from (WJAR, NBC 10) — 18-year old, Jonathan Klinker has earned 141 merit badges during his time with the Boy Scouts.
  
  “I’m about one of 5 in the nation or so that has earned 141 and one in scouting history that have earned all the merit badges,” said Klinker.
  
  Klinker has mastered many skills and many consider him a jack of all trades including woodcarving, canoeing, swimming and emergency preparedness.
  
  What makes Klinker’s accomplishment so rare is that one only needs 21 merit badges to become an Eagle Scout. In fact, there are only 137 badges available right now.
  
  Other badges available include water sports and even nuclear science.
  
  The teen has also raised thousands of dollars for St. Christopher’s Church in Tiverton and remolded a half century old bathroom, all by himself.
  
  Although he’s proud of his accomplishments, Klinker says it has a greater meaning.
  
  “It’s sort of about giving back to the community and making the world a better place,” said Klinker.
  
  The Eagle Scout will be heading off to college and hopes other young scouts will follow in his footsteps and become a leader.
  
  Read More »
- Nate Helps Others for his Birthday
  
  When Nate invited friends to his birthday party, he asked them to bring gifts of new socks and underwear for boys and girls who didn’t have the things that they all had.
  
  Nate agreed with his mother that he already had enough “stuff” and decided instead to help kids who didn’t. His friends thought this was pretty cool too.
  
  Read More »
- Dartmouth Middle School Students Blow the Roof Off Book Donations
  
  Librarian Laura Gardner and the Young Philanthropists
  
  Dartmouth Middle School thought they’d collected a lot of books for GiftsToGive in 2010 when they collected over 3,200 gently used books for kids and teens in one week.
  
  Then they smashed that record in 2011 by collecting over 6,000 gently used books.
  
  Now DMS students have smashed that record once again by donating 7,154 books!
  Read More »
- Inspiration from a ten year-old! (Really)
  
  “CLICK” for higher rez image
  
  We could tell the story, but it is much better coming from a Mom!
  
  “Leah volunteered in December at the GiftsToGive Philanthropy Factory. While we were there, she learned that they were in need of new soccer balls, basketballs, footballs, children’s under garments and children’s toothbrushes. When Leah heard this she knew she wanted to help.
  
  It hit close to her heart since her family is very involved in sports. Sports equipment is all over her house, she wanted every kid to be able to have a ball.
  
  Leah turned 10 on February 18th and for her sleepover, she asked that everyone bring items for GiftsToGive in lieu of gifts. She was very excited to see the amount of balls that everyone donated!”
  
  Read More »
- Inspired by Caitlyn
  
  Last Saturday morning we met a most remarkable girl, who did a most amazing thing!
  
  We asked her Mom for details: “Caitlyn is a third grader at Pulaski Elementary School and she recently celebrated her 9th birthday. Caitlyn decided that she wanted to ask her friends to donate toys or clothing to GiftsToGive rather than receive gifts for herself. Through volunteering at Gifts to Give with her family, Caitlyn has realized the importance of giving to others”
  
  Caitlyn says: “There are so many needy children with no special toys. I am lucky to have more than I ever wanted. These children are very brave. I wish that these toys will give them a happy surprise on their birthday!
  
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- Student Leadership Intern Program
  
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- Listening to Olivia, eighth grade philanthropist!
  
  Youth Philanthropist Olivia
  
  We see thousands of student volunteers every year, most are amazing! Some are extraordinary and then there is Olivia. To call Olivia super extraordinary or unbelievable, would be an understatement!
  
  Olivia has volunteered with us for five months and in that time has directly helped hundreds of local children receive clothes, books, toys and other basic essentials. Recently she arrived with bags and bags full of brand new items to donate.
  
  We asked her to tell us in writing what was going on and here is what she told us – ” I was first introduced to GiftsToGive while on a field trip with my fellow classmates and teachers from the Albert F. Ford Middle School here in Acushnet. After spending half of a school day volunteering in the building, I decided I would begin coming back throughout the summer. Through the course of the summer I worked to assemble clothing packages for children. When I first assembled the packages, I was blown away by how many orders there were to be filled.
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- Worcester Academy
  
  Students from Worcester Academy made a field trip to visit with us last week. Photos from their visit are here. We ordinarily would talk about the experience, but teacher David Baillie was kind enough to send us the following:
  
  “Community. We’re about community.”
  
  “This was the response of a student to a seemingly simple question: “What is Worcester Academy all about?” The question, posed by GiftsToGive founder Jim Stevens, hung over the fifty Worcester Academy students for several heartbeats before it was answered.
  
  We had traveled that Saturday morning from Worcester to Acushnet to fulfill a community service obligation, a school-mandated requirement that is part of every student’s experience. The fifty boys, all upper classmen, were dorm mates; they boarded the bus that morning without complaint, napped or talked or joked around for the hour it took to get to Acushnet, and then assembled in the bare-bones repurposed warehouse that served as the factory’s base of operations.
  Read More »
- Wareham’s Middle School Student Council set a most perfect example!
  
  Wareham Middle School Student Council
  
  We came away from our day today – inspired! Wareham Middle School Student Council Members redefined altruism for us. Talk about the power of one and then multiply that by a factor of forty!
  
  Photos from our day are here.
  
  Wendy Brogioli, Student Council Advisor for the Wareham Middle School wrote – “Thank you very much for allowing us to help at GiftsToGive today. It was amazing to see such a big place filled with so many things that will be given to families in need. We had a great time sorting all of those toys, clothes, and books. This is one of the best field trips we’ve been on – mostly because we were helping kids, but also because it was fun. We’ll be back!
  Read More »