A Touching Charity Give Back Event For Kids With The Help of the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation
It never ceases to amaze me how small acts of kindness can send vibrations through the universe and really make a difference for a child, youth, or teen. Team Building Unlimited is so proud to offer a large variety and means of giving back to communities, kids, charities, the military, seniors, and more. We rise when we lift others up! I’ve always loved that saying. I recently worked with a large corporation hosting their national meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. They wanted to include a charity give-back team-building event that would help the local community, particularly kids. Oh, did I add we only had one hour?
It is always so important to me that a give-back event is emotionally tied to the participants as well. It’s easy to make a wheelchair, pack food bags, but you may not get to meet or hear about who are actually the recipients. After a few phone calls to local charities, I settled on the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation. When I heard the statistics that 25 children a week go into foster care in the greater Phoenix area…I knew I found the right place. These tend to be the most “underserved” kids in the community. To hear that the majority of kids use garbage bags to take their belongings and clothes from one home to another brought tears to my eyes. I created a customized skateboard team building event that would give a helmet, a new customized skateboard, and a skateboard backpack to 25 foster kids. I love giving skateboards because kids will never outgrow them like a bicycle. They are easy to store under a bed or in a closet and provide an easy mode of transportation. In an area like Phoenix, they get many months of use with the seasonal weather as well.
I didn’t want to give away skateboards that were the same for everyone. These kids needed to feel special. That something was created just for them. I had asked the charity to post the offering for a free skateboard and was shocked to hear their website almost crashed as in less than 3 minutes all 25 slots were filled. I requested each child/teen to complete a personal questionnaire with nicknames, sports, hobbies, favorite books/movies, superheroes, etc. Each group at the team building event would now be able to customize the bottom of the skateboard for their specific child/teen based on more personal information.
It was awe-inspiring to watch 25 teams go to great lengths to personalize these boards. Of course, we provided stencils to make some decorations easier but you would be blown away to see the hand-drawn pics, superheroes, sport team logos, and more that were done by some dedicated, talented folks! The efforts to find just the right inspiring quote or sayings. I loved the group of men that had a 6 year old girl recipient and made sure her princess requests and unicorns were met! One of the group members pulled me aside with tears in his eyes and told me he had 6 kids at home, 3 daughters. One of them was 6 years old too. He said he couldn’t wait to get home and hug all of them as well as share the story of this beautiful event. Yes, we all must share this story and how important it is to remember how lucky we are if we have a stable home, parents, kids, and a loving environment. Also, remember you can always make a difference! Team Building Unlimited is proud to create, customize and dedicate events to make a difference for any charitable organization. It truly is in giving that we receive!