LETTERS & COMMENDATIONS

Dear Ms. Davis,

Sunday’s distribution of backpacks at the migrant farm worker labor camps by your Kids 4 Kids Project was a resounding success. Many of our migrant children are at risk due to their lifestyle of following the harvesting of the crops. They begin school with gaps in academic skills and lack of proper school materials. Your generosity in furnishing book bags and school supplies for our children certainly helps them start school on a par with their non-migrant peers. As well as giving them the necessary school supplies, the Kids 4 Kids children gave the migrant children pride and hope. It is extremely embarrassing for children to bring their supplies to school in a paper bag. Because of your wonderful Kids 4 Kids, our migrant students will not be embarrassed.

The Miami Herald spoke of the enthusiasm demonstrated by the students involved in Kids 4 Kids and the joy that they brought to the migrant farm worker children in Homestead. and Florida City. It is because of you and your fine project that the event took place. The migrant children learned from your project that children can give to other children. This model is one that our children can duplicate as they become enabled through education.

On behalf of the migrant children, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please express to the participants of the Kids 4 Kids Project a sincere thank you from all of us and tell them how much we appreciate their love and kindness. If I can be of any assistance to you in the future, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Cipriano Garza, Director

Migrant Education Program

Ms. Beth Davis

Jack David Gordon Elementary School

14600 Country Walk Drive

Miami, Florida 33186

Dear Beth,

It brings me great pleasure to recognize and congratulate your remarkable achievement on the “Kids 4 Kids” program.

The development of Kids 4 Kids has aided the lives of countless homeless children in Miami-Dade County and Broward Counties. Certainly you and your team of 40 students from Jack D. Gordon Elementary School have made a great impact on our community. The success of Kids 4 Kids will now begin to touch lives of children nation-wide. The establishment of Kids 4 Kids has given children the opportunity to aid others in need. This program stands as a testament that the youth of today can make a difference.

Your dedication, innovation, and diligence to this wonderful program shines brightly in our community. Once again, I congratulate you and your students in this great effort. Best wishes to you in all your future endeavors.

With kind regards,

Sincerely,

Bob Graham

United States Senator

Ms. Beth Davis

Jack David Gordon Elementary School

14600 Country Walk Drive

Miami, Florida 33186

Dear Students, Faculty, and Administration,

I was delighted to hear about your project to help homeless children : Kids 4 Kids Fill A Backpack Campaign.

Your goal to provide 500 brand new backpacks filled with new school supplies is fantastic. You are to be commended for your efforts to make homeless children feel special in providing these needed school items. The quality of live in a community depends on making a difference in the lives of each and every life, and one neighbor helping another is the first step in realizing this objective. Self-sacrificing individuals individuals mobilized to help others can stem the tide of poverty and other problems that afflict the society.

My personal thanks to each one who participated in this worthy cause, and best wishes in surpassing your goal!

With Kind Regards, I am

Sincerely,

Lawton Chiles

Governor

Proclamation

WHEREAS:

Miami-Dade County takes great pride in recognizing initiatives that contribute to enhancing the fabric of our society, and

Kids 4 Kids Club at Jack D. Gordon Elementary Community School under the leadership of Mrs. Beth Davis, started with 40 members who met weekly before school, to perform community service projects to help those in need in their own community, and

WHEREAS:

Kids 4 Kids made and delivered cards to sick children in hospitals, decorated and assembled Halloween bags for homeless kids, collected toiletry bags and beanie babies for hurricane victims in the keys, hosted homeless kids and kids with Downs Syndrome for a winter party, adopted 65 homeless families and purchased gift for them for the holidays, shipped Valentine bags to earthquake victims who were left homeless in Colombia sent appreciation letter to troops in Kosovo, and sent cards to the families who suffered a recent loss in the Colorado shootings, and

WHEREAS:

Through interacting with others, club members learn that the only difference between themselves and a homeless child is that they have a home to live in, and

WHEREAS:

It is fitting that official recognition be given to Kids 4 Kids and Mrs. Davis for the wonderful labor of love they are doing on behalf of the community:

NOW THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED THAT I, ALEX PENELAS, MAYOR OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FLORIDA, do hereby proclaim Tuesday, June 2, 1999 as

KIDS 4 KIDS DAY

IN OBSERVANCE THEREOF:

I urge the good people of Miami-Dade County to join me in saluting Kids 4 Kids on this special occasion, and in wishing them the very best in all future endeavors.

June 2, 1999

Alex Penelas, Mayor

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

The Miami Herald

KIDS GET HEAD START ON HELPING OUT OTHERS

June 10, 2001 Section: Neighbors WE Edition: Final Page: 2W

MICHAEL VASQUEZ, Herald Writer Memo: COUNTRY WALK

Illustration: photo: Students at Jack D. Gordon Elementary (A)Caption: AN EARLY BACK-TO-SCHOOL GIFT: Students at Jack D. Gordon Elementary sort through school supplies to put in backpacks for underprivileged kids. The project will go on through August.Summer vacation hasn’t begun yet, but some Jack D. Gordon elementary students are already sorting out their back-to-school supplies. Well, not exactly their supplies.

The 250 members of Kids 4 Kids launched their 2001 Fill-A-Backpack campaign Monday. The goal: making sure every homeless or abused child in South Florida has the tools to learn. “I really want to fill lots of book bags,” said Shawn Carper, 11, a member of the group. Inside each book bag that Shawn fills will be notebooks, pencils and other items a child might need. The group aims to have 4,000 book bags stuffed by August. They rely entirely on donations from caring individuals and businesses. Kids 4 Kids is the brainchild of Beth Davis, a science teacher at Jack D. Gordon who became troubled by the amount of underprivileged students who showed up on the first day of school unprepared. Often these kids would be ridiculed by classmates and be branded as homeless for the rest of the year. “Imagine being a high school student and having to bring your things to school in a Publix bag,” Davis said. Convinced that with a helping hand these disheartened kids could succeed, Davis began the Fill-A-Backpack campaign in 1996. The experience of her grandfather served as a reminder of what a homeless person could become. Orphaned at age 6, he emigrated to the United States from Russia and survived on the streets of New York while working odd jobs. Through the kindness of strangers, he was able to get on his feet and went on to own his own business. “No matter how bad you have it, there are people out there who care,” Davis said. What makes Kids 4 Kids special is that it is second- through fifth-graders who are doing the caring – and making a difference. “It makes me feel pretty good because I know I’m helping somebody in need,” Timothy Carter, 11, said. Timothy is one of the group members who travels in a van from shelter to shelter passing out the book bags to homeless children. In the August heat the volunteers are often covered in sweat. Last year they were drenched by thunderstorms. But there’s nothing quite like seeing 4,000 faces wear ear-to-ear smiles. “It’s the first time they have something new that’s theirs,” Davis said. “They’re going shopping and it’s not costing them anything.” The needy children get to pick out the backpack they want, and they also get to choose a new book to read – anything from Dr. Seuss to Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul. Most of the supplies go to homeless children, but a sizable portion are also distributed to abused or migrant children as well as kids living in area foster homes. If Kids 4 Kids meets this year’s fundraising goal, every homeless public school student in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties will start school with nothing to be ashamed of. “I just think it’s wonderful that these kids here learning about community service at such an early age,” said Virginia Tomlinson of American General-Valic, one of Kids 4 Kids signature sponsors. Lynne Cameron of WFOR-CBS 4 Neighbors 4 Neighbors, another signature sponsor, agreed: “These are the kids that will lead South Florida.” They are learning to be leaders in their own homes as well. Sharon Carper has two sons who are members of Kids 4 Kids. Last year, when Carper battled against breast cancer, her 8-year-old son Dillon was a constant pillar of support. He made her gifts and did everything he could to cheer her up. “When they do things for others, it makes them feel good,” Carper said of her boys. “And they’re happy with that.”

BROWARD

Published Saturday, August 12, 2000, in the Miami Herald

School supplies donated Backpacks, books, tablets for needy kids

BY GRIFF WITTE gwitte@herald.com

Trunks popped open, car doors swung wide and, within seconds, a dozen looks of curious anticipation transformed into expressions of delight at newfound treasure.

Inside a caravan of vehicles making the rounds at Broward Broward County dropoff points, were backpacks, books, pens, paper, stickers and kazoos — in other words, all the essentials for back-to-school.

The items were being given away by Kids 4 Kids, an organization trying to ensure that all South Florida children have the supplies they need when schools reopen later this month, even if their parents can’t afford them. In all, 550 backpacks were distributed to homeless or abused Broward County children Friday.

The giveaway marked the start of the 2000 Fill-A-Backpack Campaign. By the end of the month, about 4,000 backpacks will be delivered throughout the region, 3,000 of which will be given to children in Miami-Dade County Aug. 19-20 and Aug. 26-27. The other 500 will go to children in Palm Beach County.

Glenn Olson’s kids received three of the first backpacks to be handed out Friday.

“I’m a single parent with three children and it’s hard to make the ends meet on a single income. If it weren’t for these guys, my kids wouldn’t have backpacks,” said Olson as he stood outside the Salvation Army building in Fort Lauderdale yesterday. “They might go back to school with a pencil, but that’s it. On a single income, we don’t get any luxuries.”

Kids 4 Kids president Beth Davis said she has been doing the giveaway for four years in memory of her grandfather. “My grandfather was homeless when he came here from Russia and someone helped him,” Davis said.

She also does it, she said, because of what she sees on a daily basis as a Miami-Dade public school teacher. “From the first day, you know who has and who does not,” Davis said. “Not only do the teachers know, but the kids know as well. And, unfortunately, kids can be cruel. These kids don’t need to be labeled as homeless on the first day.”

Although the backpack distribution served as another reminder that summer vacation is nearing an end, most of the kids who received the packs didn’t seem to mind. Instead, they were focused on all their new stuff.

“I love it because it has everything I need — colored pencils, notebooks and a yellow piggy bank,” said a beaming 12-year-old John Dorcinville.

The backpacks and supplies were available because of donations from corporate sponsors, including Union Bank, CBS 4 and The Herald. Private donors also contributed to the program’s $50,000 budget.

In addition to making a difference in terms of the experience that kids have at school this year, the program is also intended to benefit families by helping them make a permanent difference in their quality of life.

“What this means is an extra $25 or so that they can budget into living independently,” said Karen Wood, the director of Hesed, a transitional facility in Dania Beach for abused women. “Every penny helps because every bit of money they have goes into buying the essentials.”

Teacher’s backpack idea goes national

4B THE MIAMI HERALD, TUESDAY, MAY 12, 1998

By Geoffrey Tomb

Herald Staff Writer

For all the cynics out there, meet Beth Davis. Except you can’t just meet her. To talk to Miami-Dade County Schoolteacher Beth Davis about her role as founder of Kids 4 Kids, you also have to meet the 40 kids at Jack Gordon Elementary School who form the nucleus of the organization.

Begun two years ago as an in school project to supply new backpacks loaded with school supplies for homeless children, the self esteem program spread to other Miami-Dade schools.

Then to Broward County Schools. And then to other kinds of kids in need like kids with AIDS and kids in abuse shelters and hospitals. Now it’s about to go nationwide. Today at school, Davis and her Kids 4 Kids program will be honored for finishing second in a national awards competition called Education’s Unsung Heroes. Sponsored by ReliStar Financial Corp. And Northern Life Insurance Co. Of Seattle, Davis will be handed a check for $12,000 during ceremonies at the school, 14600 Country Walk Drive in Southwest Miami-Dade.

Except she insisted that all 40 of the students from grades three, four, and five had to be there too. “These kids are the ones who deserve the recognition,” said Davis, who demanded that each one be given a certificate like the one intended for her and each one be present during today’s presentation ceremony.

Davis’ philosophy is that people are actually looking for a way to help others, especially kids. Her question:

“What’s wrong with 10-year olds?” she asked. “If 40 kids can do this much, think of what 40 clubs in 40 states can do. We could just take care of all our kids in this country.”

How will the money be spent? Some $6,000 will go to the purchase of backpacks for next year. She still needs the school supplies for those backpacks, but she will seek donations for that. The other $6,000 will be used to create start-up kits for anyone interested in starting a Kids 4 Kids Club.

To donate supplies, to volunteer, to get a start-up kit or for more information, call Davis at (305) 234-4805. Or ask her kids.

Published Saturday, August 12, 2000, in the Miami Herald

THE MIAMI HERALD

STUDENT HELPERS

Monday, August 21, 2000

Section: Local

Edition: Final

Page: 1B

By JACK WHEAT, jwheat@herald.com

Grass Roots group gives school supplies to homeless children

Like most of her classmates, 5-year-old Latrail Hall will start kindergarten this month with a fresh new public school uniform and a pristine backpack stuffed with crayons, pencils, paper and other trimmings.

“See?” Latrail said as she dug through her colorful, child-size backpack.

“I’ve got pencils. I’ve got clothes.”

To her mother, that falls in the category of miracles. “She’ll go in just like

everybody else,” Tiffanie Hall said. “I didn’t have the money for any of this.”

The Halls live at the New Life Family Center at 3260 NW First Ave. Sunday,

the homeless shelter received its annual visit from

Kids 4 Kids, a bona fide grass-roots effort that, in four years, has blossomed into the leading

provider of school supplies to homeless students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

By the time school opens, the Kids 4 Kids Club at Jack D. Gordon Elementary and a handful of

other schools will have delivered supplies to every homeless child in Miami-Dade and Broward

counties who could be identified by social agencies – plus students from migrant families, in

foster care and in programs for abused children.

Kids 4 Kids is 250 second- through fifth-graders and their parents who answered the call of Beth

Davis, a Gordon Elementary science teacher who decided in 1996 that she would no longer

watch children’s hopes for the future dwindle because they came to school as obviously poor

kids in a materialistic society.

Educational deficiencies mount as the lack of proper materials for learning is compounded by

the lack of proper psychology for learning – the feeling that they belong in the classroom with

the other students, Davis said.

POVERTY DIVIDE

“When the teacher says, `Take out your supplies and put them in your desk,’ and there’s nothing

to take out,” Davis said, the message is clear to everyone: This kid is segregated by poverty.

“The teacher and the students know who has and who hasn’t.”

It’s devastating by middle and high school, where adolescent insecurities and peer pressure are

brutal, Davis said. “Can you imagine being a high school kid showing up with a Publix bag and

a pack of notebook paper in it?” She treasures notes from teens who wrote that the supplies kept

them from dropping out.

On their first outing four years ago, Davis and her recruits collected, packed and distributed

1,000 backpacks. In 1997, they formally established the Kids 4 Kids Club. Twice a month,

students get to school an hour early for projects like Valentine’s and Halloween bags for

homeless children, get-well cards, food drives and writing pen-pal notes. And in early August,

they report to school early to assemble mountains of assorted supplies into well-equipped

backpacks.

“I heard about it from my science teacher,” said Whitney Olmo, 11. “I stay in it because it feels

good to help other people.”

This summer, Kids 4 Kids had $50,000 to spend – part from $12,000 checks from corporate

sponsors like The Herald, the rest individual gifts ranging from $5 to $5,000. Wholesale buying

stretched the sum over 4,000 students, most in Dade, but some in Broward and Palm Beach

County. And there’s a book for every child this year.