Kindness Always Wins: A Q&A with KIDS CARE, a local non-profit

At Cobb Collaborative, we love to establish and strengthen relationships with the many organizations serving children and families throughout our community. We believe that by coming together in what we all do, we can wholly support all residents in Cobb County. For this blog post, we have special guests from an organization that we are inspired by, KIDS CARE, 501(c)(3). This youth service learning non-profit, founded by a mother and daughter duo, has made and continues to make a lasting impact on children and families throughout Cobb.

1. How did KIDS CARE get started and what was the mission/vision?

Answered by: Amie Burke, Co-Founder of KIDS CARE

KIDS CARE was started by an idea that my daughter, Jaida, had at the age of 8 years old. While driving around in the car, I had given her a homeschool assignment to make an acrostic poem, with any choice of words she wanted. She finished it in a few short minutes, and when I asked her what word she chose, she said “KIDS”, and that it stood for “Kindness In Doing Service”. She said she wanted to start a club with kids so that they could do nice things for people, the way kids wanted to do it and so that the world would know that kids do care.

Pulling over right away, we had a fantastic talk about why she chose those words, what she wanted to do, why she wanted to do it, and with whom she wanted to do it. With Jaida’s idea, KIDS CARE was instantly born as a kids’ club in the fall of 2018. Our first service was her idea, which was to collect used books from people and donate them to other kids who could use them. We asked other friends and homeschool families to join us and together, we collected and delivered 1,116 books to local nonprofits.

 After that, when parents started asking what service was next, it was determined that there was a need within our community to offer a way for kids of all ages to volunteer. KIDS CARE became an official nonprofit in January 2019. Together, we created the second half of our name, CARE, which is also an acrostic poem, and stands for “Connecting And Respecting Everyone”.

We’ve been a nonprofit for five years now and our core mission remains the same: to create opportunities for youth to serve in our community, the way kids want to do it. The kids’ ideas for community service are heard and supported, and I turn these ideas into monthly service opportunities for kids and families to volunteer in Cobb County. KIDS CARE also holds two other missions close to all of our intentions and actions, kindness and environmental stewardship (both a passion of Jaida’s at age 8 and 14 years old). Our vision is for a balanced, healthy and safe world for all humans, animals and planet Earth – Where We All Take Time To Care.

2. What have you learned along the way since starting KIDS CARE?

Answered by: Jaida Burke, Co-Founder of KIDS CARE, age 14

I’ve learned that community service not only feels good for the people/environment you’re doing it in, but it feels good because you know you’re making a difference no matter how big or small, from large bags of trash to making someone smile, it always feels good. I’ve also learned that sometimes not everyone thinks kindness is cool, or they think it’s soft, but when you give the space, time, and encouragement, it becomes rather fun, some of our volunteers would even call it one of their favorite pastimes. Lastly, I believe you can be kind no matter what! Whether you’re tall or small, blue or green, old or young. There is always room to be kind.

Answered by: Amie Burke

I’ve learned that there are a lot of great people in our community! We have almost 200 families registered with KIDS CARE to volunteer at our service experiences. These families want to help others in any way that they can and they want to teach their children and grandchildren about compassion and service. The great thing is, they want to do it with their kids. It is not a drop-off program, these families are volunteering together on a Friday night or a Saturday morning, giving everything they can. Of course, the natural, authentic, caring energy that kids carry with them is the most beautiful thing to watch shine. I love creating a space for youth to care, including for my teenage daughter.

In addition to the big-hearted volunteers, our community is full of donors and sponsors who also radiate compassion for others. Local businesses have been wonderful supporters of our mission. We are deeply grateful for all the love, support, and friendships we have received from our community over the past five years.

3. What inspired the BackPack Drive and how did it get to be so successful?

Answered by: Amie Burke

The inspiration for our backpack drive came directly from one of our youth volunteers.  We were having a youth planning session, listening to the kids’ desires and ideas on how they wanted to serve our community, when a 12-year-old girl said that she just wanted to get her peers the school supplies they needed. She said she didn’t like seeing them without the supplies they needed, and that she wanted them to feel good and have the same opportunity at school as everyone else.  

That year, in 2021, we partnered with the Cobb County Police Department and began our first “Backing the Need” Backpack & School Supply Drive. The first year we collected 283 new backpacks that our volunteers filled with school supplies. We then made the decision that we would donate these backpacks to local nonprofits who already knew which families/students needed new school supplies.  

Over the years, the program has gained momentum with recurring donors and supporters who also like giving to local students in need. Our collaboration with the Cobb County Police Department has been a strong hand to partner with. Our volunteer base has also grown, allowing us to process the donations quickly and easily. We’ve also built relationships with several Cobb County Businesses who have supported our efforts by hosting a drop box at their location or by donating financially. We’re also very happy and grateful for our partnership with the Cobb Collaborative this year, who generously donated 350 mental health kits that went into the backpacks that we donated.

4. What are some highlights of this year’s BackPack Drive and what was the reach?

Answered by: Amie Burke

In total, over the past four years, we have donated 1,824 full backpacks plus an additional 43 unpacked backpacks. Every year we also donate several boxes of teacher supplies to a few local schools as well.

-Amie Burke, Co-Founder of KIDS CARE

We were delighted to have the support of Keep Cobb Beautiful (KCB) at our packing event this year. Our friends from KCB helped us tighten up our recycling efforts from the waste that is generated from collecting hundreds of bags/boxes of school supplies. They stayed on site with us from 9 am – 1 pm and worked closely with one of our lead volunteers, Jenn Fletcher. Jenn went above and beyond to work with KCB to ensure that our waste from donation drop-offs was handled correctly and that our volunteer necessities waste was also managed.  KCB processed our cardboard, plastic, plastic bags, aluminum cans, and other recyclables.  

The Office of the Cobb County District Attorney, Flynn D. Broady, Jr. was kind enough to let Rose, the Cobb County Comfort Dog, and her handler, Angela Thorne join us at our packing day. Rose and Angela were a beautiful addition to the day, moseying around and letting our volunteers get a few quick pets in between packing backpacks. The Cobb Civic Center also offered free admission to their indoor Mini-golf games for anyone who donated school supplies. We are deeply grateful to all our partners who helped make the day a success. All in all, it was a beautiful day of community coming together for a bigger cause.

5. Moving forward, what are your hopes and goals for KIDS CARE?

Answered by: Jaida Burke

One of our goals moving forward would be to reach as many kids/adults as possible, giving them as many great opportunities as we can, and educate them on how great community service and kindness can be. Another goal of mine personally is to find a better way to receive recommendations/ideas from the volunteers for future events and services.  We typically have one meeting a year and build off the ideas we think we can do with our resources, but I would like to improve on that system so we can do whatever someone’s heart desires, from a public dance party to a backpack and supply drive (Yes, we have done both of those).

Answered by: Amie Burke

I hope that what our youth volunteers experience individually, and with their families, resonates with them throughout the rest of their lives. I hope it impacts their kids’ lives. I hope that service, compassion, and gratitude are a natural way of life for them. I hope they can always hold onto the Joy of Giving. And, administratively, I also hope that KIDS CARE can always maintain funding and community support so that we can continue to impact hundreds more children while also helping our neighbors at the same time.

As far as goals, I want to keep listening to kids and I want them to speak more about service, highlighting their compassion. I also want to continue to encourage our community to lower the age limit for volunteers to serve. And, most importantly, I want to keep having fun through service with a whole lot of good humans. As long as we stick to “Kindness In Doing Service” and “Connecting And Respecting Everyone”, we shall keep #creatingkindness together right here in Cobb County.

Cobb Collaborative is so appreciative of Amie and Jaida with KIDS CARE and look forward to continuing to work together to support children and families in Cobb.

To volunteer with KIDS CARE, sponsor, or collaborate with them, please visit www.kids-care2018.org.

To follow their story and get a glimpse at how KIDS CARE is creating kindness in Cobb, check out their social media platforms.

Facebook:  @kidscare2018   Instagram:  @kc2018org  TikTok: @kidscare2018     Twitter:  @kidscare2018   LinkedIn: @KIDS-CARE-2018  YouTube:  @kidscare2018