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Tag Archives: kids are heroes

2010: First Quarter in Review!

31 Wednesday Mar 2010

Posted by alexisfedor in News

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Tags

3for5, 800-charity cars, abundant water, alegria, alex's lemonade stand, art aids art, cindy papale, create your own solo show, david hooker, dora mae productions, dream now, face the sun movie, illustration mundo, it magazine, kent hwang, kids are heroes, levar fisher, life through art foundation, many hearts many causes, mary mcmanus original poetry, matt hoverman, my hope space, otto k photography, patty bilbro, pink inc design, rino cards, samantha jones, skip hunt, smile train, spirit jump, stepwise.org, success is sweetest coaching, tomas doncker, twist radio

We’d like to take a moment to reflect on the amazing people and organizations we have featured on the Love and Water blog, and to remind you of their incredible work.  So here is our 2010: First Quarter in Review for you to peruse, and hopefully get acquainted with the people and groups that peak your interest.

CHARITIES:

Dream Now
Spirit Jump
Life Through Art Foundation
Many Hearts, Many Causes
Cindy Papale, Breast Cancer Survivor
Smile Train
Abundant Water
Stepwise.org
Art Aids Art
3for5.org
800-Charity Cars
Alex’s Lemonade Stand
Kids Are Heroes
Face The Sun Movie
Alegria
My Hope Space


ARTISTS:
Matt Hoverman
Kent Hwang
Skip Hunt
Pink Inc Design
Patty Bilbro
David Hooker
Tomas Doncker
Otto K. Photography
Dora Mae Productions
Samantha Jones

CREATIVE RESOURCES:
Create Your Own Solo Show
Success Is Sweetest Coaching
Illustration Mundo
It Magazine
Levar Fisher
Mary McManus Original Poetry
Twist Radio
Rino Cards

Meet Former NFL Player LEVAR FISHER: Motivational Speaker for Kids

10 Wednesday Mar 2010

Posted by alexisfedor in Community

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Tags

arizona, arizona cardinals, children, kids are heroes, levar fisher, motivational speaking, new orleans saints, nfl

Levar Fisher was a linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals, but now speaks to kids around the country about following their passions and living their dreams.  It is rare to meet such a passionate, motivating and genuine person who believes so whole-heartedly in making kids believe they can overcome anything.  Levar sets the bar for all of this and more.

Love and Water- How did you move from playing in the NFL to your work as an inspirational, motivational speaker for kids?

Levar Fisher- I played for the Arizona Cardinals from 2002 through 2004, and was with the New Orleans Saints in the off-season of 2005.  I had so many injuries, and my career didn’t pan out like I thought it would.  I had four right knee surgeries, and a left knee surgery, and after those I couldn’t run.  I felt like my career was taken away from me, and I cried about it for about a year- I’m not afraid to admit that.  It was devastating to me, and I felt like my whole life was ripped out from under me.  Before I left the NFL I was approached by a gentleman from Sports World Industries about speaking to kids on a circuit.  I started doing it and I got pretty good at it.  From that and the relationships I made, people started to want me to speak all the time.  I got so busy with it that I actually had to part ways with the sports world.  My wife is now my partner, and she does all of my marketing.  I’ve partnered with so many different groups and people, and I’m so inspired by the number of kids I’ve been able to reach who have lost hope or don’t believe they can make a change in their lives.  To turn those beliefs around is so important to me because our kids are our teachers- they’re the future leaders of this world, and they need to believe in themselves.  I try to approach every engagement I go into with that in mind.  There are some kids who seem to have it all together, and then there are some who I can see need love and support.  I try to reach those especially who don’t have the love or support in their lives and make them understand that there are people who believe in them.  I feel so good about life.  I have a beautiful wife and daughters, and I know I have so much to be thankful for.

L&W- What groups and organizations do you speak to?

LF- I speak at schools, organizations like Kids Are Heroes, juvenile detention centers, prisons, churches- and I don’t just limit my audience to kids.  I also speak occasionally to corporate audiences where there are no kids in attendance, because I can still inspire hope in adults who need an extra boost of confidence, and I’m happy to do so.

L&W- How can people book you as a speaker?

LF- Through my site, www.levarfisher.com, or they can call 866-574-4776.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far speaking?

LF- There was one young lady who got pregnant and had her baby, and came up to me after I spoke and was crying and shaking.  She had left her mom a note that she wanted her baby to be taken care of because she was going to kill herself.  After she heard me speak, she changed her mind.  Sometimes I go into these situations and I realized that this is what I was meant to do, especially when people show their appreciation for what I’m doing.  But this was a really emotional moment for me, because I realized it was changing me.  The fact that she was no longer thinking that she had no choice left made me feel I had done something really important.  Another time I was speaking in an inner city school and this kid came up to me and wanted to talk to me privately.  He had a gun in his pocket and he showed it to me and said he was going to turn it in that day because of what I had said in my speech.  He realized he could make more of his life than what he was doing at that point.  Again, I realized how important this work is to me.  I don’t know what he was going to do with that gun, but nothing good could have come of it.  It’s moments like that that keep me going.

L&W- Do you keep in touch with the kids you’ve spoken to?

LF- Absolutely.  I encourage all of them to email me, and I read every single email.  I get back to every person who takes the time to email me with their questions or issues.  I keep in touch with the schools and talk to them to make sure they’re following up with anyone who talked with me about the problems they’re having and are trying to correct.  I also pass out comment cards after each speech and tell everyone to let me know how they’re feeling and what they thought of the whole event.  When I read the cards there is so much love and they have so many questions about how they can work on making changes in their lives.  I get back to all of them with the information they ask for.  It’s great, because I tell them that if they don’t feel comfortable talking about something, they need to write it down, and that gets them to express what’s on their mind, which leads them to figuring out how to make a change.  If I can help them in any way, I do.  One kid told me he was HIV positive on his card, and he needed help.  I made sure he got what he needed.  I talk to principals and to others who can give them the resources they need.

L&W- What do you want people to most understand about what you do?

LF- The passion that I have to do what I do.  When I go around to these schools, I lay my heart out to these kids and I try to reach them on their level.  I don’t believe that there is one linear way to become successful.  If there is a way to break them out of that way of thinking, I’ve done my job.  I share my craziest moments- I share the story of me watching on of my closest friends get killed.  I don’t hold back, because I want them to know, without a doubt, that no matter what they’re going through they’re not alone.  There are others out there who have goine through something similar, and there is always a way to rise above it and use it to make a better choice.  I’ve learned from the mistakes in my life, and they have made me who I am today.  Through my mistakes I have been able to go after my dreams, and that’s what it’s all about.  I have so much passion for helping young kids realize that they can do the same thing.

Visit Levar’s site
Join Levar’s Facebook Fan Page
Follow Levar on Twitter
Join Levar on LinkedIn

KIDS ARE HEROES!!!

25 Thursday Feb 2010

Posted by alexisfedor in Charities

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

children, gabe o'neill, kids are heroes, leadership

Gabe O’Neill’s daughter had an idea when she was nine to start her own website to help animals. When she and her dad started talking about what she wanted it to include, they ended up starting an organization geared to feature the work of other kids doing good in the world. The result has been an extraordinary snowball effect of kids inspiring kids around the world to take action and foster change. It has not only changed the lives of the kids by encouraging them to discover ther passions and to take action, but it has changed their families as well. And most importantly, Kids Are Heroes illustrates the incredible impact a simple gesture of kindness can make.

Love and Water- What was your inspiration to start Kids Are Heroes?

Gabe O’Neill- It was actually started by my daughter, MaryMargaret when she was nine years old. She came to me and said she wanted to build a website to help animals. I said that was a good idea, and suggested that she could help people too. I saw an interview with Sir Richard Branson on Charlie Rose and he was talking about social entrepreneurship, which was something I had never heard of. I thought it was such a good idea to give ideas instead of money in the name of solving problems. So I thought I could help my daughter build her website and help other kids to get their ideas out. We had business meetings at first to figure out what exactly she wanted to focus on, and that got the all rolling. We kept going with it, and it has now turned into a foundation that will no doubt be my daughter’s legacy. MaryMargaret has now spoken at schools and has developed leadership skills that will benefit her for the rest of her life.  She is learning at such a young age how to create the life she wants for herself, which centers around helping others.  This organization will be her legacy.

L&W- So how does the organization work?

GO- We teach kids about giving through showing them what other kids are doing to make a difference. We showcase kids from all over the U.S., and now internationally, who do things for other people without any consideration for their own benefit. They want to inspire others through their actions. When kids are given the freedom to explore what is meaningful to them, they end up discovering their passion. And once they discover that, they are ready to take action. There is one boy who on our site who, when he was seven, drilled his first well in Africa. He’s 18 now, and has an organization that has drilled over 500 wells in over 16 countries, helping over 600,000 people. This came from his idea that he wanted everyone to have clean water. He couldn’t believe that by running his spigot at home he could have clean water, while so many people in other countries couldn’t. There is another 14 year old boy who is trying to help the United Nations solve the issue of world poverty by the end of 2015. He found out about the Millennium Development Goals the United Nations had come up with to help solve poverty, so he came up with the Little Millennium Development Goals (LMDG) that he has presented to them. I spoke with his mother and the problem she is facing right now is whether or not to take her son out of school to go to Copenhagen to speak with some diplomats, because he just got back from Korea, having done the same thing. Both of these examples are of kids who are future world leaders, but we also have stories of kids who do simpler things. There is the story of a five year old whose mother came across our site and told her about it, and she immediately wanted to help her neighbor, Mr. Dove, who was older and couldn’t plant his flowers anymore. So she arranged to plant flowers in his yard. There is a 16 year old boy who has been fly fishing since he was three years old, and has discovered a way to teach disabled veterans how to fly fish, along with the benefits of relaxation that goes along with it. Each story illustrates the huge effects this kind of selfless giving has, and each one serves as an inspiration for the next child who reads our site. We paint them all with the same brush, because we know that each child is different and will be inspired by different stories.

L&W- What is the typical response you get when people first learn about your site?

GO- Often, when a child has an idea and begins to implement it, the whole family changes because they all get involved in the process. I’ve heard countless stories from parents who tell me how their lives have changed because of what they’re helping their kids to accomplish. I can’t tell you how excited I am about the progress we’re making. The visceral reactions of people who start working with their children to make their ideas come to life is just amazing. Once people find out about our site, they read our stories and usually what happens is that once the kids read the stories they immediately start coming up with their own ideas. When my daughter first launched her site to help animals, our neighbor down the street who was eight at the time said to his mother that he wanted to help premature babies. He was premature at his birth, and wanted to give something to other premature babies in the hospital. So he got people in a nursing home to knit premie hats and sweaters, he got a quilt company to donate some quilts and he got bears donated from a local company. He put together 36 gift baskets, and took them to the hospital. Normally they won’t let anyone in because of the delicate conditions of the babies, but the hospital gave him scrubs and let him go in to give the baskets to the families. He said to his mother at the end that it was the most important thing he had ever done. They now continue to give baskets to the troops and other groups in need of some help because they enjoy it so much.

L&W- Do you find that parents are ever resistant to allow their children to step up and take action?

GO- Yes, but it doesn’t last long once they see how other kids and parents are doing it and when they see how excited their kids get when they come up with an idea that has meaning to them. There are parents who believe that kids are kids and the adults are responsible for taking action. I challenge each of those parents to come to our website and see what these kids are doing. When parents read some of the stories on our site, it inspires them as well.

L&W- How has social media played a part in helping you get the word out?

GO- Twitter and Facebook have been completely amazing as far as helping to market our site while connecting us to so many stories that we’re able to feature. We now have a partnership with ex-NFL star Levar Fisher, who found us through social media. He travels around to schools across the country to talk to kids about how they can make a difference, and he is now going to talk to them about Kids Are Heroes as part of his lecture series. I try everyday to think outside the box to get the word out about our organization. We are now part of Disney’s Give a Day, Get a Day, where you can win a free ticket to a Disney park in exchange for community service. We are hosting these events now, so people learn about our site through the Disney site.

L&W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far with Kids Are Heroes?

GO- I think it was hearing about how our neighbor, John, immediately set out to help premature babies with such amazing results, and that he told his mom it was the most important thing he had ever done. I felt that my daughter and I played a part in inspiring him to do so. That’s the whole reason I’m doing this to begin with, and it means more to me than any dollar amount could give to me. I also know there are so many more stories that I haven’t head yet, which is also very moving to me.  It’s what our site is supposed to do, and that makes me very happy.

Visit Kids Are Heroes
Follow Kids Are Heroes on Twitter
Join the Kids Are Heroes Facebook Fan Page
Read Gabe’s blog

Love+Water Designs

The official blog of Love+Water designs. We hold weekly t-shirt design projects. You design the shirts, you pick the winners, we donate up to 50% of all profits to charity. Because every drop counts. If you are an artist with interesting work (painting, poetry, photography, wordage, all-around great, creative person) or a charity helping to foster incredible change, let us feature you!

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