Check out the before and after video! Our team, lead by Nick and Jasper finished a dorm that now houses 9 more children at an orphanage in Tijuana. This was a totally youth-led project. Special shout-out to superstar fundraiser and builder William C. and to Canadian Warriors Avery G. who sold roasted corn on his farm to raise funds. We couldn't have done it without LemonAID Warrior supporter and master builder, Paul DiMeo, and our partners at Corazon de Vida.
This is Nicholas. He has been a LemonAID Warriors superstar volunteer since he was 7 years old. He is now 14 and we are proud to announce that he has launched his own service project, Friends Helping Others. Through PhilanthroParty events and donation booths at Whole Foods and corporate fund matching, he has raised over $5,000.00 so far for an orphanage in Tijuana. We partnered with him on his latest trip to visit the orphanage and it was such a joy to return the support he has shown us over the years. Check out the video below of our most recent trip and here's a video of our first trip.
When LemonAID Warriors, Jasper and Nicholas planted their garden to feed the homeless in their community, they had a lot of help. Luckily KatiesKrops.com gave them a grant for the garden, Matt from Heirloom LA gave them some cooking lessons, and their 7th grade classmates volunteer to harvest and cook for the residents of a local homeless shelter After the first year they are "growing" strong! Summer Harvest of tomatoes made for delicious gazpacho for the residents of a domestic violence shelter.
Matt from Heirloom LA gave them cooking lessons.
Volunteering at PATH transitional housing project. Along with salad from our garden, Warriors donated their birthday money to pay for some of the food we served at PATH.
Juliet serves a resident of PATH transitional housing.
Buckley's LemonAID Warriors at PATH--a transitional housing program for homeless.
Declan is famous for his creative save-the animal PhilanthroParty events. And he has inspired many kids in his neighborhood, like Nicholas, Natalie and Justin to throw their own PhilanthroParty events. But when he saw fellow warrior Jasper turn his back yard garden into a chance to feed hungry people through a grant from Katies Krops, he had a new idea. Declan and his mom already have a small back yard garden. There's not enough harvest to cook an entire meal, so and Declan and his buddy, Desmond set up a stand to sell their harvest. They added a few goodies that can go in kids lunches, like raisins, juice boxes and crackers. Their Lunchbox Sale raised $107.50 in just 2 hours. Now, its off to the Food Bank to deliver the money. According to the LA Food Bank statistics, that money will make 430 meals! Warriors inspiring warriors leads to an army of change-makers!
Here's the garden when the first planted it.
Here's how it grew!
The Harvest Lunchbox Stand!
This Warriors says it all! Hear it for yourself. When you add a "giving" twist to any activity, the fun-factor doubles. What she says is proof that showing compassion toward others builds self esteem. These LemonAID Warriors had the most enthusiastic stand of the summer! And the fancy drinking glasses were a great touch!
Animal rescue is the #1 cause my youngest Warriors choose to support. It makes perfect sense. When you are little, you might not feel powerful enough to help big people or big causes. But kids are bigger than animals and feel a special connection and responsibility to take care of them. Their compassion is sparked and their confidence soars. When we get early exposure to these positive feelings it will likely lead to lifetime of service. Unfortunately, most shelters require their volunteers to be 16 or 18 years old. But that doesn't stop a true Warrior. Meet this brother/sister team. She baked these beautiful homemade dog treats. He passed out samples at the dog park. Proceeds will go to a local animal rescue organization. My dog is a seriously picky eater and he gobbled up the carrot and cheese treats and wanted more. Can you think of a better way to spend an August afternoon!
Stella and Elizabeth lead LemonAID Warriors on July 23rd to mark 100 days of captivity for the kidnapped school girls in Nigeria. They also helped lead our 200Girls photo campaign and Rally. LemonAID Warriors partnered with A World At School to show that we have not forgotten and we will continue to fight for a safe education for all. You can keep updated with news and action plans through our friends at A World At School.
LISTEN HERE or click on photo to hear a portion of the name-reading as each missing girl's name was spoken aloud. Virtual candles on hand-held devises were "lit" for a kid-safe candlelight vigil.
Young Warriors hold up the list of names of the 219 Girls still missing.
Our group and our messages. WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN
I was proud to honor my hardest working animal activist warrior, Shane for his extraordinary volunteerism at the museum for Animal Rescue. At 13 he is my animal rescue partner's most consistent volunteer. He never misses an adoption event even when he is sick because working with animals makes him "feel better", After spending most of his life in hospitals undergoing 12 surgeries including facial reconstruction and Pierre Robin Syndrome, Shane developed his true Warrior spirit. Shane even uses his allowance to buy Starbucks for the other volunteers. I have worked alongside him at pet rescue events and he outlasts us all. Congratulations, Shane for reminding us all about working beyond our limits for the causes we care about.
Ava started by attending our events, then volunteering and recently has been taking lead on projects that have had powerful global and local impact. When Ava is at work, I see passion and joy radiate from her. Giving her opportunities to express that compassion is the most rewarding part of my work. Thank you for your joyful leadership, Ava. Here is a history of our work. Let's do more great things together!
Turing 6 is a big deal. It's when a kid turns into a big-kid. And Nicholas is a big-kid with a big heart. "My little sister needed to go to Sick Kids Hospital a few times so ... I chose to make donations there." He donated around $200.00 so far. Nicholas and his friends played Limbo and Nicholas-Says and then had a cooking class and made pizza, even the dough. The "giving" part of the party "made it just as fun" as a regular party and Nicholas wants to do it again!
There's a theme among my favorite Warriors. They've used the obstacles in their lives as platforms for change. Like my friend Kendall, who fought her illness by concentrating on other people's needs. Click here for her awesome TEDx talk. Matthew is another great example. He wears glasses and can't imagine his life without them. He expresses his gratitude by showing a deep compassion for those are not as fortunate. Matthew asked me for a few tips on getting started on turning this compassion into action. And in a few short months I am blown away by what he has accomplished. I have never seen a Warrior work so fast and so effectively. Please support him and share his story.
PassItOn4Eyesight Facebook Website
5 seconds of silliness with me and Matthew and our friends.
This brother-sister dynamic duo inspire me in so many ways, I don't know where to start. They have taken the core ideas of being a LemonAID Warrior and put it into full force with hard work, a joyful spirit and a clear determination. Their PhilanthroParty events are creating results that are saving lives. They are working together as a family and strengthening family bonds. They are engaging their community. And they are inspiring me to put more energy into reaching more kids because if we can create an army of Warriors like Lauren and Collin, then the peaceful world I imagine has a chance of becoming real. THANK YOU Lauren and Collin. Support their causes at Project Orphans, St Judes and Blood Water Mission!
LemonAID Warriors:Canada has new Warriors to cheer! When Natalie learned about our Philanthro-Parties she recruited her little brother Justin and made the sweetest holiday of the year even sweeter! Here's what she has to say about her Halloween Costume Philapthro-Party... "We had games, we had bags with our names and put prizes in the bags, we watched a movie. We dressed in costumes and we had fun." We collected " 4 bags of clothes and 76 cans of food...we counted them on the porch and put them in our wagon" We gave to St Vincent de Paul and The Oakville Fair Share Food Bank "so kids would be warm and not hungry. It was easy to ask my friends to help. They were showing God's love."
They would like to do another philanthro-party "because we have fun and we get to help people. Maybe we could have our friends bring toys and we could bring them to kids who spend Christmas in the hospital,"
These young warriors are already thoughtful and compassionate leaders in their their community. Share their story and inspire an army of young Warriors to follow their lead. A Simple Sweet Social way to Share!
Natalie and Justin's PhilanthroParty
There are SO many Action Heroes to thank from this event. Teagan, Paulie and Kaitlin and LemonAID Warriors volunteers! I was honored to partner with you all at Teagan's Rock the Run 5k and 10K event to raise money for pediatric cancer research. We unveiled our new Extreme LemonAID Stand built and donated by the amazing carpenter/host of Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Paul DiMeo. We met the amazing Kaitlin, this years honorary Shred Head whose smile lit up the day. LemonAID Warriors sold our famous Watermelon LemonAID and ran in the race. See you next year, Teagan! WE LOVE what you do.
Caroline welcomed us into her homestead in northern Uganda so we could see how access to clean water has helped her family and her village take an important first step toward saving lives from water born diseases. But it was just the first step. She taught me that sanitation education and a simple "tippy tap" have saved even more lives and created a healthier community that is getting strong enough to lift themselves out of poverty. School attendance has gone up because kids are not missing school due to illness. This simple device is having a huge impact. Caroline's dedication to implementing these hygiene practices in her homestead make her a hero to her family while she is setting an example to her community. My partners in Uganda, Divine Waters, and my partners in the US, Blood Water Mission, continue their health education program as part of their sustainable program that goes beyond building wells. Share this story to raise awareness. Or make a donation HERE to support these efforts.
READ ABOUT JASPER'S TRIP TO UGANDA! I have been helping Lulu raise money and awareness for the water crisis in Africa. Here is a video of her Water Walk that I am in. It raised enough money to build a well that will serve 400 villagers for life.
She invited me to go to Uganda to visit some of her projects. We were going very far north where there was a terrible war for 20 years. The children were taken to be soldiers and slaves or put into camps. The war ended and there is peace now but these villages had to start over. No water. No electricity. No roads. No hospitals. Just bush and mud huts. I expected really sad and helpless people. I expected that they would look at me and feel more depressed because I have so much and they have nothing at all. I expected they might be angry or jealous or that they might beg for things they need. But I was compleltely wrong. Here is what I saw instead.
This is me and our friend Micah. We brought a soccer ball to a school where a well was built this year. Everywhere we went, we played soccer or frisbee or dodgeball. And we immediately made friends. It didn't matter that we didnt speak the same language or we had totally different lives. When we played together it was as if we were all the same and as if we had been friends for a long time.
PEACE IS POSSIBLE IF BASIC HUMAN NEEDS ARE MET. This quote by Mattie JT Stepanek inspires us LemonAID Warriors every day. Jasper spent an amazing summer addressing the basic human need for FOOD and WATER. Here is his story in his words!FOOD: I applied for a grant from Katies Krops to grow a garden and feed the hungry in Los Angeles. I teamed up with another LemonAID Warrior, my friend Nicholas. He invited his grandpa Maurice to mentor us. The grant came through!! Thanks KATIE!! Follow our story. Here is part ONE of our four-part video blog. Introducing...Krop Club LA!
WATER: In June I went to Uganda with Blood Water Mission. I helped my sister fundraise to build wells in Africa with them since we were little. We visited wells in villages, schools and medical clinics. After a 23 hour plane flight, we drove to the very north of Uganda. Our wells were built way up there because thats where they need it the most. But it's dangerous because the roads are bad. Here's a picture of the car I was in after it swerved into a ditch and flipped three times. It was the most scared I've ever been in my life but I'm thankful I'm alive and no one was hurt. After that we were thinking we should go home. But I decided I would be OK to tough it out. I wanted to meet the people we came to visit.
I'm so glad I toughed it out. I met the most amazing people. At first I was afraid I'd just be sad the whole trip. I'd feel bad because I have way more than I need and it would be hard to meet poor people who are depressed and hopeless. But I was wrong. They were actually even more poor than I imagined. They had no shoes, torn clothes, clay houses with no toilets or electricity. They had to dig for their food and walk miles to schools that had no desks. But even though they were this poor, they were the happiest people I ever met. They had their family. They had their community and school. And they had a well that brought them clean water so they could be healthy. The well gave them hope for a better life and I think it's the hope that made them happy even if they had nothing else. They looked at me like a person who brought hope. Not like a person who is selfish. They didn't beg or ask me for things. They just wanted me to tell their story when I got home.
We asked them how the well made their life better. They said kids now get to go to school instead of walking miles a day to fetch dirty water that made them sick or killed them. And now there are lessdeaths and sicknesses from cholera, diarrhea and dysentery but there were still people dying from these diseases. Mostly kids under 5. That was disappointing. These diseases are from germs in dirty water and our partners thought that a well with clean water would totally fix it. But kids were still dying so they needed more solutions.
I thought a solution would be to build a hospital, but that would take years and millions of dollars and so many kids would die in the meantime. But our partners had an idea to help immediately. They started educating the villages and schools about sanitation. They taught the villagers how to build these Tippy Taps and taught about proper hand-washing. Already it's making a huge difference. And it didn't cost money or take a long time to put up. Sicknesses and death rates are now dropping fast and school attendance is going up. Here's a Tippy Tap picture. This simple thing lets people wash their hands and actually saves lives.
The highlight for me was becoming friends with Micah, who traveled with us from Nashville, and playing with Micah and the kids we met in Uganda. Micah and I had nothing in common with them at all. We didn't even speak the same language. But it felt like we knew each other forever. All it took was a soccer ball to make things fun and we had a great time. Every place we went, we got some kind of game going. We were all friends. It was so easy and so fun.
Here's the most important thing I saw. People need the basics to live a healthy life. Water. Food. Medical care. People need hope. They need family, friends and community. And if that is all they have, then it is possible to be truly happy. I'm going to keep helping them get what they need so they can eventually take care of themselves. And I am going be much more grateful for my life. I'm going to remember the feeling of friendship and happiness that can happen when strangers from opposite sides of the world get together with nothing in common but a soccer ball.
Brynn and her aunt Jill are compassionate artists with a great idea. Jill asked the coordinator of a local art show to donate a booth. Brynn joined in to help with a painting workshop, in exchange for donations. The booth was swamped and everyone left with a mini-masterpiece and a good feeling in their hearts for helping the cause: raising money to help their friend Robyn who is battling angiosarcoma. You can donate here! LOVE my Canadian Warriors so much!
LemonAID Warriors is all about turning your passion into action, and 13 year old Teagan Stedman has been doing that for 5 years. He combined his compassion for kids who have cancer with his love of music and created Shredfest, a battle of the bands for kids to raise money for pediatric cancer. My band, R.I.P. Adam Buttons, got the chance to participate this year with some awesome young bands.We won 3rd place and we're so proud to be a part of such an amazing event. Check out a clip of our song "Paul Is Dead" at Shredfest 5!
Dr Jeni Stepanek is the mother of my hero, MattieJT Stepanek,. He is a child poet and peace activist who taught me that "peace is possible when basic human needs are met). He inspires my work everyday. She provides support and advise for me and for my mom. She understand the life of a Warrior more than anyone on earth. I was awarded the honor of being certified a Peace Sponsor from Dr. Jeni Stepanek, from the Mattie JT Stepanek foundation. It's the award I value most. Join Mattie's Peace Club at mattieonline.com and take the Peace Journey. Maybe you can be the next Peace Sponsor.
[br] Lulu Cerone realized at a young age that she could “combine passions,” and in doing so, celebrate the things she enjoyed while also reaching out to help others celebrate life as well.
Read more...
Lulu is represented by a literary agent, Clelia Gore. For inquiries, please contact Clelia at clelia@martinliterarymanagement.com
