Every week during our family meetings – after we share compliments, appreciation, things we notice about each other, and what we're grateful for – we always check in with our two pre-teen daughters about general overall safety, emotional safety and positive communication.
It's not just about us being parents who want to ensure the overall safety of our family. We also want our daughters to be comfortable talking about their own emotional safety and positive communication. To be empowered by that ability. To never be afraid of them. And to know that their safety and well-being are more important than anyone's embarrassment, inconvenience or offense. That last one is especially important for them as they enter teenage-land and young adulthood.
These are part of the many tenets of the nonprofit organization Kidpower. My wife works for Kidpower and I've volunteered for Kidpower in the past, wearing a padded suit for self-defense lessons. Kidpower continues to teach our family and people of all ages and abilities to use their power to stay safe, act wisely, and believe in themselves.
This has been especially difficult to do for many families with children and teenagers this year due to COVID-19. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
Adolescents aged 12–17 years accounted for the highest proportion of mental health–related ED visits in both 2019 and 2020, followed by children aged 5–11 years. Many mental disorders commence in childhood, and mental health concerns in these age groups might be exacerbated by stress related to the pandemic and abrupt disruptions to daily life associated with mitigation efforts, including anxiety about illness, social isolation, and interrupted connectedness to school.
Kidpower programs can help kids and teens alike to stay emotionally safe in times like these. And like many organizations this year, Kidpower pivoted from mostly in-person safety services to delivering everything online through trainings and workshops, for even the most susceptible and at-risk populations. Being a nonprofit, everything they do is funded by generous grants and donations.
A long-time friend of Kidpower has given them a challenge grant for up to $100,000 for all new gifts to Kidpower International between Dec 22-31! These funds will support their new PowerUP! Initiative through transformational projects that will vastly increase the safety and confidence of millions of people of all ages and abilities worldwide.
Please join me in supporting this great cause! They are nearly halfway to hitting their challenge grant and I'm raising $1,000 to help them hit their goal of $100,000. Your contributions will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support.
No comments:
Post a Comment