Itscool2care Founding heroes
Our young founders are pictured here, their stories are below. They provided the inspiration, drive, and creativity to develop itscool2care as a program to meet the needs they identified.
Taylor and her friends (12yrs old at the time) decided to make a philanthropic after school program. They obtained a teacher sponsor, organized several fundraising opportunities and donated more than $1,200 to a local non-profit supporting teenage runaways. When Taylor shared this story with a friend of her dad's the idea for itscool2care was born. Compassion is contagious, pass it on.
Kalyn and Angel, (age 15 at our introduction), are constantly seeking new opportunities for improving ALL environments. They founded ENVI (Environments Need Vast Improvement) and are forming groups in schools across Houston. Their projects include enhancing their education opportunities, fighting for better school lunches, supporting vegetarians in their "meat rehab" support group, supporting the no-kill movement in Houston by volunteering for Friends for Life, and many others. Their ideas are laced throughout this website and we aim to support their vision whenever we can! Check out their latest at the Envi myspace page, want to help them? email envi_group@yahoo.com. Download their MLK day interview on KPFT 90.1
Dara, at age 9, launched her own project to help save animals' lives by raising money for a cause. Dara makes and sells beautiful polished wood and turquoise bracelets, sharing proceeds with no-kill shelter and pet adoption service Friends for Life. more
Daria and Gwen, at age 10, contributed various ideas in the development of the Friends for Life kidzone www.adoptfriends4life.org and the teacher tools including journal topics and research project ideas.
Chase, (ic2c founder’s son), provided inspiration at the airport in 2003. The first action figure Chase (4yrs old then) asked for was a “Rescue Hero”. In an airport terminal he asked why a man was wearing green and brown clothes and boots – was he a real life rescue hero? I explained to him that he was, and briefly explained the service done by the armed forces. He then asked me if it were ok for him to tell him thank you. I told him that was a great idea. Me and the other adults watched through tears as he walked over and thanked the nice soldier. The smile on the soldier’s face was priceless! The man sitting next to me hopped up and went to the gate agent and asked if he could switch seats with the soldier and get him into his first class seat.
Compassion and gratitude is contagious!
Link, (ic2c founder’s son), provides everyday reminders that all living things deserve to be treated fairly and that when we help others, we are helping ourselves!
Heroes that cross our paths, identifying new solutions, new inspirations, and affirmation that we’re making things happen.
Do you want us to share a story here? Click on the “CONNECT” tab and fill out the form- use the message area to let us know you have a “hero story”. Thanks for ALL you do!
Art Walker He’s been in the Army for 22 years and is serving in Iraq for the third time. I was very moved by a chat we had on Facebook and I wanted to share his sentiment here. I put him on this hero page because so many people I work with through itscool2care are surprised by how some of the simplest things we do help others in ways that we couldn’t imagine. Here is an excerpt from our chat:
Me:" I am amazed by what you are doing. I feel disconnected, but very grateful if that makes sense"
Art: "Yes I can understand that, the only thing that I need to complete my job here, I already have, a loving family with children that don’t forget all the time that I spent with them when I was there and caring people that support me even with only messages like yourself, a soldier can do nothing without having support for the cause he or she is fighting for Thank you."
I’m moved by his commitment to his troop, and his respect for the next generation, and grateful for his honesty. He followed up on our chat by sending me this quote:
“To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.” ~Anatole France
Amy, Meredith and Amy, and Smart Girls at the Party!! Celebrating extraordinary people that change the world by being themselves. This is what we’re talking about! Please watch and pass it on!
Kristina and Jenna thought Friends for Life pets would like to have fleece blankets like the one their dog has at their home. SO, they crafted DOZENS for lucky cats and dogs at the Friends for Life Adoption Center at Petsmart on Shepherd. Thanks to Kristina and Jenna, waiting for a forever home can be warm and fuzzy!
Kristen has been sketching anime characters for a long time. She joined itscool2care at the Discovery Green Market to raise funds and share her talents with Houston families providing $1 anime portraits in a couple of minutes! What a bargain, and she refused to take her 50%, donating it all to Friends for Life! Thanks Kristen you are our hero!
Elise, at age 7, faced a frustrating disease and her second bone marrow transplant. But shortly before Valentine’s Day in 2007, Elise cleaned out her savings account and donated the whole $60 to Friends for Life, a no-kill animal rescue group. She sent an adult with the donation. She asked for nothing in return. For the gift of life with her own challenged, we proclaim Elise an awesome and courageous hero, and an inspiration to all of us! Stay tuned as we will soon dedicate a space in honor of the hero we never met.
Chandra, provides internet research and links for the content of this website. Because new information and revised information will always be necessary to help us do the best we can, we are so grateful for the time Chandra spends finding new ways we can make a difference!