An 11-year-old helps out -- you can, too
| Tuesday, Jan 03 2012 03:06 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Jan 03 2012 03:08 PM
Are you ready for a super, sweet Christmas tale that's a lesson for us all on how, yes, one person really can make a difference?
Emily Aldritt is a regular, middle-class 11-year-old Bakersfield kid.
Through her family's dedication to volunteering at the Bakersfield Homeless Center, however, she has seen that her warm, comfortable life is unfortunately not the norm for all of Bakersfield's children.
She wanted to do something to help. So, this holiday season she created "Em's Treat'em Sweet," a homespun "business" in which she baked her family's favorite holiday treats and sold them, with all proceeds going to the Homeless Center.
Emily was adamant that 100 percent of the money go to the center. So supply money came out of her own piggy bank or was donated by family, according to her dad, Harold Mohlke.
She made a flier that an aunt converted to an order form and marketed the treats -- Pa Pa's Pumpkin Loaf, Dirt Cake, CJ's Snickerdoodle Special, Em's Muddy Buddies among others -- through Facebook.
She only got started Nov. 15 and the final day to order was Dec. 15.
Emily raised $1,300.
"Anytime you see someone so young looking around and saying they see things they don't like and want to do something about it, that's amazing," said Louis Gill, director of the Homeless Center and Alliance Against Family Violence. "This was a lot of work, and I'm very proud of her."
Gill said it costs the center a little under $1 for each meal it serves.
"So that will feed a lot of people," he said of Emily's donation.
Or it could be spent on a new boiler or to buy more diapers "if we ever, God forbid, run out!"
The center has 174 beds, and all are full. As it has gotten colder, he said, more families that had been living in their cars are coming to the shelter.
"It's funny how such young people can see the truth in what it means to just be people. We're all called to serve one another just because we are," Gill said. "But it's really interesting how children understand that so fully."
OK, so if an 11-year-old girl can make such a ripple, I'm absolutely confident that others can too.
Here are a few ideas to help you find your giving groove.
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You can help make a dent in Bakersfield's dreadful literacy rates.
The Community Reading Project costs nothing except one hour a week.
You'll be trained in how to coach young kids to read. Then you go to the same school one day each week and read with children. Not to them. You listen and coach when they need it.
It's an extremely simple yet proven concept that gives kids the extra reading help they need to improve, sometimes by whole grade levels.
Second grade is a crucial time when kids still believe they can learn to read. In terms of development, it's also before the time when they will need reading skills to continue learning, which happens by the fourth grade.
All of which is to say, these kids still have a chance. All they need is someone to light the path.
Wouldn't it be great to be that someone?
Lucky for you, training sessions for the Community Reading Project begin in January.
You don't need a reservation; just show up at the conference room in the University Square Building, 2000 K Street.
Each session is two hours and will be held at the University Square building.
Mark these days in your calendar:
Saturday, Jan. 7, 9 to 11 a.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 10, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 3 to 5 p.m.
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If animals are more your thing, become a Friend of the Kern County Animal Shelters Foundation, or donate. The group is quietly improving things for animals a few paws at a time. But it needs you to keep the momentum going.
The organization began a medical emergency fund after the horrendous abuse of a dog named Lacey outraged the community and people around the world. Not only was Lacey cared for using donations to that fund, but it also benefited three other dogs, a kitten, a horse and an orphaned foal.
General donations are also extremely helpful, paying for a portable cooler in the cat room at the shelter, vouchers to encourage adoptions, money to support transporting animals to rescues, tools and more.
Friends also has low-cost spay/neuter programs, off-site adoption days and is working to remodel a grooming trailer so animals are more appealing to potential adopters.
If you want to donate or get involved, Friends is more than welcoming.
Reach Friends at P.O. Box 11494, Bakersfield, CA 93389; through email at fkcasf@gmail.com; or check out the website, www.friendsofkernshelters.org.
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I've only scratched the surface, I know, but I'll let you go now so you can get started improving our community.
Let me know how it goes and, oh yeah, Merry Christmas!
Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry, not The Bakersfield Californian. Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Comment at http://www.bakersfield.com, call her at 395-7373 or email lhenry@bakersfield.com.
