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Whether it’s cutting their hair or making masks – kids are finding ways to give back

You don’t have to be a grown-up to raise money for a good cause

MICHELLE WILLI AMS This content was funded but not approved by the advertiser.

After her grandmother passed away last year, 10-yearold Iylah Howell and her mom, Heather, were looking at family photos. They came across one image of Iylah’s grandmother coping with hair loss during her illness.

Iylah asked about it, and she and her mother talked about patients who sometimes lose their hair and how a wig can help them feel more confident. They also talked about how wigs are made from real hair, and how Iylah could help someone by donating her hair.

Iylah, who is from Chatsworth, Ont., thought it was an amazing idea. She chose a charity called Angel Hair for Kids. “What better place for a child’s hair to go, but to another child?” said her mother. But it didn’t stop there. Iylah also wanted to raise $2,000 to pay for the cost for the wig to be made.

Iylah had 30 centimetres of her hair cut off this past July in honour of her grandmother and was able to raise $3,590 on Facebook within a couple of months. “I felt so happy to cut my hair because someone out there would get a wig if they didn’t have hair,” said Iylah. “It feels so good to give to other people who are in need.”

When kids are encouraged to give to a cause, help others or display acts of kindness — it can help develop a habit that might last a lifetime.

We’ve had kids interested in Giving Tuesday from the very beginning,” said Lys Hugessen, vicepresident of partnerships for CanadaHelps.org. “That was why we started something years ago called GivingTuesdaySpark.”

GivingTuesdaySpark is a youth-led global movement inspiring kids to take action to support the causes they care about most on Giving Tuesday.

“Spark is for kids, ages five to 18 – and even kids in college and university are getting involved – to spread the broader net and invite more people to this movement of youth,” Hugessen said. “Also, on the Giving Tuesday website there are toolkits for schools and educators on how they can get kids involved.”

How can you get your kids started? “Get them thinking about what they want to change, and what gives them hope or a sense of purpose,” explained Hugessen. “Then have them think about what they can and want to do. Do they want to do something locally or something that makes an impact across the country? What can they do to make a difference? It can be going through their closets for clothing, books or toys to give away, gathering items to create personal care kits or food items to drop off to a charity, organizing a neighbourhood cleanup, a toy drive or food drive.”

Hugessen also suggests setting up a fundraiser so friends and family can contribute on the child’s birthday. Instilling in kids the importance of giving is about more than raising money and volunteering, she said.

“You can also encourage kids to go out and do random acts of kindness — on Giving Tuesday or any other day,” she said. “There are resources on the CanadaHelps website that suggest different ways of performing acts of kindness.

Inspiring kids to give back can have positive repercussions that last a lifetime. “I do believe that the younger kids learn, the more likely they are to become lifelong givers, and that they’ll always be looking for ways to express their generosity no matter what their means are,” Hugessen said.

“We also know in Canada that charitable giving is becoming more and more concentrated among a group of older individuals,” she said. “We need to try and correct that trend and make giving fun.”

Charlie Mullen, 12, from Toronto, turned his passion for crafting into fundraising. During the pandemic, he and his mom, Toni, created beaded lanyards for face masks. He sold them online and was able to contribute $198 to the End Hunger Fund on UniteforChange.com.

Now, they’ve switched to making beaded dog collars. Currently, they give them away to people with dogs they meet in parks, but Charlie hopes he can soon sell them so he can continue his charitable giving.

What prompted his philanthropy? “I thought it would be great if I could find a way to raise money to donate to people who need it,” he said. “It’s just a small thing, but if we all work at helping people, together we can make a difference.”

GIVING TUESDAY

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2022-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

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