Team Kids Press Releases

More than $100,000 Donated at Imagine Event

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2010-05-31T07:55:47-07:00

Press Release Contact:
Linda Ames
949-300-2545
linda.ames@cox.net

More than $100,000 Donated to
Team Kids at Imagine Event
“It’s all about the kids!”
Over
Irvine, CA – May 27, 2010 – Team Kids, an Irvine-based nonprofit, raised more than $100,000 to benefit children during its 5th Annual Imagine event at Il Fornaio in Irvine. As 450 attendees looked on, Dr. Gwen Gross, Irvine Unified School District superintendent, was presented with the Team Kids Spirit Award. Dr. Gross was honored for her exceptional dedication to empowering youth to make a positive difference in their school, their community and the world.

“It’s all about the kids,” said Julie Hudash, Team Kids founder and CEO. “When I started Team Kids, our goal was to help empower young children to be powerful, compassionate citizens. The Imagine fundraiser honors our nine years of innovative community and business partnerships, and invites us to imagine what is possible when we see the needs of others through the eyes of a child.”

“From a business standpoint, Team Kids is an incredible investment. All the funds raised by children – 100 percent – are given away. Every dollar I give to Team Kids helps a kid raise another five dollars to benefit several other nonprofits,” said Team Kids Board Member Mike Cupps.

“We are deeply grateful for the generosity of our supporters, who make it possible for Team Kids to help kids help others,” said Hudash.

About Team Kids
Team Kids strengthens innovative community collaborations that empower young people to become resilient and responsible citizens with a passion for service through its school-based and community-wide programs. While serving, students develop the values and skills that enable them to make positive choices in their own lives, while making a difference in the lives of others. For more information, visit the Team Kids Web site: www.teamkids.org
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Watershed Watch, 2010 Makes for a Great Earth Day

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2010-04-29T19:03:44-07:00

Press Release Contact:
Julie Hudash
949-633-5700
jhudash@teamkids.org

‘Watershed Watch, 2010’ Makes for a Great OC Earth Day
Team Kids Youth Council steps up for clean water.

Irvine, CA – April 28, 2010 - “Our generation cares a lot about the environment, and our team loved helping out with Earth Day,” according to Team Kids Youth Council Mentor Jenny Heenan.

The Team Kids Youth Council and Inside the Outdoors joined forces with Disney’s Friends for Change and the OC Municipal Water District for Watershed Watch, 2010. The purpose of the collaboration was to raise water awareness and build connections between Orange County residents’ use of this precious resource and the understanding of where our water comes from and where it goes.

Inside the Outdoors staff and Team Kids Youth Council members conducted water awareness activities and service projects at four sites across Orange County: Crystal Cove State Park; Bolsa Chica Reserve; Orange County Great Park; and Upper Newport Bay. Activities included an interactive watershed model, “WSI: Watershed Scene Investigators” scavenger hunt, and hands-on water-quality testing.

“I think our Earth Day efforts really made a difference. We interacted with hundreds of people all over Orange County at four different sites,” said Inside the Outdoors’ Community Program Director Meghan Barron.

Kids especially loved playing with the watershed model. “I learned that there’s so many kinds of pollution in our neighborhood, from cars and pesticides and even dog poop!” said one nine-year-old boy. “The rain washes all that stuff into storm drains, down creeks and rivers, and right into our oceans!”

According to Ran Yui Goheen, the newest member of the Team Kids Youth Council, the opportunity to serve made for a great day. “We talked to lots of people about the watershed, cleared an entire field of mustard plants at Upper Newport Bay, and even got to put about 175 native plants into the ground!”

Team Kids’ mission is to strengthen innovative community collaborations that empower and inspire young people to become responsible, resilient citizens with a passion for service.

Inside the Outdoors is a self-supporting program administered by the Orange County Department of Education that provides outdoor environmental education experiences and Service-Learning projects to over 147,000 students, families, teachers, and community members each year.

Disney’s Friends for Change Project Green is an initiative that invites young people to join together to help the environment across four key areas: climate, water, waste and habitats.

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Team Kids Launches Bi-Costal Fundraiser

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2010-01-28T08:55:49-08:00

Team Kids Launches Bi-Costal Fundraiser: Hearts for Haiti
During Presidents Day weekend / Valentine’s Day, kids in California and Virginia will dance, sing and sell hot chocolate to raise funds to help Haitian earthquake victims.

Team Kids Raises $9,000 for Charity with LemonAID

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2010-01-20T10:14:51-08:00

The result is that kid-sponsored LemonAID Stands sold 18,000 cups of lemonade and hot chocolate – even in the rain - to raise more than $9,000 for charity - $7,000 going to Orange County Human Relations and more than $2,000 designated for the American Red Cross’ work in Haiti.

Irvine kids try to break reading record

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2009-10-13T09:28:48-07:00

BY SEAN EMERY THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

IRVINE School kids looking to smash the world record for reading the same book on the same day took part in the national Read for the Record campaign on Thursday, breaking out their copies of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”
    Organized by Team Kids and Jumpstart, the Irvine Read for the Record events focused on kindergarten and first-grade students.
    The campaign also corresponded with a book drive, with students and parents asked to donate “gently used” books to benefit those who don’t have books to read at home.
    Among those taking part in the event were Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang and Police Chief David Maggard, who read to kids at Alderwood Elementary, and IUSD Superintendent Gwen Gross, who read to kids at Turtle Rock Elementary School and the Early Childhood Learning Center.

Irvine kids try to break reading record

Irvine Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Gwen Gross reads “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” to kindergarten students at Turtle Rock Elementary School in Irvine Oct. 8 as part of the district’s involvement in the national "Read For the Record" program.

Grant will help Irvine students work with charities

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2009-10-13T09:27:01-07:00

Grant will help Irvine students work with charities

BY SEAN EMERY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A new three-year, $86,000 state grant will bolster a joint Irvine Unified School District and Team Kids program that teaches students to work with local charities.
IUSD will team up with Team Kids to craft a “service-learning” program meant to mix community projects with classroom instruction focusing on academic and civic skills.

Team Kids is already well established at Irvine schools, helping to connect students with police officers, fire fighters and other role models, teaching them about real life issues such as hunger, homelessness and the environment, and raising money for charity. More than 20,000 kids have taken part in Team Kids since 2001, raising more than $200,000 for local charities.
This year, 22 Team Kids and IUSD teachers will take part in the new “service-learning” program, along with 2,800 students from five elementary schools. The program will begin at Vista Verde, Alderwood Basics, Deerfield, Springbrook and University Park.

The teachers and students will begin by coming up with a menu of possible community projects, which they will apply for “minigrants” to carry out. At the end of the first year, teachers will begin crafting a districtwide curriculum and future plan for the “service-learning” program.

The number of students and teachers taking part in the program is expected to double by its second year, and then triple by the third, IUSD Service Learning Facilitator Abby Edmunds said, as middle and high schools enter the mix.

If the program proves successful, the district would become eligible for another three-year “sustaining” grant from the California Department of Education.

New Horizon’s Team Kids Leadership Team...

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2009-06-16T08:38:04-07:00

Press Release

New Horizon’s Team Kids Leadership Team raised over $1,300 for Make A Wish Foundation!
Irvine, CA – June 12, 2009 – New Horizon students exceed all 4-week goals in the Team Kids Challenge!

Approximately 200 students at Irvine’s New Horizon Elementary celebrated their recent humanitarian successes at a kid-made school-wide carnival on Thursday, June 11. These generous students spent an entire month taking action upon issues of homelessness, literacy, hunger and the environment, exceeding all four goals presented by Team Kids Challenge Program. New Horizon students raised cash and donated goods with a total value of over $5,000 to benefit other children and families in need. Even more importantly, students learned more about the power they have to make a difference!

More than forty students in grades four through six volunteered weekly over their lunch recess to serve on the Team Kids Leadership Team. These students worked with Team Kids staff and partners from Irvine Police Department to plan all the carnival games and host the celebration for their younger students. Students learned about teamwork, discussed their favorite charities, and then voted to determine which charity would serve as the beneficiary of the profits. The Make a Wish Foundation received the most votes, and will receive 100% of the proceeds from the carnival, which totals over $1,300.

Dina Eletreby, Principal of New Horizons, had a challenge of her own. She promised her students that if they exceeded each of the 4 weekly goals, she would be the first participant in a dunk tank at the carnival. “It was a lot of fun watching the kids try to hit the target and a great way to celebrate and wrap up the month of service that Team Kids brought to our school.” The student-led booths included, a magic show, face painting, crazy hair, tug-a-war, and more.
“It was a privilege to implement the Team Kids Challenge alongside the students and staff at New Horizon,” says Founder/CEO Julie Hudash. “New Horizon has a student body about a third the size of our traditional schools, yet the outcomes of their drives and fundraisers were equally successful.”

Last month the students participated in an inspirational assembly, which brought together preschool through 6th grade students with role models — police, firefighters, and mentors from the community — to work as a team focused on four-week challenge goals to strengthen their community. Week one teamed New Horizon students up with Irvine’s Families Forward, filling 3 large barrels of food for the food bank. The second week focused on the importance of literacy, and students brought in 682 of their gently used books, for the Orange County’s Early Literacy Project. The third week focused on Orange County’s homelessness issue. Students filled 3 large vehicles with their gently used toys, clothes and household items to support the homeless and working poor through Irvine’s Illumination Foundation. Week four inspired over 200 students as environmental advocates as they filled 12 large trash bags with plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Proceeds were donated to the International Bird Rescue Research Center, which rescues sea birds injured due to ocean pollution.

Team Kids programs have demonstrated positive impacts on children’s feelings of self-efficacy, leadership capacity, their desire to help others, and perceptions of being important contributors to their schools and the community. What’s the secret to Team Kids’ success? It’s a close collaboration with the Irvine Unified School District, the City of Irvine, Irvine Police Department, Orange County Fire Authority, University of California, Irvine, and a host of other nonprofits and community partners. More than 20,000 children have participated in the Team Kids Challenge since 2001. Collectively, kids have raised over $200,000 for local charities during youth-led efforts.

About Team Kids
Team Kids strengthens innovative community collaborations that empower young people to become resilient and responsible citizens with a passion for service through its school-based and community-wide programs. While serving, students develop the values and skills that enable them to make positive choices in their own lives, while making a difference in the lives of others. For more information, visit the Team Kids Web site: www.teamkids.org
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Team Kids Fosters Passion for Community Service...

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2009-05-16T08:52:11-07:00

Team Kids Fosters Passion for Community Service among Irvine Children
Community leaders team up with New Horizon students to mentor and inspire service through
4-week Team Kids Challenge!

Team Kids Honors Community, Philanthropist & Kids

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2009-05-16T08:50:53-07:00

Team Kids Honors Community, Philanthropist & Kids

Orange County Philanthropist Challenges Others...

faux2grapher@teamkids.org — 2009-05-16T08:50:28-07:00

Orange County Philanthropist Challenges Others to Give