The weather has been SUBZERO cold

On February 16, 2015February 16, 2015 By BraedenIn 3B Outreach1 Comment

My mom told me this morning that if I didn’t wear layers and dress properly the cold weather would hurt my skin. Of course I didn’t believe her because when I went outside I wasn’t cold. But then she told me it was because I was dressed right. Moms!

images It’s really cold. Like, really, really cold. The app on my phone said it was 2 degrees but with the wind it felt like -18 degrees.

We have been packing up 3B bags for the emergency shelters. I wish there was more I could do. I put hand warmers in the bags but that won’t help when it is this cold, at least not a lot. The Friendship House says, “Over the last two winters, the number of people seeking sanctuary on bitterly cold nights has dramatically grown and become more diverse.” You can donate to the Friendship House to help or you can volunteer. For a current list and donation drop off options call 302-652-8133 for the Friendship House. You can also donate to 3B, we’ve been running out of hand warmers and food and buying them multiple times each week.

So a couple things to talk about. I don’t have school today because it is President’s Day but that doesn’t mean I won’t be busy.

Last weekend, my Mom and me, we went to Atlanta, Georgia for the Kids Are Heroes Youth Leadership Summit. I had a good time. I met a lot of people. Even a boy from India. There were hundreds of kids there all doing cool things. Some of them are business type things, like this boy who has an ice cream cart and sells ice cream. A lot of the people I talked with all do things like help to fight against bullying or helping to raise money for malaria or cancer or down syndrome. Oh and Danielle Gletow who is a CNN Hero and she helps grant wishes to foster kids with her foundation called One Simple Wish.

The airport lost my presentation. Luckily our hotel was near an Office Max. My Mom and me worked on creating a new tri-fold until 10pm the night before I was to present. I got green glitter everywhere. Really.

I gave a talk during the summit and I think I did well. My Mom recorded some of it. You can watch or listen on my YouTube page. There are some pictures too at the bottom of this post.

Also my project is one of the top 15 up for a national #LEAD360 Jefferson Award. Very exciting! There has been social voting where you can support Brae’s Brown Bags and the voting ends tonight at 8pm. Please vote for Brae’s Brown Bags 🙂

Then tonight I’m giving a presentation at the University of Delaware to the Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society. My Mom has class so she won’t be there but she’ll be in the same building. I think I’ll do good though. I like the students at UD they are always really nice.

We have a meeting with the Food Bank of Delaware on Wednesday about the upcoming regional hunger conference. We’re going to talk about the kid track. My friend Tanya Steel will be on the call. I am happy about that.

Very cool Danielle Gletow from One Simple Wish

Happy New Year and some big plans for 2015

On January 7, 2015 By BraedenIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

You’ve already heard I want to create a National Kids Hunger Conference. (Knowing my Mom, and knowing me, it’s going to happen eventually) What you might not know is that I have been working on a conference for my home state of Delaware and it will be happening in 2015! Thanks to the Food Bank of Delaware and the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) there will be a “Coming Together” hunger conference on May 4, 2015 and it will be the first ever hunger conference to include a track just for kids. I really could not be more happy about this, I really am so excited.

Schools in Delaware will get getting information this month to ask them if they would like to participate in this pilot conference. We are sending out invitations to hopefully get Vice President Joe Biden to be our keynote speaker. He is from Delaware after all. I also really want to get some celebrities involved but so far they haven’t responded to my tweets. And then my friend, Tanya Steel, who created the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, has already agreed to attend and help in anyway. I’m thinking she’d be perfect for a cooking demo for the kids.

Spring will be busy for me, but Winter isn’t over. I have talks planned, one tomorrow night with a boy scout group, 64th Brandywine in West Grove and one on the 14th with a 4-H group. I’m happy about getting back into the swing of things. But I won’t pretend it was nice to have a break in December.

My Mom and me are flying to Atlanta, Georgia the first week of February so I can attend and speak at the Kids Business Expo. I’m actually a speaker for their Kids Are Heroes Youth Leadership Summit which is happening during the expo at a conference center there. It should be fun.

Oh and I have been asked to speak at the Delaware FFA Convention this Spring in Dover. I think that is going to be great especially because usually when I go to Dover it is to visit Legislative Hall and talk with the Senate and the House so this will be super cool to talk to younger people and maybe even get some 3B bags down to Kent County.

Before I go, I just want to remind everyone in Delaware, when temperatures drop below 20 degrees here there are code purple sanctuaries which open up so homeless individuals have a safe haven for the night. I will update Facebook or my Mom will update Facebook when we hear the locations.

People helping me, helping people

On June 13, 2014 By BraedenIn 3B Outreach, Real Life1 Comment

hero Wow, wow! I have a lot to say, I bet you are not surprised.

Well one things is I received another grant this time from the Start A Snowball Organization who “a non-profit organization committed to empowering kids to engage in philanthropy.” So a few weeks ago I asked my Mom what does Philanthropy mean? Because I see that word a lot on people I follow through twitter. And she told me it means giving and sharing of yourself and your ideas to help other people. So that is what that means.

And then I found out I was nominated for the JOLLY TIME Pop Corn Kernels of Kindness Award by a fan of mine who follows me through my Facebook page! Wow and thank you! JOLLY TIME is awarding 1,000 dollar grants to people who do good in their communities and the winners will be announced in late July.

And then I got a really cool award from “Kids Are Heroes” that certifies I am a hero because of my selfless generosity. Which made me think of philanthropy and so now I understand better. So Kids Are Heroes gave me an award and talked about me on social media and then invited me to their Young Leaders Summit at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia on February 7, 2015. And I will get to speak to the people who attend and also share information about Brae’s Brown Bags! I have never been to Georgia! I have been to a leadership summit before but I didn’t get a chance to speak at it and so that will be exciting.

Before lunch today my Mom and I went to the Newark Empowerment Center on Main Street in Newark to drop off some of our Brae’s Brown Bags to their group. They were very happy to see me and I was happy to see them still helping people, too!

Meeting at UD Then this afternoon I got to meet Mr. Richard Rind, Ms. Sue Bogan and Ms. Lynn McDowell from the University of Delaware. Plus Bryan Gordan who works at Legislative Hall attended along with Senator Bethany Hall-Long and so we met and I shared a presentation with them and talked with them about some ideas I have for the University of Delaware. Really I just want to do whatever I can to help homeless people have more access to food. I think we’re going to be working with the Food Bank of Delaware. Nothing has been finalized but a lot has been talked about. There is a possible “Pilot” project in the works for the UD campus which I am VERY excited about. I hope I get to meet with everyone again soon and keep this ball rolling!