The weather has been SUBZERO cold

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!

imagesIt’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.

This is me with Danielle Gletow
This is me with Danielle Gletow

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.

Happy New Year and some big plans for 2015

coming-in-2015You’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.