Hello Everyone!
Its been a little while since we have been updating our blog, but despite our break from the interweb, we have been hard at work building, organizing and reassessing KWD! Since the last time you’ve heard from us, we have gained 3 new regular KWD volunteers who have helped us out tremendously and all together have gained up to about 30 new volunteers! One of the cool things we decided on over our interweb break was to organize our months into causes and organizations. The way this will work is for every two months, we will have one cause and organization to work with. This way we can be more efficient in spreading awareness amongst a broad array of different organizations and causes. So, to jump right into it, as we are quickly approaching March next week, I wanted to announce that Kids Who Draw will be representing and focusing on Autism as our Cause of the Months of March-April. The organization we have chosen to work with is still in the works of being confirmed, but we are are extremely excited to help spread awareness about Autism, what it is, and get a lot of you involved in helping out!
One thing I am personally really excited about for the next two months is the screening of the film documentary, Wretches & Jabberers that comes out on April 2, 2011! Read what it’s about here. I believe this movie will serve as the National Autism Awareness Day event of the year! So, here is the trailer, hope you will love it as much as I do.
Our film director Andrew Vasco helped GOOD Magazine with this video! Help and follow Eco Joe! 
Come to our next meeting to learn more about what we do, upcoming events and what you can do to get involved!
What makes a human want to help someone in need? Why is it that the majority of people wont help someone they don’t know? And why is it that most people won’t help another person unless they have something to gain also?
These are all questions I have wondered for a long time and always asked myself why are people so selfish. I’m not saying that I haven’t done any of those things listed above because no one can be perfect. I have seen someone in need and walked away and I have also only helped someone because of my own selfish needs to get something out of it. I have grown up in a County where a lot of people are selfish and bigheaded. I that I have been lucky to be around all the people I have been friends with and I have been strong enough to walk away from friends that are pulling me in the wrong directions and going down destructive paths. I have learned a lot from every one that I have ever met whether its me thinking to myself that “I don’t want to end up like a specific person” or seeing how incredibly selfish a person can be and me telling myself that “I will never be like that”.
As I have grown up I have turned into a person who is comfortable being who they are, there is no more need to be fake with people to win approval from those who shouldn’t matter. Whether it be talking to someone to get them through a hard time or just being there so they feel the comfort of having someone close by I have learned to be there for people for their needs and not my own. I have turned into someone who would do anything for his friends and not get anything out of it except the pleasure of being there for the people I truly love.
Every where I go it seems that I see people who are to caught up in their own lives, who worry to much about their appearance to be seen talking to or hanging out with others who they feel are not up to par with them. It’s this mentality that we need to rid the world of, we need to be able to see people for the beautiful individuals that they are and help each other. Individuality is what makes humanity beautiful and sadly there isn’t much of it anymore. My advice for everyone would be to not worry what anyone thinks about you and be yourself, listen to the music you want to, dress the way you want to, go get covered in tattoos and piercings if that is how you feel you want the world to see you because outer appearance shouldn’t be the determining factor of whether or not you are a good person. The people who are quick to judge you and tell you there is something wrong with you are the people who aren’t worth your time, the people who don’t have what it takes to swim against the current and are scared to step out of their comfort bubble.
The thing I would love to accomplish through Kids Who Draw is to change the lives of youth by helping them realize that their individuality is what makes them who they are and that they shouldn’t change who they are for anyone and help them spread that message to the people in their lives and so on and so on. Hopefully through this we can help people around the world step out and show the world that it’s ok to be different then the majority. When I was asked to join the KWD team I felt honored because the friend that asked me has always been such a selfless person for as long as I have known her and is truly an amazing individual who has stepped up and started this organization to make her mark in the world and in the lives of everyone she comes in contact with. I look forward to helping her see this organization grow into something that people can look at and be inspired to do their own part to make this world something that we can all be proud of.
Everyone is capable of making his or her mark in this world, so instead of asking yourself “What do I get if I help this person?” begin to ask yourself “How can I help that person?” Kids Who Draw is a great place to get started on your journey to make this world an amazing place filled with music, art, fashion and individuality. I am proud to be able a member of this team and I can’t wait to see the mark we leave on this world years down the road.
Follow me on twitter @LedezmaMusic
I remember being 15 years old and being so excited that my first warped tour was coming up in a few months, looking for any way to improve my first experience I came across an organization that for a simple blood donation would give you a backstage pass for your warped tour date. The thought of being able to walk around the bus area with the likes of Thursday, Underoath, and Rise Against was just to much to pass up onso I went online and found a location near me where I could donate. This organization was Music Saves Lives, an organization dedicated to getting the youth involved with simple actions like donating blood, running blood drives, and even registering for the bone marrow program to save the lives of people with leukemia. Offering giveaways such as passes to warped tour and meet and greets with bands, MSL has grown from a local organization in my area to a world wide force dedicated to reaching as many people as possible. Music Saves Lives has been recognized by the American Red Cross for organizing the largest collection of blood from youths’ ages 16-25 for the past 3 years in a row. With supporters that include the American Red Cross, Epitaph and Capitol Records and bands including Every Time I Die, Thursday, All Time Low and The Devil Wears Prada, there is no end in sight to how huge this organization can get. MSL is an organization that I personally support and have donated blood for on several occasions and have even signed up for their bone marrow program to help in as many ways as possible. MSL is an amazing way for the youth in your community to get involved and listen to good music while doing it. “Saving Lives Has Never Sounded So Good”
This past summer I had the great opportunity of meeting with an amazing woman, Brigid Hubberman, who started her very own nonprofit in Ithaca, NY called The Family Reading Partnership.
When I first met Brigid, I was only about a few months into starting Kids Who Draw and was excited to meet her and be able to get advice and a second opinion on everything KWD was up to. In talking with her, I was able to gain a lot of insight on what I really wanted Kids Who Draw to accomplish, but I also walked away much more educated on the importance that is not stressed enough on the matter of reading to your children, starting when they are a newborn.
The Family Reading Partnership is a non-profit community organization that promotes early literacy. We are a broad-based, locally grown coalition of individuals, businesses, schools, libraries and other organizations. We have joined forces to “create a culture of literacy” by promoting family reading practices throughout our community.
The Family Reading Partnership organization is an amazing organization for many reasons. One of the coolest things I think they do is they provide a book for newborn children, ensuring that your new baby has access to experiencing a world of imagination, love and family bonding.
There are so many reasons why reading is so vital to your child. The ability to read helps with social skills, with language, with critical thinking, imagination, the ability to write and many more qualities of life. It enhances vocabulary, allows education to be enjoyable and appealing, and creates a strong bond between you and your child, therefore stimulating your child and conditioning them to correlate pleasure with reading increasing their chances of success in life.
The Family Reading Partnership is striving to create a culture of literacy, an important skill that every person should have the means of accomplishing. They are a great organization to get involved with and have quite a few programs for your children that don’t require you to be in Ithaca, NY, but require you home, to read to your kids. You can check those programs out here:
http://www.familyreading.org/m-programs.htm
To be honest, at first I really didn’t have a great understanding of what fair trade was even though it sounds pretty self-explanatory. It wasn’t until after my usual Harry Potter character stalking, that I came across an interview with Emma Watson and became a lot more interested in what it actually is. Watson spoke about fair trade, explained how it works, the importance of why we should all buy fair trade products and her new line featured at People Tree, her fair trade certified clothing company. After watching that video, I started doing a little more research on it.
What is fair trade?
In my own words, I would describe fair trade as the positive movement of social and economical change keeping the best interests in mind of the buyers, workers and consumers who are all working towards creating a fair and sustainable living means for everyone, especially in disadvantaged and developing countries.
Still don’t get it?
Imagine…
Your job at minimum wage in California is $8 an hour. If you work 40 hours a week, you’ve earned $320 that week (minus some taxes). Not the best especially when living in California right? But compared to many other places, you’re making good money! Now imagine, making $2.40… a week. That is only a FRACTION of your hourly wage! Well, that is the average weekly paycheck of an “employee” in developing countries. They are being paid by big corporations and businesses that not only pay terribly for a rich country, but also force their “employees” to work under terrible and unsanitary conditions where their health and lives are constantly at risk. Fair Trade is fighting against this.
Did you know that, “For every $1 given to poor countries in aid, they lose $2 to rich countries because of unfair trade?” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drvPrMtXcaE)
So, how do I feel about Fair Trade?
I believe the standards and principles of fair trade are extremely beneficial to the world and that people should definitely be more aware and informed about Fair Trade. However, in doing research, I’ve found that almost everywhere you will find unfair trade. So, I’m not trying to persuade anyone here to stop buying their regular products, because the reality of it is almost all retailers use sweatshops and unfair trade, but we shouldn’t be okay with that reality. Again, it comes down to the KWD core belief that if you have the power to do something you should.
I’ve attached a bunch of links, one on what you can do, a few places you can shop fair trade, and a couple on some Unfair trade stories. It’s up to you decide what you want to use your power towards, so if this is something that strikes you, I encourage you to dig deep, spread awareness and become an activist of fair trade.
Fair Trade Practices, Principles, Facts & Resources
http://www.fairtrademarketplace.com/pages.php?tabid=2&pageid=11&title=Fair+Trade+Practices+and+Principles&gclid=CKGDhoPfvqQCFQP4iAodHTK1oQ
Fair Trade Clothing:
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/products/cotton/stockists.aspx
Disney Child Labor
http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Disney/Labor.html
Third World Traveler
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Boycotts/Designer_sweatshops.html
Disney/Mcdonald
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Boycotts/Disney_sweat_Vietnam.html
