After years of giving back, a group of young women decided to create their own organization where they can help kids in Baltimore.
“The main goal is to focus on empowerment,” said Deven Brown. “We want to show the youth and the community that they have the tools to be able to succeed and be successful.”
Fuel the Kids is a local initiative that works to provide kids in Baltimore with the tools they need to succeed. Their first project, Book 2 Book is helping teach students the importance of representation and self-identity by collecting multicultural books.
“It’s definitely important to kind of see yourself in books that you read in school,” said Kendra Brown. “We’re really hoping that kids can reflect on the characters that come from different backgrounds and races and cultures just to make sure they’re able to better connect with their peers and people they come across in the future, but also with themselves.”
Edgewood Elementary School in Baltimore expressed their need for books that reflected the students that attend the school. The young women of Fuel the Kids saw the perfect opportunity to give back by collecting multicultural books for students.
“I think it’s going to mean a lot,” said Logan Nelson. “It just gives us the opportunity to allow the children to see themselves in these stories.”
Back in November, the organization set a goal for raising $500 for books. Not only did they surpass their goal by collecting more than $900, the organization also collected over 400 books with multicultural characters for students at Edgewood Elementary.
“It just goes to show that as young people we do have the power to make a large impact,” said Nelson. “While we did start very small, it was really nice to see family members, friends, and even people we did not even know want to support such a cause and reach out to us to hear more about it.”
By providing reading material with characters that look like the students reading the books, Fuel the Kids is helping to empower students.
“I feel that because they have books and characters that look like them, they too can be adventurers and inventors and anything they can possibly think they can be,” said Geraldine Ezeka. They too can be them by reading the books that has characters that look like them.”
Showing students that they can do anything they put their minds to, just like the characters in the books.
“I’d really want these kids to know is that you are the dreamers of your own dreams,” said Ezeka. “You are the captains of your future. No matter what situation or what circumstances you come from. You can rise above it and be the greatest you can be.”
