Random Act of Kid-ness: Sibling Reunion, via Facebook

This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Davenport, IA, where 7 year old Eddie Hanzelin helped reunite two siblings who had not seen each other in 65 years. Eddie helped 7o year old Clifford Boyson find his sister Betty Billadeau by using his mom’s Facebook account to search for Betty’s maiden name. Betty and Clifford had been separated into different foster homes when they were children. Eddie immediately saw the family resemblance in Betty’s picture and knew he had found Clifford’s sister.

The two siblings met each other last Saturday, and they had a (happily) tearful reunion. Eddie said:

“Clifford did not have any family, and family’s important.”

Eddie said that he learned about helping others at school, and we are so proud of him and his social media detective work! You can read more about this story here.

Random Act of Kid-ness: Young Hero Drowns Saving Her Brother

This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Gardendale, Alabama, where 9 year old Brandi Odom drowned in a pond as she was trying to save her younger brother. Local Fire Department Chief, Robert Taylor, said:

“This is a tragedy but she gave her life to save her little brother. She is a hero.”

You can read more about this tragic story of heroism here.

We at the Zimmer send our best wishes to Brandi’s family.

Random Act of Kid-ness: Saving His Family After a Car Crash

This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Mesa, Arizona, where 10 year old Bradley Mitchell saved his family after they were involved in a car crash. After their car rolled down an embankment, Bradley helped his siblings out of the car and performed CPR on his mom, who was unconscious. Local firefighters presented Bradley with a certificate and a firefighter helmet in honor of his bravery. One of the firemen said:

“You’re a hero, buddy. For anyone to do what you did would really be something, but for a 10-year-old?  It’s just remarkable.”

We couldn’t agree more! Read (and watch) more about the story here.

Random Act of Kid-ness: Saving His Sister From A Fire

This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Louisville, Kentucky, where 10 year old Antoine Burks ran back into his burning home after he realized his 6 year old sister was still inside.

Says Antoine:

“The fire came right to us, and I didn’t know what to do, and it burnt my leg, so that’s when I ran out and I saw Trinity needed help, so I ran back in. I am her big brother, and I have to protect her.”

Read the fully story here.

Do you have a suggestion for our next Random Act of Kid-ness? Know a kid(s) doing awesome things in the world? Let us know!

Random Act of Kid-ness: Paintings that Pay Off (Medical Bills)

This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes to us from Missouri, where 3 year old Liam Myrick has started to sell his paintings to help pay for his parents’ $500,000 medical bills.

Liam was diagnosed with stage-four Neuroblastoma in July, and his sister battled with cancer the year before. Now, Liam wants to help his parents with their financial burden by using the energy he has to paint. His parents are auctioning Liam’s work on Facebook to subsidize the medical bills.

Liam’s mom Shawna says,

“He doesn’t care about what’s going to happen ten minutes from now. He cares about the moment.”

What an inspiring story of one kid trying to make the world a better place for his family. Read more about Liam’s story and how you can buy one of his paintings here.

Random Act of Kid-ness: Oliver’s Garden Project

For this week’s Random Act of Kid-ness, we feature 7 year old Oliver Allen-Cillis and his sister Piper, who started their own garden to raise funds for local youth charities. After seeing kids in his neighborhood dig through recycle bins looking for bottles to get money for food and clothes, Oliver decided he wanted to help. He decided to start selling vegetables that he grew in his own backyard at a stand outside his house. All of the proceeds would go to a specific charity that helps out kids in need.

And guess what? Oliver’s Garden Project was just awarded a $20,000 grant from Nature’s Path Organic to expand its reach!

Oliver’s mother, Stacey Allen-Cillis, said she hopes the award will allow them to help five or six other families in the city to start their own philanthropic back yard gardens by next spring. “If we show children how to do this, it’s second nature by the time they’re adults. We’re going back basically in time — it’s farming,” Stacey said. “We want it to spread.”

To read more about what Oliver and his family plan to do with the grant money, click here.

Do you have a suggestion for our next Random Act of Kid-ness?

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“Once you begin to acknowledge random acts of kindness – both the ones you have received and the ones you have given – you can no longer believe that what you do does not matter.” -Dawna Markova 

Random Act of Kid-ness: Charitable Lemonade

This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes from two brothers, Jack and Eric Linari. For the past four years, the Linari boys have run a lemonade stand at the Dedham Farmer’s Market in Massachusetts. Each year, they choose a different local charity or cause where they donate all of the money they make. This year, Jack and Eric are donating the lemonade stand income to The PinkRose Foundation, which gives scholarships to kids who have lost a parent to breast cancer.

Read more about the Linari brothers here. And as always, let us know if you have a suggestion for one of our Random Acts!

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“Once you begin to acknowledge random acts of kindness – both the ones you have received and the ones you have given – you can no longer believe that what you do does not matter.” -Dawna Markova 

Random Act of Kid-ness… from the womb!

This week’s Random Act of Kid-ness comes all the way from Surrey, where an unborn baby miraculously saved her twin sister’s life. Even though the girls’ parents were told that losing both babies was inevitable, Baby Nico somehow positioned herself so that she acted as a plug that stopped fluid leaking from the placenta and prevented any sort of infection or miscarriage.

‘And when they get older, we will tell both of them the reason they have such a special bond isn’t only because they shared a womb but because before they were even born, Nico saved Kiki’s life.’

Read the rest of this amazing story here, and let us know what you think!