Organization Gives Kids a Chance to Give Back

In search of volunteer opportunities for her charity-minded daughter, Steph Ryan wasn’t having much luck.

So she and other local parents decided to create their own.

“It’s hard to find service opportunities for kids,” Ryan explained.

So to help daughter Grace, 7, and other local kids give back, Ryan and area parents created K.I.D.S (Kids Into Donating & Serving).

“We decided to put together a formal organization,” Ryan said. “It’s just easier to rally people.”

The group’s projects are a family effort, Ryan said, but are entirely child led.

“We want [the kids] to be instrumental in deciding what we do,” she explained.

On Sunday, K.I.D.S. members and their families will take part in their first service project, “Litter for Literacy.” Volunteers will clean up to help the village prepare for the upcoming .

Interested kids and their families are invited to help out by meeting at the pavilion at O’Hara Woods at 2 p.m. Cleanup is scheduled for 2 to 5 p.m.

Ryan said the K.I.D.S. group will provide garbage bags, food and drinks.

Volunteers are also invited to donate books to benefit K-8 students at Laraway School in Joliet who are in need of reading materials.

Ryan said K.I.D.S.’s goal is to collect at least 350 books by the April 29 event so each student receives a book to read over summer break.

Donations can range from picture books to early readers, chapter books and young adult novels. K.I.D.S. members have also created homemade bookmarks to give to Laraway students.

If you can’t make it to the April 29 O’Hara Woods cleanup, that doesn’t mean you can’t help. Book donations can also be left in drop boxes at the ’s Romeoville branch and the .

The April 29 “Litter for Literacy” event is only one of several upcoming service projects for K.I.D.S.

On May 6, the group will be collecting clothing and household items for Stuff for the Poor, an international organization that works to provide aid to the poor in African communities.

On June 11, kids and their families will be helping prep meals for those in need at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora. The group will also help develop a garden for , a joint effort of and churches in Romeoville.

New members are welcome to join the K.I.D.S. group. For more information, parents should email kidsimpact@yahoo.com.