Christmas in February

Alongside student leaders from Diamond Canyon Elementary School, The Be Kind People Project collected nearly 500 toys and books for children at a domestic violence shelter.

The Be Kind People Project (BKPP), a 501c3 non-profit headquartered in Phoenix, announces their success in collaborating with student leaders at Diamond Canyon Elementary School to collect 500 toys and books for children at Sojourner Center in Phoenix.

Sojourner Center is a shelter for women and children who have experienced domestic violence. Their mission is “to provide a broad spectrum of services to victims of domestic violence while working with professionals in the field on education, research and advocacy with the goal of ending domestic violence” (sojournercenter.org).

“Our teachers picked student leaders from each of the grade levels in our middle-grade bands to represent our school as our ‘Be Kind Ambassadors’,” said Assistant Principal Brittany Dyer-Hurden. “Our ambassadors came up with this idea with THE BE KIND CREW® to donate toys to those in need. It was hugely successful with almost 500 toys donated, and so we are really excited and proud of our kids.”

The dedicated group of students and the BE KIND CREW worked together to create a solution to the prompt: “How can you make a difference in your community?”. Over the course of four meetings in the span of five months, they came up with the idea of running a toy drive and worked together to plan and promote it.

Diamond Canyon’s “Be Kind Ambassadors” were led by Miguel Pedraza, a member of THE BE KIND CREW as well as the Coordinator of Education Programs and Social Impact for BKPP. “It was a great honor to have worked with the ‘Be Kind Ambassadors’ at Diamond Canyon,” said Pedraza. “Their sense of urgency, leadership, and willingness to help others surprised me! Students like them will make a difference in our communities because they are leaders that are compassionate for one another, creative, and most importantly, they want to see change. It makes me happy to see leaders like them that are willing to take charge!”

This toy drive is only the start of philanthropic efforts to come as part of BKPP’s Make A Difference May effort, which will officially kick off next week.