News/Events | Kids Backing Kids

2021 KBK Essay Contest Winners

More than 40 4th through 12th graders submitted essays focused on childhood poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, and trauma. KBK judges commented on the high quality of the essays, their inspirational messages, and the many excellent ideas about how best to raise community awareness about these important social issues. It was challenging for them to select the essay winners.

We are pleased to recognize each of the essay winners, their schools, and their selected charities, which each received a $50 donation on their behalf. Winners received $250 for 1st Place, $100 for 2nd Place, and $50 for 3rd Place.

1st Place Winners:

Augustine Aprea

Sprague Elementary School (Wellesley, 5th grade)

www.ShareOurStrength.org

Anson Richman

Wellesley Middle School (8th grade)

www.FamilyPromise.org

Lily Jin

Wellesley High School (9th grade)

www.FeedingAmerica.org

2nd Place Winners:

Joe Lally

Sprague Elementary School (Wellesley, 4th grade)

www.empathways.org

Eva Meraw

Wellesley Middle School (8th grade)

www.kidsbackingkids.org

Yasmeen Haidar

Wellesley High School (11th grade)

www.helpguide.org

3rd Place Winners:

Emma Insogna

Hardy Elementary School (Wellesley, 5th grade)

www.ActionAgainstHunger.org

Joss Richman

Wellesley Middle School (8th grade)

www.FamilyPromise.org

Leah Wechsler

Wellesley High School (9th grade)

www.EJI.org

2021 KBK Diaper Drive

Of course, we all wish that babies were born completely potty-trained. Well, that's a dream that will never come true, so we have the next best thing - diapers! But it turns out that diapers are really expensive, costing $80 to $100 per month for one baby or toddler. In fact, 1 in 3 families experiences diaper need. That's a lot of kids in need of diapers.

Since we're in the "kids backing kids" business, we decided to help cover some bottoms by doing a diaper drive. We worked with community partners and diaper-based nonprofits to collect as many diapers as we could in one month and we held a full-day diaper drop-off event on Saturday, May 22nd in Linden Square. We set a goal of collecting 10,000 diapers.

Well, Kids Backing Kids shattered that goal! Thanks to the help of our many volunteers, sponsors, and partners - including 4th graders at Fiske Elementary School who collected over 4,000 diapers - we collected 18,792 diapers and 294 packs of baby wipes! These diapers and wipes were distributed to several local and regional organizations that help families in need (the Wellesley Food Pantry, individual families in low-income housing in Wellesley, Centre Street Food Pantry in Newton, the Chelsea Collaborative, and the Diaper Circle in Brookline).

Thank you to all of you who donated diapers, baby supplies, and funds, as well as to our volunteers, community partners, and sponsors - Cohens & Davids Law Firm, The Donahue Maley & Burns Team at Compass, Truly's, Linden Square, and Kathleen MacNaughton, PhD.

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2020 KBK Holiday Gift Drive a Big Success!

There was no question that the 2020 holiday season would be challenging for many children and families. Some parents told us and our community partners that they could not afford holiday gifts for their children this year.

Kids Backing Kids wanted to make sure that some children in our community had gifts to open. When we first set out to organize the first annual KBK Holiday Gift Drive, we hoped we could provide a few gifts to about 50 kids. Maybe, just maybe, we could support 75 kids.

Thanks to your kindness and generosity, we reached that goal... and more. Working with our community sponsors, we delivered gifts to 204 children in Wellesley, Newton, and Needham who now will have something they wished for this holiday season.

To the 85 individuals and families who sponsored 2 to 8 children each and who bought a collective $25,000 in new gifts... THANK YOU!

To the 26 individuals and families who donated $2,800 that allowed KBK to purchase gifts for even more kids... THANK YOU!

To the 40+ youth volunteers and families who wrapped 1,350 gifts... THANK YOU!

To the community partners in the Wellesley Public Schools, Wellesley Housing Authority, Wellesley Health Department, Newton Public Schools, and Needham Housing Authority... THANK YOU!

To local businesses who donated supplies, space, and other in-kind resources during what is also a challenging time for you... THANK YOU!

On behalf of everyone at Kids Backing Kids, we wish you peace and happiness this holiday season.

2020 Back-to-School Supplies Drive

The 2020 first annual back-to-school community campaign was a great success, thanks to so many individuals, businesses, and organizations who donated school supplies, money, time, space, and other resources. Kids Backing Kids delivered backpacks with school supplies to over 150 children and families in need by filling requests from individual families in our local communities, the Wellesley Housing Authority, the Wellesley Public Schools, the Newton Public Schools, and the Boston Youth Sanctuary.