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Look What We’ve DoneLook What We’ve DoneLook What We’ve DoneVery Special KidsWe’ve HelpedQadir Ambrose, 12Qadir lived through all the frightening things that a kid livesthrough when diagnosed with a brain tumor – hospitals, tests,operations, chemotherapy, radiation, being alone and scared –and they come home to a changed life. Working with the BrainInjury Association of New Jersey, Kids Helping Kids was able togive Qadir something to help him feel a little bit more normalagain and get him back out into the world again a bicycle.Kenya Wright, 13What could be more terrifying than being awoken and findingyour house engulfed in flames? When Kenya Wright found herselfin that horrifying situation, she had to do something few of uscould possibly imagine – she had to jump out her window to saveher life. In doing so, she sustained a spinal chord injury. Nowconfined to a wheelchair, Kenya needs a ramp to get into herhouse, but her family had no money to pay for it. That’s where wecame in. Kids Helping Kids bought Kenya a portable ramp andnow she can work on putting her life back together.“Friday Night Fever” Brings OurMission to LifeAnother on-going activity our volunteers have been enjoying isFriday Night Fever with the kids at Children’s Specialized. EveryFriday Night Fever event is a different adventure – a trip to themall, the Haunted Trail on Halloween etc. These are greatopportunities for our volunteers to provide companionship to thekids who’ve been affected by catastrophic illness or injury.6Stefan Henry, 14Stefan has a very positive attitude about life. Even though a caraccident made him a quadriplegic, he maintains a great outlook.He lives in a small house with a small lawn. When we first talkedto Stefan and his family, we talked about giving him a ramp, butthat would have taken up the entire lawn and there are other kidsin the family. So we decided to wait a little longer, raise somemore money and instead, got Stefan a porchlift, which takes upmuch less room. Stefan is very grateful to the many volunteerswho contributed to this much more costly solution, and he wantseveryone to know how dramatically it has changed his life forever.Sarah Jameison, 17Sarah Jameison, now 17 years old, had never been just yourbasic teenager. Gifted with an extraordinary voice, Sarah loved tosing and had taken singing lessons for many years. But oneterrible day in 2003, she was in a terrible car accident that lefther with severe brain injuries. After spending many months in theWeisman Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital, Sarah went home,but she went home changed. The accident left her with severeweakness in the nerve controlling vocal chord motion. She couldno longer sing in the same way as before. When KHK heard this,we decided that helping give Sarah back what was so much apart of her life before, would be very much true to our mission, sowe funded six months of voice lessons for Sarah a wonderful giftfor a wonderfully talented teen.

Look What We’ve DoneLookLookWhatWe’veDoneWhat We’ve DoneFamily Fun WithA HeartThanksgiving is always a wonderful timeto gather the family around and countour blessings with our loved ones. Someof us watch the big game, some watchold homemovies – we allhave our familytraditions. Atthe Pattersonhome this year,a new traditionwas inaugurated– a traditionfilled with heartand fun and alot of paint! ThePattersonsgatheredaround theThanksgivingtable anddecided to havea paint fest forthe KHK ArtCard Collection.These MasterWorks may ormay not makenext year’scollection, but itwas great funand a terrificidea for a familygathering.We Hit the Airwaves!No, it wasn’t your imagination, not “Warof the Worlds” all over again. That reallywas our very own Laura Willcox andBrielle Madej being interviewed on WTBQRadio for “The Teen Show.” A brand newshow dedicated to positive things teensare doing in the world, the programdirector found us and asked us to be oneof their first featured guests. Brielle andLaura, you were great!The 411Wherein we give voice and snapsto volunteers who are doing greatthings and hanging in above andbeyond the call Molly Zimmermann and Simone Calbi at theNASW conference boothThe National Association Of SocialWorkers Conference SpreadsAwarenessMolly Zimmermann and Simone Calbi,founding members and veterans of KHKhospital visits – among so many otherevents – had the extraordinary opportunityto attend the National Association of SocialWorkers Conference in Atlantic City torepresent Kids Helping Kids. They set up aKHK booth and presented to Social Workers,counselors, teachers etc., explaining whatKids Helping Kids can do for their clients.The response was tremendous and the girlswere able to make connections withprofessionals from agencies that we arecertain to work with in the future. Theimportance of helping social workers, childlife specialists, discharge personnel etc.understand how important Kids Helping Kidscan be to a child or teen who is movingback into a life that is completely differentthan the one he or she knew, is critical.Molly and Simone were able to present ourmission of being there when funds andinsurance aren’t, to provide the mobilityequipment to get kids back into the world oftheir peers. More than one comment wasoverheard about them as well, alluding to howimpressive our two presenters were, “restoringpeople’s faith in the youth of America.”Corporate Presentation, LearningTo Raise FundsThis year, a number of the volunteers –with Mischa at the helm – had the chanceto participate in a high level presentation toManny and Andrea Schrager, owners of theMeadowlands Consumer Center. Their goalwas to present the attributes of KidsHelping Kids in a formal way in thecompany’s boardroom, using a PowerPointpresentation to help raise funds for KHK ina corporate setting. This was designed tobe a run-through, but was taken veryseriously with many rehearsals beforehand– many thanks to Mr. Clifford for all histime and guidance. The actual pitch wasvideotaped and critiqued. With a lot ofexcellent input by the Schragers, who dothis type of coaching for a living, thevolunteer team did an excellent jobpresenting the organization and receivedinvaluable feedback for improving evenfurther. Our volunteers were overwhelmedwith what they learned from an almost realworld experience. Lizzy Star said, “Thepresentation was an eye-openingexperience. I never really knew how muchwork goes into a pitch to a potentialcorporate sponsor. Before the presentation,we worked hard composing what wewanted to say, but it’s always more difficultto present in a boardroom than in a lowpressure practice situation. Luckily, Mr. andMrs. Schrager were the perfect audience:they gave helpful, detailed suggestions onhow to improve our presentation. Thesesuggestions will help KHK performsuccessful pitches in the future and willalso help each individual presenter, myselfincluded, with any sort of public speakingwe will ever encounter.” Michael Rey, nowa Senior at Harvard noted, “It was amazingto go in front of a corporation and presentour ideas. It really made me feel like wewere a professional organization- not just abunch of kids anymore. Everyone did theirpart, and we all listened to and learnedfrom each other. Overall, I think that givingthis presentation took Kids Helping Kids toa new level.”3

LookLookWhatWe’vWhat We’veLook Who We’ve HelpedThe First AnnualKids Helping KidsWalk ‘N Roll To BenefitChildren’s Specialized Hospital“Before Children’s Specialized, peoplenever saw me as a person.” One sweetlittle girl summed it up in that simplesentence as she walked determinedly onher hot pink crutches with a group ofnew friends. The place: the JerseyGardens Mall. The time: October 17,2004. The event: The First AnnualKids Helping Kids Walk ‘N Roll To BenefitThe Walk’N Roll was hosted by popularradio DJ, John Bell of Z100’s Z MorningZoo and the Z100 Party Patrol. Besides the2-mile walk, the event featured a fashionshow featuring Miss Latina New Jersey andMiss Teen Latina New Jersey plus benefitconcerts by an extraordinary local NewJersey high school jazz band and a veryspecial performance by Daniel McBride,13 Hands.Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH)Foundation, an affiliate member of theRobert Wood Johnson Health System.Hundreds of teens, kids and adultsgathered at the Mall for this very specialevent that was planned to help theoccupational therapy program at CSH.Children’s Specialized holds a specialplace in Mischa’s heart since he spentfour months there after his yearlonghospitalization in 1997. As the largestpediatric rehabilitation hospital in thecountry, Children’s Specialized offers anexcellent occupational therapy programthat helps a kid get ready to reenter theworld after an illness or injury hasshattered his or her life.4The Kids Helping Kids volunteers workedfor months before the event signing upvolunteers to walk, getting people to pledgedonation money, organizing jobs, trying todrum up support and contributions, allculminating in a fun filled day thatexceeded everyone’s expectations.

veDoneDoneLook What We’ve DoneChildren’s Brain TumorFoundation/Big AppleCircusEvery year, the Children’s Brain TumorFoundation holds a very meaningfulevent for their kids in association withthe Big Apple Circus (Damrosch Park,Lincoln Center, NYC) that brings joy tokids who often live lives of sadness andhopelessness. They bring thousands ofkids to see the circus. We havesupported this event in the past and thisyear, Kristen and Danielle Rode, put onan unbelievable concert starring guitaristMike Rayburn in New Brunswick, NJ.They raised enough money for KHK tosend 20 kids to the Big Apple Circus.Kristen and Danielle (and don’t forgetmom, Laura) worked soooo hard forsoooo long to bring the concert to life,they deserve a round of applause. Themoney also goes to supporting atelephone support group for teens (andtheir siblings) surviving brain tumors.5

Social Entrepreneurial EffortsMontclair Bejewels the Town!Once again, the Kids Helping Kids Heart Bracelet made its way onto thewrists of the most fashionable folks in Montclair, thanks to the efforts ofthe Montclair High School Flagship Chapter. Working with MontclairBeadworks, the volunteers held a Bead A Thon (see Ridgewood!) andproved they could run a social entrepreneurial project, taking into accountthe cost of goods, marketing and selling. We’ll get back to you with thefinal numbers.Newark – Not to be Left Behind!Not wanting to be left in the dust, Kids Helping Kids whirlwind of an internfrom Kean University, Ysaura Fernandez, put together a Bracelet-thon ofher own, with a twist. She and her friends made bracelets for a bridalparty! Keep it in mind!Art in the ParkKids Helping Kids Holiday Art Cards / And evenmore bracelets!Now a wonderful tradition, Kids Helping Kids participated in Montclair’sArt in the Park Festival, showcasing our – yup! – Kids Helping Kids HeartBracelets, and our beautiful Holiday Art Card Collection. If you'reinterested in our stunning bracelets, go to our website, kidshelping.org tosee these in living color. If you'd like to submit Art for Cards next timearound, please contact us.Bloomingdales or Bust!Kids Helping Kids was proud to bepart of the Bloomingdale’s ShoppingBenefit event. Held in 4 stores inNew Jersey, KHK received a donationevery time someone boughtsomething and mentioned our name.We know you all did your best that day, becausethe amount spent was enough to bring us to the levelrequired to collect our donation. Thank you KHKshoppers!Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. PostagePAIDPermit No. 18Cedar Grove, NJKids Helping Kids229 Midland Ave.Montclair, NJ 07042973.783.0697www.kidshelping.orgKids Helping Kids is a 501 ( c ) (3) non-profit volunteer organization

Henia Drucker, MSW, LCSW Executive Director And Co-Founder Caren Patterson Vice President Peter H. Van Raalte Treasurer Vice President, Scholastic Entertainment Claudia Pascale, Phd . Kean University Susan Oldroyd-Laffler Director, Annual Giving Children's Specialized Hospital Rob Patterson Patterson Communications Group Manny Schrager