In the early 1960’s, our family received a monthly welfare payment that barely covered the cost of rent and food. Our mother – Alice – insisted that we stay in the same middle-class community so, after a while, we were targeted as “those welfare kids.” Needless to say, our self-esteem suffered greatly. Alice understood our pain and she did whatever she could to pick up extra cash to supplement the welfare check. And when she got that money she’d proudly run home to announce to us that we were going shopping! To this day, we recall the exhilarating feeling of getting onto the school bus wearing new clothes or sporting a new haircut. Maybe it meant getting a new baseball glove or the required gym uniform. In the grand scheme of things, these items were not as important as food and shelter but they lifted our spirits and made us feel more “normal” among our classmates.
Back in 2010, we were reminiscing about how our mother tried hard to make us feel good about ourselves despite our desperate situation and an idea started to form about how we could do for other children what Alice did for us. How could we help lift these kids like Alice lifted us?
The rest is history. We consulted with numerous charities to see if they had a mechanism to offer targeted financial assistance to a child and the unanimous answer was “no.” One director replied “we do not have a petty cash drawer.” With the assurance that we would not be duplicating any other charitable efforts, we formed Alice’s Kids.
And after all these years, we know that a little help can go a long way.
And after all these years, we know that a little help can go a long way.