Our favorite third-grader!
Jim Kelly is on the Board of Directors of the Midwest Regional Office of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
I wanted to share a great experience I had recently representing the U.S. Fund for UNICEF at the Wildwood elementary school in Chicago, Illinois.
I visited the school to accept a donation to UNICEF from a student that spent 6 months raising money for UNICEF. Little did I know how inspired I would be as a result of my visit. The student was a sweet, third grade girl, named Nora. Nora was presenting the check to me at an all-school assembly of 400 students, grades K-8. I got a chance to meet Nora and her mom right before the assembly, when Nora was in tears with stage fright. What made this even more inspiring is that Nora has cerebral palsy.
Despite her tears from a few minutes earlier and her physical challenges, Nora gave an inspiring speech to her entire school about how she was moved by a TV commercial about kids in Africa (it wasn’t even for UNICEF). After seeing the commercial, she told her parents that she wanted to find a way to help those kids.
Nora proceeded to tap all possible resources –from her block party to the PTA to her Brownie troop to her dentist — to raise $1,400!
I followed Nora (who got 5 ovations from her classmates!) on stage with a brief talk about what Nora’s $1,400 would enable UNICEF to do for kids. One of the things I mentioned was that Nora’s contribution could protect 75 kids from killer diseases. After the assembly, Nora was beaming with excitement, not only from the ovations she got from her classmates, but she also said that she couldn’t believe that she saved 75 kids!
I am so honored that I was able to thank Nora for her incredible work and to put in a plug at Wildwood for Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. The principal loved the Trick-or-Treat boxes and asked that we send her 400 more for the entire student body!
Do you know an inspirational UNICEF supporter? We want to hear about them!
Thank you for sending a representative to meet Nora at her school. She was so happy to hear Mr. Kelly list all of the ways in which UNICEF could use her contributions to help the children of the world. Nora is a girl with a strong heart in a fragile body. I have always told her how lucky she is, but I do not know if my words truly meant much to her until she learned that not all children have enough to eat, medical care and the opportunity to attend school. With this knowledge and the knowledge that she has the power to help other children, she now does believe that she is fortunate. To see her now filled with confidence, I thank UNICEF and the amazing work that you do.