Kid Heroes Make a Difference For Local Organizations

By Dave Woods • dwoods@OfficialKidsMag.com

Kid heroes Bella and Brooke Pierce started volunteering at an early age. The two sisters from Rogers show no sign of slowing down their community involvement any time soon.

“So far I’ve volunteered at the animal shelter,” Bella, a student at Elmwood Middle School, said. “I rang bells for the Salvation Army at Christmas. I’ve served meals to homeless people for Salvation Army and I’ve packed snack packs.”

Bella’s little sister, Brooke, has the volunteer spirit, too.

“I rang the bell at Christmas and it was freezing,” the 7-year-old Tucker Elementary student said. “At the animal shelter I played with dogs and cats and I fed them bacon treats. There were kittens and a puppy and a husky and a terrier mix. One was named scruff and he was the terrier mix.”

While the Salvation Army and local animal shelters have benefited from their volunteerism, Samaritan House and other charities have enjoyed the girls can-do kid hero attitude.

Bella said she was left with a good feeling after packing weekend snack packs for local school kids.

Snack packs are a nationwide effort to make sure school-age kids don’t go without meals on weekends. Backpacks are stuffed with packaged food that kids can take home to supplement weekend meals.

“That made me feel good,” Bella explained. “I would pack them and later in the week I would see teachers bring them into the classroom and give them to the students. Even though I never told anyone, it really made me feel good for myself.”

Brooke feels the same way.

“It’s not for you,” she said. “It’s for other people.”

Bella and Brooke’s friends know they volunteer and think it’s a good deal. The sisters know what they do to help those in need is important. What they didn’t know is that it might even be cool.

“Volunteering isn’t weird and isn’t just for old people,” Belle said, giggling. “That’s what I thought at first. That it was just for old people and a little weird. I didn’t think it would be as fun as it is. It makes you feel good knowing that you did something good for other people.”

If you volunteer in the community, let me know. If you have a friend who is a kid hero, let me know. If you are looking for someplace to make a difference, let your adult know and find someplace to get involved.