Official Kids Mag is specifically written for kids ages 5 to 12. It contains activities and stories ranging from kid heroes, cooking, gardening, STEAM, education, fun facts and much more every month.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1291417
By Suzanne Rhodes | Official Kids Mag Do you have a guiding principle you strive to live by? Two sisters from West Fork—both active in 4-H Club—follow an inspiring rule of service to others, so we chose them as this month's Kid Heroes. "Every little thing we can do for others matters," says Etana Morse, 14. "If everybody does a little it can make a big difference." Since early childhood, she and her sister Janna, 16, have been using their gifts and skills for good causes, but never has their help been so needed as during this challenging season of the Covid-19 pandemic. Janna explains why she's stepping up more than ever: "During this time, empathy, generosity and kindness became powerful tools that helped fuel my desire to make a positive difference. There is still so much work I look forward to doing in order to benefit those in my community." The girls, who attend Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, can't seem to do enough! They made over 600 masks to slow down the spread of the coronavirus and gave them out locally and nationally to health care workers, nursing homes, local grocery stores, the veterans home, Fayetteville Public Library and other groups. They also created a video showing kids how to make their own masks. When Janna and Etana learned about the problem of hunger in the community, they sprang into action, baking 140 brownies for the Caring Kitchen of the Augustine Foundation that provides to-go meals. They donated 100 packages of banana bread for Muslim students at the Fayetteville Islamic Center. They gathered over 100 items to fill the Free Little Pantries around town, delivered grocery items to the elderly and packed 850 meals at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. All totaled, they spent about 26 hours meeting the needs of people who don't have enough to eat. One fun project the girls did was making chew toys for dogs—180, to be exact. They distributed the cute pooch-loving toys to neighborhood pet owners, animal shelters and clinics, and mailed them across the country for family and friends. They even made a video tutorial showing how you can create chew toys using old T-shirts. For most kids, birthdays mean plenty of presents, but when Janna turned 16 in May, she asked for gifts of money—but not so she could buy a new outfit or gadget. Instead, the $300 she received bought three ice cream machines for residents of the VA (Veterans Administration) home in Fayetteville so they could enjoy delicious homemade ice cream. And 'Powerful Tools' of Kindness to help Others in the pandemic sisters use 26 • OctObeR 2020 • Officialkidsmag.com