UNICEF Kid Power in Boston
As this year’s first ever UNICEF Kid Power initiative here in the Boston area has now come to a close, it is surely cause for celebration to look back on the incredible success the program has had in both combating world hunger while also working to make children healthier by encouraging more active lifestyles.
Following the end of the Kid Power month, third graders from the Mattahunt School in Boston were honored at a Boston Celtics game and were honored with the Hero Among Us Award. The kids from Mattahunt also had the opportunity to meet Celtics forward Isaiah Thomas and enjoy their moment in the spotlight, center court, as the crowd applauded their success.
On May 4th, the Kid Power Team Saravelas from the Ohrenberger School in Boston won a trip to watch a Red Sox game. These Kid Power rockstars were treated to a special pre-game meet and greet with famed Sox player and Kid Power supporter David Ortiz. The kids on Team Saravelas earned enough Kid Power points to secure 659 packets of lifesaving food for malnourished children around the world, making them the second most active Kid Power team in the Boston area!
On June 8th, Celtics forward Isaiah Thomas made another UNICEF Kid Power appearance, this time visiting kids at the Morse School in Cambridge to hang out with students, congratulate them on their work with Kid Power, sign autographs, take pictures, and bring them dessert treats!
The involvement of the Red Sox and Celtics with Kid Power this year has been tremendous and we look forward to partnering with them in the future to help raise awareness about Kid Power and also continue to bring smiles to the faces of all our Kid Power champions.
Earlier this spring, the Advent School here in Boston was chosen to participate in the Kid Power pilot program in the Boston area. A link to the Advent School’s blog on Kid Power can be found here:
In this year’s pilot, about 4,524 kids from around the Boston area took part in the one-month Kid Power initiative. Together, they earned 224,770 Kid Power points with 1 Kid Power point equaling 2,400 steps. In total, the kids this year walked 558,517,348 steps or the distance of 196,591 miles. That’s the equivalent of walking around the entire Earth 7.9 times! Their tremendous efforts and enthusiasm were able to earn 44,874 packets of nutrient-dense food for malnourished children—actively playing a major role in helping to alleviate childhood hunger around the world.
With 1 in 4 children here in the United States clinically inactive and not hitting the recommended daily activity levels and 1 in 4 children in the rest of the world underweight or malnourished, UNICEF’s Kid Power initiative has proven to be an incredibly powerful way to try to bring that critical imbalance under control. Next year, the Kid Power initiative in Boston hopes to expand to reach even more children and bring the program to neighboring communities. Based on the amazing success stories of this year, it has become very clear just how much of a powerful impact ordinary kids can have and will continue to have in helping out those in need—a message of extraordinary hope and promise for the future.
