Five Ways You Can Support Kids’ Chance Today and Every Day
Five Ways You Can Support Kids’ Chance Today and Every Day
Kids’ Chance began in the state of Georgia in 1988. Today, Kids’ Chance is a national community dedicated to giving the kids of workers who have been injured on the job a chance at a better future.
Many of our leaders contribute nationally and in their home states. Many of our partners support us nationally and get involved with Kids’ Chance where they work. And when we share the stories of our kids, we share stories from across the country because they’re all our kids.
Each of our states provides scholarships and support to the kids of workers who have been injured on the job. While they confront different challenges with their state workers’ compensation systems, build relationships within their local communities, and have their own unique flair, all of our states need to identify eligible applicants — and many need help.
That’s why we created the Planning for the Future initiative. Eligible families submit their information, and then when the time comes to apply for a scholarship, we connect them to Kids’ Chance in their state.
This year, Planning for the Future received 1,184 total submissions, a 20% increase over last year. The initiative also saw a 41% increase in submissions from eligible applicants who aren’t yet old enough to apply for a scholarship.
Those submissions translate into real-life scholarships, like the one awarded to a recipient in Florida: "Last week our board voted to approve fourteen scholarships, totaling more than $70,000. It was a new record for us," shared Bob Wilson, a board member of Kids' Chance of Florida (KCFL).
"I just had the pleasure of notifying one 18-year-old woman who lost her father a few years ago that she had been awarded a $7,000 scholarship funded by the employees of One Call.
“I noticed on the scholarship recap sheet that she was a referral from the Planning for the Future initiative. When that was set up, it never even crossed my mind that I would someday directly get to hear the surprise and joy in a student’s voice when their registration in that program resulted in an actual scholarship. What a great feeling. That call made my day."
We didn’t stop at Planning for the Future. We’ve also developed a series of initiatives geared toward building our states into strong, sustainable state organizations. “It's not enough to have a presence in each state; we need to ensure every state can consistently fulfill its mission and ultimately serve every eligible kid,” said Kids’ Chance of America president, Dana Genhemier.
First, we launched our Kids' Chance Ambassador program. We now recruit and train scholarship recipients — preferably graduates — who then help tell the Kids’ Chance story. We introduced the inaugural class of Ambassadors at the 2023 Kids’ Chance National Conference.
Knowing that we all benefit when states learn from each other, we created president and scholarship coordinator roundtables, as well as peer-to-peer working groups, to generate dialogue among states on various challenges and opportunities. Our established educational programs — including our National Conference, webinars, resource library, and one-on-one support — continue to make an impact.
We also designed and launched a state website solution that provides consistent branding and website management so volunteers can focus on their scholarship programs rather than making website updates. This solution also expanded our use of the Kaleidoscope scholarship software, which allows our state organizations to review applications efficiently.
In addition to developing sustainable state organizations, we persistently raise the visibility of our mission, forge relationships with national leaders, and provide both the platform and resources for everyone within our community to spread the word.
We are excited to build upon these efforts as we move forward. But we can’t do it without you.
Here are five ways you can support Kids’ Chance:
By serving as an example, you encourage others in the industry to make an investment in our mission with the same intent in mind: to support the work Kids’ Chance is doing.
“Kids' Chance has changed my life by not only introducing me to an entire community of people who wanted to see me succeed and helping me get through college but also by giving me the opportunity to see some light in the darkness of losing my dad.”
Michaela is a Kids’ Chance of Pennsylvania (KCPA) scholarship recipient and a member of our inaugural class of Ambassadors. She values how Kids’ Chance has impacted her life for the better and says, “Now I've been put into a position to do that for somebody else.”
She has stepped up to help us spread the word and, ultimately, provide more scholarships to kids like her. You have the opportunity to join her and the other members of our community today. What are you waiting for?
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