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Teen Makes 20 Trips to Help Children in Impoverished Countries; Starts High School Group to Share Experience of Helping Others
Seeing the World's Poverty Has Positive
Influence on Kori Smith's Life
SAUGATUCK, Mich., Aug. 13, 2001 /PRNewswire/ -- The toy was small and uninteresting by American expectations, but for the little Guatemalan boy it was a magic gift -- the first Christmas toy he had ever received. As he looked into the face of the young girl who handed him the treasure, it would be hard to tell which had received the biggest gift.
You wouldn't think a teenage girl from Michigan could single-handedly affect the lives of impoverished children living in a small Central American country, but Kori Smith has. A recent graduate of Saugatuck High School, she has experienced the needs of the world's humanity first hand and knows the personal benefits to be gained from helping others. She has now made it her mission to bring those experiences to other American youth by founding an organization in her high school to encourage relief trips to help the world's needy.
Kori began traveling to help impoverished children in third-world countries several years ago with Airline Ambassadors, an organization of airline employees who devote their time to humanitarian relief work. Her father is an airline pilot. She made a trip with the volunteers every two months, traveling to Brazil, Haiti, Vietnam, Jamaica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Philippines. The group delivered food and personal items they had collected and did maintenance work in orphanages.
"Those trips changed me. We have poverty here in America, but not the poverty you find in these countries. I came back with a new, more positive perspective on life, because you can't see that kind of poverty and not be affected by it," Kori says. She was so moved by her new life perspective, she wanted to give the experience to other teens.
So, Kori came up with the idea of starting a group at school that would take relief trips to third-world countries twice each year. The group would meet regularly, raise money locally and do community service projects as well as travel. She advertised the new group around school and 30 kids -- in a school with only 300 students -- came to the first meeting of Teens for Humanity. Since that first meeting, the group has made four trips with an average of 40 students each to Brazil and Guatemala.
"It's like a chain effect, the influence these trips have on others. Like me, the other students have returned with a different view on life. Probably the most important thing we learn on the trips is that we are all needed. You see first hand the power of what a small group can do," Kori explained.
Teens for Humanity has been so successful, Kori helped a friend start a group in a high school in Brooklyn, N.Y. and has inquiries from others about beginning the same program in other schools.
Kori is headed to California State University in Los Angeles this fall, but the Teens for Humanity in Saugatuck will continue -- she has found a successor to continue the group's leadership. Now that she will soon be a college student, Kori believes the same concept of an organization of American youth helping impoverished third-world children would work on college campuses.
Of the 20 trips Kori has made to help needy children in other countries, her most moving experience came during a graduation open house in her hometown this spring. She received a letter from a fellow student reporting that her participation in Teens for Humanity had turned her life around. She also said Kori had served as an inspiration to others.
"Helping others makes you feel good, but we can always do more," Kori said.
Kori and nine other American youths are being rewarded by Kohl's Department Stores for volunteering to make a difference in their local communities as national winners in its Kohl's Kids Who Care(TM) scholarship program. The winners, selected from more than 4,300 youthful volunteers nominated at local Kohl's stores, will each receive $5,000 scholarships for post-secondary education.
The Kohl's Kids Who Care scholarship program, launched earlier this year, identifies and recognizes the efforts of kids who contribute in special ways to their local communities. Kohl's created the Kohl's Kids Who Care program to reward youth for their outstanding efforts.
National winners were selected from a pool of 640 store-level winners in two age categories, 6-11 and 12-17. In addition, a total of 65 regional finalists were awarded $1,000 scholarships in July.
The Kohl's Kids Who Care scholarship competition is part of the Kohl's Cares for Kids(R) program which raises funds for children's hospitals, features fundraising gift cards for local schools and non-profit youth groups, and provides an employee volunteer program to encourage volunteerism to benefit local non-profit organizations.
Based in Menomonee Falls, Wis., Kohl's is a family-focused, value oriented specialty department store offering moderately priced national brand apparel, shoes, accessories and home products. With 354 stores in 28 states, Kohl's features a merchandise mix that is approximately 80 percent national brands and 20 percent private brands.
SOURCE Kohl's Department Stores
Kohl's Names National Youth Scholarship Winners Who Are Making a Difference In Their Communities
National Kohl's Kids Who Care(Tm) Winners Receive $5,000 Scholarships
MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis., Aug. 13, 2001 /PRNewswire/ -- Kohl's Department Stores today recognized 10 young people who are volunteering to make a difference in their local communities as national winners in its Kohl's Kids Who Care(TM) scholarship program. The winners, selected from about 4,500 nominees from local Kohl's stores, will each receive $5,000 scholarships for post-secondary education.
The Kohl's Kids Who Care scholarship program, launched earlier this year, identifies and recognizes the efforts of kids ranging in ages from 6-17 who contribute in special ways to improve their local communities.
A recent survey conducted by Kohl's found that 88 percent of American families have one or more children between the ages of 6 and 18 who regularly volunteer to help others, dispelling beliefs that today's youth are only focused on themselves.
National winners were selected from 558 store-level winners in two age categories, 6-11 and 12-17. In addition, a total of 65 regional finalists were awarded $1,000 scholarships in July.
Named national Kohl's Kids Who Care scholarship winners are:
Corinne A. Betancourt, 11, Lancaster, Penn. - Participated in two 100-mile bike rides to raise money for the Central Philadelphia Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Bekah S. Fletcher, 11, Plano, Texas - Works with pre-kindergarten special needs students in Plano's Program for Children with Disabilities. Also assists a special needs student in her fifth grade classroom.
Joseph C. Klinkenborg, 17, Lenexa, Kan. - Created an Intergeneration Enrichment Program, including a computer lab and closed circuit TV system, for the residents of a retirement home.
Jennifer A. Krueger, 17, Little Canada, Minn. - Volunteers as peer helper for chronically ill teens through the Encourage Support program.
William H. Martin Jr., 10, Niles, Ohio - Created the Bite the Bullet program to buy bulletproof vests for police dogs.
Paul D. Schappell, 11, Schnecksville, Penn. - Raised puppies for the Seeing Eye Foundation.
Korina Smith, 17, Fennville, Mich. - Founder of Teens for Humanity, a group of high school students that take relief trips to third-world countries twice a year to deliver food and personal items to children in orphanages.
Erin P. Sweeney, 17, Sussex, N.J. - Co-founded Harvest House community lunch program in Sussex, N.J.
Annie M. Wainscott, 16, Troy, Ohio - Created Clubhouse Kids, a five-week day school program for area children.
Carly S. Wolfe, 10, Monroe, Conn. - Created and produced Helping Hand pins, raising over $10,000 for the American Red Cross.
Kohl's stores will begin accepting nominations for the 2002 scholarship competition in February. Applications will be available at all Kohl's Department Stores.
Additional company information is available at http://www.kohls.com
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