By Kaitlyn Kuehn for Kids Helping Kids | Published by Noozhawk on 12.21.2012 3:20 p.m.
The student-run nonprofit organization Kids Helping Kids has begun its major fundraising events, working toward its goal of raising $220,000 and building anticipation for its Jan. 12 benefit concert.
Kids Helping Kids kicked off its fundraisers on Dec. 14 with Royals Got Talent, a talent show of San Marcos High School vocal artists competing for a chance to be the opening act for this year’s benefit concert headliner, Switchfoot.
The exuberant student performers drew a large crowd, filling the San Marcos auditorium and allowing Kids Helping Kids to exceed its fundraising goal, earning $3,557.
“We destroyed our goal of raising $3,000 and had the best Royals Got Talent yet,” Kids Helping Kids CEO Jordan Lund said.
This year’s Royals Got Talent winners are Jason Hahs and Emily Libera, who will open for Switchfoot as well as official opener Brad Corrigan of the band Dispatch.
Kids Helping Kids continued its fundraising events by hosting a movie screening of the classic It’s a Wonderful Life at the Music Academy of the West on Thursday. The intimate event gathered together families and friends at the academy’s Hahn Hall.
“Without the Music Academy’s generosity, this event would never have been possible,” KHK President Jamie DeVries said.
Kids Helping Kids has fundraised for charity since 2002. This year, their signature benefit concert will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Granada Theatre. Tickets are on sale now at the Granada box office as well as online at www.granadasb.org.
Money raised from these events, as well as from the Jan. 12 concert, will go to both local charitable organizations such as the Unity Shoppe, and charities abroad such as Bridges of Hope, dedicated to schooling children in need in Africa. Individual community members facing hardships also benefit from KHK’s efforts.
The funds are allocated to different worthy causes by the San Marcos High School Advanced Placement Economics class, where Kids Helping Kids is based. They work to be a group of empowered students making a difference from the classroom to the community.
Click here for more information about Kids Helping Kids.
— Kaitlyn Kuehn represents Kids Helping Kids.