Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.
— Martin Luther King Jr.
It’s easy to volunteer, but as many parents will tell you, it’s not always easy to volunteer with small kids. Small Hands Big Hearts United (SHBHU), a nonprofit dedicated to nurturing compassion in children by providing accessible volunteer opportunities to all, is here to change that.
“It doesn’t really matter your age; your voice will be heard in this organization,” said Salim Alvi, a junior at Cary Academy and one of several teen ambassadors in the organization. “When I was younger, I remember feeling really involved, even though I was smaller than the other kids there. I still felt that I was contributing.”
Executive Director Anita Pease started SHBHU following the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 after her oldest daughter, Isabella, asked one simple question: “Mom and Dad, what are we doing to help those kids in the Philippines?”
“It wasn’t in the cards to go there financially, but we put the question back on her and asked her what she thought we should do,” said Pease. “She started brainstorming and said she could make bracelets, and the whole time my husband and I are just looking at each other and thinking we need to encourage whatever comes out of her mouth. So we went and got the stuff and she made the bracelets, and it started off really small, just like that.”
Th is simple exchange sparked SHBHU’s first “compassion mission” to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. Families across the Triangle helped sell dozens of hats and bracelets, raising over $600. Before they knew it, a nonprofit was born.
From left: Teen Ambassadors Sami Tiernan, Isabella Pease, Will Bartley, Wyatt Davis, and Salim Alvi
SHBHU holds monthly meetings so kids of all ages can brainstorm, plan initiatives, discuss fundraisers, and more. By partnering with organizations like Habitat for Humanity, the Ronald McDonald House, and Oak City Cares (to name a few), and by giving children the freedom to pave the way forward, SHBHU breaks down any age restrictive, logistical, or financial barriers that could hinder a child’s desire to make a difference.
Wyatt Davis, a junior at Apex High School, has been involved in SHBHU since it was founded. Although he has participated in many compassion missions over the years, his favorite is Flip Out for Skylar, a year-round initiative pitched by another teenage participant, Mia Pease, who makes custom flip-flops to raise funds to find a cure for cystic fibrosis.
“My sister has cystic fibrosis, and the doctors told her she wouldn’t be able to do a lot of physical activity like running, sports, and whatnot, but Skylar’s a cheerleader,” said Davis. “I think it kind of surprised Mia when Skylar was doing flips in the air, because she was a flyer. So that’s the reason behind the name Flip Out for Skylar.”
In addition to local volunteer opportunities, SHBHU has extended its compassion eff orts to Haiti, Thailand, the Dominican Republic, and Syria.
“One child proposed the compassion mission Socks for Syria because she had learned about the refugees in Syria,” said Pease. “She was like, ‘They’re walking around barefoot and need socks!’ So she started a collection drive for socks and ended up collecting 2,000 pairs. It was simple, but it exposed the issue to other children and made them more aware of what was going on in the world.”
If Pease has learned anything over the years, it’s that when given the opportunity, kids will surprise you with their ingenuity, compassion, and willingness to lead.
Executive Director Anita Pease is responsible for the growth and vision of SHBHU, but allows the kids to lead each and every meeting.
“I’m sure that some people who aren’t really familiar with our organization are like, where are the adults?” said Pease, laughing. “It’s run by the kids — every meeting, even every fundraiser we have. We purposely stay back. They want to be more involved when they’re leading. Even the small handers will have ideas, and then the older ambassador teens will help them. I think that’s what makes it unique, even though there are so many amazing nonprofits that do similar missions. Kids, especially teens, want to feel empowered. They talk about all the details, the operation costs, how they’re going to recruit members. It’s cute to see them with a plan at such an early age.”
SHBHU members are divided into age groups: small handers, ages 3-9; tween ambassadors, ages 10-12; and teen ambassadors, ages 13-17. Adults 18 and up are welcome as mentorship members. Each group holds regular monthly meetings.
Domestic opportunities fall under five categories: Hearts to Tables, Hearts to Smiles, Hearts to Homes, Hearts to Others, and the Ambassador “Passing the Torch” Committee. Hearts to Tables, for example, helps fight hunger throughout the Triangle by participating in community food drives, volunteer days for the Interfaith Food Shuttle Field Gleaning Days, awareness campaigns, and serving food at Oak City Cares.
“At Oak City Cares, we serve the homeless,” said Sami Tiernan, a junior at Apex High School and teen ambassador co-president. “They do hot meals, and we started doing take-home meals with fruit cups, a bar, and maybe a sandwich in a brown paper bag with an inspirational saying on it. We do this every fourth Sunday of every month. I love interacting with new people and seeing the smile on their faces when I hand them the food, and just getting to talk to them about their day and their lives. It’s impactful to me because I’m helping them out in such a big way, and it helps me realize that I take so much for granted in my own life.”
While monthly meetings are typically held at the Apex Community Center, accessibility is the name of the game at SHBHU.
“The beauty of Small Hands is you’re able to do this whenever you want, so if you are trying to volunteer, you can do it from your house,” said Isabella Pease, teen ambassador co-president. “We don’t need to have a big meeting for people to volunteer.”
In some cases, students can volunteer directly at their school. Will Bartley is the copresident of Green Hope Small Hands Big Hearts United at Green Hope High School.
“We average probably 20 to 30 people per meeting, but there’s probably about 50 to 60 in the actual club,” said Bartley. “We advertise a ton of stuff that the bigger organization does, but also a lot of the club is doing smaller things during short meetings or during lunch at school. We’ve done things like creating cards for seniors or doing something for people who are in the military.”
“For the club, the meetings are always open for anyone to join; you don’t have to be a member of the broader organization to come to a meeting and help out. You can sign up for the emails that me or my co-president, Krish Patel, send out and get more informed about what we’re doing.”
SHBHU is always looking for help within the organization, as well, whether it be with social media, fundraising, the newsletter, presenting, or other needs that may arise. For more information on volunteering opportunities, or to donate to the cause, visit shbhu.org.
“Giving children accessible resources where they can volunteer gives them hope and empowers them to continue volunteering,” said Pease. “Once they see that one little spark makes a difference — whether it’s giving a hungry person food, putting a smile on someone’s face, cheering up a senior citizen, whatever it is — it’s contagious and makes them want to do more.”
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