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For this kid who cares, it's a real honor

Juan Rivera inspires county leaders to create an award for residents who give back to their community.

By THERESA BLACKWELL
Published February 18, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Joseph Garnett JR.] Juan Rivera, 11, leads Kids Who Care, a youth group with a mission to help low-income and homeless people in the community. Juan was homeless but now lives with his mother, Eileen Bello, left, and his two older sisters in a Homeless Emergency Project apartment in Clearwater.

As he travels Pinellas County, Ronnie Duncan said he and other county commissioners meet people every day who do more than he could imagine for others in the community. So as a way to recognize and thank such citizens each month, Duncan created a new honor, the People of Pinellas Award.

"Men, women and, yes, even children, are out there working to make Pinellas a better place to live," Duncan said at a January commission meeting.

Case in point: 11-year-old Juan Rivera, the first recipient.

Juan, a fifth-grader at North Ward Elementary in Clearwater, had won a school speech contest that Duncan judged. The commissioner listened as the boy spoke about the group he leads, Kids Who Care.

At the January meeting where Juan received the People of Pinellas Award, he was joined by his mother, Eileen Bello, and sister, Juanita Rivera, 13, the secretary of Kids Who Care. They listened as Duncan said, "We are indeed blessed in this community to have people like Juan and the members of Kids Who Care."

Kids Who Care is a group of children, many of whom have been homeless, who meet weekly at the youth center of the Homeless Emergency Project in Clearwater.

A few months ago, the group attended workshops there on youth and philanthropy.

"We learned that anyone can be a philanthropist as long as they have the desire to give back to their community," Juan told commissioners and the audience Jan. 23.

The group has a mission, he said, "to use our time, talent and treasure in cooperation with others to help meet the needs of low-income and homeless people in our community."

And it's working to do that.

In a few months, the members have used their dues to buy bus passes for homeless people so they can get to job interviews, jobs and medical appointments.

"Not everybody can afford a car or a bike," Juan said.

And they threw a dance to raise funds for supplies at the free HEP dental clinic. The group was worried about a 14-year-old girl who badly needed dental work.

Libby Stone, HEP director of development, learned about a youth and philanthropy course called "Learning to Give" at a workshop and thought the children who meet in the youth center would benefit. So she and Colleen Schenker, the director of HEP's youth program, put the program in place.

"It's important for kids of all backgrounds to work together," Stone said.

Like many children in Kids Who Care, Juan has been homeless and currently lives in the family shelter at HEP. The group would like to expand their membership to include any middle or high school students interested in serving low-income and homeless residents. With more members, they can do more.

"We're adopting a park and we're thinking of making a Web site and buying bikes, too," he said last week at the HEP shelter.

That afternoon, Juan attended a Kids Who Care board meeting with officers Aquilah Scott, 11, vice president; his sister Juanita, secretary; and Tiffany King, 11, membership chair. Treasurer Maddie Stone was absent.

"This group of youth is making a difference," Schenker told them.

Even a county commissioner is taking note, and Juan appreciates that.

"It makes me feel like I did something good for the community," he said.

Fast Facts:

Donate or join

To join Kids Who Care or to make a contribution, call Colleen Schenker at (727) 442-9041. Kids Who Care's dues of $20 per year are sometimes waived.

[Last modified February 17, 2007, 20:16:38]