Let me start by saying I smile from within whenever we receive news on our first BCG Award winner for ChangeMaker of the Year, the stellar Joshua Williams. On March 15th Joshua Williams, Founder and President of Joshua’s Heart Foundation will be 13 years old. For his birthday gift, he is asking all his friends and supporters worldwide to commit “13 Acts of Kindness” by his birthday and we love it.
As a philanthropist, Joshua, at the age of 4 ½, was inspired by a Feed The Children commercial and decided it was his purpose in life to eliminate world hunger among children and the homeless. As he turns 13, he and his organization, Joshua’s Heart Foundation, are extremely proud of its accomplishments; to date, they have distributed over a half a million pounds of food to the less fortunate in the US (South Florida) and Jamaica. This precocious young man takes his responsibility as a leader very seriously and wants to engage his peers and their parents in service to those who are, for whatever reason, hungry, cannot feed themselves and their families or are homeless. His organization has been steadily moving forward in their mission with the support of partners like Whole Foods Market, Feed the Children, Prudential, YPO & WPO Organization, Sodexo, Wal-Mart Foundation, YSA, Generation On, TJ Maxx, Safe Eggs, Miami Foundation, Health Foundation of South Florida, First Care Home Services and many others. This year, as he enters the teenage years, he wants to take his message global by encouraging young people the world over to make a difference in the lives of someone less fortunate than themselves.
To be a part of this global initiative, each participant must:
· Go to www.joshuasheart.org to see all the work Joshua, his JAB members and his elves have done.
· Commit to doing 13 random acts of kindness for someone in need.
· No deed is too small or too large, “Just be Kind and Show Kindness”.
· Take photos of you doing your acts of kindness.
· Post your photos on Instagram or Twitter and tag @joshuasheart.
· Use the hashtag #whyiserve, #joshuasheart, #joshuasbirthday.
· Write a short caption of 200 characters or less telling how knowing or learning about Joshua’s Heart World has inspired you to serve others.
Deeds can be as simple and easy as the heart can perceive. For a list of acceptable deeds please visit www.joshuasheart.org and click on the events page. Some examples include:
1. Help a senior citizen at the grocery store
2. Help a younger sibling with their math problem or a subject they have difficulty in. (They are in need of your expert help)
3. Give the change in your pocket/purse to a homeless person
4. Give your lunch that you brought from home to a homeless person
5. Find a shelter and volunteer for one morning
Looking to Receive Volunteer Hours?
1. To receive service hours students must complete 13 acts of kindness (see examples above) no act is too small.
2. Post to social media, if you do not have a social media account ask a friend or family to post.
3. Tell Joshua’s Heart about your act of kindness, reason for service.
4. Include your name, your school, number of hours spent performing act of kindness.
5. Also indicate the person in charge at school email address who will receive hours.
6. Send volunteer paper work to be signed to volunteer@joshuasheart.org.
On March 24th, Joshua will select 3 winners from this initiative who will receive an Amazon Gift Card with a value of $50US each. Each recipient can keep their gift card or pay for it forward by donating it to a cause of their choosing. This campaign is designed to get participants moving and acting with a kind heart towards the needy and to encourage them not to judge those who have fallen on hard times. To learn more about Joshua’s 13 Days of Giving Campaign visit www.joshuasheart.org, call 305-788-8295, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
