Jacqueline is the founder of 365give, an innovative educational program that teaches elementary school students to do one thing every day to give back to the world. When Jacqueline became a parent, something wonderful happened that continues to be a daily inspiration. Read on to learn how the program started and how it is moving along.
What is your project/what is your social change work?
Our vision is to educate little kids in school how to create positive changes around them. Teaching life skills to students is just as important as math and English. We are changing the world one give, one child, one day at a time by encouraging small children to do one thing every day to give back to the world.
How did this project find you?
365give found me. Initially, the project was inspired in 2010 by my then 3 year-old adopted son who had come into our family through a series of small miracles. Together we did one thing every day to give back to the world. We called it 365give in hopes to inspire others to do the same. After giving every day for one year I knew I couldn’t stop. We also experienced another miracle that year: on day 365 our second adopted son came into our lives!
When you started the project, were you scared? What did you have to overcome within yourself to have the courage to begin?
I was terrified! I started a blog to record our daily giving, which I had never done. We created social media channels around our giving, which I had never done – Twitter, Facebook & YouTube. I had to learn it all and pretend I knew what I was doing. I was scared every day! …I still am most days but I get inspired seeing the kids doing amazing things for others.
If a kid walked up to you asking for your advice and you only had a few minutes to give your best tip, what would it be?
Spend your life giving back. It will make you happy, it will make you feel rich every day, it will give your life meaning and purpose no matter what else you do, where you live, how much money you make or don’t make.
What’s important to you at the moment?
Sharing our mission and the importance of teaching life skills for students to give directly within their everyday curriculum. Our program has been designed to help educators and students work in collaboration without adding extra work to their busy schedules while adding lots of value.
What do you want to accomplish in the next 12 months?
In 2015 we have 14 schools participating to date including over 3000 students and we want to double it. The organization needs to be more sustainable so that we can provide our program to as many schools as possible both locally and worldwide.
What action do you want the reader of this blog to take?
Give every day. Find one thing no matter how big or small to give. Pick up a piece of garbage, walk instead of drive, donate $1.00 to your favorite charity, help a neighbor.
Anything else you would like to add that I didn’t ask you and is important to you?
Giving makes you happy! People do want to give back but they don’t know how to do it. 365give is looking for teen volunteers, they can be located anywhere, to help with social media, blog on giving. We want to hear from our youth and how they want to get involved!
Chatting with Jacqueline reminded me of the value of global citizenship. If you are a parent or a teacher or a potential volunteer, you may want to reach out to 365Give.ca directly.
Finally, I encourage you to watch this cute video where children themselves share how they are leaving a positive footprint in the world, how they are becoming more confident and how they know they are the Change that the World Needs.