QuakerKids Care – Casting now for Commercial and more!

I have always believed in the benefits of children doing volunteering work as it helps them to develop compassion and establish connections with people different than themselves. I actually began doing volunteer work as a teenager and continued throughout even graduate school. But, it is a more recent phenomenon to see volunteering encouraged in early childhood education.

 

I was just contacted by Jane Brody, Professor of Acting at The Theatre School at DePaul University and author of The Sport of Auditioning.

This was the letter that I received:

I am a casting director currently working to finding children who participate in volunteering efforts with their parents to appear in a Quaker Chewy Granola Bars Commercial.

We are looking for children between the ages of 6-9 and their Moms and/or Dads who work together to help others. These children must eat Quaker Chewy Bars as well as volunteer.

We don’t have big cattle calls, so the initial contact with us is simply a phone call where we do a short interview. If we feel that the family is right for us, we then schedule an appointment to be seen over the weekend. The actual audition appointment takes no more than about 15 minutes.

Would you please take the time to think about this? Any family will be very, very well compensated. We are not looking for actors, we create our commercials based on the people we interview. These are essentially little documentary spots. Any one who wants more information can call me at our toll-free 1 866-9QUAKER (978-2537).

I immediately did some research and learned about some wonderful organizations in the process. I was not aware of Quaker’s Kids Care Clubs and also Moms Care Clubs.

Kids Care Clubs, a program of the Points of Light & Hands On Network, inspires volunteering in elementary and middle-school children. Through the Kids Care Clubs, children help others by taking on projects like assisting the elderly, participating in food drives, and leading community clean-ups.

Quaker Moms Care Clubs allow moms to share their stories and learn about the benefits of teaching their children volunteerism.

It was really a small world when I looked at the most recent Spring 2007 issue of the Young Heroes Magazine, a quarterly publication of the Points of Light & Hands On Network that has a partnership with Quaker’s Kids Care Clubs.

On the cover they had a Young Hero Highlight for Connor Morgado, shown here with a hearing assistance dog from Canine Hearing Companions, one of the many service groups detailed at our Foundation’s site’s National Service Dog Listing.

Connor attends Johnstone Elementary School in Vineland, NJ and has been volunteering in many projects since he started school, but volunteering for the Greyhound Protection League and the Canine Hearing Companions are his favorite activities. In the Spring 2007 issue of the Young Heroes Magazine, Connor wrote about his volunteering work.

When I was 6-1/2 years old I went with my mom to the abused women and children’s shelter. She gave away some of the clothes and shoes that didn’t fit me and she gave away a lot of my toys. I wasn’t happy about that. But as I was watching the kids who lived there, I saw that one boy only had those McDonald Happy Meal toys. I decided they could have my toys because of that one little boy. After we dropped the stuff off, we went to the mall and picked out my Halloween costume. I asked my mom what those kids do for trick-or-treating and she didn’t know. I kept thinking about what I saw, and I felt bad for the kids that lived in that place. They didn’t even have a bathroom to themselves — they had to share with strangers. And the only toy one little boy had was a Happy Meal toy! I knew the ladies and their kids there had no where to go because they didn’t have any money or family. I wanted to help them have some fun on Halloween because it’s fun to dress up in costumes because if I ever had to live there, I would want someone to think about me. My mom had just started the Kids Care Club at her school; she thought it would be a good project for the school kids to help with too. So we collected old Halloween costumes from kids, parents and other teachers.

My favorite projects are with dogs. I love dogs. Since I was little, my mom took me to the SPCA to drop off food for the homeless pets and visit with the animals. Her Club at school wanted to do the same, but couldn’t because the animals could bite them. I wanted to help them do a project with dogs. I went to the public library and read all kinds of books about therapy dogs. My mom also worked with a lady who had a greyhound. The greyhound’s owner told my mom that she could bring her dog and a lot of other greyhounds to school. They came and we made doggie biscuits to give to them. We called the project “Lots of Love for Greyhound Dogs.” We collected blankets, laundry detergent, bleach, food and doggie treats to give to the foster greyhound dogs in Pennsylvania. My favorite was Candy — she really liked the way my hands tasted. My mom does this project every year now and making the doggie biscuits is my favorite part, especially when I use the recipe with baby food —it’s gross!

My latest project started when I saw a big picture of a dog in the newspaper. Her name was Hollyberry and she helped a little girl that had seizures during her sleep. The dog could smell the seizure and get help for the little girl so she didn’t get hurt. The family didn’t have enough money to keep the dog because food is expensive. The Canine Hearing Companions organization was hoping the story would help with their fundraising. I just helped the organization by organizing a yard sale and by volunteering to babysit the puppies that will one day be working dogs. I really wanted to help that little girl keep Hollyberry. I was making eggs to give away at Easter time, so I asked my mom if I could sell them to my teachers instead of just giving them away. My mom thought that was a great idea, but thought we could sell even more. We have a friend from church that owns a Hallmark Store, so even though I was scared, I asked her if I could sell my eggs there one day after school. She was really nice and set up a table for us. Last year I made $350 and this year, $255.The girl got to keep Hollyberry!

I feel volunteering is one of those things you do just to put a smile on someone else’s face instead of your own. It’s like that Coke commercial, you give a little bit and it all comes back to you.

I also learned that Golden Holly Berry and her human companion are giving back to the community as well, providing talks to the community about the hearing impaired and hearing assistance dogs.

It’s pretty amazing that one email generated so much learning in return.