Welcome to Kids for Shelter
We are “Kids for Shelter.” We are a charity lead by kids to help animals and people, focused around “shelter.”
We started this charity in March of 2010. It was started by Anna, Jack and Christopher Gleason of Spotsylvania, Virginia. Anna was only 9 years old then and wanted to do something to help the animals in the local shelters. She quickly enlisted the support of her brothers, Jack and Christopher, and two of her friends, Lucy and Nakila. Initially, they started by raising money for the animal shelters through different fundraisers, collecting supplies from their neighbors, making pet beds for the animals to sleep on and visiting with the animals at the shelters. Every year, they make items to sell at their local Crafts Fair and also do Christmas Caroling in the neighborhood to raise money for the animal shelters.
In 2012, Anna, Jack and Christopher found out about ShelterBox, an international disaster relief organization that provide shelter and supplies to those in need after an emergency or natural disaster. Their mother had started to do pro bono legal work for ShelterBox and Anna, Jack and Christopher were so interested in the mission of ShelterBox, that they started an annual summer “Read-For-Shelter” read-a-thon to raise money for ShelterBox. This has continued each summer since 2012.
More recently, Anna, Jack and Christopher have looked into also helping those in homeless shelters as well as the elderly. In 2014, they volunteered at a local shelter, making pancake dinner for those in need in their community. They also have volunteered with the elderly, playing bingo and even brining their little dog, Duke, to visit with the residents.
They hope to continue with more activities to help the homeless and the elderly in the years ahead.
We hope to show other kids that they too can become active in their local and global communities and really make a difference. All it takes it is a little creativity and effort.