{"id":1866,"date":"2022-04-05T16:40:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T23:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/?p=1866"},"modified":"2022-10-27T13:49:17","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T20:49:17","slug":"community-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/2022\/04\/community-connections\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Good Things Happen: Catching Up with Kaelen and the Diaper Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How one 8th grader made a world of difference to Bay Area families in need<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Five thousand, five-hundred and twenty-seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a large number in almost any context – but wait until we tell you what it means, and why it matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Hillbrook, students work with the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship<\/a> to explore two key questions: \u201cWhat matters to you? And what are you doing about it?\u201d The questions can be answered in almost any terms and at any scale – packing your trash at the beach is doing something<\/em>; heading to the voting booth is, too. In January 2022, Hillbrook 8th grader Kaelen saw a need, knew that it mattered, and decided to apply his doing something<\/em> skills to the situation: after learning about the struggles of thousands of local families in our community, he organized a three-week-long Diaper Drive, an astounding community project that brought Hillbrook families together in a celebration of giving. That number – five thousand, five-hundred and twenty-seven – is the final count of total diapers he was able to organize. And that count stacked up alongside countless other donations that poured through the door, from bottle warmers to clothes to toys to wipes – and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to the 2022 Silicon Valley Index<\/a>, over 45% of households in Silicon Valley struggle to meet the basic needs; for families with children, the innumerable challenges of the pandemic have exacerbated an already-growing problem. \u201cEver since I started seeing families in need in the area, especially near my church, it made me feel bad,\u201d Kaelen said. \u201cI don\u2019t have to worry about what to eat or what I\u2019m going to wear, and it made me realize that many people do. And so I thought this would be good for me to get involved in.\u201d Working together with Annie Makela, Director of the Scott Center for Social Entrepreneurship, and his mother Dr. Marcelle Dougan, a Board Member and chairperson of the VMC Foundation, Kaelen started doing research and putting together a presentation to share during an all-school Friday Flag gathering. \u201cMy first step to starting the Diaper Drive was planning. I wanted to make sure I knew what was going to happen, and with Ms. Mak\u2019s help, that was very easy to do,\u201d Kaelen said. \u201cI worked with my parents to make a poster and with Ms. Mak to make the Flag announcement. The school has always encouraged us to think about what matters to us, and Ms. Mak helped me see how it could happen,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaelen received a list from Nurse Evangelina Moran at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic of crucial newborn needs during a new family\u2019s first few weeks at home. \u201cShe let us know what was most needed, and so we created the list from that,\u201d Kaelen said. \u201cAnd everything just took off from there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Kaelen\u2019s announcement and call for donations, the Hillbrook community seized the opportunity – the front office quickly filled up as boxes of donated diapers, toys, and clothes piled up; as soon as they were carted away for temporary storage, a new pile took its place. The memory of the early days of parenthood struck a chord for Hillbrook families, especially through the lens of financial hardship. \u201cWhen I was doing research, I was surprised to learn about how big of a problem this is,\u201d Kaelen said. \u201cDiapers are not<\/em> cheap, and the average baby uses up to six to seven a day, making diapers in very high demand. And some parents cannot go to work because they cannot afford enough diapers to send their baby to daycare.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Donations filled the Hillbrook van at 8th Grader Kaelen’s Diaper Driv<\/em>e.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


While dropping off donations, one Hillbrook parent shared what the Drive meant to her. \u201cThe Diaper Drive for us was more than just a request for donations – it cracked open my heart to that memory of coming home for the first time with a tiny baby,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s such a vulnerable experience, and one any of us with kids remember with a slew of mixed emotions. We had so much support in the early days and it was still so hard. To watch a middle school boy stand up and speak to this need to support moms and babies..it’s so powerful and inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After school on Friday, February 18th, a crowd of families, friends, and faculty gathered outside the Equity and Impact Lab at Hillbrook School to help sort and load up donations – box after box of diapers, toys, bottles, gently-used clothes, and other baby gear filled one of Hillbrook\u2019s vans to the roof (a peek inside saw JK student Riley and her mom as a dynamic stacking duo!). Middle schoolers turned the project into an impromptu math challenge, calculating how many diapers and wipes the Drive had collected and doing quick research to figure out how many families would benefit from the gathering mound of supplies. \u201cMy favorite memory was probably when we were packing and organizing the diapers – and people just started joining in to help,\u201d Kaelen remembered. \u201cI did not expect as many diapers and donations as we got!\u201d The results spoke for themselves: in the span of just three weeks, Kaelen\u2019s drive gathered enough diapers to supply roughly 23 families for a month – or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cIt was amazing to see how the Hillbrook community supports student-led social impact endeavors,\u201d Annie Makela said. \u201cThere was an unmistakable sense of joy and community as the size of the project\u2019s success took shape that afternoon.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the van was full, Kaelen and the Scott Center team took a short trip across San Jose to the VMC Foundation offices at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where they were met by Executive Director Michael Elliott, Dr. Iris Colon, and Evangelina (in an at-a-glance estimate, Elliott joked \u201cI think you brought us about ten million diapers!\u201d). Dr. Colon said, \u201cWe feel very blessed to work for this population that we serve – we serve high-risk prenatal patients that have many complications during or prior to their pregnancy, and we do serve the underserved in our population. We depend on donations like [this] – our patients sometimes don\u2019t have the financial sources to even buy diapers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are grateful for your giving hearts and desire to make healthcare in our community better for all,\u201d Evangelina agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“When people are helping others in need right in front of you, it is hard not to be inspired.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even standing in front of the mountain of colorful boxes that were the result of his planning, hard work, careful research, and generous spirit, Kaelen was philosophical about his project, eager to share credit with the friends who came to help. \u201cI think my work inspired others to help,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd when people are helping others in need right in front of you, it is hard not to be inspired.\u201d For the tiniest new members of our extended Santa Clara County community who will benefit from the donations, that inspiration means a warm, safe welcome home – something every child needs, every parent hopes for, and every family deserves. Thank you, Kaelen, for making it happen – five thousand, five-hundred and twenty-seven times over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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