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Community DC Glenda Smith So Kids Soar · Community D.C.

0:04
Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community DC.
0:06
Speaker 1: I'm your host Dennis Glasgow this morning, and welcome back
0:09
Speaker 1: to the program executive director for So Kids Sore, Glenda Smith.
0:12
Speaker 1: They're a nonprofit that provides free adaptive sports clinics and
0:16
Speaker 1: mentorship programs for children and young adults ages four through
0:19
Speaker 1: thirty with physical and developmental disabilities in the Greater Washington,
0:23
Speaker 1: DC area. Over the next thirty minutes, we're going to
0:25
Speaker 1: talk about So Kids Sore, what they do, the programs
0:28
Speaker 1: they offer, and how you can be a part of
0:29
Speaker 1: their incredible things that they're doing. And it really is
0:32
Speaker 1: an amazing organization, so I hope you listen. Plus, we'll
0:35
Speaker 1: also be talking about upcoming events, they're podcasts, hou to
0:37
Speaker 1: volunteer and donate, and much more. Here's my conversation with Glenda.
0:41
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
0:43
Speaker 1: Good morning, Glenda, Good morning that It's great to have
0:46
Speaker 1: you back on Community DC. It's been a while, so
0:48
Speaker 1: I'm glad we get a chance to catch up on
0:50
Speaker 1: So Kids Sore. Everybody heard my intro to what you
0:53
Speaker 1: do as executive director and all the great things that
0:56
Speaker 1: you have over the last year. My new podcast has
0:59
Speaker 1: started up. I know you had a gala November that
1:01
Speaker 1: we can kind of tease for this coming up here.
1:03
Speaker 1: You've got advance and all sorts of relationships with the
1:06
Speaker 1: Washington Capitals and the cool things that you do with
1:08
Speaker 1: your volunteers and people that donate. So we have a
1:11
Speaker 1: lot of ground to cover. But I always know that
1:12
Speaker 1: we have new listeners that don't know about all the
1:14
Speaker 1: partners that we have out there. So if you could,
1:17
Speaker 1: for everybody that's new and hearing about So Kids Sore
1:20
Speaker 1: for the first time, can you tell us a little
1:21
Speaker 1: bit about it?
1:23
Speaker 2: Definitely, And I just want to say thank you again
1:25
Speaker 2: Dennis for being one of our biggest proponents and believing
1:28
Speaker 2: in our mission, which is to empower youth with physical
1:31
Speaker 2: and developmental disabilities to strive, own, achieve, and realize their potential.
1:36
Speaker 2: That's where the Sore and So Kids Sore comes from.
1:40
Speaker 2: And yeah, I've been running it since twenty eleven, and
1:43
Speaker 2: we provide free adaptive programming to empower these youth to
1:47
Speaker 2: really believe in themselves and find their dreams and pursue them.
1:51
Speaker 1: All Right, So we've got everybody's attention for all the
1:54
Speaker 1: parents and families, out there and caregivers and everything, and
1:56
Speaker 1: they probably want to know about you know, what you
1:58
Speaker 1: do like in the we and how you hook up.
2:01
Speaker 1: I know sports is a really big deal. There's always
2:03
Speaker 1: events and programs going on, and I know there's also
2:06
Speaker 1: criteria people that you take in and it really is amazing.
2:11
Speaker 1: So I know there's a lot to cover there. Can
2:12
Speaker 1: you kind of go everything at least maybe a thirty
2:14
Speaker 1: thousand foot view for our listeners.
2:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, one hundred percent.
2:17
Speaker 2: So the programs that we do the first are adaptive clinics.
2:21
Speaker 2: That's kind of our flagship, and like you touched on,
2:23
Speaker 2: they started with more athletics sports related activities, but in
2:28
Speaker 2: time we kind of transition to having some i would
2:32
Speaker 2: say workshop series or more recreational activities. So what began
2:38
Speaker 2: as ice hockey baseball has kind of turned into a
2:41
Speaker 2: prom and stem, so we both do the sports related
2:45
Speaker 2: and the more recreational skill building activities through our adaptive clinics.
2:50
Speaker 2: We also have a vocational building program that we built
2:53
Speaker 2: out in twenty seventeen and was somewhat at the requests
2:57
Speaker 2: of our parents and participants because as they grew with
3:02
Speaker 2: us and we're transitioning into a young adult age, they
3:05
Speaker 2: didn't really have as much support, especially when they're trying
3:09
Speaker 2: to find independence or career path.
3:12
Speaker 3: So we created a.
3:13
Speaker 2: Vocational program called Your Path to Success, and we proudly
3:17
Speaker 2: can say that fifty five percent of the graduates have
3:20
Speaker 2: been hired in full time or part time roles. I
3:23
Speaker 2: think another ten percent of those graduates are now either
3:27
Speaker 2: interning or in higher education. And yeah, as I've said before,
3:34
Speaker 2: we've also had some of our graduates employed by us,
3:37
Speaker 2: so we'll get into that a little more. But finally,
3:40
Speaker 2: we have a holiday program that is at the end
3:43
Speaker 2: of every year. It's kind of our culminating event and
3:46
Speaker 2: it's an opportunity for our participants to give back to
3:48
Speaker 2: the community, so giving them the chance to see how
3:52
Speaker 2: they can make an impact not just regionally, but worldwide
3:55
Speaker 2: as well. They'll wrap presence for homeless youth. We work
3:59
Speaker 2: with a nonprofit in Japan to make flash cards for
4:02
Speaker 2: them and it's really neat for them to know that
4:06
Speaker 2: their ability levels don't hold them back from making impact
4:09
Speaker 2: anywhere outstanding.
4:10
Speaker 1: There's a lot there, folks, and it really is amazing
4:12
Speaker 1: and I know you can on volunteers and donations, which
4:15
Speaker 1: we will talk about but when it comes to families
4:18
Speaker 1: and caregivers, and we've got their attention about all the
4:20
Speaker 1: cool things that you do, contacting you in getting all
4:24
Speaker 1: the young adults or the children out there with disabilities.
4:28
Speaker 1: And by the way, I want you to maybe narrow
4:31
Speaker 1: down this because I think people hear when they hear
4:33
Speaker 1: in the disabled. What does that mean, Glinda? Do I
4:37
Speaker 1: fit into our criteria somebody to do things with you
4:40
Speaker 1: in your program? So can you talk about that just
4:41
Speaker 1: a little bit.
4:43
Speaker 3: For sure?
4:43
Speaker 2: I think we are one of the more inclusive programs
4:48
Speaker 2: in the area, So we do allow youth age four
4:51
Speaker 2: to thirty to be a part of all the clinics. Obviously,
4:55
Speaker 2: for the vocational building program, we are looking for students
4:59
Speaker 2: that are eighteen thirty or just young adults with disabilities
5:02
Speaker 2: eighteen to thirty. And when I do say disabilities, it
5:05
Speaker 2: covers everything from physical to develop mental, cognitive to even
5:09
Speaker 2: learning disabilities like dyslexia. Another I think different thing that
5:16
Speaker 2: we do is that we involve the typically developing siblings
5:20
Speaker 2: in our UH in our programs as well. So if
5:23
Speaker 2: a participate comes but their sibling who is typically developing
5:28
Speaker 2: also wants to be a part of it. We try
5:30
Speaker 2: to make it inclusive and include them as well, because
5:33
Speaker 2: everyone needs their community and for a lot of them,
5:36
Speaker 2: family is a community. Friends are their community. So and
5:40
Speaker 2: all of our programming is one hundred percent free. But
5:43
Speaker 2: yeah you can. We're pretty easy to get in touch with.
5:47
Speaker 3: So kidsore dot org and I'll spell that out later.
5:50
Speaker 3: Is our website.
5:51
Speaker 2: Uh and yeah, I'm my email I think is blasted
5:56
Speaker 2: all over the website, So feel free to reach out
5:58
Speaker 2: if we have any questions at all. I always offer
6:01
Speaker 2: to especially to new families that they want to hop
6:04
Speaker 2: on a quick zoom call to learn more about what
6:06
Speaker 2: we do.
6:07
Speaker 3: We're happy to do.
6:08
Speaker 2: So.
6:08
Speaker 1: One of the things that you've cultivated so well is
6:11
Speaker 1: all these great relationships with the local sports teams in
6:14
Speaker 1: the DMV. And I know, I just saw an event
6:16
Speaker 1: with the Capitals a week or two ago, by the way,
6:19
Speaker 1: and Glinda will give this too. You're so active on
6:23
Speaker 1: social media, which is great because I think seeing kind
6:25
Speaker 1: of a follow up of your events is so fun
6:27
Speaker 1: for the people that can attend, or the families or
6:29
Speaker 1: the caregivers that cannot attend, and all the wonderful things
6:32
Speaker 1: you do. But I would love for you to talk
6:34
Speaker 1: and you don't have to talk about all of them
6:35
Speaker 1: because I know you have so many relationships with the
6:37
Speaker 1: Caps are big. Of course, I've seen you with the
6:39
Speaker 1: NWSL and the Washington Spirit and I love them. They're great.
6:42
Speaker 1: We've got big Trinity Rodman News, which is really spectacular
6:45
Speaker 1: that we're going to have her for another three year,
6:47
Speaker 1: so that's really cool. Well, why don't you talk about
6:49
Speaker 1: some of your sports relationships and what they offer so
6:52
Speaker 1: kids score, so kids store and all the cool things
6:55
Speaker 1: that you do.
6:56
Speaker 3: Yeah.
6:56
Speaker 2: So with the Capitals, we've been partnering with for I
7:00
Speaker 2: think fourteen years now, well last the one last week
7:04
Speaker 2: was our fourteenth adaptive clinic with them.
7:07
Speaker 3: And what's great is two of the.
7:09
Speaker 2: Players, Charlie Lindgren and Nick Daud, have created their own nonprofits,
7:14
Speaker 2: Lindy's Lineup and Dad's Crowds, So they not only come
7:18
Speaker 2: out to the clinic and help lead it that they've
7:21
Speaker 2: offered opportunities for our participants to walk down the red
7:25
Speaker 2: carpet with them before a game, be a part of
7:28
Speaker 2: a really cool in game experience when they do come
7:31
Speaker 2: to the game. So we're trying to find different ways
7:35
Speaker 2: to really engage our ambassadors like Charlie and Nick, but
7:40
Speaker 2: some of their other relationships that we have. We have
7:43
Speaker 2: a great partnership with the Nationals and their youth Baseball Academy.
7:46
Speaker 2: We actually run our holiday program and our cooking clinic
7:50
Speaker 2: out of their academy. We also work with DC United,
7:55
Speaker 2: and one neat thing we did last the last few
7:59
Speaker 2: years with the Spear and DC United is we tried
8:01
Speaker 2: to create a visually impaired section within our clinics, just
8:05
Speaker 2: because it's I think everything is a learning opportunity and
8:08
Speaker 2: for me, it's something we haven't done before, just focusing
8:11
Speaker 2: on having a more even more adaptive area of that clinic.
8:16
Speaker 2: But a neat way we also partnered with DC United
8:19
Speaker 2: last year was they brought our Your Paths of Success
8:23
Speaker 2: vocational building participants out to interview, mock interview, and network
8:29
Speaker 2: with some of the staff there.
8:31
Speaker 3: And they also got a private tour of the facilities.
8:33
Speaker 2: So it was a really neat way to not just
8:35
Speaker 2: engage it with the clinics, but also through the vocational
8:38
Speaker 2: building program too.
8:39
Speaker 3: Well.
8:39
Speaker 1: It's very cool and as I said, You've cultivated and
8:42
Speaker 1: worked so hard for all these great relationships, and I'm
8:44
Speaker 1: curious what I realized and for the people who know
8:47
Speaker 1: sports teams and players and coaches, there's a mandate from
8:50
Speaker 1: all organizations in any sport to work with their own
8:53
Speaker 1: charities or whatever kind of turns them on. And I'm curious.
8:56
Speaker 1: I know you've done a lot of hard work, but
8:58
Speaker 1: why do you think the local sports teams have been
9:00
Speaker 1: really glomming onto so kids? So what's the relationship like
9:04
Speaker 1: for them about why they're such good partners with you.
9:08
Speaker 2: Well, I don't want to too my own horn, but
9:09
Speaker 2: I think we I think we just really try to
9:12
Speaker 2: make it a great experience for all the volunteers and
9:16
Speaker 2: all the families involved.
9:18
Speaker 3: And I had to say, it's really the kids, you know,
9:20
Speaker 3: the ones that we serve.
9:22
Speaker 2: They get on the ice and they're just so excited
9:24
Speaker 2: to be there. I'll just kind of bring up one example. Yeah,
9:31
Speaker 2: we especially from last week. One of the parents shared
9:35
Speaker 2: a video of her son finding out that he was
9:37
Speaker 2: going to go to our Adaptive Skate an ice hockey clinic,
9:41
Speaker 2: and it was the most beautiful video that she had
9:44
Speaker 2: recorded over Christmas, I think, and it was him opening
9:48
Speaker 2: up the gift and the paper finding out he was going,
9:50
Speaker 2: and it was very emotional. And then in turn, last
9:55
Speaker 2: week the Cats team, they shared this video with Charlie
10:00
Speaker 2: and Nick and so they were they recorded a live
10:04
Speaker 2: reaction video to them watching our participant, Justin's reacting to
10:10
Speaker 2: opening it up, and it was I think it just
10:12
Speaker 2: becomes like a whole slim experience and.
10:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, just feeling Justin's energy.
10:17
Speaker 2: I think Charlie en Nick took that, and I think
10:20
Speaker 2: that's really part of the reason, you know, we've partnered
10:23
Speaker 2: with them for so long. We also we try to
10:27
Speaker 2: just make it as easy as possible for these partners
10:30
Speaker 2: to work with us. We're pretty flexible, but we'll come
10:34
Speaker 2: in and run all the operations and just really make
10:39
Speaker 2: it a pleasant experience for them.
10:40
Speaker 3: So I think that's.
10:41
Speaker 2: Why they like partnering with us, and it speaks so
10:45
Speaker 2: long chevity.
10:46
Speaker 1: I'm glad I asked you to blow yourn horn because
10:48
Speaker 1: you do a great job with that team. It's really
10:50
Speaker 1: great and it really is amazing, and it's a lot
10:51
Speaker 1: of hard work. If you can just imagine. I'm sure
10:54
Speaker 1: that Glenda's on the phone, email, text and whatever she
10:58
Speaker 1: can do to make sure that all the events are
10:59
Speaker 1: all wrapped up with the sports teams because everybody's busy,
11:01
Speaker 1: especially sports teams with all the traveling they do in
11:04
Speaker 1: the games, and they only have so much time, so
11:06
Speaker 1: when they can make time, it's got to be really
11:09
Speaker 1: quick and lucid for them to make sure that they
11:11
Speaker 1: can pull everything off. And you know, you mentioned families
11:14
Speaker 1: a couple times, and I know you've got a bunch
11:17
Speaker 1: of feedback from different families and caregivers about their experiences,
11:21
Speaker 1: and if you'd like to maybe share some other stories,
11:23
Speaker 1: I love that. But one of the things I wanted
11:25
Speaker 1: to talk to you about. You know, I don't have
11:27
Speaker 1: a disabled child, but they're all sorts of families that
11:30
Speaker 1: are listening right now that are really getting through life
11:34
Speaker 1: and then doing things extra for their children or the
11:36
Speaker 1: young adults that we don't realize is really a lot
11:39
Speaker 1: of hard work. And I imagine when they find out
11:41
Speaker 1: about you and so kids sore and then they go
11:44
Speaker 1: to one of these events, it just must be just
11:47
Speaker 1: a breath of fresh air that there's somebody else out
11:49
Speaker 1: there like you, like your team, and all these sports
11:51
Speaker 1: teams and volunteers and people that donate things they give
11:54
Speaker 1: extra just to give them a break, not only a break,
11:57
Speaker 1: but also that they can do what we can classified
12:00
Speaker 1: me and you as normal things.
12:02
Speaker 3: Yeah.
12:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the access to that with all these really
12:06
Speaker 1: cool people. So I'd love for you to talk about
12:08
Speaker 1: family feedback.
12:10
Speaker 3: I love that you asked this question.
12:12
Speaker 2: I don't want to get emotional, but these parents are
12:14
Speaker 2: the true superheroes and they always thank us. But we
12:18
Speaker 2: are just so excited and happy to be part.
12:21
Speaker 3: Of their lives.
12:22
Speaker 2: But one thing that I didn't even mention earlier that
12:25
Speaker 2: we started doing last year just in light of everything
12:27
Speaker 2: happening in the world, was provide a parents Zoom support group.
12:32
Speaker 3: So every month we just had them gather on Zoom.
12:35
Speaker 2: We talked about topics that they chose, and I think,
12:38
Speaker 2: just to touch on your last question too, one of
12:40
Speaker 2: the things we do well is we are constantly actively
12:43
Speaker 2: listening to them.
12:44
Speaker 3: And asking for feedback.
12:47
Speaker 2: What can we do to support you the best ways
12:49
Speaker 2: as parents? What can we do to support your participants,
12:52
Speaker 2: your kids in the best ways? And we weren't really
12:57
Speaker 2: sure how it would go, but it ended up being
13:01
Speaker 2: success with just these monthly support meetings, talking about respite care,
13:05
Speaker 2: making sure they are taking care of themselves, waivers, basically
13:09
Speaker 2: any topic that they want to learn more about. And
13:14
Speaker 2: we would bring experts on to talk to them about
13:16
Speaker 2: it as well. We have one coming up in March
13:20
Speaker 2: to chat about young adults with disabilities and how to
13:23
Speaker 2: approach relationships. And actually also last Friday, we had a
13:28
Speaker 2: busy week we did we held our first ever in
13:32
Speaker 2: person parent resp at night, so we took all their
13:35
Speaker 2: kids into a different room and we did karaoke with them,
13:38
Speaker 2: and then we had a wonderful art therapist do an
13:42
Speaker 2: art project with the parents. But myself and to our
13:47
Speaker 2: board members, we helped facilitate some conversations around you know,
13:50
Speaker 2: what it's like to be a parent of these kids,
13:52
Speaker 2: and what are the best ways they that they can
13:55
Speaker 2: work together, find resources, share with each other.
14:00
Speaker 3: And honestly, most.
14:01
Speaker 2: Of the time they just want to get on these
14:03
Speaker 2: calls or like are in person, it was really just
14:06
Speaker 2: to commiserate with each other and laugh together about the
14:09
Speaker 2: struggles and also the heartfelt moments of their children. So
14:14
Speaker 2: I think that's been a real amazing accomplishment of our
14:18
Speaker 2: team in the past year. And yeah, like you were saying, well,
14:21
Speaker 2: i think that's what kind of makes us different too,
14:23
Speaker 2: is that we were just always trying to listen to
14:26
Speaker 2: our stakeholders, our families and learn how we can be
14:29
Speaker 2: better and grow too.
14:30
Speaker 1: Well. I'm glad you shared that, and I've talked on
14:33
Speaker 1: this podcast a lot about this, and for our regular listeners,
14:37
Speaker 1: they know that I've had ra rumatard arthritis since I
14:39
Speaker 1: was twenty one. I got it back in the late eighties.
14:42
Speaker 1: And you have to remember, there's no internet, there's no
14:44
Speaker 1: social media, so there was no education to my autoimmune disease.
14:49
Speaker 1: So I felt like I was an island by myself, right.
14:51
Speaker 1: I just it's very isolating, it's very scary. And as
14:55
Speaker 1: we got the Internet and social media, obviously, I started
14:57
Speaker 1: to educate myself. With that said, I talked to many
15:00
Speaker 1: nonprofits like yours, Glinda, and I find out that, well,
15:04
Speaker 1: not only do you do what you do, but you
15:07
Speaker 1: have a community where people are acknowledged and they get
15:10
Speaker 1: to relate. And I will tell you from somebody that's
15:13
Speaker 1: had this as long as I have, and I wish
15:15
Speaker 1: I did to know that there are other people that
15:17
Speaker 1: are suffering with exactly the same things that I was
15:19
Speaker 1: going through, because when you can't do that, it all
15:22
Speaker 1: stays inside and it's just a scary thing. If you
15:25
Speaker 1: have a disease, or if you have a disabled child,
15:27
Speaker 1: or if you're going through something a death of a parent,
15:30
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter what it is. Is something tragic or
15:32
Speaker 1: brutals happening and you're not able to get acknowledgment and
15:35
Speaker 1: share it. It's awful and it's a mental wellness kind
15:39
Speaker 1: of thing too. So I love that you do that
15:42
Speaker 1: because people just want to share and be acknowledged and
15:44
Speaker 1: know that they're not alone.
15:46
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, and I want to give you your flowers.
15:49
Speaker 2: I think it's important that you're sharing about Rito because,
15:52
Speaker 2: like you said, the more people that know that there's
15:54
Speaker 2: someone in their corner and they can identify with, the
15:57
Speaker 2: easier it gets.
15:58
Speaker 3: I think. Yeah.
15:59
Speaker 1: But it's also so an outlet too because once again,
16:02
Speaker 1: you know, we all have stresses in our life. You know,
16:04
Speaker 1: you have a family, I have a family. But when
16:06
Speaker 1: you start up beyond extra things that people have to do,
16:08
Speaker 1: if there's a disability with a child or a young adult,
16:11
Speaker 1: you know a lot of us don't know what that's like.
16:13
Speaker 1: So there's extra pressures, it's time consuming, and there's just
16:17
Speaker 1: a lot. So when they can go on a zoom
16:19
Speaker 1: call and talk to other people say, oh, you know,
16:21
Speaker 1: what we have to do that too, or I go
16:23
Speaker 1: through that too, and you talked. I know you use
16:25
Speaker 1: the word commiserating, but there can be a positive thing
16:27
Speaker 1: out of commiserating because you're just you're talking it out
16:30
Speaker 1: right exactly.
16:32
Speaker 3: It's funny.
16:33
Speaker 2: I remember one distinct moment from the parents' rest of
16:36
Speaker 2: night last Friday, where two moms their kids have been
16:39
Speaker 2: to the same clinics. They didn't realize that they had
16:41
Speaker 2: been their kids. They had adopted from the same area.
16:45
Speaker 2: I think it was like Eastern Europe.
16:47
Speaker 1: Oh really, and.
16:47
Speaker 3: They had the same disability. They were like the same
16:50
Speaker 3: age as well, and it was just funny that they had.
16:52
Speaker 2: So many commonalities, but they didn't get to know that
16:56
Speaker 2: or talk about it until that evening, So it was
16:59
Speaker 2: really neat.
17:00
Speaker 1: That's wonderful, and I bet it's fulfilling for you to
17:02
Speaker 1: be a part of that and just hear the parents
17:04
Speaker 1: to say, you know, this is cool that we're doing this,
17:06
Speaker 1: and it's all about community and you know, talking your
17:09
Speaker 1: own tribe and all those cool things that come from this.
17:11
Speaker 1: So I really appreciate you sharing that. I did want
17:14
Speaker 1: to talk about the podcast, and I think last time
17:17
Speaker 1: we talked to you were just kind of getting it
17:18
Speaker 1: off the ground and it was a nice early success.
17:20
Speaker 1: So you've had time to really cultivate this, and I
17:23
Speaker 1: know that some of the young adults are on this
17:25
Speaker 1: and people have joined it. So tell everybody about the
17:28
Speaker 1: origin idea of the podcast, because I know there's a
17:31
Speaker 1: lot of people that podcasts out there, but yours is
17:33
Speaker 1: very specific and why you wanted to do and who's
17:34
Speaker 1: executing it. So let's talk about that.
17:38
Speaker 3: Thanks Dennis so Yes.
17:39
Speaker 2: Our Soaring High with Soaked Sore podcast was founded and
17:44
Speaker 2: created by one of our Vocation Abuilding program graduates, Michael Simmons,
17:49
Speaker 2: and he had done three summer internships with our partner,
17:54
Speaker 2: pod Techs, whose founder Dustin is now one of our
17:57
Speaker 2: board members, and he really worked with Michael to develop
18:01
Speaker 2: his skills as a storyteller and also train him on
18:05
Speaker 2: the equipment, but more so just give him the confidence
18:08
Speaker 2: to do it, to actualize his dream. So Michael came
18:11
Speaker 2: to me, gosh, this was probably winter like December twenty
18:15
Speaker 2: twenty four, and said he had this idea he wanted
18:17
Speaker 2: to start podcasts. And when one of my participants said that,
18:22
Speaker 2: you know, you can't knock down their dream, you got
18:24
Speaker 2: to follow through with it. So we put everything in place,
18:28
Speaker 2: and we have a wonderful sponsor Aspen Spark, who has
18:32
Speaker 2: really believed in our mission and basically said they would
18:36
Speaker 2: funnel the money to help us make it happen.
18:38
Speaker 3: But they also have.
18:39
Speaker 2: A beautiful recording studio where we've done video podcast recordings
18:46
Speaker 2: out of there, and so, yeah, Michael just kind of
18:49
Speaker 2: hit the.
18:49
Speaker 3: Ground running last January.
18:51
Speaker 2: We recorded I think two episodes every couple of months
18:56
Speaker 2: whenever we could.
18:57
Speaker 3: You know how it's hard scheduling.
18:59
Speaker 2: Is schedule some of our ambassadors in so we had
19:04
Speaker 2: Barney Nicole Barnhart the she's a coach now for the Spirit,
19:08
Speaker 2: but one of our ambassadors.
19:09
Speaker 3: She was on the podcast. We had Carl Alsner, former
19:16
Speaker 3: Caps and.
19:18
Speaker 2: His wife Mandy on the podcast. Some of the our
19:20
Speaker 2: other sponsors I PANDIX series. So it really gives Michael
19:26
Speaker 2: a chance to introduce the So Kid Sore community to
19:30
Speaker 2: some of the people behind the scenes that make everything happen,
19:34
Speaker 2: but also some of the ambassadors and how they got
19:37
Speaker 2: involved with So Kids Sore and Michael uh one of
19:42
Speaker 2: the cooler I think people that he himself asked to interview.
19:47
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if you're familiar with it yet. But
19:50
Speaker 2: there's a new law that just came into places called
19:53
Speaker 2: Eric's I D law.
19:54
Speaker 1: Yes, I have absolutely.
19:57
Speaker 2: So he he told me about Eric and said I
20:01
Speaker 2: really want him on the show, and so we got
20:03
Speaker 2: him and his mom, Linda on and it was the
20:05
Speaker 2: first time I was really learning more about the changes
20:08
Speaker 2: to Marylynd licenses and how you can identify with having
20:12
Speaker 2: a butterfly on it, and just this incredible young man,
20:15
Speaker 2: Eric who came up with this idea. And when speaking
20:18
Speaker 2: with his mom and him, they they.
20:21
Speaker 3: Talked about a lot the setbacks.
20:23
Speaker 2: But to hear their story and like get through the
20:25
Speaker 2: challenges and learn that you know, it all came to fruition.
20:29
Speaker 2: I actually went to the unveiling day at the DMV.
20:33
Speaker 2: It was it was really neat and I just want
20:35
Speaker 2: to aplond Michael for bringing that to my attention and
20:38
Speaker 2: for being the one to propose it. But yeah, from
20:43
Speaker 2: here on out, what we are trying to also do
20:45
Speaker 2: is just get more graduates kind of shadowing Michael. We're
20:50
Speaker 2: working on an additional internship program from your Pathtive Success
20:56
Speaker 2: that would involve graduates learning about podcasts doing what you do.
21:02
Speaker 3: And learning that there's uh, there's a lot that's involtant. Yeah.
21:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's the marketing commonents. There's like we learn the equipment.
21:11
Speaker 2: So it's uh, we're excited to put this curriculum together
21:15
Speaker 2: and just onboard more graduates into the podcasting world.
21:18
Speaker 1: I think it's wonderful and once again, not always an
21:21
Speaker 1: extension of so kids sore having the podcast, but it gives,
21:25
Speaker 1: you know, all these young people even more purpose to
21:28
Speaker 1: do something really cool that you and I get to do.
21:30
Speaker 1: Once again, take for granted and they get a tutorial
21:33
Speaker 1: and you coach them and there you go. You've got
21:36
Speaker 1: to be so proud that this is off the ground
21:37
Speaker 1: and doing so well.
21:38
Speaker 3: For sure. Yeah, it's it's been amazing.
21:40
Speaker 2: I think we have Actually right before this, I was
21:43
Speaker 2: on a call with Michael to chat about the edits
21:46
Speaker 2: to his sixth episode. So he's going to crank that
21:49
Speaker 2: one out soon and then we have I think three
21:51
Speaker 2: more episodes he's editing before we do do another taping.
21:56
Speaker 3: I think that's great. It's been really cool.
21:58
Speaker 1: And the podcast is there's a link to it on
22:01
Speaker 1: the website. Yeah, so you're can have so.
22:03
Speaker 3: Kids sorry, yeah, go ahead.
22:06
Speaker 2: Oh it's so kidsre dot org backslash podcast.
22:09
Speaker 1: There you go, and there's a link in the nabar too,
22:11
Speaker 1: you'll be able to see it. When it comes to
22:12
Speaker 1: media and all that kind of good stuff, we have
22:14
Speaker 1: talked a little bit about it, but I think it
22:16
Speaker 1: deserves its own little mini discussion about funding and donations
22:20
Speaker 1: and not only just monetary where there's one time where
22:23
Speaker 1: it's multiple every month or an annual, but also if
22:26
Speaker 1: you have a space or you know you're a sports team,
22:29
Speaker 1: where if you're a small, medium or large business that's
22:32
Speaker 1: listening right now. There's lots of ways. I even saw
22:34
Speaker 1: when it comes to cars, I think you do something
22:35
Speaker 1: with cars and donation. So with that said, I know
22:38
Speaker 1: there's a lot, but we have time to talk about it.
22:40
Speaker 1: Can you talk about donations and how you're funded?
22:43
Speaker 3: Yes, definitely.
22:44
Speaker 2: We're funded by some wonderful granteurs and sponsors like I
22:47
Speaker 2: mentioned for Aspinspar Kimsey Foundation. We've recently reignited our partnership
22:54
Speaker 2: with Dark Cars as well. So local companies have been
22:57
Speaker 2: wonderful because we are not only I mean not only
23:01
Speaker 2: do they provide us with the cash funding, but they
23:04
Speaker 2: also send out a bunch of volunteers. So Dark Cars
23:07
Speaker 2: had I think like twenty volunteers come out to our ice.
23:10
Speaker 3: Hockey clinic last week, and that's where you know, the
23:14
Speaker 3: real need.
23:14
Speaker 2: Of it is too, is they get the time to
23:17
Speaker 2: spend with our participants and be their buddies that day.
23:20
Speaker 2: And I think at the end of the day, it's
23:23
Speaker 2: great for these companies and their teams to learn about
23:27
Speaker 2: what we do, but make that connection with the families.
23:30
Speaker 2: That's where the impact really lies. So yeah, we've had
23:34
Speaker 2: some fantastic rnswers, a lot of individual donors. One new
23:40
Speaker 2: fundraiser we started last year, which which is where we
23:44
Speaker 2: get a bulk of our individual donations, was this donor
23:47
Speaker 2: dinner where we got to thank some.
23:49
Speaker 3: Of our largest donors.
23:51
Speaker 2: We'll have to send you an invite this year, Dennis,
23:54
Speaker 2: but with some of our biggest supporters. And the cool
23:58
Speaker 2: thing was that we didn't ask for a donation outright
24:01
Speaker 2: from anyone. We just wanted them to come in and
24:04
Speaker 2: see our graduates in action.
24:07
Speaker 3: So we had three graduates catering it.
24:09
Speaker 2: We had one graduate who did the florals, we had
24:12
Speaker 2: another one who was like the MC and the DJ
24:15
Speaker 2: and this was all thanks to our board member Margot Jane.
24:19
Speaker 2: She had the event at her house, and yeah, it
24:23
Speaker 2: was it was cool for I think the donors to
24:25
Speaker 2: see the graduates in action, and then obviously I think
24:29
Speaker 2: that translated into a lot of donations. But we're always
24:33
Speaker 2: trying to think of creative ways of fundraise. Like you said,
24:37
Speaker 2: any local companies were willing to work with you, especially
24:41
Speaker 2: if we can get volunteers out, And if anyone needs
24:46
Speaker 2: us to apply for a grant.
24:47
Speaker 3: Please let me know because I'd love to apply for
24:50
Speaker 3: your grants.
24:50
Speaker 1: Well, it's a great segue. With about five minutes left
24:53
Speaker 1: to go before recapping everything and giving the website and
24:55
Speaker 1: the social media handles a couple more time, Glenda about volunteers,
24:58
Speaker 1: because imagine we've also got everybody's attention, whether they're a
25:02
Speaker 1: family that's working with you or they're just interested in volunteering.
25:05
Speaker 1: How does all that work?
25:07
Speaker 2: Yes, So you can go to our website so kidsore
25:10
Speaker 2: dot org as OK I, D S s O A
25:13
Speaker 2: R dot org. There's a big red button in the
25:16
Speaker 2: corner the right corner that says newsletters sign up. That's
25:19
Speaker 2: the best way to learn about our information about everything.
25:23
Speaker 1: And by the way, as I interrupt, Glenda. There's also
25:24
Speaker 1: a big fat red button that says donate right next
25:26
Speaker 1: to tit. Okay, don't forget about that one.
25:29
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, So either wantny or you can click on both.
25:33
Speaker 2: But the newsletter sign up I send out every other
25:36
Speaker 2: week has our upcoming volunteer opportunities programs families that has
25:41
Speaker 2: the clinics so.
25:42
Speaker 3: That you can sign up a register.
25:44
Speaker 2: There, has information about our vocational building program when when
25:48
Speaker 2: that time comes, and and just some I think we
25:52
Speaker 2: also do some celebrations of like the cool things that
25:55
Speaker 2: our partisants are doing in the community that are external
25:58
Speaker 2: of so kids or so that's the best way to
26:02
Speaker 2: keep in touch with us. Or you can go to
26:05
Speaker 2: our website and under the programs tap or the registered tap,
26:10
Speaker 2: you can find the upcoming clinics there to sign up
26:12
Speaker 2: as a volunteer or a participant. And then, yeah, I
26:17
Speaker 2: think other than that, follow us on social media. We're
26:20
Speaker 2: soaked sore at socdsor for pretty much all all of
26:23
Speaker 2: the social media accounts.
26:25
Speaker 1: Well, great, well, listen just a couple of minutes before
26:27
Speaker 1: we let you go. I know you talked about something
26:29
Speaker 1: in March, and then is the goal that going to
26:31
Speaker 1: be in November again.
26:32
Speaker 2: Yes, sorry, Yes, it will be most likely in November again.
26:37
Speaker 3: And yeah, we're we're trying to.
26:39
Speaker 2: Incorporate more graduates this year, hopefully have another one help
26:43
Speaker 2: with the catering. And just to talk a little bit
26:46
Speaker 2: about last year what they did. We had two graduates
26:50
Speaker 2: that worked on all the desserts, and then one of
26:53
Speaker 2: our graduates at Elliott he made these this amazing brisket
26:57
Speaker 2: which was kind of like the appetizer that was passed
27:01
Speaker 2: around to everyone. So it's just been a really neat
27:05
Speaker 2: way to figure out what are the passions of some
27:08
Speaker 2: of these graduates and trying to integrate them into a fundraiser.
27:13
Speaker 3: But yes, that will be hopefully in November this year.
27:16
Speaker 2: We also it's also November or December is Giving Tuesday,
27:20
Speaker 2: so you can see that on pretty much all of
27:22
Speaker 2: our social media. We do a lot of fun videos
27:25
Speaker 2: leading up to Giving Tuesday.
27:26
Speaker 3: But that's another opportunity to donate.
27:29
Speaker 2: And Michael, our podcast manager I just chatted about before,
27:33
Speaker 2: he actually created all of the animations for our last year. Yeah,
27:37
Speaker 2: for last Giving Tuesday campaign, we had I think four
27:40
Speaker 2: or five He did all the animations, He even did
27:42
Speaker 2: the voiceovers, edited all himself, it's uh, and we paid
27:46
Speaker 2: him to do that, so it's another way we've gotten
27:48
Speaker 2: him involved.
27:49
Speaker 3: And yeah, just working.
27:52
Speaker 1: With us, that's great. I can tell that you're so
27:54
Speaker 1: fulfilled by the graduates paying it forward to I always
27:57
Speaker 1: think that's amazing. Not every nonprofit can do that for
27:59
Speaker 1: whatever reason logistically or how they're set up, but that
28:03
Speaker 1: you are. The graduates come back, and whether it's podcasting
28:06
Speaker 1: or cooking or helping out with something, it's got to
28:08
Speaker 1: be gratifying.
28:10
Speaker 3: Yes it is.
28:11
Speaker 2: It's it's just so cool to see them achieving their dreams.
28:15
Speaker 2: And yeah, even some of them have I remember one
28:19
Speaker 2: of our graders, Patrick, he had donated I think a
28:23
Speaker 2: couple of Chick fil A trays to some volunteer firefighters.
28:27
Speaker 2: So you know, like you said, they know how to
28:31
Speaker 2: pay it forward now and it's really cool to see
28:33
Speaker 2: them doing that with a younger generation of kids with disabilities.
28:37
Speaker 1: That's great. Well, listen, we have a minute left, maybe
28:39
Speaker 1: just some final thoughts. Let's give the website again and
28:41
Speaker 1: how to donate, volunteer all the information. Such a nice website.
28:44
Speaker 1: Your team does a great job. It's easy to navigate,
28:47
Speaker 1: and also just everything will be on there all the
28:50
Speaker 1: information you could ever want. And also you're on social
28:53
Speaker 1: media too and you're a great follow with SO Kids,
28:56
Speaker 1: so so give everybody all the information.
28:58
Speaker 2: Thank you social media, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn x or Twitter.
29:06
Speaker 2: We are at soakidssor you can go to our website
29:10
Speaker 2: which is s O K I D S s O
29:12
Speaker 2: A R dot org. I would hit the big red
29:16
Speaker 2: newsletter sign up button on the top right. Dennis mentioned
29:20
Speaker 2: there's also a donate button up there if you're feeling
29:22
Speaker 2: compelled to donate, and those are the best ways to
29:25
Speaker 2: get involved. Once you sign up for the newsletter, we
29:28
Speaker 2: send you bi weekly summaries of what's coming up, what
29:33
Speaker 2: our grads are up to, and also.
29:35
Speaker 3: It's a bunch of resources for families too.
29:38
Speaker 2: So we always have like a community section at the bottom.
29:41
Speaker 2: If not, there's also a register button on our website
29:45
Speaker 2: and you can go directly there to sign up for
29:47
Speaker 2: all of our up to coming clinics.
29:48
Speaker 1: I'm standing well. I think twenty twenty six is off
29:50
Speaker 1: to a great start with you and all your people
29:53
Speaker 1: at SO Kids. So it's great to talk to you again.
29:55
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us on community DC.
29:58
Speaker 1: We really appreciate it.
29:59
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you so much.