TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A family of Tampa Bay youngsters has been working for nearly four years, every month, to give back to the community after a death in the family.
The four CEOs of “Kids 4 A Cause” are brothers Michael Kuhn, Christian Kuhn, and their cousins, Dominic Fouché and Sheldon Fouché. They range in ages from 12 to 15.
They started the nonprofit in 2016 after the death of the Kuhns’ father.
Each month, the boys pick a charitable organization or cause to raise funds that support the Tampa Bay community.
14-year-old and CEO Sheldon Fouché is an eighth-grader at Florida Virtual Online School says he began after receiving an “overwhelming” amount of support from the community and wanted to give back.
The boys have never missed a month, even at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, reaching their goal of $1,000 or more, turning to more online-based events and fundraising.
“Depending on which month, we look at what’s relevant. So during the end of the year… we have our biggest project, which we currently doing now called Santa Shoebox,” Fouché said. “Over the summer we try and look for environmental projects, either supporting [the] environment, animals, anything.”
He explained during autumn, Kids 4 A Cause helped support local schools as more kids went back to in-person learning.
This year for the “Shoeboxes for Santa” project, Fouché said they are getting 100 shoeboxes to fill up with essentials like toothpaste, toothbrushes, snacks clothing and more, to give back to the homeless at St. Vincent DePaul.
“And we also put [in] a special note. We get a lot of other children to help us. It’s basically just a short little note to say that there are people out there that appreciate them and care for them,” he explained. “Our motto for Kids 4 A Cause is by the late South African president Nelson Mandela, and we go by, ‘that it is in your hands to make a better world for all of those who live in it.'”
For this holiday’s event, the group is aided by local schools, the Upper Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce and another non-profit, Project Pop Drop Oldsmar.
Kids 4 A Cause already has big plans for next year. Next month, they will be giving back to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.
“We are going to be supporting the homeless, the hungry, abandoned and abused children and animals, lots of different victims of natural disasters, veterans and our first responders,” Fouché said.
The boys and volunteers will be packing the shoeboxes on Dec. 12 to get them ready for delivery, but donations are accepted until that time comes. Whatever product donations make it in late, will be used in 2022.
Kids 4 A Cause takes monetary donations on their website throughout the year.