August 2, 2007

Teaching children charity: Local mom to run monster yard sale

Not comfortable with just giving money to charity, Alm-aden resident Michelle Takeuchi decided to teach her son Christopher the importance of charity and giving. So she is planning to hold a monster yard sale at Los Alamitos Elementary School, 6130 Silberman Drive, on Aug. 18 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“I wanted to find a way for Christopher to understand the importance of giving to others who don’t have the opportunities that he has today. Just asking him to give his money to a charity will not just do, for there is no emotional impact,” she said. Instead, “I developed a program that will take not just Chris, but about 70 children in Almaden on a real-life experience of working for a charity. This program will teach our kids how to organize a charity event, conduct the event, finance the event and earn money that will go toward the charity we select.”

Turning Wheels for Kids is a nonprofit organization that raises money to purchase bicycles for children of underserved communities in San Jose, Takeuchi said. Last year the charity built and distributed about 1,200 bikes to children who had never owned one. During the Christmas Turning Wheels for Kids event, the group builds and distributes the bikes during several holiday events.

“I can remember when I got my first bike and so does Christopher, so I thought this would be the perfect organization to support,” she said.

“Turning Wheels for Kids has been very supportive of my program and helped me evolve this program into a full-fledged organization. Our group name is Kids with Heart. We have our own logo, our own T-shirts and Costco will be supporting us in our endeavor. I have about 25-30 moms and dads ready to help and 70 children on my roster for support. I have sub teams working the logistic and have gotten help from the media to support the event,” she said.

Takeuchi expects to receive lots of items to sell. She is looking for inventory that will cater to all ages.

For more information, contact Takeuchi at kidswithheart07@hotmail.com.