August 23, 2007

Kids’ work turns into bikes

Monster yard sale earns $3,948 for Turning Wheels for Kids

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Everyone has “light-bulb” moments. These are the ones when you think, “that’s a good idea.” But how many of us act on those inspirational moments?

Kids With a Heart advertise the monster yard sale they helped develop, organize and run to earn nearly $4,000 to donate to Turning Wheels for Kids. Photo by Dan Miranda

Michelle Takeuchi took advantage of her light-bulb moment and the result was $3,948 with a monster yard sale for Turning Wheels for Kids [TWFK]. That translates into 129 bicycles for needy kids. But Takeuchi’s idea didn’t stop there.

It’s fairly easy to develop a garage sale for charity, but how easy is that to organize with 40 elementary school students? The idea behind the garage sale was to teach a group of Almaden children that sometimes it feels good to help others that are less fortunate. Takeuchi’s idea obviously worked.

“Michelle is a remarkable woman,” said TWFK Executive Director Sue Runsvold. “She has organizational skills that astound me. It has been my dream to have children involved. There is nothing more special than kids helping kids. There is something very special about a busy woman working this hard to teach her own child to have gratitude. We have very good people in our community.”

A few months ago, Takeuchi was planning summer projects for her 9-year-old son, Christopher and his Almaden neighborhood friends. She wanted a project where they could give back to a community that is less fortunate.

On a trip to Rite Aid, she noticed an auction held by TWFK, a nonprofit organization that raises money to purchase bicycles for underserved communities. Last year they built over 1,000 bicycles that were distributed to local charities during Christmas. TWFK’s goal for the 2007 Christmas season is 1,500 bikes.

“My son lives in a community where we have many privileges and I wanted him to work on a project where we can give back to people in a community who are less fortunate,” said Takeuchi. “My goal for this project is to teach our children the process of the effort of raising money, working the events, financing and collecting the donations and presenting it to Turning Wheels for Kids. And then have the kids witness the presentation of bikes distributed to the children.”

Kevin Chavanec, Megan Chavanec, Christopher Hidalgo, Marissa Hidalgo and Noordam pose for the camera during the Monster yard sale at Los Alamitos Elementary School in San Jose. Photo by Dan Miranda

She wanted to develop a project for her son Chris and his friends that would allow them to help from start to finish; a project that would not just teach them to give but also to take joy in the process.

Her idea allowed the Almaden children to gain real-life experience of working for a charity. The program she devised would teach the children how to organize a charity event, conduct the event, finance the event and earn money that will go to a charity. So, she got the kids together and they chose a name for their group, Kids with a Heart.

“We have our own logo, our own T-shirts and Costco will be supporting us in our endeavor. I have a number of moms and dads ready to help and about 40 children for support. I have sub teams working the logistic and have gotten help from the media to support the event,” she said.

Takeuchi secured Los Alamitos Elementary School for the site of the Kids with Heart monster yard sale. She enlisted the help of neighbors and their children who started a collection of resale items: books, furniture, kids’ toys, sports gear, clothes, knick knacks of all kinds and even bicycles that were stored in garages around Almaden weeks before the big day.

The Friday before the sale, signs were posted at key intersections. And then in the early morning hours this past Saturday, Takeuchi, 28 neighbors and their 40 kids transported the sale items to the school for the monster yard
sale.

The Kids with Heart really helped during the sale. Besides organizing and setting out signs, the children acted as cashiers and helped sell the resale items as well as donuts, soda and coffee at the sale.

Four-year-old Samir Khayo sits in a ride able toy Jeep at the monster yard sale at Los Alamitos

“I got up at 3:30,” said Christopher Takeuchi. “This is a good way to help kids whose parents who don’t have enough money to buy them bikes. I want to help them.”

Brandy Varnie was one of the parents who donated items that she no longer needed and also attended the monster garage sale to buy.

“This is awesome,” said Varnie. “One of the moms e-mailed me, and I cleared out my kitchen and donated some things. They’re talking about making it an annual event. This is a great thing to do.”

Takeuchi even had the kids create posters of Turning Wheels for Kids that Runsvold had proudly hung on large metal holders she purchased at the giant yard sale. She has plans to create a quilt out of them and auction it off at another fund-raiser.

“Turning Wheels is blessed,” said Runsvold. “The amount of money raised was phenomenal. I loved talking to the kids. They were all so genuinely cute and their “hearts” were showing. Moms and dads—you rock. Without you, this couldn’t have happened. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and remember, you are responsible for lots of smiles this holiday season—you are special people.”

For more information about Turning Wheels for Kids, visit www.turningwheelsforkids.org.