Early on Saturday morning, a group of 40 volunteers gathered at a warehouse in Pompano Beach for the Kids of Love Swag Bag Packing. These bags would be prepared for marathon runners participating in the Publix A1A Marathon, in which Kids of Love will have a A1A Kids fun run taking place.
The Kids of Love organization works to raise awareness and fundraise money to help children with cancer and other debilitating diseases. Along with offering charity work to help support the community here in South Florida, Kids of Love invites volunteers from all over the county to
Ranging from middle schoolers to adults, volunteers quickly gathered in the warehouse to begin the bag-packing process. Creating neat assembly lines, the team began by opening plastic string bags and passing them along so they could be packed with coffee, informational brochures, and food to fuel the runners.
“It is very empowering to see people take their free time to make a difference for children with cancer and other debilitating illnesses,” Kids of Love Director Kim Slapikas wholeheartedly shares.
After eight hours of working alongside the other helpers, 6,000 bags were successfully filled and packed, ready for distribution on the day of the marathon. Sighs of relief and cheerful claps were heard across the warehouse in celebration of accomplishing this goal.
This achievement holds special significance as the organization coordinating the marathon has selected Kids of Love as its charity for multiple years. Moreover, volunteers’ commitment to assembling swag bags, supporting the Health Expo, and managing water stations for the runners is vital to the event’s success. This leading to the company’s contributions to Kids of Love to aid the nonprofit’s mission of assisting children affected by cancer and other serious illnesses.
A sense of community was felt throughout the day after the volunteers spent their hard-working energy to create an environment that was filled with joy, especially with people whom they had never met before. “It didn’t feel weird, it felt nice to know that all these strangers are taking time from their day to help others,” says junior Angelicamaria Diaz.
After a hard-working day, Kids of Love volunteers are eager to pass out these newly packed bags to the marathon runners, which will take place days before the marathon. Until then, they remain satisfied with assisting to make the community a better place.
