5 Inspiring Bay Area Kids Who Are Doing Good in Our Community

Teddy's for Tots—Cali Martire

Saratoga 4th grader Cali Martire started Teddy's For Tots when she was just five years old with a mission to make sure all children at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital received a teddy bear for Christmas! It all began with a question: “How does Santa get the toys to the sick kids in the hospital?" From this moment, Cali made it her mission to make sure that every child at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford had a Teddy Bear on Christmas morning. Since 2016, Cali has inspired the donation of 2,500 teddy bears (and counting!)

Now in its fifth year, Teddy's for Tots has expanded in 2020 to provide gifts to children in the Santa Clara County foster care system. You can support this worthy cause by shopping the Teddy's for Tots donation page through December 1 and spreading a little holiday cheer!

Musuboy Kitchen—Owen Fong

Palo Alto teenager Owen Fong has been delighting neighbors with his spam musubi for months now, many finding it to be a highlight of quarantine. Owen sells spam musubi, egg musubi, and spam and egg musubi and delivers them on Mondays throughout Palo Alto. All of his profits go to charity with a different one selected each month.

Order here. 

The Giving Fruits—Jean-Pierre Mouloudj

Bay Area insiders know that if you want the freshest produce and local products (like pastries, honey and fresh-made ice cream), you need to get in on the bi-weekly group orders from Giving Fruits. This Palo Alto group blossomed out of a community desire to support local farmers who weren't able to get their precious products to customers due to COVID-19. 

The weekly management from compiling orders to organizing volunteers is all done by Palo Alto High School senior, Jean-Pierre Mouloudj. Jean-Pierre has really taken the reigns on this massive project even when school went back into session this fall. He also started a club at Paly to support Giving Fruits and get other high schoolers involved. 

Not only does purchases through Giving Fruits support local farmers, but profits from the purchases go to support frontliners and food trucks, two other groups greatly impacted by COVID-19. They also support local shelters like LifeMoves and Women’s Shelter by hhcollab.org, the South Palo Alto Food Closet, Dreamers Road Map and starting this week the Ecumenical Hunger Program. 

Join the Facebook group to find out what's on the menu for this week's pickup! 

The Justice Kids

Sometimes the smallest voices are the most powerful. Meet 8- and 10-year-old siblings Walt and Naima who are better known as The Justice Kids. These young Daly City residents are literally leading the charge on social and racial justice reform in the Bay Area. They were greatly impacted by the death of Elijah McClain and, with the support of their mother, organized a march on the Great Highway in July. Follow their Instagram page for action ideas on how kids can get involved in the social and racial justice movement from sending postcards to easy-to-use scripts for calling your representatives to demand change. 

Read their story here. 

Andy Soulard

When 6-year-old Andy Soulard learned that the Oakland Zoo was in jeopardy of closing permanently due to COVID-19 she went into action. Starting with $5 she had received from the tooth fairy, Andy started a fundraising campaign that raised over $225,000 for the zoo. For every donor who donated over $25, Andy would send them a bracelet and drawing that she made. She also recently asked for Oakland Zoo donations in lieu of gifts for her 7th birthday. Talk about an inspiring kid!