Grant Applicant: Aidan Cares

The feature below is brought to you by Aidan Cares, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. 

To learn more about Aidan Cares please visit their website: here.

Aidan Cares is what we call our awareness initiative; we are in our tenth year now with the single mission of imparting the joy and necessity of giving to all. It started with four year old Aidan Anderson (now 17) declaring he would not wait until he was 18 to become a difference maker. As his Mom, I was a bit taken aback, but decided to take it literally and we embarked on a road to give and serve.

A few years later, at age 7, he made $80 while playing his toy harmonica outside restrooms in a fancy restaurant in Vinings, Georgia. He planned many ways to spend his new found wealth, but ultimately, just an hour later, he decided to send it to a charity serving those suffering with parasites in Africa. He remembered it from a newsletter we read together.

A few weeks later he was asked to share his story downtown and raised several thousand dollars to buy more medication. Then we just kept going. This has been about a child and his mother saying yes to serving, sharing, and most of all, modeling giving to others. Along the way, Aidan became a speaker and has given 4 TEDx Talks, spoken at Leadercast and shared his unique and wise perspective that if we aren’t giving from our God given giftings and passions, then we cannot have wellbeing.

Aidan wants to activate as many givers as possible by encouraging them to follow their hearts into their paths of giving. Aidan has now served thousands of hours and has been a part of raising millions of dollars in donations for over 500 charities and individuals in need since our journey began.

We serve by sharing our message in each city we visit. Pediatric cancer patients, VA hospitals, shelters, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America are especially dear to us. Aidan is now a singer songwriter, blues musician and guitar player; his passions of music and helping people come together when he plays his music and shares his message. He hopes to continue sharing, singing, speaking, mentoring and reaching out for the rest of his life.
This is our most inspiring hopeful summer yet, as we have recently created a Youth Giving Initiative Pilot Program that began with middle school students in Savannah and will expand to high school students in the coming school year. We are providing dozens of giving opportunities to youth of all economic backgrounds so they may serve people, animals or environmental efforts- their choice. We have been asked to extend the program through the fall semester and help facilitate school leaders, non-profits, partners (we hope) and students to take it forward year round.

We are living in Savannah during this launch and working with our young volunteers to create art, play music, read to little ones, clean the beach, participate in etiquette-that-matters classes, music lessons for toddlers at low income daycares, and make art pieces for pediatric cancer patients, hospice patients and veterans at the VA hospitals. We are also working with Boys and Girls Clubs of America’s youth so they can serve too.

This is the platform we want to take forward.  We launch July 9, 2018. The most amazing thing is that children from all walks of life learn that their hearts and time matter. That touching fewer screens and more lives really really does makes a difference.

Our project goes beyond just giving, it’s about creating relationships no matter how different the initial approach may seem. We plan to, for a brief moment, stop the world from spinning long enough to truly connect and see what we can all learn from each other. We are creating more beautiful by the sense of wellbeing that replaces doubt, entitlement, and lack of connection. This truth that will shine forth. We aren’t that different after all, and giving feels so good. We want these children to know that when you have purpose your life changes forever.

You can see Aidan speak and learn more at www.aidancares.org

Our Mission
To inspire people of all generations and economic backgrounds to share in the joy and necessity of giving, partnering with non-profits, communities and individuals to magnify the good they want to see in the world.
​
Our Vision
A world where the power of gratitude is unleashed, where the measure of generosity is not a size but a sacrifice, and where all children grow into giving adults through a lifelong culture of compassion.

Written by Toren Anderson, Director of Aidan Cares

Edited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful