Today MaryMargaret donated 68 cell phones to Cell Phones for Soldiers, an organization that recycles old cell phones and turns them into prepaid phone cards that are then distributed to troops all over the world.  She had a cell phone drive at her school and has been collecting more during the summer.  The Cell Phones for Soldiers organization was founded by two other heroes on the Kids Are Heroes web site – their names are Brittany and Robbie Bergquist.  Great job, guys!

We have introduced you all to Evan Frank in the past.  He is a local boy who has done very well in his quest for digging wells in Africa.  Here is his latest press in the Herald-Mail.

Alana made the news again with her new scholarship program.  Check out what she is doing thanks to the San Diego NBC affiliate.

On Saturday, July 18, MaryMargaret was offered the opportunity to spread the word about Kids Are Heroes to the folks in Howard County, MD.  She was given a booth at International Day 2009. Held in Columbia this was a picture perfect day with great weather and lots of activities.  We have many new fans of our site now since we met so many great people.  She also was able to add to her Music for Life total which is quickly approaching $2000.00.  Thanks Howard County!!

Evan Frank is an 8-year old boy who is campaigning and collecting donations for clean water in South Africa.  See his interview here.

MaryMargaret at the Valley Mall

MaryMargaret was at the Valley Mall this weekend as part of the Pillars of the Community Day.  This mall is in Hagerstown, MD which is about 30 miles from where we live.  Not  many had heard of Kids Are Heroes, so that was a good thing that we were able to spread the word.

MaryMargaret was also collecting donations for her Music for Life program, an ambitious effort to buy MP3 players to the kids at Children’s Hospital in Washington DC.  So far she has raised just over $1700.00!  She will take what she has before the end of the summer and purchase them for delivery.  If you would like to know more about this project, or would like to donate, please click here.

Evan and his Water for Life project.

One of our heroes is Evan Frank.  He is an 8-year-old boy who has already dug his first well in South Africa.  We had the honor of meeting him at the Valley Mall in Hagerstown, MD this past weekend for the Pillars of the Community Day.  He worked tirelessly to garner new donations for his second well.  He is very well spoken about the condition, and as you can see he has a lot of visuals.  He, along with the other kids on the web site, is a constant reminder of how powerful kids can really be.

MaryMargaret and the Camp Kids

MaryMargaret gave a presentation this morning in front of a number of kids that signed up for “Camp Make a Difference” in Columbia, MD.  Normally her dad speaks and she takes over a slide or two. This time she did the entire presentation herself.  The kids were extremely receptive and excited about it.  We hope to be featuring them in the near future.

Our own Lexxi Saal has written a song thanking our troops – here she is being interviewed on the Fox News Channel.

In April of 2009 we entered a contest sponsored by Richard Branson, owner of some 200 companies including Virgin Atlantic Airlines.  We were to submit a 2 minute video pitch of what we do – the 10 best pitches would be featured on Richard Branson’s blog site, 5 of which would be chosen by the blog readers to be featured in his first Pitch TV show.  The reason we entered was simply to thank Mr. Branson for being our inspiration for starting the Kids Are Heroes project.  I never really thought I would appear on his web site let alone win.

Not only did we win, but we are featured first in his premiere PitchTV show. This show is part of the onboard entertainment for all Virgin Atlantic flights in the month of June.  So if you are flying Virgin Atlantic this month, check us out. If not, that’s OK, you can still watch the show here.