For most 14-year-olds, this year’s biggest milestone will be graduating from middle school. Local students Stella Wrubel, Quinn Graves, Isabella Dickason, and Trevor Godkin have their sights set on a bigger goal–raising $10,000 for the North Texas Food Bank’s COVID-19 relief efforts.
The four friends developed a Chalk4Change challenge as a creative and simple way for kids and their families to make a difference during the pandemic.
Participants challenge their neighbors, family, or friends to donate $20 or more to the Chalk4Change GoFundMe page. In return, participants will decorate the donor’s sidewalk or driveway with colorful chalk drawings and inspiring messages.
All of the donations go directly to the North Texas Food Bank; each dollar provides three meals to families in need. To date, the GoFundMe has 65 donors and has raised $9,742 of its $10,000 goal.
“We hope Chalk4Change will brighten our community–one driveway at a time,” says Wrubel.
This isn’t the first philanthropic endeavor for Wrubel, Graves, Dickason, and Godkin. The friends also operate Jingle Bell Mistletoe, an annual fundraiser that takes place during the holiday season.
Wrubel started Jingle Bell Mistletoe in 2012. When Hurricane Sandy hit New York, she worried for her friends in the city and wondered what she could do to help. She contemplated a lemonade stand to raise money for relief efforts, but it was November, and the weather was chilly. Instead, she sold mistletoe adorned with bows and bells. In her first year, Wrubel raised over $2,000 for the American Red Cross.
In 2014, Wrubel recruited friends to join Jingle Bell Mistletoe and pivoted to support a local nonprofit, the North Texas Food Bank. In the past five years, Jingle Bell Mistletoe has raised $234,000 and provided over 700,000 meals.
Learn more about the Jingle Bell Mistletoe crew’s work here.
