Three young girls start a charity

Kids Helping Kids flourishes in Sussex, Wantage WANTAGE - When Jessica Amick, Cassidy Heiden and Lauren Osborn created God’s Eyes ornamental crosses with their fifth-grade Spanish classmates at The Wantage School, which they donated to hospitalized children at Newton Memorial last December, the project sparked Jessica with an idea to expand the program. The three girls decided to start a toy drive for children staying in the pediatric wards at both Newton Memorial and Penn State Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center. To do this, they founded a charitable organization called Kids Helping Kids. The girls wrote to then-principal of The Wantage School, Sharon Hosking, asking permission to launch the program. Next, they submitted an item to the school’s December newsletter soliciting donations from their peers. The program has been successful beyond their wildest dreams, the girls say. “We collected over 500 gifts” from fellow classmates in the Sussex-Wantage Regional School District, said Cassidy Heiden, 11, who has since transferred to the Sussex County Charter School for Technology in Sparta. These aren’t just hand-me-downs, either. Many kids broke out their own wallets and purchased “really nice things” like a Wiggles remote control car, said Lauren Osborn, now an 11-year-old sixth grader at the Sussex Middle School. “The kids in the school district were unbelievable in terms of the support they showed,” said Cassidy’s mom, Chris Heiden. Most of the gifts were collected from children attending The Wantage School, though other gifts filtered in from students throughout the Sussex-Wantage district, said Lauren’s mom, Debbie Osborn. All three girls decided to embark on the Kids Helping Kids program thanks to their respective aspirations of becoming nurses someday. “I want to be a nurse because I like to help children and other people,” said Jessica Amick. “It’s a job you can be proud of.” The three altruistic entrepreneurs were recently recognized for their achievements at a Sept. 30 Sussex-Wantage Regional School District Board of Education meeting where they were granted certificates of achievement by Superintendent Dr. Edward Izbicki and School Board President Tom Card. The girls are currently gathering baby toys and stuffed animals for children at Newton Memorial Hospital, which they intend to donate soon. They’re planning a similar toy drive for the holidays this year, including help from Cassidy’s classmates at The Charter School. Meanwhile, even though she’s still involved with Kids Helping Kids, Jessica is branching out to start a fundraiser of her own for autism research. Her best friend’s brother, Tyler, suffers from autism, so Jessica decided to create an as-yet unscheduled fundraiser at the Applebee’s Restaurant in Newton. Tyler “is like a brother to me,” said Jessica.