Smarties, I’m so excited to introduce you to Claire Fleischer, a local Charlotte tween who is doing some pretty amazing things in our city. Claire was nice enough to answer some of my questions about her project – I hope you enjoy getting to know her and everything she’s doing! If you know of a teen or tween doing something cool to give back to our community, email us at info@charlottesmartypants.com – we’d love to feature him or her. And, keep checking back on CSP as we introduce you to more little Smarties giving back!
Little Smarties Give Back: Beads for Hope
Little Smarty: Claire Fleischer
Age: 11
School: Charlotte Latin School
Grade: 6th
What is Beads for Hope?
Beads for Hope is a charity that started this summer with eight friends of mine, Zoe Bradley, Kayla Flett, Penelope Cole, Emma Grace Coble, Cordelia Kim, Hannah Hurden and Kate Griesser. This summer we have been making bracelets that we wanted to give to all the girls that had been admitted to Levine Children’s Hospital. We made 200 bracelets by the end of summer to give to Levine Children’s Hospital. We made these bracelets to show we are hoping for them to get well and to show that we are thinking of them while they are in the hospital.
Tell us about how the idea for Beads for Hope was born.
My mom and I read a book called Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul. A part of the book was about how girls and boys were doing many things to help other people or animals. The book made me think about what I could do to help. I like to do crafts and decided to ask some of my good friends who also enjoy doing the same thing if they wanted to help me because I knew I could not do it all alone.
Why did you pick Levine Children’s Hospital?
I picked Levine Children’s Hospital because that’s where my brother, Grant, stayed when he was 6 and diagnosed with Type One Diabetes.
How can other little Smarties get involved and/or maybe do something similar?
It would be great if Beads for Hope could grow and give bracelets not to just girls who are sick, but any girl who just needs a little hope. We want as many girls as possible to receive a bracelet. It would be so helpful if other girls wanted to join us, with their friends, so we can make more bracelets. Many of the bracelets were made at home, on each girls free time. The cool thing is everyone can work on it with their own groups of friends or on their own. We don’t have to know each other to make a difference. They can then give them to Beads if Hope and we can give them to the other hospital in Charlotte, young girls staying in shelters, or any girl that just needs to know others care. The supplies can be a little expensive. On one visit to Beads, Inc., I told the owner Christine White about Beads for Hope, and she gave us tons of beads to help get us started. This was very helpful, and helped us make even more bracelets.
Why is giving back to our community so important to you?
Giving back to my community is important because so many people do little things for me all the time and it makes me want to do things for other people as well. I also thought it would be fun to work with my friends to make bracelets for others.
Please let any girls or boys interested in Charlotte to contact my mom, Ashley, if they have bracelets they want to make and they can send them to us to donate.
