While in Vancouver earlier this month, Adrian had the opportunity to visit the KidSafe Project and talk with Quincey Kirschner, the Executive Director. Later in the show, Bruce Gale brings us an interview with our Kid Hero, Tabitha Bell.

Do you know what your child is doing when the school bell rings at the end of the day?

Each day in America, millions of kids go home to an empty house after school.  More than 25% of America’s schoolchildren are on their own after the school day ends, and before their parents get home from work. In spite of the growing awareness that children are at particular risk during these afternoon hours, the number children left on their own after school has actually increased in recent years.

In communities across the United States, 11.3 million children are without supervision between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m.  

Kids need a safe place to go when school is out where they can play, be with friends and make choices about how to spend their time. That need is even greater among low-income families.  When kids don’t have help with homework, healthy foods, or recreational activities, they can fall behind in areas like literacy, physical activity, emotional and social development.

Kids in British Columbia face the same issues.  1 in 5 kids in British Columbia lives in poverty and 25,000 local kids have nowhere safe to go after school.

Fortunately there are many quality afterschool programs that are keeping kids safe, inspiring them to learn and serving as a source of support for the working families.  

Every child deserves the chance to grow up great.  This brings us to this week's nonprofit, KidSafe Project...

KidSafe, a nonprofit in Vancouver, works to provide nurturing safe havens for vulnerable inner-city children when schools are traditionally closed.  @kidsafe

With 1 in 5 Vancouver children living in poverty, the unjust and common reality for tens of thousands of local children is that school breaks are times of instability, hunger and loneliness.

When schools close for winter, spring and summer breaks, KidSafe opens. They provide vulnerable children with the safety, supervision, nutritious meals and educational programming they need and deserve but lack access to due to their challenging life circumstances.  All KidSafe programs and services are offered entirely free of charge.  

Adrian had the opportunity to talk with Quincey Kirschner, Executive Director, earlier today while in Vancouver.

Today's Kid Hero is Tabitha Bell, a seventeen-year-old girl with a debilitating form of muscular dystrophy. Since her diagnosis in fourth grade, she struggled endlessly with physically getting around. After seven surgeries on both legs and her spine, she still suffered from severe balance and strength deficits.  Her life changed when her parents purchased her trained service dog Sunny.  She now attends Berkley.  With her own experience as inspiration, she decided to found Pawsitive Pawsibilities in order to raise funds to train and place service dogs with other children. @PawsitivePawsibilities

On today’s segment, Bruce Gale brings us an interview with Tabitha to talk about her efforts help change the lives of others.