Raising a Young Activist and the Support I Give Her

Thank you Allstate for sponsoring this post. I chose to write this post because doing good in local communities is at Allstate’s core.

I have learned a lot of lessons raising my three strong-minded, spirited girls. The most important one is that children come with kindness and acceptance built in. It is our job to nurture those qualities and hope that they carry them through for life. Another lesson learned is that they will tell you who they are and what matters to them. My oldest daughter, Katie, has been telling me for years that her community matters to her. In elementary school she started the No Bullies Club on her own. In intermediate school she started the Recycling Club and I spent many a day hauling boxes to the recycling center. Now in Junior High School she has started The Dream Team. It is a community outreach program that does a monthly community service project. Just as Allstate‘s dedication to the communities where they live and work is core to who they are, my support of Katie is letting her be who she really is.

Allstate believes in youth empowerment and, living this life with my daughter, I do too. One of the ways they look to inspire the next generation is through community projects that empower young people to become the next generation of leaders and change-makers.

While Katie is inspiring me, I am doing my best to nurture my young activist so that she is encouraged to continue her community involvement into her adult life.

Katie came home one day and said, “Saige (her best pal), and I have started The Dream Team.” We got a faculty sponsor and our first mission is a food drive. What can I take from the pantry?’

I told her to take whatever she wanted from our home. I took her to get poster board and anything else she needed to make food drive posters and I told her that I would happily change my schedule so that I could pick her up from school on club days and help take the food over to the charities she chose.

She put her whole heart into this and I sat back watching her thrive. I could not be prouder of my little girl.

As of last week, she had taken in 705 food items! In the one month that she ran the drive she and her club members gathered over 1000+ food items! 1000+ is a LOT of food for a lot of families! Today, I will head to the school and load everything in my car to take to the two local food banks in town. I will follow her direction and smile wide as my daughter does something for the community that really will make an impact.

Allstate, too, believes that young people aren’t waiting for change to happen – they’re creating it. As you can see in this video below, by lending their hands, hearts and voices to their communities, youth are not only making change, but they’re also building critical social and emotional learning skills like problem-solving, empathy and teamwork. These skills will help ensure their future success.

Learn more about what Allstate is doing in local communities.

I used this video to have a conversation with Katie about her next plan to make a difference in the community, and next month I will be neck-deep in fabric as The Dream Team takes on the task of making blankets for the local nursing home. They also have plans for a clothing drive, a toy drive and more throughout the year.

Raising a young activist has been one of the most rewarding things about being a parent. Watching her sisters learn empathy and care for the people around them from her is heart-warming. After all, my young activist is teaching me to make a difference on a daily basis.

What community projects do your children participate in?

This post was written as part of the Allstate Influencer Program and sponsored by Allstate. All opinions are mine. As the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer, Allstate is dedicated not only to protecting what matters most–but to guiding people to live the Good Life, every day.