In December 1995, I founded Saving Kids Unlimited. Our mission is to develop "each child's sense of self-worth and esteem. Saving Kids provides a success-oriented program which expands each childŐs knowledge of self and of the greater world through academic and social activities." Saving Kids, Unlimited is directed by individuals committed to making a difference in the lives of inner-city kids from the Greater New Orleans Area.

I founded Saving Kids to help inner-city youngsters. This journey started for me when I was driving some children home from church one Sunday in the spring of 1994. The eight-year-old boy who was attempting to give me directions did not know his right from his left. He did not know the spelling of the street on which he lived. I was alarmed at his lack of basic communication skills. I decided I could not just drop him off and go on my way.

In the subsequent months, I began working with an 11-year-old boy in the Iberville Housing Development. His mother was in prison. His father is unknown to him. His grandmother takes care of him and his other brothers and sisters. She is 72 years old. This youngster, like many of his peers, does not have a winter coat and has difficulty reading. His favorite pastimes are playing video games and watching television cartoons. At times, having enough to eat is a problem for him and his family.

This young man's story represents one of the many children whom we at Saving Kids, Unlimited try to help with very limited resources. We need your help to sustain our efforts.

One group that has helped us tremendously in the last two months is the Students at the Center (SAC) program at Frederick Douglass Senior High School. These students have started pen pal relationships with some of the children with whom Saving Kids, Unlimited works. In addition, Mr. Jim Randels and his students have met after school one day a week for six weeks to meet with four of our kids and help them prepare this collection of writings. Major themes in the book include tributes to parents and grandparents and meditations on places. The authors include the four boys who participated in the workshops (Hollis Burton, Hollywood Burton, Isaiah Theophile, and Jonas Theophile) and SAC students from both Frederick Douglass and McDonogh 35.

I hope other individuals and groups will continue finding their own ways to become involved in "saving kids."