Kids Helping Kids is an entirely student run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based out of the AP Economics classes at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, California.
Since inception in 2002, Kids Helping Kids has raised over $1,000,000 for youth both locally and globally. Past allocations include donations to the Santa Barbara Unity shoppe as well as annually covering the cost of AP, SAT, and ACT tests and lab fees for lower income families. In 2011, Kids Helping Kids helped subsidize the medical and funeral costs for a local student who was killed in car accident. Additionally, the organization replaced a visual aid machine for a local student and gave a grant to a grade school band to purchase brand new instruments. Globally, Kids Helped Kids has funded the building of a preschool and orphanage in Rwanda, which benefits vulnerable orphans and children. Kids Helping Kids also paid for a safe house to be built in Nicaragua.
We have been recognized on a national level for our charitable efforts, both as the 2011 Subway National High School Heroes winner and more recently as the recipient of a $78,400 grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board.
Beginning in the fall of 2013, Kids Helping Kids began to spread to other high schools around the country. Currently there are branches in Santa Barbara, California, Sacramento, California, and Denver Colorado. We are grateful for the support and assistance of our peers, and our efforts would not be made possible without them.