Normally, adults teach children valuable life lessons, but the tables have been turned thanks to a group of 9-year-olds in High Springs who are setting the example for their fellow community members, both young and old.
The G.R.A.C.E Girls With a Mission is a girls club in High Springs that was formed by 9-year-old twins Kaitlyn and Allicyn Whitfield after they decided they wanted to raise money to help build a local home for foster children.
The idea originated last year when Amy Whitfield, the girls’ mother, took them to a Friends of Children foster home in Tallahassee.
“The girls saw the houses in which these foster children lived, played with them ands on, the difference these homes made in the lives of the children,” Whitfield said.
By the time last Christmas rolled around, the girls had gotten their classmates at the High Springs Community School to make personalized gifts for the children at the Tallahassee home, including stockings that they delivered themselves
In the midst of their visits to the foster home, the Whitfield family received information in the mail about Friends of Children of North Central Florida, Inc., a grassroots, nonprofit organization that was created by parents to raise funds to establish a Florida Baptist Children’s Homes foster care campus in North Central Florida.
Around Christmastime, they received information about the 2010 1K Club for Kids, a facet of the organization for those who donate $1,000 in 2010 to Friends of Children North Central Florida Inc.
Kaitlyn and Allicyn wanted to be a part of the 2010 1K Club for Kids, so their mom suggested they raise the money in their local community.
The twins decided they would form a club with their fellow classmates at school to raise funds and awareness in the community for the construction of this local foster home.
Whitfield volunteered the family’s business as their meeting place, and led group discussions.
The girls voted on their name, the G.R.A.C.E Girls with a Mission, the dues they would each pay for snacks and values.
“When we think of grace, we think of caring and helping each other,” Kaitlyn said in regards to why they chose their name.
“Grace is working together to make the kids have a better home, instead of just living on the streets,” Allicyn added.
Whitfield said that the name G.R.A.C.E is also an acronym that the girls created, describing what they strive to do, which is “Giving Raising Awareness to Contribute with Elegance.”
(Those wishing to learn more and donate money can visit the G.R.A.C.E. Facebook page.)
Not only is their purpose to make a difference by raising money for Friends of Children, but the club meetings, held once a month under the guidance of Whitfield, have become a place where the girls reflect and discuss what is means to be the person God wants them to be.
“The club includes girls of all faiths, but we are definitely Christian-based,” Whitfield said. “We talk about the good, simple stuff that they need to be thinking about, like no bragging when they play sports and bullying at school — things like that, that will help them from becoming self-consumed as they get older.”
To date, the group of 12 girls has raised close to $1,400 for Friends of Children of North Florida, Inc. to help build the new foster home in LaCrosse, which they hope to frequently visit once opened.
The girls have held a car wash, bake sale and Friends of Children awareness ribbons in downtown High Springs since their first meeting last January.
“They are ambitious little girls,” Whitfield said. “They are making the world a better place.”
Though they were proud to reach their $1,000 goal, that was no reason to stop raising the funds. The girls will be participating in the Yerman 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, Oct. 23 at Westside Park, an event that will benefit Friends of Children.
The G.R.A.C.E Girls have been gathering donations on their team’s behalf and have earned the Chick-fil-A breakfast given to the team that raises at least $500, according to Beverly Carroll, president of Friends of Children of North Central Florida, Inc.
“I wish we had 50 more groups like them,” Carroll said. “It is difficult for adults to say, ‘Here I am, I am giving this money to someone I have never met.’ For children to do this is just remarkable. They should be commended.”
The G.R.A.C.E Girls hope to stick around for a long time.
“We hope to do this forever,” Niki Wilkerson, a fellow G.R.A.C.E Girl said as she grinned from cheek to cheek. “Forever and ever.”