When you’re kind to others, you do good and you feel good. At Park Cities Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Associates, we’re promoting kindness with our first EMPOWER Human Kindness initiative.
After reviewing all of the great stories and seeing how so many students are doing so much good for others, we named Kaiden our first EMPOWER Human Kindness Ambassador.
Kaiden, 18, is a senior at Lancaster High School, and has already done so much for our entire community. As a kid he wrote that he struggled with being bullied because he was “the big kid,” but he has turned that into a positive saying that he is a “BIG kid with an even BIGGER heart.” In his submission he wrote about how he noticed many of his classmates struggling emotionally, socially, and academically as school transitioned online at the beginning of the COVID-19. To help he partnered with DoSomething.org, the inaugural Mental Health Action Day, and the #WhatsNotPictured challenge. During this time he also witnessed the learning struggles faced by many during distance learning, especially those with ADHD and dyslexia, like his brother, who did not have access to the services and in-person contact that had been such a help before the pandemic. Seeing this and knowing of so many needs throughout the community he founded Kaiden's Building Blocks, with the goal of improving self image, positivity, and healthy habits in childrens and teens. He also hopes to improve literacy rates in children while exposing them to music (he plays the saxophone in the Lancaster High School Marching Band) and future career opportunities. In just the last few months the organization has already provided more than 3,000 snacks to the Children's Medical Center Dallas pantry, provided more than 50 blankets and other supplies to the homeless through The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, tutors students in need at Xavier Preparatory School, and collected items for the Lancaster Nursing & Rehabilitation by partnering with his fellow students in the Lancaster Tiger Pride Marching Band.
As Kaiden prepares to enter college in the hopes of becoming a pediatric neurosurgeon, he plans to take Kaiden’s Building Blocks with him and one day open the Kaiden’s Building Blocks Activity to provide mentoring and tutoring for students with learning disabilities. He also hopes to continue to spread kindness by having a “Pat Yourself on the Back Day '' where students can share what they have overcome in life and/or what they are doing in the community or at school. He also wants to continue to partner with additional community organizations for community clean up events and to encourage good deeds like helping someone with their groceries or mowing a neighbor's lawn who may not be able to do it.
Kaiden closed with a quote that he tries to live by from Denzel Washington that states, “At the end of the day, it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished. It's about what you've done with those accomplishments. It's about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It about what you've given back.”
We are so proud to name Kaiden as our EMPOWER Human Kindness Ambassador and to provide him with a $500 scholarship to continue his education and outreach efforts. We encourage everyone in our community to continue to EMPOWER Human Kindness everyday with everyone they come into contact with.
