SEPTEMBER 2021 KEATON'S KIDS UPDATE

Hear what we've been up to from Cat, Keaton's mom and Keaton's Kids Founder.

We are so grateful and actually awestruck by the amount of love and support we’ve received from our donors in this, our very first year! We set a goal to earn $50,000 this year and we are already very close to reaching that goal. What seemed like a pipe dream when we started is now very real, and we think we can do even better. Thank you so much for not only your financial support, but also for your emotional support as we navigated our way in this new non-profit world.

We are also grateful for our partnership with CatRock and are so excited to continue working with them as they expand the bike initiative which Keaton’s Kids funded and help them start this year.

It’s been an amazingly successful roll out. With Keaton’s Kids support they led weekly day trips, impacted dozens of young riders, taught teens who had never ridden how to ride, mentored and improved the skills of others. And now we are looking to expand, buy more bikes for middle school age kids, and continue the program next year as well.

We will be joining CatRock in their Bike-a-thon on October 17th. Will you join Keaton’s Kid’s Team and ride with us? You’ll be able to meet some of the kids whose lives have been impacted by the biking program, join others for breakfast and lunch, and get a beautiful ride on the Bronx River Parkway. Click the link below to join us or contribute. See you there!

Photo courtesy of CatRock Ventures.

JUNE 2021 KEATON'S KIDS UPDATE

Hear what we've been up to from Cat, Keaton's mom and Keaton's Kids Founder.

We’ve all heard “it takes a village to raise a child.” Well, it also takes a village to raise a Non-Profit. And Keaton’s Kids has an amazing village. We can’t do it without you, of course, and we can’t do it without our amazing partners. I’ve mentioned before how I admire the hard working directors of the established organizations we’re partnering with. Craig Meisner, director of CatRock Ventures is always coming up with creative ideas to keep his kids active and growing, even through the pandemic. This summer, Keaton’s Kids will be buying skateboards for the CatRock kids. We’ve even got cool Keaton’s Kids logo stickers to go on the boards.

Yesterday we met with Danny Hairston, director of Shred Foundation. He filled us in on all the great changes they’ve made since we first met last fall. A new Community Center in the works, a summer snowboard program (indoors!). We approached Danny about the idea of taking some of the Shred kids on a day-long Adventure Ropes Course this summer. Kevin and I just discovered these ropes courses, and after a day on the course we come away feeling empowered, challenged, excited, and ready for bigger things in life. We thought it would be great for a one-off summer adventure.

One of the ideas we have for Keaton’s Kids is to be a “Make a Wish”-type organization for hard working-foundations. So when Danny mentioned he’d like to start a skateboarding program for his kids for a summer program, and they had lots of boards offered to them, but none of the wheels and trucks and bearings you need to ride the boards, we said, “Your wish is our command. Let Keaton’s Kids help with that.” That’s another joint effort which we know would get Keaton’s seal of approval! And yes, those cool stickers will have another place to go.

So we are definitely enjoying building our village, as our village helps to build us.

It does take a village, and we are so grateful for ours.

Photo courtesy of CatRock Ventures.

MAY 2021 KEATON'S KIDS UPDATE

Hear what we've been up to from Cat, Keaton's mom and Keaton's Kids Founder.

On April 17th Kevin and Cat drove down to the Bronx to be a part of the pilot Biking in the Bronx program. It was a great day for a ride, with a little chill in the air but blue skies. What made it amazing, though, was to see 10 kids on bikes bought by Keaton’s Kids!

Some highlights as we joined them on their maiden ride:

• When we first got there, we met a young man named Andrew who was learning to ride a two wheeler for the first time. Kevin spent some time helping him. It wasn't easy! It made us realize how we take for granted so many things. Most of us learned to ride when we were very young, on safe streets or yards in the suburbs. But if you’re on a crowded city street, and maybe a small apartment where there’s no room to store a bike, it’s a different matter.

• When we circled around to get to know each other before we started, Craig Meisner, co-founder and Director of CatRock asked us to introduce ourselves. We felt overwhelmed with emotion as we explained how we started as an idea, we became a reality, and now Keaton’s Kids was already sponsoring its first project.

• As we rode up the final hill after our 7 mile ride through beautiful Van Cortlandt Park, a teen named Emanuel said to Cat, “ I never dreamed I would be able to do this”, and when he pushed through his struggle to reach the top of the hill he said to Kevin “I’m really proud of myself.” We were, too. Emanuel, Andrew, and all the other riders reminded us exactly why we are doing this.

Check out some memories from our rides with CatRock below (click right to see the next photo):

Photos courtesy of CatRock Ventures.

Some more good news— Trek Bicycles joined the project (because who doesn’t want to join a good thing when they see it?) and donated helmets, bike repair equipment and other gear to the tune of about $5000. This freed up the $5000 Keaton’s Kids had already contributed to the cause, which CatRock will now use to start a SKATEBOARDING program this summer, in Keaton’s name. Now how cool is that?

As we move forward, CatRock has a planned two night camping trip for the biking project in June, supported by Keaton’s Kids. We are also talking to a very cool organization right now about sponsoring one very cool trip in the winter for their snowboarders. We will fill you in on all the details as we get them!

So, just like the bikes in the Bronx, our wheels are turning at Keaton’s Kids and the ideas keep coming. We’d love to hear your thoughts, too.

And, as always, we need your support to keep going, and thank you mightily for the support you’ve shown us so far.

P.S. On a sad note, Keaton’s dad Joel Goss passed away quietly in his sleep March 23rd due to heart failure. We will all miss his creativity, his unique style, his flair for life, and the unconditional love he shared with so many. RIP Joel.