Service-learning group Team Kids united Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) students from across the district to launch a gratitude campaign for U.S. troops. Over 12,396 letters of thanks were written in 30 days, breaking the current Guinness World Records. This is the second year Team Kids has broken the record, and they hope to exceed the number next year again.
Though students in Irvine wrote the majority of the letters, Team Kids received letters from around America from as far as Massachusetts and Maine, making this campaign a nationwide movement of gratitude.
Participating schools in Irvine included Alderwood, Bonita Canyon, Brywood, Eastshore, Northwood, Oak Creek, Springbrook, University Park Vista Verde and University High School.
“It’s been such an inspiration to all of us to receive these letters,” Team Kids founder and CEO Julie Hudash told the IUSD NewsFlash. “For the kids, they get to know that they have the power to cheer someone up who is serving across the globe.”
Since its inception in 2001, Team Kids has been empowering children to become agents of positive change in their communities. This successful campaign shows their dedication to that mission.
Carli Jipsen (Sr.), the president of Team Kids Youth Council, said, “I was not directly involved in this campaign, which ran mainly through Team Kid’s elementary branch, but I am a strong supporter of this campaign and others that Team Kids does to not only help those in need such as our troops overseas, but also to teach children the importance of giving back to our community.”
 
By BIYONKA LIANG
Staff Writer