Most Valuable Kids working to give underserved children amazing experiences

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - It’s Giving Tuesday and that means many charities are making a push for donations ahead of Christmas.

At Most Valuable Kids, they work with more than 80 partner agencies to provide experiences to underserved kids in Greater Cincinnati.

Those kids get to go on these experiences and not worry about the cost associated with them thanks to generous donations. The experiences are for kids age 18 and younger that are in need in some way.

“They’re kids that might be living in shelters, they’re kids that are receiving mental health counseling,” MVK Executive Director Sherri Friedman continues, “Kids in inner-city schools. We work with foster families, mentor-mentoring agencies, recreation centers. A wide variety of organizations.”

Andrea Granieri with Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy picked up a ticket package for the Cincinnati Bengals game this weekend for students nominated by the schools’ superintendent.

“I wish everyone could see the smiles [the students] end up having on their faces when they get an experience like this,” says Granieri. “It makes a really big difference.”

Granieri explains how they chose these students.

“[The superintendent] nominated two kids who have been working really extra hard to improve grades and behavior,” Granieri continues, “And we submit the nomination and then Sherri let us know that our kids were selected to attend the game.”

On this Giving Tuesday, Friedman explains how they can stretch their money and donations to help more kids.

“We are a very lean and mean organization,” says Friedman, “We are turning donations into opportunities for kids. So, any amount really makes a huge difference because cumulatively that enables us to provide event extras to things that we would never be able to experience.”

MVK provides 20,000 experiences per year here in Cincinnati. Many of those events include plays, concerts, sports games, and other cultural experiences. They can’t do it without your donations. Thanks to their donors and partners, a $5 donation pays for one experience.

“It’s a memory that folks are creating,” adds Granieri, “So hopefully people when they’re giving can just imagine those smiles and that opportunity and keep being generous and keep providing those smiles.”

To donate, you can follow this link.

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