ATL Girl, 9, Is Collecting Thank You Cards For First Responders

MARIETTA, GA — A nine-year-old Marietta girl wants to spread some kindness during the coronavirus pandemic. Jaida Burke has been thanking local frontline workers for their service with her collected “Kindness Cards.” She’s the creator and founder of local nonprofit KIDS CARE, which she launched January 2019.

Through Kindness In Doing Service (KIDS) and Connecting And Respecting Everyone (CARE), she has delivered 137 cards as of Tuesday. They were collected and taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, Cobb Fire & EMS, Cobb Police & Cobb 911 Dispatch.

Jaida’s mother Amie Burke said her daughter wants to thank more people, but can’t do it alone.

“We are asking the local community to make Kindness Cards at home,” she told Patch in an email.

They get to choose where they want it to go. People can simply drive by and drop them off at one of their drop off locations without getting out of the car or interacting with anyone, she explained.

The cards will be sorted and safely delivered.

Jaida wants to reach more first responders, said her mother.

“This is an event that families, scouts, churches, youth groups, etc. can participate while in quarantine,” she said. “We have been working hard on spreading the word and [would like to] reach more people so that additional Kindness Cards of encouragement and gratitude can be given to those serving our community during this challenging time."

Jaida hopes to collect at least 500 cards to distribute, says her mother, but is happy with whatever she receives. As of now, they'll be receiving them through April on select dates.

Here are the drive by and drop of dates:
Saturday, April 18 from 4 - 5 p.m.
Wednesday, April 22 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Saturday, April 25th 11:00 am – 12:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 29th 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Laurel Park Tennis Center in the parking lot at 151 Manning Road SW, Marietta.

As they prepared to make their first delivery, Amie said that Jaida had a "realization."

"She told me that it was not just the number of cards that would make a difference to someone, but it was double that. Because those who get the cards were going to feel good and those who made the cards were going to feel good."

In December, Jaida organized KIDS CARE’S first holiday card drive for military troops, collecting nearly 800 handmade cards.

Amie told Patch last year that Jaida has alway been interested in service projects.

“She's hands-on with every aspect of the nonprofit,”she said, adding that the ideas are always her own.

"She's just had an innate drive for it."

Learn about upcoming volunteer projects by following KIDS CARE on Facebook and visiting their website.