Young kids behind ripples of kindness in the community

About 40 young people gathered for the kickoff to a new charity for children as they donated over $1000 to the Barrie SPCA on Thurs. March 2, 2023 (Mike Arsalides/CTV News Barrie)

A new spinoff of a Simcoe County charity is looking to capitalize on the generous hearts of young people.

Ripple of Kindness brings women of all ages together four times a year to donate to various charities voted on by the group. On Thursday, the group launched Ripple of Kindness Kids, creating a new chapter of generosity for youth.

"We've got this amazing generation of youth in our community who want to pay it forward, so Holly and I got together and thought what better way to do this than to get all these amazing youth in our community together, and they each get to donate some money to a charity that means something to them," says Christy Fines, the co-founder of the organization.

On Thursday, the group held its kickoff event with about 40 kids following in their mothers' footsteps. The youth chapter's first charity of choice was Barrie's SPCA.

"It's just so great to hear that they're doing chores, having lemonade stands, anything they can to raise the money, and they want to give it to the animals, which is great," says Erin Belsher, an event coordinator at Barrie's SPCA.

The group managed to raise $1025.

Like the chapter for adults, Ripple of Kindness for Kids will hold four donation events every year. The next cheque presentation is scheduled for June.

With files from CTV's Mike Arsalides.