Group celebrates fifth year of holiday giving

Cape Girardeau Safe House children will benefit this year from the caring thoughts that are the backbone of Kids4Kids, a group still going strong after five years of supplying gifts to needy children at Christmas.

Jessica Vaeth and her brother Zachary started the group in 1999 after learning about the Safe House for women and children. They decided to collect money to purchase toys for those children and, after talking to their friends, came up with the idea of handing out rainbow-stripped ribbons to each person who donated. Each ribbon was pinned to a card which included a poem the children created thanking the donors for helping children.

In 1999, it's first year, the kids raised about $260 to spend on Christmas gifts.

Little has changed since the group first organized. Though some have left the group, each year three initial volunteers -- Chelsea Niswonger, Chelsea Bolen and Jessica Vaeth, all of Jackson -- pick a Saturday and stand outside the same store in the mall for the entire day, just before Christmas, collecting loose change and dollar bills.

The 15-year-old philanthropists arrived at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park Mall early last Saturday to collect donations for this year's shopping trip. After collecting and counting the donations they spent Monday evening shopping for the Safe House.

Later this week Louana Vaeth will deliver the gifts to a meeting place determined by Safe House representatives to protect the anonymity of their location.

David Vaeth said, "My wife explained the purpose of the organization and the group has adopted the Cape Girardeau Safe House children ever since. It just tugged at their hearts."

In five years time the kids have collected about $1,000.