'Keeping Kind Cool'
Courtesy photo These are examples of the stickers that the Kellogg Kindness Club is selling as a fundraiser for the fledgling club.
Courtesy photoCierra Brandt (front of the class) speaks with other students who are part of the Kellogg Kindness Club. The club was the brainchild of Brandt, who wants to see more love and kindness shown throughout the school and throughout the Silver Valley.
KELLOGG — A group of students at Kellogg High School are doing their part to make the world a better place with the Kellogg Kindness Club.
The group was founded by KHS junior Cierra Brandt, who simply wanted to see her classmates show each other more love and kindness, and from there she really doesn’t know what to expect.
“When you start something like this, you have a vision of how it’s going to go, and I never expected to have the support right now, so quickly,” Brandt said. “I had a completely different picture of how it was going to go, and now I have kids coming up to me who are excited about getting involved and starting it. I think it might get bigger than I ever imagined, so I really don’t have a goal. Why put a limit on what you can reach?”
Brandt, along with adviser Kelton Enich, just wants to help people with a lot of love to give have a place where they can go to show others how much they are loved and hopefully, show them how to love others the same way.
“People’s hearts can do so many amazing things,” Brandt said. “I hope we can help people see what they’re capable of.”
In Shoshone County, where despite living in a state that consistently ranks as one of the least-affected states by mental health issues, Shoshone County routinely finds itself in the top three to five counties in Idaho in terms of depression and suicide rate.
Brandt is looking to combat those numbers.
“It’s no secret that here in the Valley we could all use a little bit of love and something to help make this a happier place. This can hopefully do something to help that,” Brandt said.
Getting connected and raising funds are the priority at the moment for the group, and Brandt has begun networking through social media and fundraising through the sales of stickers that are all the rage right now.
“We got stickers printed that basically have messages on them that are part of what we want to do and what we want to tell people,” Brandt said. “They should be able to stick to like Hydroflasks and stuff like that.”
Brandt is still getting the club off the ground, but hopes that any student who wants to be a part of the club will join.
Currently the Kellogg Kindness Club has both a Facebook page and an Instagram page, both called Keeping Kind Cool and will be selling the stickers through those accounts, as well as at sporting events, other school events and at school.