Changemakers from New Zealand helping Children of First Responders “Feel Brave" across Texas
ZeroMils President and COO, Paul Cucinotta, was recently in Texas to meet up with two "Kiwis," who are on a mission to help children and families of first responders cultivate positive emotional well being amidst the challenges of their service.?
Avril McDonald and Kris Kennett are two #changemakers who traveled more than 7,500 miles to launch, “The Wolf Was Not Sleeping,” an emotional well-being initiative for more than 50,000 firefighters, EMTs and police families across the great State of Texas. They partnered with a third changemaker, Melody Mesmer, co-founder and CEO at Foundation 1023 to make a big difference.
Melody is a firefighter paramedic, mom and grandmother, who knows firsthand the challenges of service and the value Avril and her Feel Brave characters and emotional well-being messaging techniques and strategies bring to the first responder community.
Together, they are helping thousands of first responder families and the communities they serve, Feel Brave!
Kris, as a New Zealand Career and Volunteer firefighter lost a colleague to suicide. In his own words, “Seeing the emotional pain, specifically of the children, compelled me to come up with an idea to help increase the support provided to families left behind.”?
When Kris heard about Avril and her award-winning Feel Brave series of books that were being used worldwide to help children manage tough emotions and reach their full potential, he saw an incredible opportunity and potential to collaborate. Together they published “The Wolf Was Not Sleeping” book and launched their well-being initiative on International Firefighters' Day (May 4, 2020) for New Zealand Fire and Emergency Service families.?
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Now, with tremendous support from Melody and Foundation 1023, along with some incredible sponsors including AT&T, FirstNet, Built with AT&T and Cisco, Avril and Kris brought the main character, Wolfgang, and his friends to Texas.
They were so amazed and overwhelmed by the tremendous reception by Texas first responders and the communities surrounding them, Avril and Kris are both considering trading their cherished Manuka Honey and famous lamb fleece for a Stetson and some cowboy boots!
These changemakers are just getting started and ZeroMils is behind them 100 percent. Together, we are exploring new opportunities for Avril, Kris, Wolfgang and the rest of his friends to help more children and families of service members worldwide "Feel Brave" too!
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Co-Founder and CEO of ZeroMils | Marine Veteran | Presidential Leadership Scholar | Social Impact Entrepreneur | Military Thriving
2 年For the past year and a half, Paul and I have stayed connected to many senior leaders in the first responder community. Many of them became our friends. During our time we impacted more than 600,000 of them across the country. The opportunity to serve them again working with #changemakers like Avril and Kris is something I know will lead to extraordinary impact in 2023 and beyond. I'm looking forward to making change with all 3 of you and making a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands first responders and their families.