Photographs by William Taufic.
At the age of seven, Stamford resident Max Konzerowsky had a problem. He wanted to volunteer, but he couldn’t find a charity that would accept a child’s help. “Kids my age didn’t really have good opportunities for volunteering,” explains Max, now nine. Solution? “I decided to start my own charity.”
A neighbor helped build a website and HappyKidsCare (HKC) was born, with the mission to “help kids live happier lives by encouraging them to give back and to volunteer in their community.” Max is close to his grandfather who suffers from Alzheimer’s, so he considered that cause, but a visit to the Inspirica shelter for the homeless in Stamford changed his mind. “We were sitting in the lobby and watching the kids on the playground,” recounts Max’s mom, Dawn. “He saw kids his age who looked just like him. He had a heavy heart after that and said, ‘I really want to work here Mom.’”
Now the thirty to forty homeless kids at Inspirica enjoy pizza and dance parties, ice cream socials, trips to Chelsea Piers, and sleepovers—all thanks to Max and the 200 volunteers he has recruited. “Kids are leading reading groups at the shelter; running chess clubs; organizing Thanksgiving dinners for forty families, even renting tablecloths and china to make it more special,” says Dawn. When a girl at the shelter yearned to play the violin, HKC found a teen to teach her. When a boy had no one to come watch his football games, Max and his friends went to cheer him on.
Dawn credits the kids at the Brunswick School (where Max attends), Max’s hockey teammates, Greenwich Academy students, and many other local schools and friends for making HKC such a success. “Instead of receiving birthday gifts, some of Max’s classmates have donated school supplies to Inspirica,” says Dawn.
One Inspirica resident, whose anonymity is essential to keeping her safe from abuse, felt compelled to nominate Max despite the risk. “Max plays with all the children at the Youth Center like they are his brothers and sisters. He brings them joy,” she says.
Dawn stresses what the volunteers are gaining: “leadership skills, a good work ethic, empathy.”
“The kids at Inspirica teach us that we don’t need a lot to be happy,” says Max, highlighting the most wonderful lesson of all.
In January, HKC and Chelsea Piers CT are teaming up to launch the Get Up. Give Back. Get Fit Challenge, which encourages Fairfield County youth to take social action.