4/20 The Whitney Way

It was a 4/20 to be proud of; one for the books.  In fact, it was one of those 4/20's you could write home about in unabashed pride because it was done the "Whitney Way".

At approximately 3:00 on 4/20/2012 I heard kids, about a dozen or so, in front of my house.  It was way too early for the elementary school kids to be out and way too joyous for the junior high kids.

And there they were, Mrs. Sara Winn's 6th grade ELL class on a special mission throughout the Whitney neighborhood, picking up trash and carrying forth their Stop Joseph Kony message.  For a few weeks prior, the kids set about a penny drive in all of the Whitney Elementary School classrooms to raise money and awareness.  On April 19th they had a sell out bake sale raising $146 to send support to the Invisible Children of Africa being terrorized, traumatized and tortured on behalf of warlord Joseph Kony.  The kids on 4/20 walked the neighborhood equipped with trash bags and sidewalk chalk to remind people of the call to action for 4/20, if you saw this, then you got the message:

So, why did Whitney take up this cause?  We have some wise old souls in small sneakers at Whitney with first hand knowledge of Joseph Kony and how his cronies operate in Africa.  They have raised money and awareness because somebody has to.  And, they're just kids.

So what's next?  We as adults should take note of what our kids at Whitney are doing for humanity's sake, all on their own initiative.  Go to the Invisible Children | Kony 2012 website, take the pledge to make the next steps in the pursuit of warlords who cowardly steal children in the night and murder their innocence.

What's next for these particular kids?  I guarantee you, big things.

--Nikki Rutledge
Whitney Parent