an election year, similar to a lot of the rhetoric
Brad: He can’t say her name now without
that is going on right now. The idea came. Why
going off into a daze. It will say there was
can’t we listen to these kids? Why aren’t they
more security to meet her than the president.
being amplified? Why are we listening to all
What was a great moment with her was
these negative things? So we thought, “What if
after we’d finish and I’d say it was great, she
a kid were president and that kid was Robby?”
looked over at me and said, “Was that okay?”
It became a good recipe for fun and making a
I couldn’t believe it. You’re Beyonce! You tell
difference.
me! Every person does that. It’s a great thing;
Did you have any idea it would ever get this big?
we see celebrities but they’re still people who need to know they’re okay.
Robby: No. We had no idea.
Have people been that way with you?
Brad: Zero. We’re still scratching our heads.
Robby: Someone asked me, “Do you have
Have you had a moment when it hit you just how huge it is? Brad: Every day. Robby: Meeting the President! It was the Oval Office!
a name?” Brad: He was asked who the most famous person he met was in another interview and his answer was great. Robby: Everybody’s famous to somebody.
something we made – he laughed and invited
How did you start including activism in the Kid President videos?
us in. One of my favorite moments though, we
Brad: We hear a statistic that one in five
were on an airplane and some kids recognized
children don’t know where their next meal is
us and were taking pictures and this older man
coming from, and that’s in the United States.
was beside us. He said, “I noticed some people
A grown up may just hear the numbers and
were really excited to talk to you. What do you
think how sad it is. A kid hears it and they
do?” I told him we make videos on the internet
may feel sad but –
about kids and grown ups working together
Robby: But they want to fix it. Let’s put a stop
to make the world better. He told me he had
to that.
something I should check out and showed me
Brad: We happen to make videos so that’s been
pictures of his granddaughters taking things
our gift that we’ve been able to use to be a part
to the homeless shelter and talking about how
of this – to tell the story that one in five
they came up with doing “Socktober.” I was
children go hungry. We’ve worked with
like, “That was us! That’s our thing! They’re
partners who provide food. That’s activism.
Brad: Not only had the President seen
doing this because of us!” I just wanted to explain to him but I just sat there with a big grin saying it was a great idea. It was a huge gift to see that sometimes people don’t know where the idea is coming from and it doesn’t matter. As long as people are doing good.
Can you talk about this current project? Brad: It’s the Child Hunger Ends Here campaign. Before this, we had been doing a lot of meal packings that addressed hunger on a global scale. We’d pack more than 100,000 meals and send them for over five
Have you had any other starstruck encounters?
years. More than half a million meals.
Robby: I’d say Beyonce. I was like nine when
and I noticed one person would get theirs for
that happened.
free and they wouldn’t be able to get it on
Robby: At school, you have to pay for lunch,
South African Success stories
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