Kindness is Everything

For many homeless young people, their companion animals are often their only friend and support system. Unfortunately, most shelters do not allow animals inside. This sad truth means these youth are faced with the incredibly difficult decision—take shelter and lose their beloved companion animal or live on the streets. In May of 2020, sisters Shania and Anya Bopa, created an organization called Th...

Fifteen-year old Natalie McIntosh is doing her best to not only help rid the ocean of discarded fishing gear, she then transforms these ‘ghost nets’ into beautiful items such as bracelets, coasters and baskets. Natalie donates 100% of the proceeds from her sales to charities working hard to remove dangerous fishing gear and plastic from the oceans. Natalie talks about why these discarded nets are...

Fifteen-year-old Amelia Penney-Crocker returns to the show to continue chatting about her dedication to make our planet a better place for all. Back in episode 3, Amelia shared some of the 53 letters she wrote to Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Her letters which cover the climate crisis, demand the government take immediate action. Though she and Anitha discussed some of the letters, ther...

Many of us find it easy to care about dogs, cats, whales, elephants. But what about insects? How many of us can honestly say, we’re careful not to step on an ant or a spider? Fourteen-year old Xander Johnston from Scotland joins Anitha to share his passion for insects. He talks about where his interest in insects came from, his favorite little creature, how he became known as ANT BOY, and so much...

In Canada, 25 million birds die every year from injuries sustained when they collide into windows. Angela Demarse from Bird Safe Guelph talks to Anitha about what this organization is doing to prevent this terrible tragedy from continuing. Angela shares simple tips on what each of us can do to prevent birds from crashing into our windows. As a thank you to Angela for sharing her story, Anitha dona...

Thirteen-year old Finlay Pringle, joins Anitha to share his passion about sharks. Sharks have been cruelly misjudged and wrongly considered ruthless predators of the sea. Finlay dispels these myths and tells us the truth about sharks. He also talks about the reasons 100 million sharks are killed every year and why it is so important to save them. An incredibly eye-opening episode! As a thank you f...

This is a very personal episode for Anitha. Her son, Daniel joins her to celebrate the 25th episode of the podcast. At Daniel’s request, Anitha does her best to hold back her absolute pride as she and Daniel chat about all the kind and wonderful things he has done, from singing at nursing homes to volunteering at a camp for children with and/or recovering from cancer to creating the Sounds of Sile...

When she was around seven years old, Olivia Pisano received a huge book all about animals. She loved learning about the animals, especially the whales. This interest in whales continued through elementary school, high school, all the way to her PhD. Olivia joins Anitha to share her incredible story of connecting her PhD with her passion to help whales. Olivia talks about her research project to us...

In this very special episode, Jessica Cambell and her fifth-grade class from Mount Madonna School in California join Anitha to talk about their year- long class project to protect whales. The students take turns talking about why they chose whales for their environmental project, what they have learned, the activities they have organized to spread the word about the plight of whales, and so much m...

Isha Naik and Khushbu Kumari join Anitha from Australia to share their story of creating Choose Your Cause, an organization dedicated to educating and empowering young people about local and international issues that impact adolescents like themselves. Isha and Khushbu talk about what inspired them to volunteer their time and energy to help youth become involved in charities. This is a wonderful e...

Thirteen-year old Veronika Kolarska joins Anitha to talk about her passion for music. An incredibly talented musician, Veronika can play the piano, the violin, the recorder, the ukulele, the guitar, the flute and even musical spoons! Veronika talks about how she loves using her musical abilities to help others—teaching music to kids and being a part of a special virtual orchestra that raised funds...

Thirteen-year old, Sofia Rathjen talks to Anitha about her dedication to bring diversity to her school’s library. Like many visible minorities, Sofia has had to endure racist attitudes and micro-aggressions. But Sofia turned these difficult experiences into something positive. With the help of a grant, she purchased books by BIPOC authors for her school library. She talks about the importance of r...

Fourteen-year old Annora Wu and her eleven-year old brother Andrew join Anitha to share their stories of kindness. A talented musician, Annora talks about what it was like performing for residents of nursing homes and the joy she felt knowing she was making a positive difference in their lives. Not to be outdone by his older sister, Andrew shares his amazing initiative of combining his love of Leg...

Seventeen-year-old Alex White joins Anitha from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom to talk about his passion to inspire people to appreciate wildlife and nature in their own backyards. When Alex was seven, he was given a camera, and fairly soon after he created a blog to share stories and photographs of wildlife and nature in his Local Patch. His blog has been declared as one of the top 50 wildlife blogs...

Andrew West suffered a stroke before he was born. His parents were told he may never walk, talk or feed himself. Andrew shares heartwarming stories of how he not only learned to walk, talk and feed himself, but played soccer, ran a 5K marathon and was part of his school band. He credits his family, friends and his community for helping him succeed at his goals. The sixteen-year old also talks abou...

Fifteen-year-old Jeffrey Wall has already accomplished so much—A black belt in Karate and inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Jeffrey talks to Anitha about how he got into karate and what inspired him to share his passion for martial arts with residents of nursing homes. He teaches them the fun and importance of staying fit. The global pandemic has brought hardship to many, including thos...

On previous episodes, Anitha has interviewed several kids who have participated in a program called Explorer Hop. This innovative program brings together kids of all ages and teaches them to become young entrepreneurs. In addition to learning about the ins and outs of creating a business, such as choosing a name, collaborating with others, and marketing, they are also taught about kindness and giv...

Eleven-year-old Will and seventeen-year-old Jada Finch share their inspiring story of turning personal heartache into helping animals. When Will was 7 and Jada was 12, the family adopted an adorable puppy they named Karma Rose. Sadly, within a few short weeks, Karma died from canine parvo-virus. Despite the devastating loss of his beloved puppy, Will decided to honor Karma on his 8th birthday. In...

In this episode, Anitha chats with Zachary Backman, another young entrepreneur from the Explorer Hop program. Zachary shares his fun story of creating a card game full of mythical creatures. A portion of the proceeds Zachary raised from the sale of his card game went to Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada. As a thank you for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Food For Thought. To learn about thi...

On this very fun episode, six-year-old Callaghan McLaughlin talks about how he spent the summer of 2020. Callaghan set up a table at the bottom of his driveway and shared jokes with those who passed by. He talks to Anitha about his favorite part of telling jokes and even shares a couple of jokes on the episode! Callaghan is proof that everyone, regardless of how young or old they are, can bring jo...

Community service and helping others have always been a part of sixteen-year old Arhan Chhabra’s life. In 2019 he started tutoring children in a village in India. Though he enjoyed helping these children, he wanted to do more for them. This spurred him to create AppVidya, followed by CoVidya. In this inspiring episode, Arhan shares details about these two projects, his goals, as well as the reward...

Marcela Kuzma was at her grandmother’s restaurant in Brazil when she heard a Haitian employee talk about going to the airport to pick up his wife, whom he hadn’t seen for four years. Marcela soon discovered that this employee had also left behind a son, who was now five years old. Unfortunately, it was going to take several more years for the son to join his parents in Brazil. Hearing this family’...

Like many kids, when the pandemic struck, Spencer Burwell found himself stuck at home in much need of something fun to do. A friend introduced him to Explorer Hop. This innovative organization teaches kids about global financial literacy entrepreneurship. But it also teaches them about giving back to society and the importance of helping those in need. Spencer shares his experience of creating bus...

Ryan Elliot Drew shares his innovative idea to teach children about global issues such as climate change and habitat loss through art & music. Combining his degrees in Music and Global Affairs, Ryan hopes to provide teachers with tools to inspire their students to appreciate the natural world through art. Join Anitha as she and Ryan talk about this wonderful project. To learn more about Ryan and h...

In 2007, the Starlight Children’s Foundation in Australia, granted then ten-year-old Daniel Clarke a wish. They were surprised by his response; he wanted to save the orangutans. Daniel and his brother William talk about their dedication to help one of our closest relatives—the orangutans. In this incredibly moving episode, Daniel and William, now 24 and 22, respectively, share their story of helpi...