Participant Spotlight

The Kite Kids - Brigette, Broderick, Beckett & Kaden

Non-Profit Supported - Early Childhood Council for Yuma, Washington and Kit Carson Counties

Scott E. Mills Scott E. Mills
January 2020

You don’t need to be of voter age, have a job or a fat wallet to give back to your community and make a difference in the lives of others. We had the opportunity to speak to four active and thoughtful kids – Brigette (11), Broderick (10), Beckett (9) & Kaden (10) – all whom participated on the Early Childhood Council’s Virtual Race this past January. Kelli Kite – the mother of the 3 “B’s” – also joined us . Through their participation they learned about their community and the good work ECCYWK does in Yuma, Washington and Kit Carson counties in Colorado. While speaking to these kids, it was clear that they shared a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in helping others.


Q. Tell us a little bit about yourselves! Where do you live, and what are some of your hobbies other than participating in virtual races for ECCYWK?

A. We live in Idalia, CO, a tiny town of 100 people and less than a square mile in size. [It’s a rural community, mostly agriculture, and our community is known locally as “Jewel of the Plains”.]

Brigette: I like Volleyball, Basketball, Baseball and hanging out with friends.
Beckett: My favorite sport is football. I also enjoy activities like wrestling and playing downstairs with my two brothers.
Kaden: I like GoCart and riding my Dad’s 4-Wheeler.
Broderick: I like football, basketball and sports generally. I also enjoy playing downstairs with my friends.

Q. If you were a brand, what would be your motto/mission?

Brigette: “Work hard and do your best, and have fun while doing it”
Beckett: “Keep working hard”
Kaden: “Help other people”
Broderick: “Work hard, try your best and do what you want to do, not what others tell you to do”

Q. Those are all great answers. Why is giving back important to you?

A. It feels good to do good. We enjoy helping others and making others feel better.

Q. For someone that may be unfamiliar, what is Early Childhood Council? Why did you decide to join and what excites you to support ECCYWK?

A. They host events during the Fair and Halloween such as trick or treating – all services provided to kids are free. Our little town doesn’t see a lot of the same services provided to the other major towns – they promote most of the services along highway 34 – so we take advantage of the services when they are offered.

We found out about the virtual race at a restaurant and also saw it advertised at a local coffee shop. It sounded like fun and the prize money was also motivating! Incentives are always helpful.

[ECCYWK works with child care providers, policy makers and other partners to enhance the quality and availability of child care and early education opportunities for children. Their mission is to empower comprehensive, high quality, coordinated and accessible system of support for all children and families to ensure they are healthy and thriving.]

Q. In addition to ECCYWK, do you support or volunteer your time with other non-profits? If so, which ones?

A. Yes, we have, we’ve participated in Heart Health Solutions where we did jump roping for hear health. We’ve done others for our school, raising money for teachers to come to the school for which we don’t have programs, mostly art-based curriculum. We have a full-time Art teacher, which we didn’t use to have. We don’t have a music program so we bring in teachers to teach us one or two days during the week.

Q. You all did extremely well on the fitness challenge, completing over 1.7 Million steps and finishing 2nd on the Team Leaderboard! Beckett did nearly 10 miles each day! What are some strategies everyone used during a workout to not only complete the exercise but go that extra mile?

A. We played a lot outside, played football, and we never stopped moving. We never had a structured run, because of the weather here. During phys-ed days at school, we’d move a ton. Non-PE days we’d try to run downstairs to get our 15K steps in.

We all got Fitbits for Christmas and an hour before bed, the TV is turned off, so we’d do laps around the house and kitchen. We typically fall asleep around 8-8:30 – we’re exhausted at the end of the day.

Q. I bet! How do you recover? Do you have a go-to recovery drink?

A. Just water to stay hydrated, and good food. We usually don’t eat junk food or soda.

Q. Do you have any favorite athletic brands (shoes, apparel, etc) that you like to exercise in?

A. Adidas, Nike, Reebok for shoes, and Under Armour for clothing. I think we got all of the major ones!


Brigette, Broderick, Beckett & Kaden - are such an inspiration and our team here at Charity Footprints is super proud of them. You can donate to Early Childhood Council for Yuma, Washington and Kit Carson Counties and show your support for the Kite kids and a wonderful non-profit organization!

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