Throwback Thursday: 40 Years of Kentucky Kids on the Block
Kentucky Kids on the Block was recently honored as Nonprofit of the Year at the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Excellence Awards. With a rich local history that’s changed the lives of thousands of children, the nonprofit is celebrating a milestone this year: its 40th anniversary.
It all started nearly 50 years ago. In 1977, special education teacher Barbara Aiello had a student with cerebral palsy named Anthony, who used a wheelchair and wanted to be included in a “regular” classroom. But after a few days, when the other students in class didn’t know how to interact with Anthony, he didn’t want to go back. So she built a puppet that looked just like him, took the puppet to his class, and students started asking it questions. When the kids started interacting, the barriers came down, and the puppet became the first of a whole family of puppet characters to help kids understand and cope with sensitive issues.
In Kentucky, Kids on the Block was founded in Bowling Green in 1985. Alice Kummer and Jamie Gaddie Higgins led the idea after Jamie’s daughter, who had spina bifida, saw a Nashville Kids on the Block performance about accepting differences. The program started in southern Kentucky 40 years ago, and now, the nonprofit presents over 300 programs to about 30,000 children across 20 Kentucky counties every year.
Kentucky Kids on the Block also runs the Higgins Center for Nonprofits, a multi-tenant nonprofit center that provides affordable office space, collaboration opportunities, development, and trainings. Working with your neighbors at below market rent rate helps nurture new nonprofits in an environment that allows for help.
Kids on the Block’s mission is to provide ongoing education and prevention through puppetry for children and the community. The troupe uses life-size puppets with 15 topics in the style of Bunraku puppetry in Japan, that helps bring children to a teachable moment by reflecting their hopes, fears, likes, and dislikes in physical, social, and safety challenges.
Kids on the Block also hosts physical fitness runs as fundraisers, where kids are encouraged to participate with support from the community, along with a tennis tournament and golf scramble. If you’d like to get involved, there are plenty of volunteer opportunities to help at many of these events for children, or you can donate or sponsor at Kentucky Kids on the Block. Thanks to Kentucky Kids on the Block for supporting our children’s growth for the past 40 years and growing the next generation of leaders.
