Aaron’s Presents is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization giving young kids an opportunity to dream up and carry out a project that benefits others, gaining valuable leadership and project management skills in the process.
Aaron Makaio Schneider was born on June 19, 2013 at 25 ½ weeks of gestation and lived 8 ½ days in two Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) in Boston, Massachusetts. In this short time, he touched the lives of many people without uttering a word, but by demonstrating his strength of spirit, his will to live, his ability to elicit love and compassion, and the fragility of human life.
Aaron inspired his parents to honor his life by enabling young children to tap into their innate idealism, kindness and compassion and, by coupling these with their diverse talents and creativity, to achieve tangible results benefiting their families, neighborhoods and larger communities, and themselves.
Aaron’s parents wanted to find a way to encourage children from an early age to regard themselves as members of a community, with the ability and responsibility to contribute, help and problem-solve, to think of others’ needs alongside their own, and to create meaningful connections between themselves and other human beings. Seeing children acting in thoughtful, generous and selfless ways while having fun has brought his family a great deal of joy and healing.
We believe that every child, every human being, has something positive to give to the world.
We believe that when children are given the permission, knowledge and resources needed to plan out and execute their ideas, their actions can have a substantive, positive impact on others in unique ways because of their stage in life. Children naturally have the desire to think of and help others, but need to be given age-appropriate opportunities and education to do so effectively.
We believe that by enabling kids to experience firsthand what it feels like to impact others’ lives for good, and by making it as memorable, meaningful and fun as possible, we can cement traits like empathy, generosity and a sense of purpose from an early age. These traits are being shown by more and more research to lead to all kinds of successful and positive life outcomes.
Learn more about Aaron’s Presents by clicking on the links below: