catching up with our volunteer youth

16-year-old, Elleni Solomon, has grown up with Mending Kids; volunteering at our Hometown missions, doing outreach and recently co-founding the Mending Kids Club at Laguna Beach High. Elleni’s long-standing Mending Kids’ experience inspired her to write a children’s book, Isabella and The Magical Brush, that teaches children the importance of dental hygiene. Her mom, Alem, had open-heart surgery as a girl and stressed to her that oral infections or bacteria can travel to your heart and cause further problems like heart disease, and for this reason, Elleni, felt the need to both inform and forewarn others. "By educating our younger generations, we can help them lead healthier and positive lives," says Elleni. The importance of dental hygiene is something she believes all children should be educated on to benefit their future selves; especially children in under-served or resource-poor countries. Her book is currently being translated into Spanish and will be distributed by Mending Kids on surgical missions to Spanish speaking countries. Now, this is something worth smiling about!