COURAGE:
Cultivating
Opportunities to
Uniquely
Rally
Adolescents to
Give and
Engage
The title may be cheesy – we let our mom make it up – but the premise is good!
Kids need creative ways to volunteer!
We are three brothers, who with the help of our parents, have formed a non-profit organization that organizes volunteering opportunities, in particular for kids in our community.
Although we hope to eventually be one, we are not yet a 501(c)3 organization. That will take one of us graduating from college with a non-profit business degree! Rest assured, 501(c)3 status or not, we promise that all donated money or goods will go to the specified charities!
Our Beliefs & Mission
Volunteering helps others while helping ourselves too.
Volunteering has the power to counteract stress, anger, and anxiety, and to give people a renewed sense of purpose. We find it’s easy to volunteer when life is going well. It’s much harder to look outward when we are facing loss or uncertainty. This truth became clear to us during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order, when our world as kids was suddenly put on hold. School, time with friends and family, and the extracurricular activities we loved were all taken away, almost overnight. As three brothers navigating that new reality together with our parents, we realized that reaching out to help others wasn’t just an act of generosity, it was also a way to find purpose and connection during a time when so much felt uncertain. That realization is what led us to start this organization.
We are the 3 Harris Brothers’ COURAGE Club — started in 2020 during the COVID pandemic and built on the belief that especially in difficult times, it takes real courage for kids to look outward instead of inward. We invite you to join us in promoting that courage through volunteering, especially among kids.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
AESOP
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Options for Getting Involved!
Volunteer
We believe there are still unique and meaningful ways for all of us to give back and engage with the world, even during times of separation or uncertainty. We are focusing most of our efforts on finding unique opportunities in our community for volunteerism, especially stuff pertinent to kids. If you see a project listed and want to participate, do it! You can volunteer for as little or as many projects as you want. Everything makes a difference!
Please see our projects below or on our volunteer projects tab.
Donate
Your monetary gifts will be directed to the volunteer projects. You can make a difference today by contacting us if you’d like to donate with cash or check.
Please email us to get our address or schedule a pick up of your donation: Email us
CURRENT VOLUNTEER Project
3HB Birthday Backpack Program
This Is Our Year Round Program &
We are Always Taking Donations!
Every kid loves to celebrate their birthday!
No child should have to miss out on celebrating their birthday because of food or financial insecurity. That’s why we’ve partnered with our local school system’s Social Work Department and their weekend food backpack program to create the 3HB Birthday Backpack — a special addition delivered the week of each child’s birthday to help make their day feel celebrated.
Each backpack contains a cake pan, cake mix, frosting, candles and a small gift!
This is a year-round program – we collect donations even through summer – so please consider volunteering your time to collect and donate backpack items:
- Cake Mix
- Frosting
- Sprinkles
- Candles
- Age appropriate small birthday gifts, including gender neutral items
- Our backpacks reach all ages: elementary, middle, and high school
- Contact us if you’d like to make a monetary donation
Please consider a financial donation to support our 3HB Backpack program. 100% of every dollar donated goes directly toward purchasing birthday backpack items.
Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com 
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com 
Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com 
Have a kid-oriented volunteer idea that you think we should consider? Email us & let us know!
PROJECTS OVER THE YEARS
3HB TEEN ESSENTIALS DRIVE
Please join our 3HB “Pits & Chicklets Drive”. (pits & chicklets = armpits and teeth)
Collecting basic hygiene essentials to put together free packs for teens experiencing insecurity around basic needs. We will be donating these teen essentials packs to the Mahtomedi Area Education Foundation Care Closets (www.maefgives.org) that can be easily accessed within the schools, as well as to Solid Ground family services to distribute to teens within their programs (www.solidgroundmn.org).
NICU Babies With Books Read-a-Thon Book Drive
Thank you to everyone who donates books to our fall book drive to support Regions NICU Read-a-thon in collaboration with Babies With Books, a national teen-led non-profit, that encourages reading aloud with babies who are hospitalized in the NICU to support baby brain development. Each family receives a free 3HB book to keep. We also provide a gift bag to the winner of our local read-a-thon raffle. “3HB itty-bitty library” remains on-site and includes books written in the most common languages of the patients, including English, Spanish, Mandarin, Somali and Hmong. This year, Regions NICU placed 17th in the nation for reading sessions to hospitalized babies!
3HB Tweens & Teens Holiday Gift Drive
Thank you to everyone who donated gifts to our Holiday gift drive. All gifts were distributed by 3HB to local charities in the St. Paul metro area. We were able to support tween/teen gift needs for the annual holiday gift drives at the Foster Shoppe, Solid Ground, and the Willernie Good Neighbor Club — all benefiting local families and children in need of support. With donors help, we collected over 100 gifts to give to kids in our community to brighten their holiday time!
UNITED HEROES LEAGUE SPORTS GEAR DRIVE
Thank you to everyone who participated and donated sports gear! Each gear drive is focused primarily on baseball gear, since we all three play. Collections are taken at the Mahtomedi high school baseball games and at the drop bin at our house. So far, we have delivered over 100 pieces of youth baseball bats, gloves, helmets and catchers gear that will be sent free of charge to military kids all over the United States.
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE DONATIONS!
Make-A-Wish MINNESOTA TOY DRIVE
Thank you to everyone who donated toys and gifts to our Make-A-Wish Minnesota holiday toy drive! Throughout the year, these gifts will be sent to kids who are still waiting for their life-changing wish to be granted, reminding them that they are thought of, and giving them strength and hope along the way. Because of your generosity, our toy drive was a huge success. Thank you for helping us bring a little more joy and hope into these kids’ lives.
HOPE 4 YOUTH MN – OUT OF THE COLD
Thank you to everyone who donated to support our team in raising funds for homeless teens in Minnesota to get out of the cold this winter! The $1046 the 3Harris Brothers Courage Club team raised will stock the refrigerator at the youth homeless shelter for almost a month!
Willernie Good Neighbor Christmas Project
Thank you to everyone who donated Christmas gifts to local children! We were able to support multiple families and each child received 3-4 gifts to brighten their Christmas morning. Thank you!
Made > 100 “Ear Savers” for the staff at Mahtomedi Schools
We made and donated over 100 ear savers to the teachers and building staff at Mahtomedi High School to help prevent ear chaffing while wearing their masks all day. Thank you, teachers and staff, for your ongoing dedication to our education!
Have a kid-oriented volunteer idea that you think we should consider adding to the list? Email us & let us know!
Join the COURAGE Club!
With the aim of helping as many people as possible find unique opportunities to give back and engage within our community, we are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers.
Please email us with any questions, ideas or to obtain more information. Have a kid-oriented volunteer idea that you think we should consider? Email us and let us know!
3 HARRIS BROTHERS' COURAGE CLUB 