Little Miss Flint

Hi everyone. My name is Mari Copeny, I’m 18 years old, and you may know me as “Little Miss Flint” even though I’m not so little anymore. I'm an activist, advocate, and philanthropist. I'm also a Flint kid that loves giving back to Flint kids. I host several events throughout the year, including a back-to-school backpack and supply giveaway, an Easter Egg hunt, book giveaways, a snack program called #OpSnack and more. Since 2016, I have been doing an annual Christmas event for the kids in my community. The first year was just a small toy drive but every single year I was able to expand my event and add more elements and resources. Every year I try to outdo myself from the previous year. I love Christmas, and being able to spread the magic of Christmas to other kids is my favorite thing to do. Every year I make sure to include activities that add even more holiday spirit to the event, including stocking stuffing, cookie decorating, an exotic animal petting zoo, live reindeer, a hot cocoa bar, an elf adoption center, arts and crafts, inflatables, coat giveaway and a Black Santa. This year we are adding a resource fair, live performances, and hopefully a holiday food drive and barbers/hairstylist. This is my 10th year doing my holiday event, and the need in the community is greater now than ever before. Knowing the has increased, we will try to help as many families as possible. We have been averaging about 1,000 kids every year and that is also the goal for this year. This year we are going to be serving from newborn to high school. As you may know several local Christmas programs like toys for tots cut off the age to be able to receive gifts to just 12 years old. Salvation Army has also closed their sign ups for help this holiday season, that’s how massive the need is. Cost breakdown -1,000 kids sponsored at $60 per child including stocking stuffers, a small toy, a medium toy and a large toy($60k) -100 bikes, average cost per bike is $57 ($5700) -inflatables, supplies for crafts, cookie decorating, the hot cocoa bar, a bags for the toys ($2000) -Live Reindeer ($1500) -Truck cost from the food bank ($1-$2k) -Hats, gloves and scarfs ($800) -coats ($3000)

Hi Mari, I'm 18 years old and known worldwide as Little Miss Flint. Every year, I throw several events for the kids here in Flint, including an Easter Egg Hunt, a huge back-to-school drive, a Holiday toy shop, and a Halloween candy giveaway. As everyone knows, people are struggling to keep up with the basic essentials. We have seen a huge increase in need for basics in our immediate community. Kids are feeling the stress and effects of the world and could use some happiness and joy. We have noticed at our events that about 40% of the kids show up without a costume because their parents simply can't afford one. It may be something so small, but to a kid, that is huge. This year, in addition to our Halloween snack giveaway and boo baskets, we want to run a free costume shop for local kids. The goal this year is to get 150 costumes. To sponsor a costume, it will be around $25. We are also working to try to get about 100 bags of candy. Help me bring some Halloween joy to kids here.

Hi everyone!! I'm Mari, I'm a 18-year-old kid from Flint, MI. I am known globally as "Little Miss Flint". While I known nationally for my work as a clean water advocate a big part of my work is giving back to the kids right here in Flint, Michigan. This year marks my 10th year doing my annual back-to-school drive and backpack giveaway. In my very first year, my goal was 50 backpacks and I was able to 100. In my second year, we did 1,000 backpacks. My third year we did a backpack for every single child in the city of Flint. To date, we have been able to distribute 21,000 fully stuffed backpacks. In addition to backpacks and supplies, we have been able to distribute hygiene kits, books, socks, underwear, sneakers, school uniforms, clothing, and so much more. The average cost of the school supply list from teachers from kindergarten to 12th grade is over 120 dollars, most low-income families can not afford these supplies and it puts a strain on the kid's teachers to try to fill the gap. We want to make sure kids are equipped with everything they need to have a successful school year. Our focus this year is -1,000 backpacks with supplies -150 pairs of sneakers -100+ packs of socks -100+ packs of underwear -100 period kits -Hair accessories for the girls We also are seeking some community partners to offer -Hair cuts -Hair braiding -Food -Resources for families in need `Our event isn't just a backpack giveaway, it's an event for the entire family that aims to meet the needs of local kids heading back to school.