Today we’d like to introduce you to Kari Kron Schmitz.
Hi Kari, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
The two people who influenced me most in my life are my parents, Jon and Nancy Kron, who were both educators. Unfortunately, I lost them both in my twenties, and I had always wanted to find a way to carry on their impact with children. After a 30+ year career in the corporate world and feeling like I hadn’t done enough to help others (like my parents had through teaching), I wanted to find a way to give back. Luckily, my husband, Tad, and I are very entrepreneurial by nature, so we decided to create a charity of our own. (We were also inspired by Tad’s folks, as they run a very successful non-profit in Illinois.) Through some brainstorming and a wish to implement a unique concept, we connected my mother’s career (– being a reading specialist), my father’s work (he had a doctorate in education) – and Tad’s grandfather, whose name is Teddy. Thus, we combined two ways to bring comfort to children: teddy bears and books. We officially started Bears Who Care 13 years ago with 50 teddy bears and 50 books and have grown it organically to where we’ve distributed teddy bears and books to over 20,000 children through schools, hospitals, churches and more.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Running a charity is a very fulfilling role to play, especially when I have the opportunity to meet and engage with the children who receive the teddy bears and books from Bears Who Care. Forming the charity and filing it in the proper way is definitely not an easy task – we are a 501(c)(3) organization which is officially registered by the U.S. government and allows people to have tax benefits as appropriate. Thankfully, there are companies that specifically help non-profits and understand the importance of giving back. Other than that, probably our biggest struggle is building awareness for what we do (with limited funds for marketing) and finding the time to dedicate to Bears Who Care. Many people can identify with wanting to volunteer and do more but then have to balance that with full-time work, having a personal life, etc. Again, by finding people who want to help and support us, we are able to do more than we ever imagined – we started our “OktoBEARfest” 5K Fun Run & Festival in 2018 in Winter Garden, FL (near our Hamlin community), and that was quite a challenge (in a good way, of course)! At first, I was handling most of the work but now have found much more help to make it better and better, like the one for this year on Sunday, October 24, which is in-person and virtual. Of course, COVID has probably been our biggest obstacle because we couldn’t visit any schools, which is where we spend most of our time. We managed to distribute teddy bears and books at local hospitals and provided gift cards for supplies to local homeless families. And our 2020 OktoBEARfest turned into a virtual event, since we wanted to keep the tradition alive, and managed to raise over $22,000!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My professional background is in marketing and public relations, and the majority of my career has been with various divisions of The Walt Disney Company. I’m very fortunate to have worked in the brand marketing, promotions, corporate partnerships and public relations fields for over 30 years for other distinguished brands, like Rollerblade, Inc., General Mills and Universal Orlando Resort. I am now working for an amazing company, Nepris, which virtually connects industry and other professionals with educators to bring real-world learning and career exposure to students in classrooms across the country.
I was also a co-executive producer for the award-winning Rick Springfield fan documentary, “An Affair of the Heart” – a project of which I am very proud – which was released in 2011. And aside from Bears Who Care and the impact that makes on children within Central Florida (and hopefully someday around the U.S.) my proudest accomplishment is being a mother to my 13-year old daughter, Gwen, whom I hope will carry on with our family tradition of helping give children the gift of reading. What sets me apart from others is my ability to listen and never judge anyone who opens up to me. Like my mother, I am very approachable and completely trustworthy, and I pride myself on that. I also work hard and try to give every project I do, whether it’s for my employer or my own organization, my very best work and effort.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I like best about Orlando is how it’s just big enough to feel like a hometown where I will run into people I know but yet, it offers so much of what a big city does (culture, nightlife, sports). I think of it as perfectly sized! We have unique suburbs and mini downtown areas with lots of character and small businesses. And how lucky we are to have such amazing theme parks and entertainment! What I like least is the additional traffic and how busy venues can be because of the tourist influx, but at the same time, we need their spending to help keep the Orlando area the beautiful city that it is. I also think that most people who visit only think of Orlando as the tourist experiences, when there is so much more they don’t ever get to see.
Pricing:
- 2021 OktoBEARfest 5K for Adults: $35
- 2021 OktoBEARfest 1K for Children: $20
Contact Info:
- Email: kari@bearswhocare.org
- Website: BearsWhoCare.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bearswhocare_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BearsWhoCare/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BearsWhoCare
- Other: https://vimeo.com/78926898
Image Credits
Bears Who Care
