Piedmont Student Maddox Wilson’s Nonprofit Comforts Kids in Distress with Calm Kits

Inspiration often comes from the most unexpected of places — for Maddox Wilson, a Piedmont student from Flowery Branch, a conversation with a friend’s family member sparked the idea for an entire nonprofit.

“My best friend’s brother-in-law is a police officer,” Maddox says, “and he talked about how hard it was when he had to take kids from their parents because they’re so scared and upset.”

These children, according to the officer, sometimes picked up after a traumatizing event, almost always had a hard time trusting the officer who took them from their parents — sometimes, they were so young that they did not understand why they had to leave their family behind. Maddox’s contact said he would normally try to take the kids to a drive-thru to get them food and soothe them, but sometimes that was not enough.

After this conversation, Maddox — then a senior in high school — knew what she was going to do. As a member of DECA, she was responsible for planning and executing a business or nonprofit plan over the course of the year as a final project. Using the officer’s words as a guide, she got to work creating her nonprofit, creating and distributing what she dubbed Calm Kits.

The kits, given to local police and fire departments, contain a small snack and water bottle, a coloring book and crayons, and a stuffed animal. The hope, Maddox says, is that children who encounter first responders will now have some items that can calm them down and provide comfort. All of the items are the children’s to keep, so that they get to have some items all their own for whatever comes next.

 Collecting the supplies and assembling the kits, Maddox says, was a challenge.

“Me, my mom, and my friend [who co-ran the nonprofit] did most of the heavy lifting,” says Maddox, though over the course of the year, around 50 volunteers helped in various ways. The biggest job was collecting, cleaning, and repairing the stuffed animals donated to go in the kits.

“Some of the [teddy] bears had small holes or rips, and some had stains,” says Maddox. “We wanted to be able to use all of the donations, so we spent a lot of time sewing them up and cleaning them.”

Their efforts paid off greatly; they were able to distribute hundreds of kits around their community. One police department alone received over 200 kits. The officers who received the Calm Kits believe their supply could last for years to come, positively impacting the lives of scores of children in difficult situations.

Amid the nonprofit work, Maddox made her decision to attend Piedmont after touring campus with her teacher, an alum. Maddox’s mom pushed her daughter to apply to SAIL after she learned about it in an email sent to parents. Maddox, busy with her nonprofit and hesitant, did not initially want to do it, but relented after hearing good things about the program. Now, after a year, she agrees that the program was essential in easing the transition to college. Her experience was so great that she has applied to serve as a SAIL Navigator in the upcoming year.

While Maddox embarks on her college journey, Calm Kits is on temporary hold. The supplies created during her senior year of high school are plenty of stock for now. However, when the kits run low, Maddox is interested in starting the nonprofit back up.

“I think it will really help a lot of kids,” she says, “and helping people is my goal.” As she works towards becoming a life-flight nurse and continues her Calm Kits advocacy, there is no doubt that helping people is exactly what she is doing.

To learn more about SAIL, click here.