Five Questions with Kendall Ciesemier, Founder of Kids Caring 4 Kids by Cosmogirl.com

Kendall Ciesemier runs cross country, is on student council, writes for the school newspaper, and founded Kids Caring 4 Kids to help needy kids in Africa. Did we mention she's only 16?

July 27, 2022 - HeraldTimesOnline.com 

By Bob Zaltsberg H-T Editor | [email protected] 

Stories worth telling are everywhere.

That’s a key lesson all of the 500 or so teens who attended the annual Indiana University High School Journalism Institute this month should have learned.

One of those stories sat across from me in the Wright Quad dining hall last week when I was there to interact with some of the students.

July 7, 2022 - Daily Herald

The average teenager can only dream of starting a charity, meeting a former president and appearing on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Kendall Ciesemier is not an average teenager.

June 10, 2022 - Business Wire

ST. LOUIS--After months of careful and difficult deliberation by evaluators, including honorary judge, Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” and senior correspondent for “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” on PBS, twelve young leaders from the United States and Canada have risen through the ranks to become the 2009 Huggable Heroes®. 

January 26, 2009 - Suburban Life

Karaoke may not be able to save the world, but students at Hauser Middle School have made the microphone an avenue for children in need.

In front of a packed gymnasium, students belted out their favorite song Friday to raise money for the Kids Caring 4 Kids organization which donates to children orphaned by AIDS in Africa.

December 2008

Kendall Ciesemier can now add author to her growing list of accomplishments. In 2008, she was featured in a book titled You’re Amazing! A No-Pressure Guide to Being Your Best Self by Claire Mysko. 

This empowering book focuses on everyday pressures teen girls face. 

December 2008 - Christianity Today

America's teenagers are up to something. According to a 2005 study by the Corporation for National and Community Service, an estimated 15.5 million U.S. teens—55 percent—participate in volunteer activities. The teen volunteering rate is nearly twice the adult rate of 29 percent.

December 15, 2022 - Daily Herald

If you follow the challenges in Kendall Ciesemier's life, and that of the charity she founded at the wise old age of 11, a pattern emerges.

One bobs, one weaves - interlacing to form a resilient fabric.

As Kendall struggled to recover from two liver transplants in 2004, Kids Caring 4 Kids - launched by her $360 donation - worked toward its modest goal of raising $60,000 for African children affected by AIDS.

September 20, 2022 - TribLocal.com

Kendall Ciesemier distinctly remembers meeting one of her role models, Bono from U2, in eighth grade. He visited the Nordstrom store in Chicago to spread awareness about the new ONE Campaign t-shirt and the Edun clothing line.

“Everyone swarmed him, and I thought ‘I’m not going to get to meet him,’” Kendall reminisced as she sipped passion fruit iced tea lemonade at the Starbucks in downtown Wheaton.

September 2008 - Teen Ink Magazine

Last January I had the opportunity to chat with Kendall Ciesemier, the 15-year-old founder of the Kids Caring 4 Kids organization, which provides impoverished African children with food and education. She appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” last year with former President Bill Clinton, who came to her high school and spoke at a surprise assembly.