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Meet Kimberly Cabral of MASK (Mothers Awareness on School-age Kids)

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Cabral.

Kimberly, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started MASK ten years ago. I was a stay at home mom with a blended family of 5. My two oldest at the time was in 6th and 4th grade. One day in the car I brought up one of those tough to talk about subjects “sex” to my 6th grader. I was never talked to about sex, but as a mom I wanted to have those types of conversations available and open to discuss with my children. That conversation that day opened my eyes to what kids were doing, and being exposed to. While my son hadn’t participated in anything, kids were smoking pot, oral sex, and sniffing hand sanitizer. I couldn’t believe that these types of behaviors were going on and I was a stay at home mom who volunteered in school, was active in parenting classes, basically I was an involved parent, and here I had no idea what was going on in the day in a life of a child.

I then started to do research trying to educate myself, talked with counselors, police departments, therapist trying to understand this world that our children are living in. I looked into other non-profits but at the time they were topic specific and only started educating in middle and high school. After what I just learned about the behaviors actually starting in the elementary years and knowing we are most impressionable as parents in those young years, I asked myself “why aren’t we educating them as they grow?” Topics such as bullying, substance abuse, self-esteem all need to be talked about, not just one, and not just once either. When those words came from my breath I decided to start an organization that talked about all the issues that can effect children and families and one that would be comprehensive, educational and truly prevention based. MASK was formed from that car ride and today provide year long, multiyear programs, and a quarterly parenting magazine to help engage, educate and empower children and families.

Has it been a smooth road?
Starting anything from scratch has its bumps in the road. Those bumps though can be great opportunities for learning and growth. Operating a non-profit that is focused on prevention is sometimes hard to gain monetary support because as a society we like to put band-aides on problems. When in reality prevention is key for the success for today’s youth.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the MASK (Mothers Awareness on School-age Kids) story. Tell us more about the business.
MASK (Mothers Awareness on School-age Kids). MASK is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization created in 2007 by a group of dedicated mothers who recognized the need to consistently educate families on rapidly changing issues. MASK’s mission is to educate parents, children and the community about the issues facing our youth and to empower children to make safe, healthy choices.

MASK fulfills its mission by engaging, educating and empowering families through the MASK E3 Institute, MASK The Magazine and our vastly informative website. The MASK E3 Institute is a comprehensive, year-long, multi-year approach to building and strengthening life skills for children, including MASK Academy (kindergarten to 6th grade), MASK Prep (middle and high school), MASK Leadership (college) and Parent University.

Through these platforms MASK aims to build healthy children, strengthen parent-child bonds and improve school climate. MASK tackles important topics – from drugs and alcohol to bullying, Internet safety, and all the modern-day challenges families face – and gives students, parents and the community knowledge and tools to manage them.

We are most proud of MASK the Magazine that was launched in 2011, the first issue was recognized in the national magazine industry as one of the 15 hottest launches. We are also proud and what sets us apart is the way we have designed and developed our programming. Our programming is built through a multi-model approach where we have included mindfulness, science, storytelling music and movement in delivering our message to students. We are building and strengthening life skills for children.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
MASK plan in go national with our programs and MASK the Magazine. We live in a world today that is very complex and distracting for youth. With technology, stress, and the lack of coping skills every child, community and family needs the services we are providing. No family, no zip code in immune. MASK is striving to develop and deliver conveniently for families.

Pricing:

  • MASK the Magazine : Quarterly publication $24 year
  • MASK Parent University $99 year 3 sessions with subscription to magazine
  • MASK Academy (Elementary Age Programs and MASK Prep( Junior and High School Programming) call for details

Contact Info:

 Image Credit:
Greggo Photography

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