JOPLIN, Mo. — Helping kids reach their full potential. It’s a program in southwest Missouri that literally bears the name.
We take a look at how the Full Potential program can impact a child’s life:
“It takes a village, you know what I mean,” said Candace Carroll.
And her village showed up through a program called Full Potential.
“I’m one that doesn’t like help, so it’s kinda hard when you’re in that spot and you’re like, ‘what am I gonna do?’ and she wants to do all this, you know,” said Carroll.
Nine surgeries in the last eight years has created financial hardships for Candace and her family.
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“My aunt told me about the program. That’s who first told me about it. So, we signed up that year for basketball not knowing if we would get the help or not. And they actually paid the whole fee that year, and the shoes, and everything.”
“I like to do volleyball, and especially basketball. And I like to do tumbling,” said Kamika Carroll.
Candace enrolled her daughter Kamika in the program. Her medical issues have left her unable to work, and with medical bills and three kids, the Full Potential program helped cover fees and equipment costs so Kamika could just be a kid.
“At that point, I had had many hardships, so just giving her a sense of normalcy was just, you know, it took a lot of weigh off my shoulders,” said Carroll.
“It means a lot to me because some kids are not able to play sports like that and it might make them feel left out, so I’m happy that it doesn’t make other people feel like that if they’re with the program,” said Kamika.
The program helps any kid — from any financial background — participate in the sport or activity they dream about. A dream Candace never got to fulfill as a child, but she’s breaking that cycle.
“My aunt may have come to a couple of things, but nobody ever showed up for me, so I show up for her,” said Carroll.
“It made me feel happy for her to not have so much stress on her shoulders about stuff that I wanted to do, and know that she had other things to worry about like bills and stuff like that,” added Kamika.
Alliance of Southwest Missouri staff said the perfect opportunity to make a donation to support the Full Potential program is coming up in two weeks.
Giving Tuesday will be November, 28. We have the link to donate here.
