Talk about paying it forward. Karen Klein, the 69-year-old upstate New York bus monitor whose horrific harassment by a crew of middle school boys was caught on video back in June isn’t just kicking back with the money that came her way thanks to a campaign by Reddit user Max Sidorov to send her on vacation. Indeed, a trip to Disneyland won’t keep someone else from being bullied, so Klein’s putting $100,000 of the donated cash toward starting the Karen Klein Anti-Bullying Foundation.
More than 32,000 people donated to Klein who says she was inspired by the acts of kindness and love shown to her. Now she hopes to create a “gathering point for millions of people to support the anti-bullying movement” and “change the world.” The foundation will fund anti-bullying counseling in schools, create an “educational curriculum that will teach about Bullying and what each of us can do to stop it, support like-minded organizations that are working to stop bullying, and “develop new media assets that will” help the cause. First up for the foundation is the No Bully Tour 2012, a music tour designed to raise awareness of the problem.
Since Klein launched her foundation through GiveBack.org, it won’t be swallowed by overhead or administrative costs. “Any money that is granted from the foundation will be given to causes that support our mission,” says Klein. “If we were able to raise $700,000 for one person (me),” says Klein, “I am sure we can raise thousands more for kids who are bullied every day.”
Photo via Karen Klein Anti-Bullying Foundation
