By Shaun Delliskave | [email protected]

Kids First joins Kids Eat and Kids Read in the galaxy of Murray-born charities named Kid. Reba Davies, a childcare consultant and Murray resident, has created a distinctive charity that provides grants to organizations that help children within the United States.

Uniquely, Kids First also provides opportunities for au pairs (live-in childcare providers) to go out into the community and perform acts of service. Davies works for Cultural Care Au Pair, an organization that helps au pairs from around the world connect with families that need childcare services. They also assist potential au pairs through the process of obtaining visas, travel insurance and transportation. 

“My role is to find and help families host au pairs and also support the au pairs while they are here in Utah. It is an amazing cultural exchange program that helps make the world smaller through understanding and sharing,” Davies said. “While this is my job to help and support the au pairs and their host families, my company also has a charitable side, Cultural Care Kids First Foundation. I was selected as a member of our Mentor Council for Kids First to help educate my community and colleagues about this organization and also promote it through fundraising, partnerships and more.”

All funds raised by Kids First are matched by Cultural Care Au Pair, which allows everyone to help children, no matter how much they give. They fundraise to support projects and partners all around the globe; they provide grants to US organizations to help children locally and then collaborate with local organizations to help children. 

According to Davies, “Here in Utah, my au pairs and I put together craft kits for The Road Home Family Shelter. The children then used these kits during winter break last year to have something to do while out of school. While we also collected warm winter clothing for the children, our mission is to provide items above the necessities, to help promote education, culture and recreation for children.”

In December, the Kids First au pairs helped Davis County charitable groups with a “Community Christmas” by wrapping boxes for donations. Then the au pairs set up Christmas trees to promote contributions. 

“Last January, I had the opportunity to visit a home for children in state custody near Cabo San Lucas. Casa Hogar is a temporary (hopefully) home for children removed from their parents, but who cannot be adopted (there is no foster system there),” Davies said. “These children are given meals and the basics, but while there, I noticed their small computer lab had many monitors, keyboards, and mice, but only a few actual computers. When I asked about it, they said that the computers had broken or just no longer worked and they could not afford to replace them. My husband and I are now working to raise the money to build small computers for them. My husband will build the computers, and then we will send them to the support organization to deliver. I am hoping to raise funds to send at least five of these, but would love to send the 10 they need.”

Kids First hopes to make connections in Murray and the surrounding areas to let groups know about the grants that can be used for recreation, education or cultural projects. “While I work to find organizations that could use these grants or volunteer hours from myself and my au pairs, I don’t have a huge reach, and I hope to expand it,” Davies said.

Cultural Care Au Pair is a company whose foundation helps fund Kids First grants to provide childcare and cultural exchange program for international au pairs. The au pair lives with the family while providing up to 45 hours of childcare each week, while the organization helps them obtain their visa, provides travel and medical insurance, and secures their transportation. More information regarding Kids First can be found at rdavies.aupairnews.com.