Monica Yant Kinney: Helping youngsters get back into extracurriculars

Holiday charitable requests can overwhelm those with big hearts but modest means. Every penny matters in trying times, but surely no one believes a $100 donation will end homelessness or cure cancer.

My second grader desperately wants to protect polar bears from extinction, but how do I break it to her that the $50 we gave in her name was devoured by bureaucracy? How might we, as a family beholden to a budget, perform tangible acts of generosity?

Gene and Michele Rice found a way to make their donations have an impact on a basketball court, in a recording studio, onstage, and on a karate mat - places that children go to pursue passions or even fleeting interests. Because when money is tight or nonexistent, as it is for so many these days, extras are expendable.

"What happens to kids whose parents can't afford piano lessons?" asks Michele, a speech pathologist. "Those kids miss out on moments and mentors," sacrificing life-altering experiences and interactions. The world feels smaller and that much colder.

In 2009, with just $10,000 and no set agenda, the Upper Makefield couple embarked on a recession adventure. This week, their Plant a Seed Inspire a Dream Foundation (www.plantaseedfoundation.org) landed a splashy write-up in People magazine.

The national attention thrills, but the couple grow most animated talking about the ripple effect of small gestures: Next month, one of their charges - a high-functioning autistic 11-year-old - will audition for a competitive music magnet school.

A year ago, the young percussionist had never played a note because his parents could afford neither lessons nor drums.

The power of play

Gene Rice grew up working-class in Long Island using paper-route earnings to help pay his way to basketball camp. "Playing sports built my self-esteem," recalls the 55-year-old recruiting executive. "It gave me a group of like-minded friends and a social network."

Michele came from affluence, but blames "wild" teenage years in part on not having a passion of her own.

The couple's four children all excelled in extracurriculars. But as a businessman and coach in Bucks County, Gene knew that kids from the city and suburbs are increasingly being shut out of opportunities by the economy.

What if he and Michele could fund modest dreams? What if they could partner with inspiring instructors and host annual fund-raisers to make the impossible a reality - say, riding lessons for a year?