Thanks for checking in! WE DELIVERED!
Brave Jaimiaya received 1,277 LETTERS of peer support on 6/8/19!
Please consider writing our CURRENT Friend Mail Recipient!
From Jaimiaya:
"I appreciate a lot of people giving me love and support after all I've been through! I appreciate it all, truly. I feel very happy right now..."
JAIMIAYA'S SURPRISE DELIVERY & THANK-YOU TO AMBASSADOR'S:
6th Grade burn and bullying survivor, Jaimiaya, gets surprised by her mom with a delivery of 1,118 letters from Be-A-Friend Project Ambassadors in a fun family presentation at home in Virginia, June 8th, 2019. You are not alone, Jaimiaya! There are more friends than bullies out in the world! Video includes a clip of support from our amazing Friend Mail Recipient, AYDEN:
Here is the SURPRISE VIDEO that Jaimiaya is watching from Executive Director, Jennifer - including clips from Cornwall, NY, Teens and past recipient, adorable AYDEN:
Some of the 1,277 letters, writers - and reviewers:
UPDATE!!
JAMIAYA, FROM RECIPIENT TO AMBASSADOR:
Jaimiaya has stepped into the role of Official Ambassador for the Be A Friend Project, generously gifting new Recipients with her amazingly COOL art from the heart and a personal gift that connects with their story. Nothing validates our mission more than past Recipients standing up and reaching out to bring support to keep other victims of bullying FRIEND STRONG!!! We love you, Jaimiaya!❤️❤️💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾THANK YOU!!
~JAIMIAYA'S STORY~
Original Post
THIS YOUTUBE INTRODUCTION OF JAIMIAYA is a good choice for young students!
~ By On-Air Teen Super Ambassador, Brielle Withers:
4-year-old Virginia girl survives burn accident,
but 8 years later, the deepest scars are left by the bullies
who called her skin "ugly."
4-year-old Jaimiaya accidentally pulled over a large bucket of boiling water onto herself at her grandparents' house and received 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 30% of her body. Despite several surgeries and skin grafts, doctors didn't know if she would ever regain full use of her hands. Jaimiaya missed 4 months of pre-school, and her mom said in a NEWS 3 WTKR interview in February of this year, “When she did go back to school, the kids were being mean to her. They were picking on her because her skin looked different than everybody else’s."
Now 12 and in the 6th Grade, Jaimiaya has regained use of her hands but still must travel from the Virginia coast to Ohio for treatment with specialists. Despite long absences and painful treatments, Jaimiaya remained an honor roll student and was even once the only child in her 1st grade to make the "A" HONOR ROLL! Yet, from Kindergarten through 2nd Grade, Jaimiaya would often come home in tears that broke her mother's heart. Her classmates and older kids in the elementary school that she didn't even know, would push on her, call her "UGLY" and "BAD." They'd say, "Your skin is disgusting" and they'd scream "Don't touch me!" One 5th Grade boy constantly threatened her on purpose to make her cry. For the longest time, Jaimiaya didn't tell her mother because this boy threatened to beat up her mother, too, if she told.
But Jaimiaya's mom found out, and once she did, she went to the administration, again. The 5th grade boy was suspended but then, like all bullies, he quickly came back. The name calling and social isolation from classmates continued and Jaimiaya's mom felt she had no choice but to remove her daughter from the school in order to protect her. Starting in 3rd Grade, Jaimiaya has been enrolled in an on-line school at home.
Since enrolling in an on-line school in 3rd Grade, Jaimiaya has not been bullied, but this is not because the bullying "stopped"... It's because she was taken out of its reach, and at 12, she is not allowed on social media either. We selected Jaimiaya for FRIEND MAIL because her story shows how the emotional wounds of bullying take a long time to heal - and this 6th Grader needs our support! The words of the bullies are still in her mind like it was just yesterday. Just a few examples of how being bullied still affects Jaimiaya's life... Jaimiaya does not have any friends that come over to play or hang out.
She has no friends outside of her family, only on-line. Jaimiaya says SHE IS NOT READY TO RETURN TO SCHOOL, AFRAID IT WILL BE THE SAME THING WITH UNBEARABLE BULLYING. "I don't like the way I look, I'm ugly," she'll say to her mom, believing the mean words of her bullies, and needs lots of reassurance.
This is where YOU come in!!! :)
Let's make JAIMIAYA FRIEND STRONG!
Let her know that she is beautiful inside and out!
Let her know she has PEER SUPPORT!
Change one life and you can change the world!
Some cool things about Jaimiaya... She loves to draw and wants to be an artist when she grows up! Even when struggling to use her fingers, she would draw pictures for her classmates at their request back in elementary school. She also likes to play video games which are a part of her physical therapy and she likes to babysit!