Bringing awareness of RMHC at a local trade show with other great volunteers!

Left to Right: Andrew, Me, John, Carol

I was honored to be hosted on Public Storyteller/ WLRN MPR Radio with Caren Nelie and Michael Stock 91.3 FM. So grateful for all of the support!

Audio: http://www.thepublicstoryteller.org/folkandacousticmusic/Segments/Entries/2014/8/11_Lexi_Masciarella_-_Tabz4charity.html

I have always been my brother's little sister. The little girl who had some HUGE shoes to fill. Little did anyone know, I am someone who can make a huge difference in this world with some string and some tin tabs. A simple idea that shaped the person I am today and the way I view those who are less fortunate than I am. This is how my simple idea boomed into an organization that has raised over $5,000 dollars for charity in three years.

The charity was very important to me for many reasons. The number one reason was because of a young boy I met named Raheim at the Ft. Lauderdale House back in the third grade. He was sweet as pie and would make your heart melt with every word that came out of his mouth. The only difference with Raheim was that he wasn't as healthy as other children. He would be in and out of hospitals, and sometimes even in death's reach. This little boy was a trooper. He fully recovered and returned back to his home in the Caicos Islands in 2012.

Anyway, I knew that I had to do something for Raheim and all of the other children who were less fortunate then him. Like any other teenager would do, I automatically went on the computer and typed "tin tabs" in the search bar. Millions of hits came up, but my eyes zoned in on "tin tab bracelets" and I clicked. I watched a video of some girl trying to teach the world how to make these trendy bracelets. The only problem was that they were scratchy, uncomfortable, and broke easily. With all of these problems in the way, I persisted through to fix all of them and create the first ever tabz4charity bracelet. Little did I know, that bracelet was the start of a journey. I later debuted a few of my bracelets at my sixth grade Charity Fair. They ALL sold out in an hour. Parents, students, and teachers were amazed at the effort I put into these bracelets and how cute they turned out. I was even asked back to sell more of the bracelets at a school concert. I was shocked, thinking that this was a one time deal and then I would probably be lucky if one sold. That was when I realized that I had something.

Developing and improving my brand has been a long and tedious process. For the past two years, I have been working my butt off to make these bracelets unlike what anyone has ever seen. My bracelets have been sold from Christmas Fairs to the annual Ronald McDonald House's Home for the Holidays Events. I have so far raised over 5,000 dollars for the charity and I will continue this for the rest of my life. Also, I am currently creating a website where I can sell my bracelets, unfortunately it is under construction. But I have a dream much bigger than to be in a few newspapers or magazines. I want the world to know and have my bracelets. I want big celebrities like Naya Rivera, Katy Perry, and Justin Timberlake wearing them and supporting my organization. I want other students to become inspired and do something good for our world because I think we already have enough bad. I want the world to know that a young girl can make a charitable difference in the world in a unique way. In a nut shell, tabz4charity is an organization I created where I make and sell fashionable tin tab bracelets and give the proceeds to charity.

In this blog, I will be posting pictures of my bracelets, events, and other important things that are going on with my organization. All of my bracelets are made out of RECYCLED materials, the proceeds go to CHARITY, and they are all made with LOVE. What do you think about my dream? Any kind of feedback is greatly appreciated!