Kindling Minds

02/05/2026

💜 Happy National School Counselors Week! 💜

This week, we want to take a moment to say thank you to the incredible school counselors at our partner schools who support our work and, most importantly, the students they serve every single day.

School counselors are often the primary point of connection for our programs and are instrumental in supporting teens and pre-teens through both everyday challenges and life’s hardest moments. They are the ones who consistently advocate for students, championing innovative, student-centered wellness supports and saying yes to new ideas when students need them most.

From welcoming PAWS Team support dogs into schools, to embracing mindful arts programming, and coordinating nature-based experiences like field trips to alpaca farms, school counselors lead with creativity, compassion, and courage. Their willingness to think beyond traditional approaches helps ensure students feel seen, supported, and connected.

We are deeply grateful for their partnership, trust, and unwavering dedication to student mental wellness. Thank you for all you do, this week and always! 🐾🎨🦙

02/03/2026

💛🐾 In loving memory of Rufus 🐾💛

With heavy hearts, we share the passing of Rufus, one of our beloved PAWS Team wellness support dogs. Rufus embodied the classic golden retriever spirit — calm, sweet, and gentle — and shared that steady presence with countless school students over the years.

Rufus was one of our very first PAWS Team dogs, supporting students from the early days of our mission and helping shape the heart of the work we do today. His quiet comfort, kind eyes, and unwavering love left a lasting impression on everyone he met.

We are deeply grateful to Rufus’s family - including his golden brother Finley, his alpaca brothers, and his humans - who continue to generously support Kindling Minds and our mission.

Rufus’s spirit will live on in our program for many years to come, in every moment of calm, connection, and compassion we’re able to offer students because of dogs like him.

Thank you, Rufus, for everything. 🤍💐

01/29/2026

🛍️ Our Kindling Minds Apparel Store is OPEN!

T-shirts. Hoodies. Travel mugs. OH MY! ☕👕
All with one purpose: supporting youth mental wellness.

💙 Every purchase helps fund our mission
🛒 Shop via the comments below or on our website

Thank you for being part of the Kindling Minds community. 💙

Check out Kindling Minds on Bonfire and shop official merchandise today! Featuring limited edition custom apparel, printed with care in the USA just for you.

01/27/2026

✨ 2026 is off to a great start! ✨

Our handler–dog teams were so excited to reunite with students after winter break and have already been busy catching up, building connections, and creating a little magic during our school programs. 🐾💙

Moments like these remind us how powerful connection can be for student mental wellness—and how meaningful it is to be back together in our schools.

Drop a 🐾 in the comments to welcome our teams back!

🐾

01/22/2026

Please join us in welcoming Kirstin Foster and her dog, Harley Ann, as our newest handler–dog team! We are so excited to have them join the team and know they will make meaningful connections with students and community partners. 💙

We’re also celebrating Lauren and April, who just passed their PAWS renewal evaluation and look forward to continuing their impact on student mental wellness in 2026.

Interested in volunteering with Kindling Minds?
👇 Comment VOLUNTEER below and we’ll DM you a link with more information on how to get involved! 🐾

🐾

01/20/2026

🎉 We’re thrilled to share some exciting news! 🎉

Kindling Minds has received a $5,000 support grant from The Alan & Linda Cohen Family Foundation!

This generous funding will directly support our mission and help strengthen our impact on youth mental wellness in our community. We are deeply grateful for partners who believe in the importance of connection, resilience, and mental health support for young people! 💙

Thank you, Alan & Linda Cohen Family Foundation, for investing in our work and the students we serve.

01/15/2026

With heavy hearts, we share the passing of one of our beloved wellness support dogs, Shadow. 🖤🐾

Shadow and Cece regularly volunteered at Options Westfield, where Shadow’s gentle, intuitive nature created deep connections with students. He had a quiet way of knowing exactly who needed him most—and he showed up with unconditional love every time!

Shadow will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. Thank you, Shadow, for the comfort, calm, and compassion you gave so freely. 🤍

01/13/2026

✨ We did it! Thank you! ✨

Our community showed up in a big way. Thanks to your generosity, Kindling Minds raised $26,000 during our End-of-Year Campaign, exceeding our $20,000 goal and setting us up for a strong start to 2026.

We are especially grateful to our founder, Nancy Elbert, and her children for their $2,000 matching gift, which helped us cross the finish line. And to everyone who donated when the match was announced — we truly see you and appreciate you.

Your support allows us to continue our important work helping teens and pre-teens in central Indiana build resilience and improve mental wellness through research-informed programs rooted in meaningful connection — with animals, nature, and art.

Didn’t get a chance to donate? That’s okay…you still can.
Didn’t get a chance to sign up as a PAWS Team volunteer? That’s okay…you still can. 🐾

Here’s to a healthy, impactful, and meaningful 2026 for our kids and our community. 🥂

kindlingminds.org www.kindlingminds.org

01/01/2026

🎊 Happy New Year from Kindling Minds!

THANK YOU for supporting our mission in 2025 to nurture youth mental wellness through mindful arts, nature, and the human–animal connection.

In 2026, we’re excited to bring even more calm, connection, and joy to the young people we serve. Here’s to a year filled with hope and brighter minds. 🩷

12/30/2025

We're almost at the end of the change to give in 2025 — and we are SO close to our goal. 💜✨

🔥 Ignite hope here: https://loom.ly/9W2xnT0

Every dollar you give helps bring calm, connection, and emotional support to young people who desperately need it. Through Mindful Arts, nature-based experiences, and our PAWS teams, Kindling Minds is creating moments of safety and joy in an age of overwhelming disconnection.

If you’ve been thinking about donating, now is the moment.

🫶 Your gift today could be the one that pushes us over the finish line — and makes a life-changing difference for a child.

12/25/2025

Sending warm wishes from all of us at Kindling Minds, however you celebrate this season. 🩷

12/23/2025

Hi friends, it’s Beethvon 🐾

Kids today really need joyful, calming, and supportive moments woven into their school day — and that’s exactly what I get to bring when I visit with Kindling Minds. ❤️

To keep visits like mine going, Kindling Minds needs your support.
Please consider an end-of-year donation to help me and my mom keep showing up for the kids who need us most.

🫶 Your gift makes a real difference: https://loom.ly/9W2xnT0