Meet Sandy Ciaramitaro

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sandy Ciaramitaro. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sandy below.

Sandy, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?
Generosity was instilled in me as a very young child. Throughout any typical year, we would get through the mail a number of charity organization envelopes asking for donations for various causes. My mom would send a donation to every single one. My dad would say, “Just pick one or two; you don’t have to send to all of them.” But my mom said, “No, I am grateful that we are fine, our kids are healthy and life is good for us.” My dad understood because he was very generous as well. My parents modeled generosity for me, which was part of who they were.

It became part of who I am, too. I realized at a young age that the life we had was good, and it also opened my eyes to those who were suffering. It made me want to make a difference for people.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am mission and brand driven! It all started with the children’s books I wrote. They were originally published in 2012 and 2013, with a relaunch in 2022. The books are a three-part series that help kids (ages 5-12) learn the importance of virtues, diversity, and service. Book 1, The Good Eggs, explores 12 virtues in a fun and relatable way for kids. Book 2, The Good Eggs Travel the World, has the Eggs taking a trip around the world to learn about customs and culture from various countries, and Book 3, The Good Eggs in the Community, brings them back to their town of Albumen to learn the importance of serving their community. It’s a fun and innovative way to incorporate kindness and empathy at a young age!

In 2019, I wanted to put the books into action, so I created my nonprofit, The Good Eggs Foundation, which helps kids in our local area of Detroit with basic needs, such as bedding, clothing, educational material, and anything else they may need. Each month I “egg” an organization that is helping children. I contact them to ask what their need may be for the month and I say “you’ve been egged!” I try to get them what they need at the time. My outreach also extends to families in need. Eventually, I would love to expand my nonprofit to the entire country and even the world! Book sales, events and donations help to fund the nonprofit.

New this year, we are featuring Reading Nests, which consist of a bean bag chair, a set of Good Eggs Books, a pencil, bookmark, word search and crossword puzzles, a squishy egg toy, and an SEL tip card. These can be purchased for your own children or donated to an organization, where I will “egg” them. All of this information is on our website, www.thegoodeggs.org, or you can fill out the contact information with any questions and I will get back to you ASAP.

But there’s more to The Good Eggs! I have also completed a 12-part video series of Book 1 (one video per chapter). These have been picked up by The Michigan Learning Channel, an affiliate of PBS, which is very exciting! I am currently seeking funding to get them redone in vector art, and also to start on videos for Books 2 and 3.

AND – there is also a Parent Blog which journeys through the books at an adult level. They are very short 1-2 minute reads once a month.

AND – I also have a children’s podcast, which is like an audio book, so kids can also listen to The Good Eggs as well as read about them.

AND – I have also created lesson plans for each chapter of the books for parents and teachers to get involved with their kids using some fun activities!

Some upcoming events include a Cannoli Festa (Sept 8-9) sponsored by Livonia Italian Bakery, where a portion of every cannoli sold will be donated to The Good Eggs Foundation.

We are also participating in The Rocket Mortgage Community Challenge (Aug 14 – Sept 8), where anyone can donate online to our foundation and we can win prizes!

All of this information, including links, is available on our website, https://www.thegoodeggs.org

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I would say creativity, vision/drive, and empathy impacted me most.

I have really explored my creativity with The Good Eggs, as I have expanded it more and more each year. The characters in the books all have “egg” in their name, such as Reggie, Seggourney, Megg, Greggory, Peggy, and Benedict. And their teacher’s name is Ms. Poach (my alter ego!) It has been a great joy to take these characters through three years of their lives and create situations where other kids can learn and grow, too!

As for vision/drive, roadblocks are everywhere but you have to be resilient and keep going. I truly believe in The Good Eggs and I know they are having an impact. I get notes and emails from parents and teachers telling me how they see their children emulating some of the concepts in the books. That keeps me going! I have a vision of The Good Eggs being made into a children’s stage show (similar to Sesame Street Live) and kids enjoying them everywhere around the world!

Empathy is constantly present in my life as I try to put myself in others’ shoes and see how they are feeling. I also have life experiences that have stayed with me that created a deeper sense of empathy for others experiencing the same situations. This is a major driving force for how I live my life. I try to put more understanding and kindness into the world, and the hope is that kids reading the books will naturally incorporate these universal concepts into their lives as well, like I did when I was young by watching my parents.

Some advice I would give if you are early in your journey would be to look deep inside yourself and see if your heart and head match your actions. If they do, then follow that. If they don’t, try to analyze what you need to do to get them in sync; then things will fall into place. If you truly believe in what you are doing, then don’t give up. It will become part of who you are. Another piece of advice I can give is to be open to others’ ideas. Sometimes when we feel stuck, we just need to get a fresh perspective and look at a situation from a different angle. Things will then open up again.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
As I stated earlier, I am looking to take The Good Eggs to the next level. Sponsorship is always welcome! For example, if an egg farm or farm in general had the book characters as “spokes eggs” for their product, I know it would take off! The Eggs can fit into many areas of sponsorship, such as libraries, corporate industries, farming, DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging) initiatives, SEL (Social Emotional Learning) initiatives, law firms, the list goes on! Getting creative with advertising and sponsorship using The Good Eggs will present a positive marketing campaign with social impact!

I also have a vision of getting The Good Eggs made into three feature films (one for each book) that children can go to the movie theaters to see, having plushes created, and any other merchandise we can come up with. As I mentioned before, a live stage show of The Good Eggs would also be a hit! We have a beautiful Fox Theater here in Detroit where I envision the first show to take place – from there, the sky’s the limit!

Of course, I am always open to other ideas that would catapult the Eggs into the wider world!

Any collaboration is open to discussion and they can collaborate with me through my website, https://www.thegoodeggs.org, and my email: [email protected]

Contact Info:

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