BUILDing Generosity

In today’s episode of the Rise & Build Podcast, we have the joy of welcoming one of our most generous supporters, Charlotte Breiland. Charlotte’s heart for giving has deeply impacted our mission, but what’s even more inspiring is where that heart was formed.She shares with us how simple moments, small acts, and the example of those around her shaped the giver she is today.Charlotte’s perspective reminds us that generosity isn’t just about resources; it’s a posture of the heart and a way of building others that starts early and grows with us.We’re honored to share her story with you. Let’s dive in.

For more Aha Moments visit https://buildingallchildren.org/podcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome! My name is Kendra Morgan, and I'm the host of the Rise and Build Podcast, where we hope to empower you to rise up and build a strong family, knowing you have to strengthen your hands to do the good work. Come with us as we rise and build. Hey you guys, welcome to the Rise and Build Podcast. I am so excited about today. Um, we are talking about generosity. And I think when we think about generosity, we think about giving to others, maybe even tithing in the church. And so sometimes we think that has to do with adults. But today we are talking with one of my favorite guests. Her name is Charlotte Bralin, and we are gonna talk about generosity. So the team, I mean, you guys know the Building All Children team comes together and we talk about different topics. Generosity came up and we wanted to talk about how to teach children about generosity. And in that conversation, Charlotte came up because she has been so giving, and she also has been so giving to building all children. So, Charlotte, I'm so excited to visit with you today and learn a little bit more about you. And I feel like we're all gonna learn a little bit more about your heart and a little bit more about why you are so giving. So, first, I'm just gonna ask you some questions, okay? Got it. First, is there anything that you want our viewers to know about you?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

I'm eight years old. Some things I like to do is play piano and playing dance at the sugar plum ferry, and I love doing theater. I just did my third one. You did?

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Well, what were your uh what were your what was the first one that you did?

SPEAKER_01 1:54

The first one was a year with Frog and Toad.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Oh my goodness. And what part did you play?

SPEAKER_01 1:58

I was a mole.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Nice. Okay, and what about the second one? I gotta know more about this. Second one was a seus call and I got a lead. You did? So kind of a lead. Okay, so each time it sounds like you're getting bigger parts. Okay, because probably you're practicing and learning how to do it.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Two of them I got mics, one of them I did not.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Okay. So if you didn't have a mic, what did you do?

SPEAKER_01 2:21

You had to be very loud.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

You did, so that the the audience could hear you. I love it. Okay, so we are talking about generosity today. Okay. And I said earlier that your name is the one that came up. And I want to talk a little bit about why. So the first time that I met you was last year. Do you remember that?

unknown 2:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Okay, so you remember meeting me out in the lobby. Yes. And you the reason I met you is you brought me a donation, right? Can you talk about, okay, how did you why did you give Building All Children some money?

SPEAKER_01 2:57

I gave Building All Children the money because I had a big event at my school called Marketplace, and I opened a business called Kindness Kitchen by Charlotte. And I sold scotcharos, which are rice crispies covered with peanut butter and chocolate. And then after I thought about it for a little, I would give them the money, and I gave them the Building All Children some money from the marketplace that I got.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Okay, so there's a couple things that caught my interest. Can we talk about the dessert you just talked about? Okay, so where do you have a recipe or is it something you made up?

SPEAKER_01 3:36

So my dad thought of this for me. They were Scotch Roos, all the way from North Dakota where he used to live. Okay. And he would have them like each year for a festival.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

So he had them like was it he had them a lot. I love it. Okay, and so you said they were rice crispy treats with peanut butter, covered with chocolate. Oh my gosh, they sound heavenly.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

They are so good.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

So you would make those and then you would sell those, is that right? Yes. And then you wanted to be generous to building all children, and you give um some of that money that you made back to building all children. Yes. That is the sweetest thing ever. So when I I heard that you had worked hard and that you were wanting to give to Building All Children, and so that was when I met you in the lobby and you gave me the money. And I mean, the cool thing with that, Charlotte, is a hundred percent of that money went back into building children, helping children, which is I think why you wanted to give to us, correct? Okay, so that was last year, and I wrote you a thank you. Did you get that thank you? Okay, I wrote you a thank you because it touched my heart. I thought it was really, really sweet. Well, then this year you stopped by again. I was not here, which I was so sad. Um, but you gave money again to building all children. I couldn't believe it. So this time did you make the same rice crisp? I don't know what they're called. What are they called? Scotcharoos. Scotcharos. Did you make the same thing? What'd you do this time?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

I made scotcharoos this time. Last year I did bracelets.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Okay, so can we talk a little bit about that? I thought there were bracelets somewhere. So last year you did bracelets. So what what were the bracelets? What was that?

SPEAKER_01 5:22

So they were these elastic band bracelets made of rubber bands.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

And like my friend came over to help me make them, and it was made by me and my friend Emmy Porter.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Okay, because she came with you. Did she come with you to give me the money last year? Yes. So I met her also. Um, so can you talk to me about giving and being generous? Why is that important to you?

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Because God likes people helping and everybody being kind to other people.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Yeah. When you give, does it make you feel good?

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

How does it make you feel?

SPEAKER_01 5:59

It makes my heart really, really happy.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Yeah. What else? I mean, I know that you've given Building All Children money before, which we've always said building all children is funded, meaning we receive the support by other people. It's the people give back to the people so that then we can help the people. So you are right in the middle of that, and I'm so grateful. But being generous, is that something your mom and dad taught you?

SPEAKER_01 6:26

They taught me it because we love God and God wants us to do what's right.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Yeah. And so uh let's talk a little bit because being generous just isn't about money, right? Are there other ways that maybe people could be generous?

SPEAKER_01 6:42

So I gave so we were in the car on our road. We were driving home from the playground, I think, and I saw a homeless person, and I asked dad to give him some money, and we did, and we prayed over him and all of the homeless people. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

So it sounds like to me you're kind of observant. Do you know what that means?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

I do not. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

So observant means that you can look around and you notice a need and you want to step in and help that need. Would you say you're observant?

SPEAKER_01 7:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Yeah, I would too. Just by our conversation, it sounds like you are. Let's talk a little bit about your family, right? You have younger siblings, twins. Oh, twins. What is that like?

SPEAKER_01 7:30

I do not really like it, but me and my sister share a room, but I'm fine with that.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Okay, so you've got, but your twins are they a boy and a girl, is that right? Boy, girl. Okay, that's what I thought. Um, so are you do you ever have because you're the oldest, right? You're the which is a big deal and a lot of responsibility. Do you ever have to be generous with your siblings? Yes. Okay, could do you mind talking a little? Like, what do you have to be generous? I mean, because sometimes you can just be generous with your time, um, helping out.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

So I usually have to have patience with them.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Normally, because usually they take a long time for taking what they need. Yeah. And then I usually help them, and then it can go a lot quicker. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

I love that. And they're younger. How old are they?

SPEAKER_01 8:17

They're three years old on Saturday, they're gonna be four.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

Okay, so they're getting a little bit older. Yeah. But you're eight, so there's a there's a difference in that age for sure. Charlotte, I want to talk a little bit more about being generous because our goal with this is we want families to understand how important it is to teach our children to be generous. And you know, I work with children, and so one thing that I believe is I believe it has to be taught. So if we were to, let's say we were to have a family and have some children, and we never taught them to be generous, chances are they might not know how to be generous. They'd be crazy animals. They might be crazy animals, right? And we don't want crazy animals, right? We want we want them to be gentle and we want them to be generous. So have you ever observed, remember that big word observed, have you ever seen your mom be generous to someone?

SPEAKER_01 9:13

My brother and sister.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Oh, she's a good mom. So she is nice with them and she's generous with them. Have you ever seen her maybe buy anyone a gift or help someone out?

SPEAKER_01 9:24

I came with mom's when she bought some clothes and toys for my friend Miss Whitney and Miss Catherine's baby shower.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Okay, so she was part of a baby shower and went and bought a gift. And did you get to go to that shower?

SPEAKER_01 9:40

One I did, one I didn't because I was at a camp out on the second one.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

So the second one you were busy, but the first one you got to go. And when you went to that baby shower, who was it for? Miss Whitney. Miss Whitney. Did Miss Whitney open up some gifts? And when you got to see Miss Whitney open those gifts, was she surprised at some of the gifts?

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Yeah, she was happy during.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

She was kind of crying. Oh, I love that because she was so grateful for everyone being so generous. That's so sweet. Um, what else can you think of when you think of generosity or being giving or being generous?

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Being kind to others.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

Yeah. How can you do that?

SPEAKER_01 10:22

By if someone's on the playground and they're alone, just ask them if they want to play.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

That's nice. Again, kind of seeing someone that might need a friend and going up and being a friend. Okay, Charlotte. I also know that your family is really active in your church, right? Um, could you talk to me a little bit about your church? But first tell me, um, is there a story in the Bible that you would like to share about maybe being generous?

SPEAKER_01 10:49

So the Good Samaritan has a story about this. Once upon a time, centuries ago, there was a man walking on the road, and then a b some bandits came over and caught him. They took his clothes and money and left him to be dead. And then a person walked by and the man who was left to be dead asked for help. And he didn't want to help, so he just kept walking. And then another man came and he didn't help when he said help. And then another man came, a Samaritan. No one likes Samaritans at that time. And then when he asked for help, the Samaritan thought he should be a good friend and help. And he helped him, he got off his donkey and or horse, and he helped the man who was um on the road, and then he took him to a hospital to get him all bandaged, and then he paid for his money when he went as was at the end in the and that's the story of the Samaritan.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

I love it. Tell me why you like that story.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

I like that story because it shows generosity and kindness.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Yeah. And it also shows how you as a person you kind of have two choices, right? You can see a need and just walk by it and do nothing about it, or you can see a need and you can step in and help, right? Which one do you think you would be?

SPEAKER_01 12:16

The second one.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

The one that steps in and helps. Why do you think you would be like that?

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Because at my school, someone had broke her leg at when she uh was on a trampoline and she had a walker, and we decided and me and my friends in my class decided to help her by making her laugh with balloons.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

What? Okay, wait, tell me this story. Why how did she laugh?

SPEAKER_01 12:39

So we blew them up and let them go and said, Go free, Bertie.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

That is funny, and it would just go wild all over the place. That's funny. Did it make you laugh? Yes. What a great way to make her giggle. I bet that made her feel so much better. I love it because we always think generosity is about money, which is really why you got chosen for this, because you've always been so giving to building all children. But Charlotte, you're really generous in a lot of ways. You make people laugh and you spend time with them, you help with your siblings and you give money. And I love the Good Samaritan story and how you like it because it's about helping other people, right? Do you have any idea of what you want to be when you grow up?

SPEAKER_01 13:24

I want to be an Egyptologist or an actor or a makeup artist.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Okay. Talk to me about that. Why would you want to be a makeup artist?

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Because they always make such cool designs because in the Sisquel they did, one of the birds, she had the biggest tail. They made the fanciest one for her. And I decided that I wanted to be a makeup artist.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Okay. So makeup artist or actor, is that right? Okay, well, you're obviously good at that because you're in theater, theater a little bit. So tell me about that. Why would you want to be an actor?

SPEAKER_01 13:57

Well, when I'm an So when you're an actor, you get to go on stage and like do comedies, drama, and like sing songs and dance. And sometimes you get to wear a mic.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

But the mics do not feel good.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

But you don't like the way their mics are?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

They have to tape them here and here, but they rip them off.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Oh yeah, that does probably hurt. It does. But it's so they they can hear your voice and stuff, right? Yeah. And then what was the first one you said? Frog and toad. No, no, not that. The first thing you wanted to be. Egyptologist. What is that?

SPEAKER_01 14:30

So you go to Egypt and you s try to study and find like ever like pharaohs and artifacts from Egypt. Like they're they are like trying to find stuff in from ancient Egypt.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

I love that. How do you know about all that?

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Read books. You've read books about it?

SPEAKER_00 14:51

It just sounds really cool, huh? I love it. Can you talk to me about some of your friends? Tell me what makes a good friend.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

So some of I have a lot of friends. Yeah. So I have one named Audrey, Emmy, Francesca, Melly, Samantha. No, that wasn't her. Um what was her name again? I forgot. That's okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

Um another Charlotte. Another Charlotte. Are these friends from your church or school or neighborhood?

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Some are from most of them are from my church and one of them she does not.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Audrey. Um, so tell me what makes a good friend. Um making good friends is like whenever they are just like sitting by themselves and just waiting for someone. You can just go by and ask them if they would play or be your friend.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Yeah. How long have you lived in Tulsud? Forever. Forever. Okay, that's fun. So I think you moved here when you were pretty little, so you've cried, but probably always have known it as your forever home. Yeah. Okay, Charlotte, can you talk a little bit about let's talk about your dad? You want to talk about your dad? Yeah. Okay. So he was on our podcast once before. So I know him. Um, and he talked about screen time and how you have to be so careful with children and screen time, and he did such a fabulous job. But, girl, I gotcha. Let's talk about your dad, okay? Right. Okay. So have you ever seen your dad give your mom a gift? Has he ever been generous to your mom? Yes. Do you remember a time?

SPEAKER_01 16:34

So it was Mother's Day.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Yeah, Mother's Day.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Mother's Day.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

And he got so he made a letter with him.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

And he wrote Love, Shep, Coco, Charlotte, and Dad.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

And so it was like where she got one day to go to a hotel.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

What? That was the gift he gave her? Okay. Did she open that up? Like how or was it in the letter?

SPEAKER_01 17:04

It was j I just hand I just read it to her. You did.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

So she got one day in a hotel, and what did she do? She just stayed there and relaxed. She relaxed and probably took a bath. She had no kids. What a great gift. That was so thoughtful of him. The funniest part that I read was no kids yelling mom. That's right. That is right. Because I feel like you guys are good at that. You know how to yell mom's name, right? And so she got a gift. I love that he knew that she's such a good mom that it's also sometimes really good moms need a break, right? And so he got her that gift. That was very generous of him, wasn't it? What else? Has your mom ever got your dad a gift? Father's Day, he did. Okay. She did. What did she get him? Do you remember? Two gun cases. Nice. So she got him kind of a boy gift, right? Because she knew that that's probably something he would really like. I like it. Um, have you ever been invited to a birthday party? A hundred times. A hundred times? It's because you have so many friends. Yeah. Yeah. Um, what are some of the gifts you like to get your friends? Well, we mostly get them bracelet kits if they're girls. Okay. Boys cars. Boys like cars. Pretty simple, right? When you're at birthday parties, do you like to watch your friends open the gift that you give them? And when they open it, do you watch and get so excited?

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Like every time I'm at a birthday party, they're like yelling, do mine, do mine, do mine.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Yeah, because they can't wait for that person to open up the gift that you got them, right? Because you take you take time and you think about what to get them and you want to get them something that you know they're gonna enjoy. So it's fun to see them open that gift, right? So can you talk to me about? I mean, I know you were pretty generous, and I know that you worked really hard to donate to Building All Children. Um when you gave that, did you have anything that you expected in return?

SPEAKER_01 19:04

I really hoped you used the money for Tiny Town. Oh. Because when I saw that, I was in love with it.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

For Buildville? Yes. So you've been to Buildville. You've seen the town.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Remember I got the tour.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

I love it. Have you been able to play in Buildville? A long time ago. Okay, we gotta get you back. Do you want to tell our listeners about Buildville?

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Okay, tell them what is it? If I've never seen it. So it's act like whoever's listening to this has never seen it. What is Buildville?

SPEAKER_01 19:34

Buildville is like it's a little town, and they have like vet clinics, restaurants, a house, um, they have a church. That's mostly what I can remember. Ice cream truck, ice cream truck.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

That's always the fun one.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

And you can like go into one of them and act like you're what you do one of the jobs.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

And you can like walk around the street, play the piano that's in the church. You can be the pastor.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

And at the restaurant, there's a little play pad that I like to write on, but everybody kept filling it in with scribbles. Oh, goodness.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

Yeah. Well, some of the ones that come to Buildville, they don't know how to write yet. So they pretend to write. So we built a town for children to come in and play and build just age-appropriate social skills. And one of those is being generous. We want them to um come into the restaurant and serve like they're setting at the table and there's you're serving them their food, and then those people pay for their food and they might leave a tip and be generous. So that's kind of why we created Buildville. It's so fun though, isn't it? Okay, well, we're gonna have if it's been that long, we're gonna have to have you back.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

It's been like I was in like I was like preschool when I went there.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Yeah. Well, if you have that many friends, we're just gonna have to invite all of them.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

And have them come into Buildville, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:04

It should be me and Emmy and Audrey.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Yeah, that'd be so fun. I love it. So Building All Children on our website, and which is buildingallchildren.org, we have a page that says Buildville, or you can click on our events, our calendar, and all of our Buildville times are on the calendar, and you can sign up and come play. So got it. I love that. I love that you brought up Buildville. Um, is there anything else that you want to share about being generous or helping other people?

SPEAKER_01 21:32

I think that's all I can remember right now.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Do you have a favorite scripture about being generous? Do you remember we talked about it earlier?

SPEAKER_01 21:43

God loves a cheerful giver.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Yes. I forgot. No, no, no. God loves a cheerful giver. And it is so important to just slow down in the fast-paced world we live in and watch other people and see a need and step in and and be a part of that person that needs help. And you are really, really, really good at that, Charlotte. Thank you. And I love that you um are on here and you get to teach other children about how to be generous and how to be giving.