LETTERS OF SUPPORT DELIVERED

"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

Jaimiaya with her Friend Mail!

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.

Last month, local NEWS 3 WTKR did a story on on Jaimiaya!

^

^

^

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."

TEACHERS: Simply play this Youtube Video by our ON-AIR TEEN AMBASSADOR, BRIELLE WITHERS, to teach young students all about Jaimiaya!

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.

The organization’s formal legal name is BE A FRIEND PROJECT, INC.

It is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization / Federal Tax ID # 84-2802576.

Any donation to the Be A Friend Project, Inc. is tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law, thank you!