Kindhumans Profile: A few kind questions with WeGo Foundation Founders

Kindhumans Profile: A few kind questions with WeGo Foundation Founders

Rebekah and Thibert, founders of WeGo Foundation believe we are all born with a purpose. In Hawaii it is called your Kuleana, or responsibility. Their motivation in starting the WeGo! Foundation is to fulfill that responsibility by being good stewards of youth in their own community. – KH

1. Tell us about yourself, Rebekah!

I am blessed to live in a special place—Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. I was born and raised here and no matter where I travel, this is my home. My parents moved here from the mainland when my older sister was just three months old. My husband Thibert moved to Hawaii from Tahiti when he was just a young boy. Here on the Hawaiian islands, the ocean is our playground. Living with the mountains and the ocean within a very short distance in each direction, we have the best of both mauka and makai living.

One of the most fulfilling passions in my life is giving back. It is the simple things like spending quality time with family and friends and doing anything adventurous in nature that makes me feel most content. Time is the one gift you can never get back. So when I either give or get some quality time, I know it matters.

Being a competitive athlete, I played soccer and ran track in middle and high school. After high school, I ran marathons and triathlons to cross train for outrigger canoe paddling. Paddling took my husband and I all over the world to compete in various long distance and sprint events. My professional background is in Sports Medicine and I spent over 10 years working as the Athletic Health Care Trainer at our local high school here in Kona.

After becoming a mom to my beautiful son and daughter, I have since changed my career so that I can be available to raise my children. Although keeping young people involved in athletics to help keep them off the streets has always been my passion, having my own kids is part of the next chapter of my life.

A couple fun facts about myself (seeing that I am an adrenaline junky) is that I bungee jumped over Taupo River in New Zealand and hang glided in Italy.

 

2. What is the motivation and inspiration behind We Go Foundation and why did you start it?

I truly believe we are all born with a purpose. Here in Hawaii it is called your Kuleana, or responsibility. Our motivation in starting the WeGo! Foundation is to fulfill that responsibility by being good stewards of youth in our own community. To whom more is given, more is expected. Not necessarily just financial means, but more importantly, using those personal gifts and connections that we have, to touch and positively impact other people’s lives. The desire to start a non profit organization to help at-risk youth, was planted many years ago.

As my husband Thibert and I competed and coached in our various sports, we saw the need all around us. Coming from a childhood with not much direction, Thibert was lucky enough to have guidance from some amazing uncles and coaches. His personal story is a living example of how sports and good mentorship helped changed the direction of his life. We have volunteered and done this type of work through other organizations for many years. Through our jobs, we have been able to build relationships with many people who want to give back, but they want to do it through someone they trust. WeGo! was COVID-birthed with the generous help of others who believed in us. We are just the tools to be used to bridge that gap. The need now is even great than ever.

 

3. What specific impact does your organization make? How does your organization make the world a kinder place?

Specifically, the impact that WeGo! has is to help get deserving young athletes on a better path in life and teaching them life skills through athletics. We do this by surrounding them with team and financial support and offering opportunities that they may not otherwise have. Kindness is letting these kids know that they matter and we care.

 

4. Your program has affected many kids’ lives. Do you have an inspirational story to share?

Each kid has their own specific story and journey to travel. One particular soccer athlete that we support is living in his aunty’s tiny home with his single mom who is doing her best to raise her three kids all on her own. Their father has been in and out of jail since he was three months old. Not only is his mother raising her own children, but she has also taken in her 13 year old nephew to care for and try to keep him out of harms way. Abuse has run rampant in his mother’s family and she is doing all she can to make sure her children don’t have to suffer in that same way.

She texted me the other week that a lady had come into her work and realized she had paid more than necessary for her bill. This lady generously told the mom to use the extra money to pay for drinks and snacks for her kids, who she had to have with her at work all day since there was no one else to watch them. Her son thought the lady looked a lot like me. The mother recognized her as my older sister. My sister had no idea that this family that she had just helped was one of the athletes supported by the WeGo! Foundation. When we both found out, it brought us to tears knowing that we share the same heart to give freely. It just goes to show how one kind act leads to another, which then leads to yet another.

 

5. What makes you stoked to wake up everyday? Do you feel positive and hopefully about the future generation?

Every morning, no matter what the previous day had thrown at me, I make a conscious choice to wake up with a grateful heart. What makes me stoked is to have more time each day to find ways to bless others and to raise my kids to be givers. During the week, on the drive to school, I always ask my kids two things: what they are grateful for, and how they are going to help someone else that day.

The future generation has grown up in such a technologically advanced society. They are the most “connected” yet so very lost and lonely. As long as we continue to champion the important values and gifts that our future generation has, and teach them that is about giving back and putting others first, I believe they can help pass that kindness on.

 

6. What life lessons has starting a non-profit taught you?

The main life lesson that starting a non-profit has taught me is that with each stage of my life, I was created and destined for a time like this. Everything I have done and learned up until now, has prepared me for this season in life. God has put us where we are and has brought specific people into our lives for a bigger purpose. I was not put on this earth to see how much I can accumulate or how high of a social status I can try to attain. In the end, none of that matters. What matters is the mark you have made on other people’s lives.

 

7. How would you define kindness and what does being a kind human mean to you?

Kindness to me is putting other first. Don’t preach it, just do it. Being a kind human means treating everyone equally and showing compassion and empathy for where they have come from.

 

8. Name three kind humans in your life who have positively affected you and why?

1) My mother is one of the most selfless and kindest people I know. She has always put others’ needs ahead of her own.

2) My sister is also a living example of what it looks like to be a loyal and committed mother and wife.

3) My husband has used the challenges that he faced in his life growing up to make a difference in other young men’s lives that may have experienced similar situations.

 

9. What is your favorite product on the Kindhumans marketplace and why?

My favorite product on the Kindhumans marketplace are the Kindhuman hats. I love the simple yet powerful message of kindness that they portray. It is such a necessary reminder that is worn at eye level for all to see.

 

10. What is a message, life lesson or kindness quote you want to spread and leave with the Kindhumans community?

Prejudice comes from self-hatred, equality from the mind of God.

 

Find out more about We Go Foundation and how you can get involved at www.wegofoundation.com.