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About 

Drew Miller ELF365 Author Illustrator.jpg

When our experience, passion, and creativity “Come Together,”

ELF365 is the result.

 

Meet Carmen and Drew, a mother-son duo.  

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Carmen's 20 years in social services, 15 of those in child advocacy working in conjunction with child protective services and the juvenile deprived court system, provided invaluable insight into children and families.  When her son, Drew, experienced bullying at just five years old, Carmen developed a passion for creating empathy-driven activities, not only to empower Drew, but also to help the kids who were hurting him.  She knew why kids were acting this way.  In order to move Drew out of the victim role and empower him, Carmen used the techniques featured in her free resource article,

"7 Pointers for Parents to Help Your Kid Deal with a Mean Kid and One Action Your Child Can Take to Go from Hurt to Helper."  Log in now to read the article and download a free poster!


That same year, in 2012, Carmen decided the family would hand out random acts of kindness at a Christmas festival.  With all the hurt hearts Drew encountered, not to mention the fact that he was an only child and grandchild, her goal was to continue to show Drew the incredible feeling you get from giving and being kind.  Drew took these acts of kindness to heart.  After the festival Drew began replicating many of the lessons on his own.  Plus, Drew was using the Pointers mentioned above with much success.  One day Carmen realized the potential impact they could make if she could figure out a way to take these little lessons and acts of kindness and package them to share with other kids.  She excitedly started brainstorming ideas. By the following November Carmen created her first set of packaged lesson kits for Drew's first grade class.  The two continued these lessons with Drew's classes each year.  The kits resulted in many fun and meaningful conversations, memories and lessons.  And they all lived happily ever after...well, not quite.

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Fast forward to 2017, Drew was now nine, the kids had gotten older, and the bullying had gotten worse. 

 

"I helplessly watched as my bright, happy and confident child started slipping away.  I saw warning signs for suicide. 

I knew that kids as young as seven were taking their own lives, I’d seen young kids attempt suicide in my work, but for the first time ever I saw that possibility in my own home with my own child. No amount of experience and no words seemed to help, and hugs were only a very temporary band aid.  I was terrified.  Not knowing what else to do, I asked Drew if he wanted to take our lesson kits and go bigger and louder...and thankfully he agreed.

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We started what is now ELF365, but at that time we called our outreach Come Together with Kindness.  Drew was the founder and spokesperson, which allowed me to empower him, once again, by moving him out of the victim role and into a role model on a larger scale. I wrote more lesson kits and we started sharing these with as many kids as possible to show kids how much better it feels to be kind. Plus, after seeing how much Drew was positively impacted by giving random acts of kindness, I wanted every child to have the opportunity to experience just how good it feels to give.  That's why every lesson kit has always had an item to keep and an item to give.  The kids not only share the extra item, but also pass the lesson on, thus reaching at least one other child.  The part I always fail to mention is the residual impact this has on adults.  The lessons can also serve as quick and gentle reminders for grown-ups.  There have been so many times, as I write the lessons for kits, with what I believe is Divine guidance, that I realize, "Wow.  This is for me."  We can never have too much support to help us along the way as we journey through this life hoping to be the best version of our sELF.  And Drew's artwork, his characters, embody these lessons so well that I find myself empathizing with them and having such a sense of love and happiness seeing how they overcome their issues and pass along such a valuable lesson.  It is no coincidence that our experiences, strengths and talents have led us here.  It is such a blessing to be able to create alongside Drew and share our stories and resources in service to others."  ~Carmen

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In 2021, Carmen was led to restructure the program around one of her favorite Kits, "Think Like an ELF."  She realized that the basis of their outreach truly is to help kids exemplify love and friendship.  The core, overarching message of ELF365 is love and acceptance of others, and equally important, love and acceptance of self.  The cornerstone of their mission is treating others as you wish to be treated by viewing life through a lens of empathy.  Carmen has written over 100 Kits for every season and every reason, including custom Kits for groups, businesses and special events. 

 

In the spirit of Exemplifying Love and Friendship 365, Kits are now called, "ELFercises."

Why?  Because that is exactly what Kits do! Kits use rhyming, short stories and relatable characters coupled with actionable hands-on learning and face-to-face interactions to help kids exercise the valuable lessons shared by ELF365

 

It's now 2024, Drew is 16, and he and mom have pretty much found their niche.  Carmen is currently working on restructuring all of the lesson kits into new books that feature more resources for parents and teachers, as well as a podcast and blog.  Drew continues in his role as the artist/illustrator for all things ELF365, assists with the creative processes, and is the creator of the ELF365 kids and logo, in addition to authoring and illustrating two of his very own children's books.   

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ELF365 is excited to share affordable, meaningful and fun-to-read books and ELFercises to help you

and yours Exemplify Love and Friendship 365 days a year. 

Think like an ELF and be your best sELF 365!

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Outreach

ELF365 was created to help as many kids as possible.  ELF365 exists to help kids from all over the world ELF365.  (Yep, ELF365 is also a verb! )  That’s why proceeds from ELFercise Kits and book sales help provide free ELFercise Kits for Kids.  Since 2017 over 14,500 free ELFercise Kits for Kids have been provided in 15 countries and 46 states…and counting!  That's an impact of over 29,000 lessons shared!  Plus, we've donated over 500 books and toys, too!  Thanks to YOU and your love and support!

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Values

The core, overarching message of ELF365 is love and acceptance of others,

and equally important, love and acceptance of self.

 

ELF365 is all about kids helping kids.

We believe kids are in the best position to 

help, influence and motivate other kids. 

Hoping to harness the overwhelming power of peer pressure

and use it for good,  ELF365 encourages kids to,

"Think like an ELF and be your best sELF," through ELFercises and books.

 

ELF stands for Exemplify Love and Friendship. 

ELF365 gives kids easy, fun and memorable tools to help them become positive role models

who reach out to other kids using the following guidelines coupled with ELFercises.

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ELF365 Code of Conduct

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  1. I treat others how I wish to be treated.

  2. I use my strengths and talents for good.

  3. I strive to be my best sELF 365 days a year.

 

ELF365 Declaration

 

No one is perfect.  We all have strengths and weaknesses.

We all make mistakes.  Mistakes become lessons.

We are always learning so we must always be kind.

 

ELF365 Mission Statement

 

ELF365 helps kids Exemplify Love and Friendship

365 days a year.

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You Mean ELF365 isn't for Christmas!?

Actually, ELF365 is perfect for Christmas, but there are ELFercises for every season and every reason, thus the 365 at the end of our name!  But, of course, we can't have ELF in our name and not have some meaningful holiday fun to share, right?!  If you're interested in our holiday books and activities visit our Christmas page for more!

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ELF Kids


Contact Us

Carmen Miller
Mom, Author and Visionary
ELF@ELF365.com



 

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