BAPS Charities & Speak Up for Kids

Summary

Podcast Summary: Culturally Speaking – The South Florida Sunday Podcast

Episode: BAPS Charities & Speak Up for Kids
Date: May 7, 2026
Host: Sharina (Hubbard Radio)
Guests: Bonnie Rodriguez (Speak Up for Kids), Deval Bhagat & Kamal Acharya (BAPS Charities)

---

Episode Overview

This episode of The South Florida Sunday Podcast spotlights the upcoming "Run the Spirit of Service" walkathon on May 31st, co-hosted by BAPS Charities and Speak Up for Kids. The discussion centers on the missions of both organizations, the real impact they have on local children and families—particularly within the foster care system—and how community members can get involved through volunteering, attending, sponsoring, or donating.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction: Community Partnership for a Cause

• [00:00] The episode introduces the annual walkathon, highlighting BAPS Charities’ tradition of supporting local causes, and this year's partnership with Speak Up for Kids to benefit foster children in South Florida.

BAPS Charities: Mission, History, Community Impact

• [00:29-03:14]
  • BAPS Charities has over 90 centers in North America and operates globally.
  • Their work is based on five pillars: humanitarian services, health awareness, educational services, environmental services, and community empowerment.
  • “We believe in supporting the community that you are part of.” – Deval Bhagat [00:43]
  • Annual walkathons have previously supported organizations such as Sylvester Research Center and Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County.
  • Deval speaks to the personal fulfillment he receives from volunteering and references their guiding principle:

    “Our guru, Brahman Swami Maharaj, has always said, ‘In the joys of others lies our own.’ That is the foundational stone for everything we do.” – Deval Bhagat [02:48]

Speak Up for Kids: Mission & Foster Care Realities

• [03:44-08:30]
  • Speak Up for Kids supports children entering foster care, helping them navigate traumatic disruptions and strive for stability.
  • “Most of the time, what you see is law enforcement just coming into their home... These children, again, they don’t know what’s happening. They are confused. So it really is a traumatic experience.” – Bonnie Rodriguez [03:51]
  • The organization provides resources, guidance, and stable relationships to ease kids' transitions and prevent them from being ‘lost’ in the system.
  • “When a young person ages out at 18, legal organizations are no longer responsible for them... we walk alongside them and help them navigate adulthood.” – Bonnie Rodriguez [05:47]
  • Services include:
    • Life skills support (driver's licenses, resumes, job applications)
    • Events like Storybook Village (encouraging kids to embrace childhood), and Aviation Day, which inspire and empower children to dream big.

Community & Emotional Impact

• [06:38-08:30]
  • The host, Sharina, reflects on her own experience turning 18, underscoring how difficult the transition is without family support.
  • Bonnie shares stories of positive outcomes from their events, such as a foster child aspiring to become a pilot after Aviation Day.

The Power of Partnership: BAPS & Speak Up for Kids

• [08:30-09:23]
  • Both organizations agree their partnership bridges direct aid to children with broader community empowerment.
  • “It’s just a perfect partnership, right? Their cause, while it impacts one kid at a time, BAPS Charities wants to focus and create community-level empowerment. It just comes together.” – Deval Bhagat [08:58]

The “Run the Spirit of Service” Walkathon: What to Expect

• [09:23-11:13]
  • Date: May 31st at Burt Aronson South Regional Park, Boca Raton
  • Schedule: Registration opens at 7:00am; event is open to all ages; free breakfast and snacks for participants.
  • “This is actually, we have a lot of youth community participating. My daughter, she's 7 years old and… inviting our friends, and we have great arrangements for safety, age group-wise.” – Kamal Acharya [10:23]
  • Full family and community participation, with volunteers of all ages.

Getting Involved: Participation, Volunteering, Sponsorship

• [11:33-13:32]
  • Walkers can register in advance or on the day of the event; spectators are welcome.
  • Businesses can sponsor the event at multiple levels, with information available online.
  • “Any company or any small business who wants to support this walkathon, we have different levels of sponsorship.” – Deval Bhagat [11:54]
  • Speak Up for Kids seeks community involvement at every level: volunteering, becoming ambassadors, donating funds or resources, or simply showing up.
  • “Any little act really does contribute to our organization and the kids.” – Bonnie Rodriguez [12:47]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Service and Fulfillment:

  “In the joys of others lies our own, and that is the foundational stone for everything we do for BAPS charities.”
  – Deval Bhagat [02:48]

• On Foster Care Trauma:

  “Law enforcement just coming into their home… and a complete stranger now telling them, ‘this is no longer your home.’ … It really is a traumatic experience. And that's where, at SpeakUp, we support them.”
  – Bonnie Rodriguez [03:51]

• On Aging Out of Foster Care:

  “Their birthday comes and they hit 18, they are hands off, all on their own. … We walk alongside them and we help them navigate through what is one of the most difficult times in a person's life, which is adulthood.”
  – Bonnie Rodriguez [05:47]

• On Family Participation in the Walkathon:

  “It is a whole family come together event… you’ll see even volunteers ranging from young kids… all the way to adults planning the event.”
  – Deval Bhagat [11:13]

• On the Power of Community Support:

  “Speak Up for Kids pretty much needs the community… our biggest need right now is anybody who wants to be part of the solution.”
  – Bonnie Rodriguez [12:30]

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:29: BAPS Charities’ mission and history
• 03:44: Speak Up for Kids’ origin, mission, and realities of foster care
• 05:44: Challenges of aging out of the foster system and ongoing support
• 07:29: Details on programs like Storybook Village and Aviation Day
• 09:45: Walkathon specifics, inclusivity, and family participation
• 12:30: How to help: volunteering, donations, and advocacy
• 13:19: How to find more info online

---

How to Get Involved / Find More Information

• BAPS Charities: Visit www.bapscharities.org → Miami (South Florida) chapter for event details and sponsorship/volunteering opportunities.
• Speak Up for Kids: Get involved as a volunteer, ambassador, or supporter; see their website or social media for more info.

---

In summary:
This episode is a heartfelt exploration of grassroots charity and the direct difference ordinary people can make in the lives of foster children. It offers practical event info, insights into the impact of both organizations, and a motivating call for community participation. The tone remains empathetic, inspiring, and grounded in real stories from both organizers and beneficiaries.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome back. And right now we're gonna be talking about the Run the Spirit of Service walk that is coming up here May 31st. And as you know, we only talk about really great causes here on South Florida Sundays. This one is no exception. The Run the Spirit of Service walk is put on by B A P S Charities and Speak up for Kids, two charities that we have gotten to know really well over the years. And joining me right now is Bonnie Rodriguez with Speak up for Kids. Deval Bhagat and Kamal Acharya from BAPS Charities. Thank you all for joining the show today.

[B]

Absolutely. First of all, thank you, Sharina, for having us. We're excited to be here. And as you indicated, BAPS Charities, we are actually a global organization with our footprints across the globe, especially here in North America. We have 90 plus centers just like what we have here in South Florida. And bapa's charities operates under five principles we believe are the pillarstones of our work. It's mainly focused around different humanitarian services, bringing health awareness to the community that we are part of, educational services, different environmental services where we have supported different disasters, recoveries, and one that is more, closest to all our hearts, which is our community empowerment. We believe in supporting the community that you are part of. And through that effort, every year we host different events that support local community. Every year for the last 20 plus years, what we have done, we have hosted a walkathon supporting some local charity that is instrumental in empowering the local South Florida community. Past walkathons we have supported, um, Sylvester Research Center, Boynton Beach Firefighter Benevolent Association, Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County. And this year, just like that, we also thought like, what is a good community organization that we can support that fits with BAPS Charity's mission of empowering local community. And because of that, we decided to partner with Speak up for Kids, which is an amazing organization, doing great work for foster kids.

[A]

And I find it really impressive because You've been with BAPS for 25 years. This is more than a passion, this is a lifestyle at this point. I love it. What made you get into it and what keeps you involved?

[B]

Absolutely. Yeah. So ever since I basically moved to South Florida as a student, I was involved with BAPS and BAPS Charities, different activities. And I saw the impact, even while small piece of work that we would do for our community through whether that's a walkathon or hosting health fair or doing some health lecture, bringing some awareness around a specific disease and the joy that it brought to the community and the results that you see Whether that's through our ability to support a local organization or the Firefighter Benevolent association, the. The impact that it drives is what keeps me going and keeps all the other volunteers of our BAPS charity organization going. And our guru, Brahman Swami Maharaj, has always said, in the joys of other lies of our own, and that is the foundational stone for everything we do for BAPS charities. I do. Komal here does as a volunteer for that organization.

[A]

No. That is amazing, especially because it does take a community for things like this to work out, and you are really, really taking other charities under your wing and helping them achieve their goals of helping the community in general. And this year, as you were saying before you chose Speak up for Kids as your designated charity for the walkathon, definitely want to get into that and what made you choose them as your designated charity. But before I do that, I want to introduce Bonnie, who is with Speak up for Kids. Can you talk about Speak up for Kids and what you do for foster kids in our community?

[C]

Of course. Thank you, Sharina. And thank you so much for having us as well. We're really excited to be, you know, doing more outreach for our organization. So Speak up for Kids is a nonprofit organization where we work with foster care children and just help them navigate that system. Because these kids, through no fault of their own, just had their world shattered from one day to another. Most of the time, what you see is law enforcement just coming into their home and a complete stranger now telling them, this is no longer your home. Please pack your things. And these children, again, they don't know what's happening. They are confused. So it really is a traumatic experience. And that's where, at SpeakUp, we support them and we just provide resources, we provide guidance into what is their new placement with strangers, and just try to lessen that trauma and try to normalize their new life until they feel like they belong. So, so pretty much just provide resources and stability for these kids.

[A]

Right. And I think a lot of people don't really understand the foster care system or, like, why or how kids actually even end up being put in the system. So can you kind of talk about that, like, how they get there?

[C]

Of course. So it's a very heavy reality. And children enter the foster care system because they are considered that their home environment is no longer safe for them, and it's a potential risk when that happens. The system is designed to step in as a protective net. Right. But Speak Up. We also want to make sure that once they enter the system, they don't get lost in it. So what we do is that we want to ensure they are shielded from further instability and that their basic needs just remain a top priority.

[A]

It's really awesome, too, because Speak up for kids. You help children from whether they're newborns to, like, kids aging out and beyond. But can you tell us about what happens to a kid when they age out of foster care? Because I don't think a lot of people understand what that's actually like.

[C]

Of course. That's a really good question and a very common situation. So when a young person ages out of the system, the legal organizations are no longer responsible for them. So their birthday comes and they hit 18, they are hands off, all on their own. All on their own, right? So where that support suddenly stops, we maintain it. We don't just abandon them when their birthday hits. We walk alongside them and we help them navigate through what is one of the most difficult times in a person's life, which is adulthood. And some of the things that this includes is basic tasks that we as, like, people who have had with our families to guide us that they don't have anybody, like, for example, like, getting their driver's license, making a resume, applying for a job. Those little moments, we are there next to them to make sure that they are done.

[A]

You know, I have to say, the process of aging out of foster care at a young age, it really gets to me because, I mean, I was fortunate to have a great upbringing and have, like, some money saved up, be educated, have a job. But even with all of that, I was absolutely not ready to get to move out of my house at 18. Like, I couldn't stay there until I was, like, 24 or something. But, yeah, I just. I can't imagine someone at 18 who hasn't had that adult figure by their side this whole time, Just be out on own just because they turned a certain age, that is. I don't know. I can never get over that. So it's really great that someone like you or speak up for kids, you're there to help them. I know that you talked about some of your services, like, you know, helping them get certifications, helping mentor them, and getting housing and everything like that. Can you talk about some more of your services?

[C]

Of course. So we provide different types of services for these children. We have different events that they can participate in. We do a lot of volunteer work. One of our biggest events is Storybook Village, which we pretty much create a whimsical world for children to just essentially be kids. We give them Books, we give them activities. And then we also have other big events. For example, this year we had Aviation Day where we partnered with EAA and we grabbed a group of foster kids and we let them fly on a plane. And it' actually quite inspiring because one of the children, he was thinking about becoming a pilot, you know, and the fact that he was able to fly on a plane just convinced him like, oh, this is what I want to do with my life. And these kids, they would have never imagined that they would have been given this opportunity. So us as an organization to be able to provide that for them, it's honestly like no words. You know, it's a great thing, those

[A]

experiences for them and like you said, allowing them to be a kid because you know, when you have something traumatizing like they've gone through, like you don't get to be a kid, you know, you're just trying to survive and they're in survival mode. So you're really just there to guide them and to just like really help them, you know, be kids and, and then navigate the world after that. That's really amazing. And it's also really great that BAPS Charities and Speak up for Kids have also partnered together. Can you talk about the benefits of the partnership?

[B]

Absolutely. I think what Bonnie just described as what they do and when you look at that intersection of what BAPS Charities does in terms of humanitarian services and community empowerment, it's just a perfect partnership, right? Their cause, while it impacts one kid at a time, BAPS Charities wants to focus and create a community level empowerment. It just comes together. Each and every kid that is going through their system, you are creating the

[A]

community around them, the community that they didn't have before. That's amazing. You know what? I don't think there is a single person who can hear you both talk about B A P S and speak up for kids, what you do and not be touched by what you're doing. So let's help them get involved. One of the ways that they can do that is with your upcoming walkathon that is May 31st. Can you talk about that? What can we expect?

[D]

Yeah, sure. So this event is on May 31. The good part is on Sunday and it's open for everyone. And it starts the early Registration is around 7am before the heat starts. And also we, we have a free breakfast for every participants and the snack after the event. And it is at Burt Aronson South Regional park in Boca Raton.

[A]

Okay. So you get up there 7am before the heat. Really Gets you before you change your mind, you get some food in your belly and you can go walk. You said it's for everybody. So what about people that have like kids, can they bring their kids on the water?

[D]

Yes, yes. This is actually we have a lot of youth community participating. My daughter, like she's 7 years old and she is one of like, I know it's very exciting for the walk and at the same time inviting our friends and we have a great arrangements for safety, you know, for age group wise. So even though you bring the kids and you want to stay with your friends and then we do have a volunteers kind of, you know, walk with the kids and so they do experience same age group kind of feel instead of. Or if you want to walk with the family, like that's also amazing opportunity to connect with everyone.

[A]

Okay, what about someone who just wants to go out and like cheer everyone on and just be like a spectator on that? Can we come?

[D]

Yeah, definitely. And it is in a park, so you can stay in the shade if you want to.

[B]

Not It's a whole family come together event and it's 100% organized by our volunteers. So you'll see even volunteers and ranging from young kids who wants to just run the water station and help everybody out, all the way to the adults planning the event. So it's a full family and the community coming together through this walkathon.

[A]

And what about, let's say you're in the area day of and you're like, you know, I'm going to go and register to walk. Can you do that there?

[D]

Yeah, absolutely. Of course, advance is good for the logistic purpose, but a lot of them coming like that because, you know, the friends, inviting friends and.

[A]

Yeah, okay, this is perfect. Again, those steps for a great cause. What about volunteers or sponsorships? Are you looking for that?

[B]

Absolutely. So any company or any small business who wants to support this walkathon, we have different levels of sponsorship. They can support this walkthrough and you can find all this information about this particular walkathon, how you can participate as a walker or come and support the event as a sponsor through our website, www.bapscharities.org. and just look for the Miami, which is the South Florida chapter, and you can find all the information about this event and everything else that we do in the community.

[A]

Okay. And what about you, Bonnie? What does Speak Up For Kids need?

[C]

So Speak up for Kids pretty much needs the community. One of the reasons why we're very excited to partner with BAPS charities is because it really brings out the power of partnership. They really are helping us achieve a larger outreach on the fight that we are battling every single day. And our biggest need right now is pretty much just anybody who wants to be part of the solution. Either that's by showing up on May 31 or by volunteering, becoming an ambassador or simply just donating to the cause. Any little act really does contribute to our organization and the kids.

[A]

And donating, that could be donating your time. It could be donating resources because you need a lot of right. Well, it was so great to speak to both of you today. Thank you so much for coming on the show. One more time, how can we find this information online?

[B]

You can find about BAPS charities on our website, www.bapscharities.org and specific information about this particular Walkathon you can go find under Miami chapter, which is the South Florida chapter.

[A]

Okay, perfect. Thank you so much.