Now through Oct. 27, 2023, WTOP is accepting nominations for the WTOP TOP Kids program sponsored by Northwest Federal Credit Union. In addition to being featured on-air and online, winning kids also get a chance at $500.
You’re never too young to start giving back, and two Vienna, Virginia, brothers are proof of that. Isaac Kubista, 9, and his brother Anton Kubista, 8, have spent hours on the weekends and after school keeping their church’s pumpkin patch running.
“It helps me learn that I can help anybody here,” Isaac said. “I support the people that really need the help with the money that we raise here.”
The money raised by Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill in Alexandria is given to 35 different charities in Northern Virginia, according to the boys’ mother Kristi Kubista-Hovis.
The brothers are among the nearly 30 kids who help out with the pumpkin and baked goods sales at the church.
Isaac has been on pumpkin duty, measuring the pumpkins, operating the cash register and helping the happy shoppers load their pumpkins into their cars.
“We help them by searching around (and) by helping them find a pumpkin they might like,” Isaac said.
He said while it’s always up to the customer to decide which pumpkin is the best, he said his recommendation definitely helps.
“I like ones that I can carve easily and that are totaling up,” Isaac said.
Anton helps sell the baked goods and he said it’s a tough job because it makes him hungry “because I might be staring at the goodies the whole time,” he joked.
The boys put in up to 40 hours each season selling the pumpkins, but both said it’s worth all the work and time.
“When I’m here, it feels like I’m much bigger than I actually am,” Isaac said.
Anton said giving back makes him feel “really, really, good.”
For their hard work, this week we have two finalists for WTOP’s TOP Kid program. That recognition comes with a $500 prize.
When asked what they will do with the money, both said they will not be spending it on toys for themselves.
“We’re giving it all to charity,” Isaac said.
