It’s us again, here at the OM@home blog, a blog about children and young people, written for children and young people . . . .
For young people just like you, about young people who inspire us all at OM HQ.

Young people like Caine Monroy . . . .

Finding himself at a loose end one morning, Caine did not turn to the television.
Video games did not enter his thoughts, nor too did making mischief.
Instead, creative Caine set about making something altogether different . . . .
His own arcade.
Using cardboard boxes, tape and immense imagination, Caine’s arcade became more and more elaborate as the days passed.
Little did the nine-year-old imagine that it could change his life forever.
Change his life it has, though, the catalyst a man called Nirvan Mullick, a film-maker who, seeking a replacement door handle for his car, headed to Smart Parts Auto in East LA.
Smart Parts is the store that Caine’s dad, George, owns and runs . . . .
It is also where Caine had chosen to assemble his arcade.
Being an arcade enthusiast himself, Nirvan took an immediate interest and enquired about having a turn.
‘I asked Caine how it worked and he told me that, for $1, I could get four turns or, for $2, I could get a Fun Pass with 500 turns,’ he recalls. ‘I got the Fun Pass.’
Hooked, Nirvan decided to make a short film about Caine’s Arcade.
You simply have to see it. It’s called Caine’s Arcade . . . .
[vimeo https://www.vimeo.com/40000072 w=400&h=225]
Some remarkable things here:
Caine himself, and Nirvan’s amazing movie . . . .
The fact that inside four days, more than 3.5 million people had seen it . . . .
That an accompanying scholarship fund that Nirvan established for Caine has, thus far, received almost $170,000 in online donations . . . .
That a matching scholarship fund has been set up as a result, to help ‘find, fund and foster other amazing kids’.
Not a bad return from a cardboard arcade, built in a quiet auto parts store in East LA.
It just shows that a little imagination can go a long way . . . .
Here in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, the home of the OM, we’re all about being creative.

You should try it yourself . . . .

Who knows where it might lead?

We are all connected.

For more details about Caine’s Arcade, including opening hours, directions, Fun Passes and information about scholarship donations, click here.