Shania Twain’s Heartbreaking Childhood Inspired Her To Open Kids Clubhouse
Country star Shania Twain is sharing in her success with underprivileged kids in Las Vegas, opening her first Clubhouse. She also shares the heartbreaking story of her tough upbringing.
There was not a dry eye when Twain explained that she was inspired by her own very difficult childhood when she started her foundation Shania Kids Can.
During the opening ceremony for her first clubhouse in Las Vegas, where she is headlining her “Shania: Still the One” show at Caesars Palace’s Colosseum, she explained that a second facility will open in sin city soon and more will follow in other areas of the country.
The charity is so personal to Shania Twain that she was seen holding back tears as she welcomed the kids from her program at Tom Williams Elementary School in North Las Vegas.
Shania Kids Can assists kids who suffer from lack of support at home, but don’t qualify for social services.
The country star explained:
“These are children who are often victims of abuse and/or neglect who can be difficult to detect. These children are left to face the school day without support and struggle on their own to cope with the negative impact their personal-life suffering has on their social and educational development,” Shania Twain said.
The singer hugged each kid as they came in and then all shared a big group hug, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Later on the children presented her with flowers, a spread, and a box of letters they had written to Shania Twain.
“It’s overwhelming to see all of this in person and see it materialized because it’s the first time I’m standing physically in the room, in the space that we created.”
“I consider myself one of the lucky ones […] I didn’t have a support group. It’s not that I didn’t have a school that didn’t care, but they just weren’t organized to properly help the children like myself who really needed it.” Shania Twain told those present.
Her family struggled with lack of money and oftentimes there was not enough food to feed her and her siblings, but she never reported the situation to her school from fear of having her family broken up.
When she was only 20-years-old and trying to make a name for herself in music in Canada, her mother and step father were killed in a car accident and she was forced to return home to take care of her brothers and sisters.
“I always had a dream. I always wanted to help children who were living a very similar life to what I had growing up.” Shania Twain told the audience at the opening ceremony.
“I was often embarrassed going to school — if I went to school — because I wasn’t clean, my hair was dirty. Maybe we couldn’t afford shampoo. It sounds like a very basic thing, but it happened often. You just had to go to school with dirty hair. Or I wouldn’t have the right seasonal clothes and I would go to school improperly dressed, and that was embarrassing and I was humiliated and teased by the other students.”
Shania Twain also says that many times she was left out of field trips because they couldn’t pay for them and she also talked about going to school hungry.
“When I walked into this school this morning, the first thing I noticed was cooking; I could smell food.”
Twain says that it was “torture” to go to school and smell the food teachers heated in the microwave or other students brought in for lunch as many times she went to bed without dinner, didn’t have breakfast in the morning, and had no money to buy a lunch at school.
Shania says the main focus of her foundation is to avoid having kids who fall through the cracks:
“Kids are falling under the radar and not being helped by child services and not getting what they need at home. These schools, I believe, can fill that gap for our kids.” she says.
Shania Twain answered some questions following the heartbreaking accounts of her childhood and how she had to grow up in a hurry to help her brothers and sisters. You can read the complete account here.
[Image via Las Vegas Sun/DENISE TRUSCELLO/WIREIMAGE/DENISETRUSCELLO.NET]
