by Edwin L. Carpenter, Editor – The Dove Foundation

Fifteen year old McKay Hatch recently received a “Well Done Award” from Kingdom Assignment, an organization that gained national recognition for their work on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Young Mr. McKay has received a lot of his own recognition after starting the No Cussing Club approximately a year ago.

Dove recently chatted with McKay about his notoriety and the circumstances which prompted him to launch his website, www.nocussing.com 

We asked McKay about the genesis of the website and the circumstances surrounding it. “I was in sixth grade, and that’s when all my friends started cussing, and so I challenged them not to. When I went into the eighth grade a couple of my friends came back to me and said, ‘We changed because of you and now we don’t cuss’ and I thought that was cool. And then I came up with the idea of the No Cussing Club, and they thought that was cool and so we had our first No Cussing Club meeting on June 1, 2007. We had about fifty people that showed up for our first meeting.”

“That was a pretty good group for a first meeting,” we said. “Yes, we had about fifty people” he reiterated, “and from there we wanted to reach people world wide and so we made a website.”

McKay will be a sophomore in high school this fall and he admitted to going through a bit of teasing about his club as a freshman this past school year. Dove told him we hoped the positive comments of people who admire his work and website makes up for any down sides, and he immediately said, “Oh yes, it does.”

McKay has been on radio and has made several TV appearances, and has met celebrities like Hulk Hogan. “Who has impressed you of the people you have met?” we asked.

“Dr. Phil was pretty cool to meet,” said McKay. “Ryan Seacrest was fun to be interviewed by” he added. “I never thought I would meet them so that was cool.”

Dove asked McKay what positive comments he has received by the media and celebrities regarding his No Cussing Club. “Basically they’re asking me why I started it and what’s cuss-free week, and how we got the proclamation.” McKay said a proclamation for a cuss-free week in his hometown of South Pasadena was approved and it took place this past March.

“That was pretty cool,” he said. “That’s when a bunch of different radio stations and TV shows were interviewing me.” He added that it will be an annual event in the City of South Pasadena. The idea is to bring awareness to the club and club-members in all fifty states participate.

No Cussing Club wristbands and t-shirts can be ordered from McKay’s website and they do receive orders every day he said.

We asked McKay what he would like our Dove readers to do when they check out his website. “Maybe to know that there are other people out there who have the same beliefs in not cussing, and to sign up and tell their friends about it.”

McKay thinks it’s “sweet” as he put it when he learns there are people joining up and printing off the No Cussing Club membership certificate to place on their walls.

“What should people do when they slip and cuss?” we asked him. “The thing I am mad at is when my friends at school are just saying it purposely like every other word. I’m not as mad when people just stub their toe and say it (a cuss word), like when it’s accidental.  I would say you can start using substitutions.”

With McKay already having achieved a lot in his life, we concluded our interview by asking about possible career plans. “One thing I might do is public speaking,” he said, regarding his club. “I already spoke to one school in Arizona a couple of months ago. That was really fun. So I might go on a tour.”

Don’t put any career blocks in front of this young man, a true trailblazer. We at Dove wouldn’t be surprised if the name McKay Hatch becomes more and more of a household name.