So.What Can You Do? Organizations Started By Kids
Organizations started by kids The organizations listed here were started and are run by kids like you. They had ideas for projects to help their communities and those projects then grew into organizations. The ages by their names are how old they were when they started their organizations. If you have an idea about how to help your community and want to find resources: http://www.idealist.org/kt/youthorgs.html
Alex's Lemonade Stand Alexandra "Alex" Scott was the 4 year-old founder of Alex's Lemonade Stand for Pediatric Cancer Research. Two days before her first birthday she was diagnosed with cancer. At the age of four, Alex decided to do something to make that cure more likely. She opened her first lemonade stand in July of 2000 with the idea of donating the proceeds to "her hospital. Each year since, Alex held an annual lemonade stand in her front yard. On August 1, 2004, Alex died peacefully at the age of 8. As word has spread, donations have poured in from around the world, and Alex's Lemonade Stand has already raised over $5 million for pediatric cancer research.
Care Bags Foundation Annie Wignall of Newton, IA is the founder and director of the Care Bags Foundation, an organization she started when she was eleven years old. Care Bags provides essential, fun, safe, and age appropriate things (games, toothbrushes, books, etc.) to kids during difficult times in their lives. Care bags go to over 800 disadvantaged, abused, and displaced kids every year and are distributed by 20 agencies serving over 80 towns in Iowa as well as going to other states for disaster relief and to needy kids all over the world via Airline Ambassadors. Using the Care Bags Starter Kit, other young people have adopted Annie's program and are implementing it in their own communities.
Chores-For-Charity Ilana Rothbein founded Chores-For-Charity as a way to raise money for FACES (Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures). Juggling schoolwork, sports, social activities, and part-time work, she found it very difficult to organize a fundraiser. Instead, Ilana decided to donate the money from her babysitting jobs to FACES. Over a year, she donated 45 hours of her time babysitting and $450 of her earnings to FACES. She thought, "Maybe I can get other kids to do the same thing. Since kids are donating their time to contribute their earnings to a charitable organization, it's only fair that those hours be counted as charitable work. She began developing her personal fundraising project into an official program with support from her family and FACES.
Students Together for Autism Research (S.T.A.R.) S.T.A.R. was founded in 2005 by Matthew Cortland and Tina Liu, both juniors at Cherokee High School in Marlton, NJ. This organization began as a small group raising money and walking at the Autism Walk, and now has burgeoned into Students Together for Autism Research! As co-founders of this organization, Matthew and Tina are determined to spread S.T.A.R. across the nation to raise student awareness about Autism. S.T.A.R. encourages student involvement to aid in raising Autism awareness through community service and fundraising and by creating S.T.A.R. clubs in schools across the country.
Youth Action International and PeaceForKids.Org Youth Action International and PeaceForKids.Org were founded by Kimmie Weeks to give young people a chance to participate in pressing humanitarian problems around the world. Since its establishment, Youth Action International has raised thousands of dollars for humanitarian programs and Kimmie Weeks has been a huge activist for child soldiers and an inspiration to U.S. children. Kimmie has been working on projects for peace since he was 11 years old.
Kids Who Care Foundation Risha, a 7 year-old who underwent an Auto Islet Cell Transplant for Chronic Pancreatitis in March 2004, understands very well the challenges of being in the hospital room and staring at the bare white walls! The Kids Who Care Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was founded by Risha to help and support other kids with Pancreatitis and other chronic diseases. Rishas mission is to brighten the days at the hospital for kids that are having major surgeries. She does this by making cards with the help of friends and neighbors. She sends them cards with the hope of making them feel better and making their rooms cheerful from kids who care.
Kids Helping Kids In 1997, a year after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, Mischa Zimmermann established Kids Helping Kids. A nonprofit volunteer organization run by teens to benefit teens and children affected by catastrophic illness or injury, KHK provides support with peer interaction, mobility equipment, and special wishes while also raising awareness of the life changes these individuals and their families face. The teens who are a part of KHK often help with event and activity planning, learning the value of contributing their time and developing a profound sense of commitment to something bigger than themselves.
Kids For A Clean Environment (F.A.C.E.) Kids F.A.C.E. is an international children's environmental organization started in 1989 by 9 year-old Melissa Poe of Nashville, TN. The club was established to provide a way for children to be involved in the protection of nature and connect them with other children who shared their concerns about global environmental issues. Kids F.A.C.E. currently has 300,000 members worldwide, and together they've planted over a million trees!
Cody s Individual Comfort Kits A visit to the Emergency Department at Kemptville District Hospital prompted Cody to develop the idea for "Cody's Individual Comfort Kits." These individual kits are to be given to young patients to help make their visit to the hospital a more comfortable, less frightening experience. Following a fundraising drive in September 2002 Cody assembled the first comfort kits. The free kits, for children aged infant to 16, contain books, blankets, videos, toys, rattles, and other things to make a child's stay at hospital easier. Cody has already delivered over 200 Comfort Kits and has also created "Grandma and Grandpa Kits" for older patients staying in Kemptville District Hospital.
Be Positive for *CHaD Kids Cameron Marshall was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of nine. While in the hospital, Cameron learned his blood type is B-positive. This led Cameron to adopt a new motto BE POSITIVE! And after engaging in some chemotherapy, his cancer went into remission. Cameron and his family founded the "Be Positive" campaign that has already raised $40,000 for the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth through half-marathon s and t-shirt sales. *Children s Hospital of Dartmouth
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