Changing the world, little by little

The rich and the famous capture the headlines for their charitable acts. But another group of avid philanthropists is also leaving its mark.

Young people are engaged in making a difference in the world. They are donating via the internet to favourite projects overseas, creating their own non-profit schemes to pursue social causes.

“It has become a value for young people to be personally involved,'' says Claire Gaudiani of the Heyman Centre for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University.

The awakening

Some youths have gained the awareness from volunteer activities.

Others have travelled with their families and encountered the challenges children face in other countries.

Katie Simon, a teenager from Newton, Massachusetts, says a family trip in the developing countries first opened her eyes.

When she heard two years ago about the child sex trade in some of those places, she knew she needed to do something.

“I learnt about a rehabilitation centre for children in the Philippines and talked with friends about raising $5,000 (Dh18,366) in a yard sale,'' she says.

“People thought it was impossible, but we raised $6,500 (Dh23,875).''

Thrilled with their success, Katie founded an organisation, Minga (www.mingagroup.org), to educate others about the scourge of child sex trafficking and to raise funds to fight it.

Katie spends between 20 and 30 hours a week in the work and says it's well worth it: “I have discovered my power to change the world.''

Recently, Katie won a Global Action Award given to young leaders by the international relief group Mercy Corps.

Tech-savvy kids

Technology, too, has helped breed this new generation. The web facilitates global communication and network-building and ease in donating.

Talia Leman, an Iowa teen, got into philanthropy after Hurricane Katrina. At the age of 10, she started a project called TLC — Trick or treat for the Levee Catastrophe.

She wrote a news release on lined paper and sent it to TV stations, urging kids to ask for loose change on Halloween.

With the help of a friend who set up a website, she connected with children in 4,000 school districts across the US. They raised $10 million (Dh36 million), what ABC News said was equal to the giving power of the top five corporations in the US.

That experience led Talia to create RandomKid, which supports children in the US and elsewhere in carrying out their own project ideas.

“When I speak at schools, kids often say, ‘I have this great idea. How can I make it happen?''' says Talia, the non-profit's CEO. RandomKid has worked with children in about 20 countries.

Winners all the way

They held an internet video conference involving schools in five states with the South African entrepreneur who developed the “playpump'' system to provide safe water to rural communities.

The students had raised funds for a second pump. Hearing that, “entrepreneur Trevor Field said he knew of a community in Malawi that needed one and he would start on it right away,'' says Anne Ginther, RandomKid's president.

Talia was recognised for her efforts with an award from World of Children (WOC), which sponsors what some call the Nobel Prize for children.

“Talia is being recognised as a changemaker because she has put together a new cohort of philanthropists across the world,'' says Harry Leibowitz, WOC founder.