Talia for President
Nicholas Kristof in the Sunday NY Times writes about Talia Leman.
When Talia was 10 years old, she saw television clips of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and decided to help. She galvanized other kids and started a movement to trick-or-treat at Halloween for coins for hurricane victims.
The movement caught the public imagination, Talia made it on the “Today” show, and the campaign raised more than $10 million. With that success behind her, Talia organized a program called RandomKid to help other young social entrepreneurs organize and raise money.
Talia is an eighth grader from Des Moines, Iowa, who is the embodiment of the idea that kids can make a difference if only given a chance.
She's a friend of our family met through our daughter's involvement in RandomKid. Talia is the CEO, and has just been honored by World of Children for her activism.
I'm very happy for Talia. She's a great kid from a wonderful family. Her little brother, who goes by the name Little Wolf, is one of my all time favorite kids. Check out his weblog.
RandomKid helps kids with philanthropic/ social entrepreneurial projects. A kid contacts RandomKid online, and and the RandomKid team gives them the support to make their dream a reality.. It can be a small project like raising money for a sick kid at school, or big like building Habitat houses along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. RandomKid is also helping kids raising money to provide water wells in Africa. It is an amazing organization that holds great promise for the future of our society.
Nicholas Kristof concludes, "If kids like Talia can accomplish so much, without credit cards or driving licenses, just imagine what adults could achieve." I totally agree.
I'm convinced that kids 10-13 years old are THE prime candidates for leadership development and philanthropic initiative. Once puberty sets in all sorts of doubts intrude into the psyche of kids and for many adults, they never get over believing that they have nothing to contribute to this world.
The distinctiveness of Talia and her RandomKid counterparts is that acted on their ideas. If you have a kid, talk to them about how they can make a difference. Don't tell them, ask them, and then help them to make it happen. If you need help, contact RandomKid. There is no better time than now to do so.
UPDATE: Thought you'd like to hear from Talia, CEO and Anne Ginter, President of RandomKid. If you wold like to receive these newsletters, go to the RandonKid website and sign up there.
Hello all our Random Friends!
This week has been a wonderfully
crazy week! We have had the pleasure of hearing from many, many random
kids who want to solve real world problems, after being inspired by a column in
Sunday's New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/opinion/16kristof.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss).
We're also thrilled to be hearing from lots of random grown-ups who want to
support these awesome kids!
We're already kicking off a number
of new awesome projects... the brain-children of... well... children! We
only wish our new website were online now. We can't wait for you to use
it! We're in the process of redesigning our entire website to make it so
much easier and faster for millions of kids to safely connect to solve
real world problems. If you're interested in investing in new technology
to help this new generation of philanthropists, please let us know. Our
13-year-old CEO Talia Leman has a great track record for Return on Investment
(see http://godblesshumanity.com/articles/?p=146 for
examples).
If you're a teacher, a youth group
leader, or a kid looking for a cool way to solve real world problems, please
check out www.randomkid.org/randomprojects.asp.
One project that has a lot of
momentum right now is our water project to ease thirst around the earth:
See www.randomkid.org/water.asp
and www.easethirst.blogspot.com
-- be sure to check out the videos of the kids and their teachers talking about
what a life changing experience this has been for them! Our National Task
Force to Rebuild the Gulf is also really close to finishing a house for a
family in Mississippi that was displaced by Hurricane Katrina 3 years ago-- you
could help us with that simply by purchasing a carabiner or making a
donation! (www.randomkid.org/randomstore.asp).
And if you're an
education university student who needs an internship, let's talk! In
2009 we want to explore having someone help us formalize some of our project
curriculum that we provide to teachers.
And now, I'd like to close with this
wonderful story. We have been working with many schools on the water
project. The stories across the country are all very similar, but each
one is unique and touches us deeply. One of the schools we're working
with right now showed us their students' test scores. Before the water
project, there were 11 kids "at risk". Now that they're well
into it, all of the kids are testing in the 90th percentile and above.
Why? Because they're putting their education into action. They're
passionate about what they're doing and they're taking ownership. Three
moms came up to us at one event with tears in their eyes, telling us how much
this has changed their child's experience at school.
We are humbled and honored to be
serving so many outstanding kids, random kids just like you, who want to change
the world.
With gratitude,
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