Alizeh Ahmad helped build an all-girls’ school in Pakistan. Kayee Ensign and Annie Paden contributed toward clean water in third-world countries. Jacqueline Adams wrote a grant for struggling students in Kingston, Jamaica. This summer, a group of McCallie students will assist battered women in Bolivia. Students in Ooltewah, East Brainerd and Harrison have provided countless hours of assistance to help repair homes damaged by tornadoes. Across Hamilton County Schools, senior projects alone account for charitable efforts supporting everything from pets to the homeless, raising funds for disease research as well as children’s playground equipment.
And these teenagers are doing all of these things before they are old enough to vote.
In a time usually rife with melodramas, insecurities and self-absorption, more and more teenagers are turning to philanthropy. And it isn’t your run-of-the-mill soup kitchen shift. In addition to running races, building houses and selling t-shirts, teenagers are spearheading their own fundraising events, often with a global focus. In February, students at Girls Preparatory School organized a benefit concert to raise money for Freeset, a fair-trade business that provides employment for women trapped in India’s sex trade. “I think it’s empowering for them to feel like there’s a bigger world out there and they can make a difference, especially when teenagers around them are fretting about prom dresses, grades or what shoes they’re going to wear,” says GPS Community Service Director Weesie Cook.
But the ladies aren’t the only ones lending a helping hand. McCallie’s Dean of Student Life Bob Bires is approached at least once a week with ideas for fundraising projects. “It’s almost gotten to the point where I have to say no sometimes,” says Bires, explaining they’ve had to institute school-centered guidelines.
Some of the student brainstorms led to the Joe Restaino Bone Cancer Awareness Walk, which honors a former student who lost his battle with the disease, as well as the Upper School Project, which began three years ago in reaction to the Haitian earthquake. The industrious 9th through 12th graders raised $6,000 just by selling t-shirts. This year, the project will support the Bolivian mission trip.