Whether they’re burned or dumped, they leak harmful toxins into the environment, contaminating our water, land and air.

Alex Lin, 14, installed the first ever e-waste receptacle in his town of Westerly, Rhode Island, and pushed for passage of laws banning the dumping of e-waste.

Where do artists get financial support?  Often, they apply for grants that take months to get approved.

Some students in New York decided there could be a better way – give anyone (not just professional artists) an arts grant – instantly.

This unusual gesture, they hope, would encourage others to reignite their passion for the arts and to see themselves as creative beings.

The story behind GenerosityFoundation.org:

We all learn art in school. Every kid loves to draw at some point. People get fascinated with the details of their new camera, or spend free time writing poems. But eventually, there’s no teacher telling you how great your are, or the camera gets put away, or you just plain get busy and stop. Years could go by before you start again, if you ever do at all.

The FSNUA aims to re-inspire creative thinking and action in everyday people by removing a small barrier and providing encouragement. We give small, unsecured grants in the form of $10-$60 for creative projects thought up on the spot by everyday people. In the past this has included a merchant marine, two 10 year old girls, a US soldier on leave from Iraq, an accordion player from Alaska, and around 40 others. We funded their new paintings, drawings, knitting, and photojournalism projects, and the repair of one accordion. Projects that may not have happened had they not come across 10 people in the park to support and inspire the thought.

Beyond the small amount of money, the project encourages people to see themselves as something other than workers or consumers even if it just for the length of time required to apply for the FSNUA grant. We also hope to re-inspire dormant desires to create while presenting an example of generosity without an ulterior motive.

It’s fair to say the result is beautiful, motivating, friendly and a bit chaotic (in an exciting way).

But his recent awards are for Triple-S, an organization he started to support students in sports.

The idea is simple: round up athletic gear that people no longer want and give them to children who do.

Watch Bo in action in this news report.

Video Link

His invention generated more than just clean energy for his village (which never had power), but also lots of attention – from the media and the social sector.

Watch William’s remarkable story in this short documentary that premiered on Pangea Day.  

Video Link

Ask yourself – What can you do with $1,000 to create maximum impact in your community or the world?

HOW IT WORKS 

The process can be adjusted to accommodate each group’s needs but the following 7 steps can be completed in less than 2 months: 

1. Form Chapter 
   Find 20 students who are interested.  You don’t have to be in the same class.  All you need is a common desire to help the group create positive change. 
    
2. Global Youth Fund Presentation 
   Invite Global Youth Fund’s founder to come in and give a presentation, explaining the bottom-up democratic process and its benefits. 
    
3. Brainstorm Ideas 
   Work individually or in pairs to come up with project ideas for the group to consider and evaluate.  Post them on Global Youth Fund’s website in your chapter’s discussion forum (coming soon). 
    
4. Online Dialogue 
   Engage in discussion about the ideas that your group has come up with.  Ask questions.  Make sure you understand each idea’s purpose, potential impact, and its strengths and weaknesses. 
    
5. Vote for Finalists 
   Take part in online voting to choose your top 3 ideas.  These are the finalists.  
    
6. Prepare for Youth Assembly 
   Pick a day when your group can set aside 3 to 4 hours to evaluate the finalists and pick the winner. The finalists should prepare 10-minute presentations to give to the entire group.  You may revise your ideas to incorporate comments if you wish. 
    
7. Youth Assembly 
   Global Youth Fund facilitates your group through presentations, evaluations, dialogue and voting to choose the winning project.

RULES & GUIDELINES

To ensure the best outcome and to fulfill our program goals, we need to impose the following conditions: 

1. No Fundraising or Funding Campaigns
   Fundraising can serve a lot of good but we want to encourage you to come up with your own solutions to the problems you want to address.  Asking yourself “How would I solve this problem?” is very different from “Who do I want to give money to?”     

   Also, the funding you receive from GYF is for you to use.  It’s not meant to be redirected to organizations or persons in need.
    

2. Project Should be “Charitable”
   Your project should benefit society and the planet in some obvious way.  If GYF thinks your project would not fall under Revenue Canada’s fairly broad definition of what’s “charitable,” then it cannot be one of the three finalists.
    
3. Under $1,000
   You should be able to implement your project with the funding Global Youth Fund gives you.  You should not have to raise more money from other sources.  Keep this in mind when you’re brainstorming ideas.
    
4. No “Canvassing” for Votes
   Make the best case for your project idea by talking about its benefits.  But do not ask others in the group to vote your project.  Respect their right to make their own decision about what’s best.  Do not ask them to vote for you because you’re their friend.
    
5. Impartial Organizer
   The process works best if one of the lead organizers of your group remains impartial throughout the selection process.  That means you are not trying to get other students to support one particular idea.  Rather, you are encouraging everyone to come up with their own ideas and get involved in the discussions, dialogue and voting.

Download Changemakers Challenge document (PDF) for more information and instructions on how to proceed.

They chose Building Hope: One School at a Time.

In subsequent months, they worked together to raise money to help Central Asia Institute fund schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan where many children in remote villages have no access to education.

Goal:

• Raise $500 for educational supplies for Central Asia Institute. (Status: Achieved)

Activities:

Background:

Greg Mortensen

Founded by Greg Mortenson in 1996, the Central Asia Institute (CAI) was created to strengthen communities abandoned by their governments and ignored by passing tourists.

After his failure to climb K2, in honor of his sister’s death, Mortenson found himself sick and depleted. Then, by pure coincidence, he stumbled across the town of Korphe. There he experienced the comfort and unbridled warmth of the Balti people. He was horrified to discover that the local children were studying in the dirt and rubble without a teacher, without a school.

He vowed to come back to build a school. Against all odds and hardships (including kidnapping), he did just that.

For the past 10 years, CAI has dedicated its efforts in building more than 60 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a region where the U.S. is now engaged in a “war on terror.”

Mortenson’s “one man’s mission to promote peace” has been recounted in the highly acclaimed book, Three Cups of Tea.

Links:

• Central Asia Institute
• Greg Moretenson’s Blog
• Pennies for Peace

To spread peace, kindness and joy… especially to strangers.

Background:

We all know about the power of simple kindness. But there’s power too in random kindness. That’s kindness shown to people when they least expect it, and for no obvious reason. When you give a friend a birthday present – that’s kindness. When you give that friend a present on no particular day for no particular reason, that’s random kindness. So is any kind gesture you offer someone who doesn’t know you and doesn’t expect anything from you.

Why random kindness? Because it can instantly brighten our day and put a smile on our face. Because it builds bridges, tears down walls, and strengthens bonds. Because it forces us to question assumptions and ask, “Can we do better?”

Because it brings unexpected joy… and the world needs more of that.

Countries/Regions Affected:

• World

Which groups do this?

• Free Hugs Campaign
• Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
• The Coin-spiracy

Measurable Result

• Hard to quantify but you are sure to see instant results.

What You Can Do

• Download the Illustrated Guide to Free Hugs
• Perform random acts of kindness – to the environment, family, friends, and strangers.
• Organize “free hugs” events in your community.
• Join the Coin-spiracy movement.

To use specially trained rats to detect and remove landmines, which harm or kill one person every 20 minutes.

Background:

Bart Weetjens

More than 70 million landmines are still in the ground in at least 60 countries, posing great risk to civilians. Each year, they harm or kill as many as 20,000 people.

Cheap to produce, landmines are costly and dangerous to remove. That’s why Bart Weetjens decided to recruit rats in the heroic effort. They have a highly developed sense of smell, are easy to train, cheap to sustain, and they are not heavy enough to set off the mines (unlike dogs).

After training them in Tanzania, Weetjen’s organization (apopo) has deployed them in real minefields in Mozambique.

Countries/Regions Affected:

For now, Mozambique.

Which groups do this?

• Hero Rats

Measurable Result

For €5 a month, you can “adopt” a rat through Hero Rat. But Hero Rat does not specify how many landmines each rat helps clear on average.

What You Can Do

• Donate money to Hero Rat and help fund the training and deployment of the rats.

Videos:

• Hero Rats (PBS Frontline/World)
• Animal Planet

Perhaps this promo video – with its quiet but powerfully eloquent message – is a great place to start.  Enjoy!

Directed by Marc Webb

Needless to say, I didn’t mean to nearly kill myself – I just meant to look like all the super-thin supermodels I saw in magazines. 

Just knowing that I weighed less than most thin movie stars gave me a boost of confidence.  But I was still never satisfied.  I still felt fat, so I kept refusing to eat.  Little did I know that ninety percent of people who starve themselves gain back all the weight they lose within a few months.  And no, I was not a part of the lucky ten percent.
Of all the problems I’ve ever had, the most difficult one by far was regaining my self esteem after the traumatizing realization hit me that I was living my worst nightmare every day.  When I was anorexic, my greatest fear was that I would regain the weight I’d lost – which I did.  I felt like a failure, I felt so helpless and hopeless.  

I didn’t see any point in getting ready each day because I didn’t think any boys would like me or any girls would want to be my friend if I wasn’t “skinny.”  I almost gave up even trying to look decent or even trying to make friends.  I almost gave up loving life and living it to the fullest.  I almost gave up – but I didn’t.

I didn’t because I remembered a saying I’d heard once that says, “You are not a failure if you stumble and fall.  You are only a failure if you don’t pick yourself back up.”  

This saying saved my life.  It made me realize that although I’d stumbled and fallen, I could still pick myself back up and regain my confidence.  Although I didn’t really know if I could ever find my self esteem again, I had faith and told myself that I could.  I never gave up trying to love myself and just be myself.  I finally realized that I don’t have to look like a supermodel for guys to like me and for me to find friends.  All I have to do is be myself.  

Since regaining a positive self image, I have made my goal simply to be healthy rather than to be “skinny.”  I run every day I can and I eat healthily.  I am as happy as ever, and I enjoy every single day of my life.  

Although finding the inner-strength I needed to reach this point was the hardest trial I have ever faced, I am so grateful I went through it.  I choose to learn something from each challenge I encounter, and from this one I learned to never give up.  

In all the tribulations I have faced since then, there has always been a point at which I felt like I couldn’t handle it and that I might as well quit trying to overcome it.  Even though it’s harder to not give up at the moment of desperation, in the end, the joy, smiles, and sense of accomplishment are so worth all the pain, tears, and hard work.  And that is why I believe in never giving up.