Occupy World

Hannah Taylor

At 5 years old, Hannah Taylor saw a man eating out of a garbage can one winter day and wondered, “If everyone shared what they had, could that cure homelessness?” Since that day she dedicated her young life to battling hunger and homelessness, founding The Lady Bug Foundation in 2004 at the mere age of 8. Since the foundation’s start, it’s raised over 2 million dollars to fund projects around Canada that help provide shelter and food for the homeless.

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Alexandra Scott

Alexandra “Alex” Scott was diagnosed with neuroblastoma (a childhood cancer) before her first birthday, and in 2000 at 4 years old, Alex decided she wanted to have a lemonade stand to raise money to find a cure, and in the next 4 years, Alex’s stand raised $1 million for the cause. Sadly, Alex passed away at the age of 8, but her lemonade stand and inspiring legacy live on through her foundation, Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Alex and her dedication to fighting cancer are proof that it is possible to turn lemons to lemonade.

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Janine Licare

There was no monkeying around when 9-year-old Janine Licare and her friend Aislin Livingstone started Kids Saving the Rainforest in 1998, an organization in Costa Rica dedicated to saving the rainforests and Titi monkeys of Manuel Antonio. What first began as a roadside table where the two pals sold painted rocks to raise funds, this idea has since grown into a thriving organization that holds “Adopt-a-Tree” campaigns, builds monkey bridges, and works with educators in Costa Rica to spread awareness of rainforest conservation.

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Austin Gutwein

Inspired after watching a video about the millions of children who are orphaned each year in Africa due to HIV/AIDS, 9-year-old Austin Gutwein hit his local basketball court in 2004 and shot 2,057 free throws — representing the 2,057 kids who would lose their parents during the time span of just one typical school day. The free throws raised $3,000 to go toward caring for 8 orphans and were the beginning of Hoops of Hope, an organization that has since grown to help feed and educate the orphans of Africa, one basketball at a time.  

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Annie Wignall

After learning about the thousands of kids across the country who had to leave their homes due to crisis situations such as being put into foster care, Annie founded The Care Bags Foundation at just 11 years old. What began as a home-based project where Annie filled care bags with kid essentials to give to a few Iowa tykes in her hometown, has since turned into a national non-profit foundation, distributing care bags to children in need across the country.

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Craig Kielburger

When 12-year-old Craig Kielburger read a powerful newspaper headline back in 1995 about a young boy who was murdered while fighting unfair child labor laws, Craig knew that he too, had to speak out. After gathering a group of his Grade 7 classmates, Craig started Free the Children — a network of children helping other children through aiding in education, health, water quality, and other issues. With over one million youth from around the world involved, Free the Children aims to free children from poverty, exploitation, and the notion that the young are powerless to incite change.

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Nicole Basil

After outgrowing her own set of wheels, then 9-year-old Nicole decided to create a bike drive in 2010 called Pedal Power and give them away as a reward to students with good grades at her local schools. What first started with 2 bikes (her own and her brother’s) has since turned into countless bike drives and over a thousand sets of wheels being given to deserving kids in the Chicago area. Way to put the pedal to the medal, Nicole!

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Kendall Ciesmier

After watching an Oprah special about the 12 million AIDS orphans in Africa and having experienced her own hardship of undergoing two liver transplants, 11-year-old Kendall Ciesmier decided that she needed to do something to help those facing difficulties without the benefit of a strong support system. And so began Kids Caring 4 Kids in 2004, an organization dedicated to raising funds for vulnerable children affected by the AIDS pandemic.

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Kyle and Garret Weiss

Inspired by their love of sports, Kyle and Garret Weiss founded FUNDaFIELD, a student-run organization that aims to give kids around the world the opportunity to have sports in their lives. Since its start in 2007, FUNDaFIELD has raised thousands of dollars to build 8 fields across Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa, and has funded soccer tournaments for kids throughout Africa. We applaud (or rather, high five!) their efforts.

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Neha Gupta

Inspired by one of her family’s visits to an orphanage in her Indian hometown, 9-year-old Neha Gupta was moved and saddened by the dismal prospects of the orphaned children she saw. Thus began her brainchild, Empower Orphans, a grassroots campaign founded in 2009 dedicated to improving the lives of orphaned and abandoned children both stateside and abroad. Since its inception, Neha has raised over $150,000 by making and selling wine charms and getting charitable corporate sponsors.

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Ashlee Smith

It’s often said that good things can come from the bad … and Ashlee’s Toy Closet is proof of that. After 12-year-old Ashlee Smith and her family were devastated by a house fire in 2005 and then after seeing the horrible California wild fires that were devastating her neighboring towns, she set out on a mission to help the kids affected by house fires. So began her toy closet, a charity aimed at providing toys to children affected by natural disasters. Since its start, Ashlee has helped thousands of children by collecting over 175,000 toys, and has expanded her efforts to provide relief for kids throughout the world.

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Talia Leman

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, 10-year-old Talia Leman teamed up with Anne Royse Ginther to rally U.S. youth to help raise funds for survivors. Their joint efforts in gaining the support of both school children and five corporate sponsors led to $10 million being raised … and the eventual founding of RandomKid. This organization aims to empower any random kid to solve real problems with the help of other like-minded youth. Since its start, RandomKid has worked with 12 million youth from around 20 different countries to fund everything from water pumps and schools to medical care for those in need around the world.

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Jaylen Arnold

Although Jaylen’s Challenge is less of a charity and more of an anti-bullying campaign, we couldn’t leave 11-year-old Jaylen Arnold and his inspiring challenge off our list. Diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder, Jaylen was tired of being bullied by his classmates and decided something needed to be done for himself and for other kids. Thus began Jaylen’s Challenge — a movement to provide school administrators with resources to teach kids the destruction of bullying including videos, posters, books, and glow in the dark “Bullying No Way!” wristbands.

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Ryan Hreljac

When first-grader Ryan Hreljac learned about the profound need for clean and safe water in developing countries, he organized help from his family, friends, and community to raise money to build a well in Africa. Three years later, in 2001, Ryan’s Well Foundation was formed. Dedicated to building wells and latrines that provide clean water and better sanitation in the form of community maintenance and hygiene training to underprivileged communities around the world, this foundation has grown to help over 700,000 people.

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Rachel Harris

In true “pay it forward” fashion, 6-year-old Rachel Harris created Let’s Help Kids (LHK) in 2009 to alleviate the burden of kids who are experiencing financial hardships. “The goal is to identify children that have a need, a wish, a hope …  and then raise the funds to make that come true.”  From simply ensuring that a child has a Halloween costume to supplying a young tyke with a bike, LHK is treating underprivileged kids to an extra something special.

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