Soles for Kids: AfG Youth Giving Back

Children living in poverty lack many of life's most basic necessities, including a good pair of shoes. Three Allowance for Good youth chose to tackle this issue and give more children across the world the comfort of a good pair of shoes.

Charlie, Danny, and Tim participated in Allowance for Good's Fall 2015 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class in the Elmhurst location.

After their participation in the ELP program, Charlie, Danny, and Tim decided to start their own project - a shoe drive for Soles for Kids. Soles for Kids is an incredible charity that collects used, not abused, shoes and soccer balls to distribute to children worldwide. They have distributed shoes to children in need in Africa, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.

The three AfG youth organized a shoe donation drive at York High School during a basketball game, where they collected 72 pairs of shoes. They also raised $75 to put towards shipping costs.

All the shoes they collected were given to Soles for Kids and sent to children in Tanzania. These young men acted as agents of change in their community, and their efforts will have significant effects far from their homes. Allowance for Good is proud to see them serving as global citizens and making a difference in the lives of many children.

If interested in running your own shoe drive, you can find more information about donating to Soles for Kids here.

Creating Local Change through Community Foundations

By: Ben

Ben is participating in Allowance for Good's Spring 2016 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class in the Elmhurst location.

"I am a Catalyst for Good
because...everyone deserves
to be treated with respect."
- Ben

What is a community foundation? What did you learn about the DuPage Foundation from Barb Szczepaniak? What did you learn about DuPage County that surprised you? How did the activity help you understand the grant making process? How can you help your community thrive? 

I learned from Barb Szczepaniak that a community foundation organizes and gives out grants to organizations aimed to help the less fortunate. Barb taught us many things about how her committee gets together and decides how much to donate to certain organizations who reached out for money, and how much of their demand they are willing to pay. I was very surprised to learn that the federal poverty level is 20,000 a year but a typical family needs a bare minimum of 63,000 a year to just get by. And I learned that that is where Barb aims to help out, the gap in between.

The activity made me understand how difficult the grant making process could be for those deciding where the money goes to. I learned that by donating to the community foundation I can make a difference by giving the people in the grant process able to give more money to more organizations in need of financial support. By doing this I can focus on helping, and focusing on making change in my own community.

Striving towards an Education for All

By: Luke

Luke is participating in Allowance for Good's Spring 2016 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class in the Elmhurst location.

"I am a Catalyst for Good
because...all people have
the right to food and
education." - Luke

My name is Luke and I’m in Allowance for Good program, I have learned what are the human rights and that they were developed by the United Nations. What struck me was that the United Nations had to develop the human rights because some countries didn’t provide basic needs for their people. There are kids in Africa that don’t have water and food. Another example is certain countries don’t educate their girls and there are extremist who bomb schools to prevent girls from going to school. The extremists don’t want girls to learn because they will learn how to make a stand against the radical ideas.

I’m passionate about my sports and fortunate to compete in baseball and lacrosse. I don’t have to worry about basic needs and my school being bombed. I want all kids to grow up not worrying about their next meal, having water and be able to walk to school without being afraid of being hurt.

Allowance for Good has inspired Matt and I to start a project for Nicaragua. The project will raise money for kids in the country that don’t have a proper education. Many of the children fail to reach the 6th grade and one third never have the chance to enroll in elementary school. If you are interesting in donating to this cause, you can email my mom at randarbarber@gmail.com.

A Small Amount, A Big Impact

By: Blair

Blair is participating in Allowance for Good's Spring 2016 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class in the Elmhurst location.

I learned this week in our financial literacy lesson that the extra money we spend on eating out, buying toys, and living through our daily lives adds up to a lot of money. Money that goes a long way in other people’s lives across the world. I realized this week that most people who live comfortably in our world with little to no financial problems don’t know how much of an impact even a dollar can do. People all over the world live in so much poverty that even a dollar could help them get enough food for their family. If we as a society realize how much extra money we spend on items we don’t even need and instead donate them to these hungry and starving kids, the impact would probably be as big as having almost every kid in poverty go to bed every night with a full belly. I encourage every person in the world to stop and think about if you really need this pointless item you are about to buy, and the impact it would have on others if you donated the money to charity instead of buying the item.  

"I am a catalyst for good
because...I will improve the
basic education around
the world" - Blair

ELP Elmhurst class brainstorming.

ELP Elmhurst class teacher 
Jeanne leads discussion.

My Life Changing Moment on GEE

By: Analise
Analise was a youth traveler on Allowance for Good's 2015 Global Engagement Expedition to Bucerias, Mexico to visit Human Connections, a social enterprise designed to foster cross-cultural understanding and empower local entrepreneurs. 

Coming back from GEE, my view on my own daily life and the lives of the people I surround myself with has significantly changed. I now have a greater understanding of how much I have and how I can use all the blessings I received for better. There were several moments on the trip that caused this change, but there is one moment that stands out from the rest. On Friday, the fourth day of our trip, we visited Lomas del Valle and worked with Fundación ATD helping build the new school and playing with the little kids. After we finished playing with the kids I got to get a better look at the old school. It was astonishing to see this "school" with walls made out of wire and a roof made out of tin and then to think about my own school, Saint Ignatius.

As I walked next to one of the four outer walls of the school there was a list, as there are on many schools in Mexico. In the Mexican school system, the government sets up a school, but that is it. The children must pay for supplies, books, and repairs of their classrooms. As it is not uncommon for families to be unable to pay for all that is needed for school, each list schools' lists have the names of children who owe money to the school and how much they owe. I read the list outside of the school in Lomas del Valle and I added up the money that was owed by the ten names on the list. All together it was $435 and I thought for a low income community 435 U.S. dollars was a lot so it made sense to me. Then, it hit me. It wasn't U.S. dollars, it was in pesos. which meant it was only about $35 U.S. dollars. I knew right there that I had 3 times that amount of money sitting in my wallet on the bus.

I will forever remember that moment. It put my life in a whole new perspective I had never thought of before. I realized just how incredibly blessed I am to be born where I was, to have the family I have, to be the person I am, and to have so many opportunities in front of me that I must not waste.

Analise dancing with the kids at Entreamigos in San Pancho, Mexico.

List outside of the school in Lomas del Valle outlining how much each family owes.

Making an Impact for Human Rights

By: Anika
Anika is a participant in Allowance for Good's Spring Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers class. 

This week in ELP, we talked about human rights. We learned about the different plans and steps for fixing the problems that come with the lack of human rights. There is a declaration issued by the United Nations about human rights. We tend to take many of these basic rights for granted.

 In this class, I learned a lot about human rights and I was able to appreciate how fortunate I am. Less developed countries do not provide adequate protection of human rights, which is a problem that needs to be fixed. Some people don’t have freedom of thought, or the right to privacy. I cannot imagine not having the right to privacy and freedom of thought and speech.

 One of these rights was the right to education. Malala’s speech about the right to education was very inspiring for many reasons.  She is a young girl living in a Taliban dominated and controlled country. She is a girl and a child and the Taliban believed that the children of Pakistan, especially girls and women, had no right to education.  She still stood out, regardless of everything against her and spoke out for both girls and boys. Taliban continued to threaten her but she could not be stopped because she believed in the right to education for everyone. She was shot in the head by the Taliban but that made her even more determined to fight for access and equality of education.

 Another right is the right to food and shelter. There are so many people who don’t have 3 meals a day. Hunger and shelter is a problem all over the world, including the most developed countries. Even a country as developed as the United States has over 5,000 homeless and hungry people in just a 50 mile radius. All of my life I have grown up listening to how my classmates and I were so lucky to have food on our plates and a roof over my head.

 I have heard statistics that 1 out of 5 children go hungry. We have not discussed ways in which we could solve this problem. I would like to try and make a dent in the issue of homelessness and hunger.

One of the ways to doing that is to build awareness of this problem at a younger age. It could be as simple as teaching kids to not waste food and water, volunteering at a food bank, richer class discussions etc.

Integrating Philanthropic Lessons Into Everyday Life

By: Bella
Bella is a participant in Allowance for Good's Winter 2015 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers class.

This week in the ELP class we reflected on our seven weeks worth of work and discussions plus activities and fun. This experience was only seven weeks long and even though it was short I absorbed the wonderful and inspiring lessons each week.

My favorite parts of ELP was talking about global human rights and access to basic needs, such as clean water, education, shelter and food. I found this interesting, because I had know idea about the millennium goals that were suppose to be completed by 2015, but they were not fulfilled. While talking about this topic we also discussed the 5 point Plan, which was put in place of the millennium goals.

I will continue being a philanthropist and young catalyst, by thinking of others and making my goal for each day to help some in need, whether it be picking up a notebook for someone or buying a lunch for someone. To continue my work as a philanthropist I will advocate and give back to throughs who are fighting for equal rights, such as Malala, who advocates for equal education rights for women. I also feel obligated to be doing any philanthropic activity I can participate in, to fulfil my passion of being a philanthropist.

I want to learn more about how to give and what it means to give in a philanthropic way. I am very intrested in different and empowering ways to be involved in philanthropic events or activities. I also want to learn more about the five point plan and why they made them much more broader. Throughout this ELP class I have learned more about philanthropy and how to be a leader. These skills and ideas I will now take and apply them to my everyday life.

Bella writes, "I am a Catalyst for Good because I think that everyone should have access to clean and safe water."

Hungry for Human Rights

By: Kate

Kate is a participant in Allowance for Good's Winter 2015 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers class. 

In this week’s ELP class we talked about many different human rights and what we have to do to protect those rights. We talked about our roles in helping protect these human rights and how we can help create a better nation. We also talked about our nation’s agenda for the future and how so many things that we planned to be done by 2015 aren’t done and seem to be going nowhere. We made agenda’s for the UN on more logical and attainable goals for the future and how they can make those succeed, while also trying to see how we can attain the goals already set.

One human right that I specifically am very passionate about is hunger in America today. I have been involved with this cause deeply because my mother works for the non-profit organization Feeding America so I get a lot of facts spit out at me about hunger in the US. From this information from my mother and personally seeing what is going on, it saddens me but also makes me inspired to do more to help this cause.

This cause is very important to me and inspires me because we spend so much time thinking about other places and people when our own people are suffering. We give money to others when they are in need yet we don’t see what is going within our own borders. I feel that everyone should have the basic knowledge of what is going on in our country and that people we can see on a daily basis are suffering.

I have done many bake sales and food drives to help support this cause but I would like to do more hands-on work in the future. I feel like donating money is such an easy way to help and that it can go such a long way, but even then you don’t truly see where your money is going and who it is going to help. I plan to work in more food pantries, packing meals, so I can truly see who these people are and where my help is going to.

Kate writes, "I am a Catalyst for Good because everybody deserves to have their basic human rights."

Taking Action to Change US Food Aid: February goodTALK

By: Katherine and Emily

Katherine and Emily are both Program Fellows at Allowance for Good and students at Northwestern University. Read their bios here.

On February 12th, we braved the cold to attend a goodTALK with Josh Meyer, a Lecturer at National Security Studies at Medill’s Washington program, where he teaches graduate level journalism classes on covering conflicts, terrorism and national security. At this event, Meyer discussed the investigation into the US food aid effort that he led with a group of graduate students in the Medill School of Journalism. In a report titled, Hunger Pains: A Problem-plagued US Food Aid Program Faces an Uncertain Future, his team explored the inefficiencies and pitfalls of the program.We joined Northwestern students, staff and other interested members of the public around a table to hear Meyer speak in an intimate setting. Meyer kept everyone engaged throughout the 90 minute presentation with a powerpoint full of potent and dismaying statistics about the US Food Aid program, a long Q&A portion, and even a clip from the Daily Show. After hearing his talk, we at AfG have been moved to act in order to improve this ineffective system.

Josh Meyer chooses to focus his research not on sensationalized current events, but global systemic issues that have repercussions now and for future generations. One large-scale issue that Meyer believes will only become worse with the future challenges presented by climate change is food insecurity. By narrowing in on US food aid, Meyer’s team investigated a subject that the US public can directly impact and hold their government accountable for. As the leading global power, the US has the resources to help people throughout the world who are in need, and in the past century it has been central to US foreign policy, and the American identity, to do so. This ideology has persisted into the 21st century; military action, aid and various disaster relief efforts have all been presented as sacrifices made by the US to protect human rights abroad. But what happens when these aid efforts are wasteful and unproductive?

U.S. food aid has been quoted by experts to be the most inefficient humanitarian aid program in the world. Interviews with U.S. officials and recipients of aid on three continents revealed that USAID, the agency in charge of the food aid effort, actively seeks to serve American economic interests over the interests of those in need. Congressional mandates force USAID to use American commodities sent on American ships through an extensive logistic transportation bureaucracy. As a result, food often arrives months too late, and spoiled from the overseas journey. Former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios claims that, “people have died waiting for food to arrive,” because of this long and slow process. 

Regardless of these problems, USAID remains the largest aid effort in the world. But the U.S. can do better. Despite criticism from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and frustrated USAID workers fighting for reform, policy changes have not been made, due to vested interests in Congress. So what can we, as attentive and committed global citizens, do to help? One way could be encouraging our representatives in Congress to support reform efforts. The United Nations World Food Programme has already begun using food vouchers in place of food ration boxes in places like Jordan for the Syrian refugees there. These vouchers give the refugees the ability to choose where they shop, what they buy, and how much– restoring their sense of dignity and normalcy. If the U.S. adopted this approach to aid, the money would be going directly into the pockets of the recipients, rather than being wasted on transportation or food they don’t necessarily want. We can spur our local and state leaders to fight for this change– a change that will ensure effective aid for all of those in need.

If you would like to take action, sign the petitions at the links below, or share Josh Meyer’s piece with your friends! Advocacy and action begins with awareness.

Petitions:

https://secure3.oxfamamerica.org/page/speakout/food_aid_reform_2015

https://my.care.org/site/SPageNavigator/ADV_Food_Aid_Reform_0214.html

Meyer’s Piece:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/26/hunger-pains-troubled-usaid-food-aid-overseas/16150791/

Support organizations that fight for food aid reform:

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/take-action/campaign/food-farming-and-hunger/food-aid/

http://www.care.org/work/advocacy/food-aid

Teen Discovers Financial Literacy and Personal Philanthropy

By: Ella
Ella is a participant in Allowance for Good's Winter 2015 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers class.

When I signed up for the ELP Explorers class, one of the words that jumped out to me in the course description was “financial literacy”. I had heard it before: it’s a “buzzword” often used in news articles or on talk shows, but not everyone knows what it means (I didn’t). But people often claim that it is severely lacking from our education system, and that teaching it may be the secret to preventing a good amount of our financial troubles. It turns out that financial literacy can mean a myriad of different things to different people, but fundamentally, it is the ability to understand financial matters, and how money works in general. However, many people don’t possess this understanding, as a 2008 survey shows that only 34% of parents have taught their child how to balance a checkbook.

In the most recent ELP class, we began to learn financial literacy by tracking our weekly spending and comparing it to our weekly earning. Many of us were surprised, and realized how little we think about spending money as teenagers. Financial literacy ties into personal philanthropy because it teaches us how to properly allocate and transfer funds. Also, keeping in mind my own spending highlights how severe needs are in the areas where we are trying to direct our aid to, and provides a sense of urgency to our personal philanthropy. For example, I will usually spend 7 or 8 dollars on food when I go out with my friends without a second thought. However, 2.7 billion people worldwide are struggling to survive on less than $2 a day, or a fourth of that amount. We also learned about AFG’s global affiliates, many of which combat similar situations: There’s the Liger Learning Center, based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, a progressive school that provides opportunities for bright children living in poverty. There’s the Adonai Child Development Centre in Uganda for kids living among AIDS, war, and poverty. Finally, there’s Spark Ventures, which is Chicago-based and had a representative come in and educate us about their partnerships, such as Hope Community School. This is located in Zambia and provides the impoverished children of Twapia with an education. In future ELP classes, I’d be interested to learn more about what we can do to get involved with our global affiliates and how we can fundraise for them.

Sources:
http://www.financialeducatorscouncil.org/financial-literacy-statistics/
http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/resources/fastfacts_e.htm

Ella writes, "I am a Catalyst for Good because no matter who you are or where you come from, you can make a difference."

Building a Philanthropic Foundation for Future Endeavors

By: Nate
Nate was a participant in Allowance for Good's Autumn 2014 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers class. 

I have really enjoyed my classes at Allowance for Good.

Before my first class, I honestly did not know how to define philanthropy, so I looked it up. According to Webster’s dictionary, philanthropy is goodwill or the active effort to promote human welfare.  Again, I found another unfamiliar word – goodwill. I researched further because other than donating our closes and used items to Goodwill, I needed more explanation. According to Webster’s dictionary, goodwill is a feeling of support.  I was starting to catch on.  My family has consistently helped our community cooking at soup kitchens, donating money and items, and helping with other service projects.  I have grown about with the understanding that it is necessary to support to not only community but humankind especially those less fortunate then myself.  It is part of who I am as a student, an athlete, a brother and son and a member of my church to help others.  Although looking back, I see the ways I have helped (another student or my younger siblings with school work, a teammate with a drill, or a hungry person at a soup kitchen), I have a better understanding of what philanthropy is and how I want to continue with bigger projects to help a greater number of people, and not just random acts of kindness.

I would like to continue to be a philanthropist and young catalyst for good after ELP by exploring the issue of poor children’s basic right to adequate medical care.  I would like to go to college and study medicine and eventually become a doctor. My hope is to discover a cure for cancer.  I know that there are millions of children around the world that do not have access to basic medicine such as vaccines or prescription drugs when they get sick.  I know that many children die from diseases and viruses that are either preventable with vaccines or curable with medicine, but the children die because they are not treated.  It is important to me that all children are given adequate healthcare regardless of ability to pay.  I would like to be part of the process to make this a reality.

One of my favorite parts about about ELP was meeting so many new people and hearing all of their great ideas about building support in the community and the world.

Nate writes, "I am a Catalyst for Good because all humans should have the same rights so they live in happiness."

Engaging in Philanthropy for Clean Water

By: Moira
Moira is participating in Allowance for Good's spring 2014 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers program. 

Helping people out is one of the simple pleasures of life. There are many foundations and organizations that help make other people’s lives better, one of those being a family foundation. If I had a family foundation, it would be difficult to choose which causes to support but the main cause I would choose to support would to be providing clean water globally. Clean water is an important cause to support because water is the basis for life. Without water, it is hard for people to live a healthy and happy life. When you are thirsty, it makes it harder to concentrate and dehydration is a serious health issue.

In class 2 weeks ago, we learned about the Adonai School in Uganda, and our guest speaker told us about the struggle that the children faced when they retrieved the water. The nearest water is a long way away from the school so on the walk home it is tempting for the children to drink some of this water although it has not yet been purified and could cause health issues if it is drunk. Even if the children make it all the way back to the school, in order to purify the water they must boil it first to rid it of bacteria. After all this time had passed it is then okay to drink the water and some of the children might have already drunk it. 

If I was running my family foundation, I would want to make sure that I was engaging in philanthropy instead of charity. If I were to engage in charity for the cause of clean water, I might donate 50 gallons of purified water to a place that needed it. Instead of doing this, I would want to be involved in a more philanthropic aspect of giving. For example, maybe my family foundation could invest in water purifiers for those who need them. The difference between these two would be that the water purifiers could help for a long period of time and maybe help end the problem of water deprivation or unclean water, whereas giving water would only be a temporary solution. I know that everyone is able to help out people and need and they should because it will make them feel good.

Moira stands next to her favorite leadership quote during an Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class.