Most 13-year-old boys can’t get enough of things like video
games, but Al Sanchez had his eyes on just two.
After his parents gave the seventh grader
”
Super Smash Brothers Melee
”
and
”
Pokemon Coliseum
”
for his Feb. 7 birthday, Sanchez did something most adults would
find surprising: He asked friends to make donations to a tsunami
relief fund set up by Catholic charities in lieu of a gift for his
birthday party at Garlic City Billiards.
Most 13-year-old boys can’t get enough of things like video games, but Al Sanchez had his eyes on just two.
After his parents gave the seventh grader “Super Smash Brothers Melee” and “Pokemon Coliseum” for his Feb. 7 birthday, Sanchez did something most adults would find surprising: He asked friends to make donations to a tsunami relief fund set up by Catholic charities in lieu of a gift for his birthday party at Garlic City Billiards.
“I figured my party wouldn’t do very much, but if a lot of people decided to do it, there could be a lot of money raised,” said Sanchez before the party. He asked guests and their parents to give only money that would otherwise have been spent on a birthday gift. “I hope (the checks) can go to help tsunami victims, to rebuilding houses. They don’t have it very good down there and they need things. I don’t.”
Kids who attended the party were treated to a day of playing pool and a mini video game tournament. Amid the fun and the cake, they managed to raise nearly $700, but the feeling isn’t new to Sanchez. The St. Mary School student decided to forgo party gifts last year in exchange for donations to the fund his school’s new science lab.
“My two options this year were really the science lab for my school and the tsunami relief,” said Sanchez, who narrowed down his list of chosen charities with the help of his parents. “I was inviting lots of kids and not everybody went to my school, so I didn’t think it would be fair for me to ask them for money for my school. That’s how I picked.”
As amazing as his story sounds, Sanchez isn’t alone.
Kids from his school have been holding Friday bake sales to benefit victims of the December tsunami that killed more than 150,000 people across Asia and India.
Friends Nicole Kramer, Lauren Rhodes, Megan Carvalho and Katherine Bright decided on their own to host a bake sale in Gilroy, creating posters, distributing flyers, sending out e-mails and even putting an ad in the Gilroy Dispatch to get the word out. Their one-day fundraiser on Sunday, Feb. 13, raised $600.42 for the Red Cross’ Tsunami Relief fund.
In a country that tells them to dream big, the idealism that drives young philanthropers can catch like a fever and lead them to greater heights than even they imagined.
One of the best examples of kid-driven charity is the case of Alexandra Scott of Philadelphia. Diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma in January 1997, “Alex” was just two days shy of her first birthday.
By age four, Scott decided that, even if she didn’t live to see it, she’d find a way to give for a cure. So it was that in July of 2000, the little girl opened a lemonade stand. Her goal was to raise $1 million.
As word spread about the lemonade stand, donations began to come in from all over the world. Stands were set up in her name across the United States, and, before her death on Aug. 1 last year, the little-girl-who-could had raised $1.6 million for cancer research.
Scott’s parents Jay and Liz have decided to continue her fight, and hope to continue making her dream a reality. They’ve set up a Web site, www.AlexsLemonade.com, to educate people on Scott’s vision. And for their annual lemonade fundraiser, to be held June 10 through 12 this year, they hope to have 5,000 lemonade stands set up across the country.
Before her death, Scott set a new goal for them: $5 million by the close of 2005. Thus far, they’ve raised more than $1 million in the last year.
Even stories like Alex Scott’s are not uncommon. The Web site Idealist.org lists more than 20 charitable organizations started by kids, promoting everything from environmental protection to organ donation, and raising money to fight evils from elder abuse to child slavery.
If your youngsters want to learn more about starting their own charitable organization, or if you just want to introduce them to the idea, log onto www.idealist.org/kt.
