There are a lot of things to be thankful for during the holidays. At The Salvation Army, one of the things we are especially grateful for is the millions of donors and volunteers who support our work in communities across the country – through time, financial support or even just by spreading the word about our work. More and more, we are noticing that many of these supporters are young people. I’d like to take some time in this last blog post of the season to recognize some of these exceptional young philanthropists.
One example is 11-year-old Stephen Smith of Houston, TX. During a trip to the mall at age 4, Stephen noticed some people on the street holding cardboard signs asking for money. His dad explained to him that the people were poor and homeless. Stephen was distressed by this and went home to collect change from around the house. He returned to the spot and donated it to the folks he had seen earlier.
This was the beginning of Stephen’s philanthropy. That year, he hosted his first Christmas benefit party for The Salvation Army – a tradition now in its sixth year. Stephen, who has been dubbed “Houston’s Youngest Philanthropist,” sends out invitations to friends, classmates and family in the area and hosts the party at his home. In lieu of gifts, people are encouraged to bring food, toys and monetary donations to be given to the Army and distributed to the homeless and others in need locally at Christmas.
Another great example is Melanie Adelman, a seventeen-year-old from Wayne, NJ. Melanie started MyShoe4U, a program that encourages others to donate old and new shoes to charity. In three years, the program has collected more than 2,000 pairs of shoes, which have been given to Salvation Army thrift stores.
This spring in Broken Arrow, OK, five-year-old Silas Honnold performed as “Silas – The One Man Pan Band” in his front yard to raise money- $221.20 to be exact- for his local Salvation Army.
These are just a few of the hundreds of examples of young people from around the country who feel inspired to support our work – and the work of other great charities. The past ten years have brought us Hurricane Katrina and the 9-11 attacks, among other national calamities. Perhaps the silver lining in this sadness is that a generation has grown up during a time in which philanthropy and giving back are rightly and truly celebrated. As we enter this next decade, we will all look to this youngest generation to help the country – and the world – continue to move forward with a renewed commitment to serving others. Merry Christmas to you all. And Happy New Year.