Can't Wait

In each instance below, you will read about teenagers and the adults who believed in them, cooperating and working together to change the world.

• Clifton, age 13, and other Wisconsin teens started out three years ago to make their disadvantaged farming town more kid-friendly. The community had hundreds of kids, many trash-spotted lots, but no playgrounds. During the first year, they cleared 40 cubic yards of litter. This year, it took 13 trips to the dump to haul away what 300 volunteers collected: 40 tons of garbage, 1,000 tires and 5,000 pounds of hazardous waste. On a lot once teeming with trash, the teens planted 15 trees as the beginnings of a community park.

• Nick, age 17, was paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident. His family has no health insurance, so his Arizona hometown organized outdoor projects to clean up Nick's favorite hiking trails and thus collected $17,000 for his medical bills. At the hiking trail site, volunteers could donate to both the community and to Nick’s medical fund. Some elementary kids got involved and created “Nickels for Nick."

• Working with an Oklahoma librarian and local school teachers, Kyle 14, launched a teens-tutoring-kids program nicknamed READ (Reading Encourages All Dreams). 30 struggling readers in grades 1-4 met at the library with Kyle and 27 high school students. As they meet weekly, the teens have become role models and friends to the youngsters.

• In North Carolina, teens brought hammers, nails and saws to a community center to construct a playhouse for 75-plus children who play at the center while their parents are enrolled in a daily language class.

• Teens Rachel and Nicole coupled seven Washington elementary school children with high school seniors in a pen-pal program. Each month, the kids and seniors trade letters on a chosen subject.

• 13-year-old Christi, along with her four best friends enlisted 475 volunteers for a day of work. They collected supplies and worked at a large homeless shelter recovering walls with paint, wallpaper and wallpaper borders. At day’s end, with some of their left over donations, the girls assisted a mother with a teen daughter move into a new apartment.

Can you see yourself getting involved in projects like these and by improving the lives of others, also improving your own life? All it takes is willingness to believe you can. Just say, “Yes, you can count on me! I cannot do it all, but I believe I can do a little bit to help!” As you reach out and believe in others, always remember that you are vital and important...no matter what your age!