Though the week is over, and close to 9,000 miles have been travelled, the 7 Days cause does not end here. It is our goal that the grassroots mission of teenagers giving back and empowering others across the country will continue to gain steam and ultimately inspire people of all ages to actively engage in the issues relavent to their communities and the world at large. The mission of the Encouragement Foundation is simple: Build people up! Be a change-agent! Don’t wait around for other people to change problems. Rather, take those problems on your back and inspire others to do the same. Tell your friends to get behind our cause by becoming fans on Facebook and following the website.
Look out for the documentary and book that will chronicle the 7 Days journey Across America.
Thanks for all of your support!
18-year-old Harvard Freshman Vinay Trivedi, of Philadelphia, has founded an organization called Senior Link–a program that aims to provide computers and the education to use them to the residents of senior homes. On the surface, this program aims to teach the elderly the basics of computer usage; however, the program inevitably serves as a means to connect on a personal level with our elderly citizens. Vinay and his family are extremely close. So, it is no surprise that the inspiration behind Senior Link rests in the memory of his late grandfather. Vinay has big plans for this non-profit. His goal is to spread this program throughout communities. He wants Senior Link to be able to provide seed money to other teens acrosst he country in order to give them a head start in developing similar programs. Currently, Adam Elmarakby and Aushim Kokroo are working with Vinay to help manage the operation and to train the teen volunteers.
To critics that say teens don’t take on important causes, 16-year-old Rebecca Kantar will beg to differ. The leader of Minga–a non profit led by youth dedicated to ending the global sex trading of childre–Kantar works to educate the community and empower people to end this global crisis. Rebecca heads fundraising events, speaks and universities, and develops workshops raising appx. $16K this past spring. You can follow her cause @ http://www.v3.mingagroup.org/
Congratulations to One is Greater than None for being selected as America’s Most Encouraging Teenagers. We will be posting pictures from the finale in the next couple of days, so keep checking back. We would like to thank all of our judges for helping us out. We would also like to thank our crew, and our incredible sponsors; Southwest Airlines, Common Sense Success, CNL Lifestyle Properties, and many more you can see on our partners page.
Don’t forget, come back later as we start posting pictures. Also, you can still become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
We just finished up with Zach Lee of First Aid Comedy Brigade–an organization that performs comedy routines for children in hospitals pro bono–and1 is Greater Than None–a group of 8 H.S. girls who have raised over 120K to help children in Ghana who are being sold off by their families. Our finale is tomorrow night!
We started the day in Lebanon, TN, on the outskirts of Nashville, meeting with high school seniors Dillon Bane and Michael Smith. Dillon and Michael, along with their coach, Greg Armstrong, started out three years ago to hike the 2175 mile Appalachian trail. Their original plan was to hike the AT and simultaneously raise money to build a water well in Honduras. However, the deeper these boys got into the project the more hands on they wanted to become. Enter the Living Waters workshop at the University of Mississippi. The workshop gave the boys the skills to build a water purification system. From there, Dillon modified the filtration system to meet the needs of the people of San Marcos de Colon, Honduras. Next, they were able to take the water purification system that Dillon designed and built and install it in Honduras, giving the people a way to purify the water from their pre-existing water source. Along with the filtration system, Dillon and Michael helped lead a team to install a drip tape irrigation system. Next in the works, Michael plans on working on a Bio-Diesel system to take back to Honduras. These guys are giving a community in Honduras the opportunity to be self-sustaining and allowing them the opportunity to take ownership in a better way of life.
From Lebanon we headed to Atlanta, GA to meet up with Jordan Foxworthy. In 2006, Jordan took a trip to Kenya with her dad, comedian Jeff Foxworthy. What began as a typical adventure quickly changed when she returned to the States. Deeply affected by what she saw in Africa, Jordan returned with a desire to give back. Since then, she has raised over $500K for the Bite Back program to provide mosquito nets to protect against malaria–a deadly tropical disease that kills hundreds of thousands each year. Jordan’s cause is made possible because of her tight knit family, the local area schools who have all fully backed this project, and her desire to give back to a country that unexpectedly taught her a valuable lesson. Visit http://www.biteback.net/ to learn more about the Bite Back program.
Tomorrow we head to New York City. Keep up with us on the blog and Twitter, friend us on Facebook, and remember to cast your vote for your favorite 7 Days Cause!
