Nathaniel’s fundraising days started with selling popsicles door-to-door. Then came seven (!) birthday campaigns and a bar mitzvah project that included a soccer tournament and a silent auction. Nathaniel may not be a “tiny” hero anymore—he’s in college… and he’s 6-ft tall—but the impact he had as a child continues to make a difference today.
In fourth grade, a teacher talked about World Water Day, and another teacher talked about wants versus needs. So when it came to giving up birthday gifts—sure, every 8 year old wants the new Nerf gun or the new action figure—but it’s not about ‘wants’ for people without water. You need water. I took those lessons to heart and decided that I could give up my wants if it helped somebody else get what they actually need.
On any scale, a kid can make a real difference. It doesn’t have to be raising money for charity. Anybody, if they go into it with an attitude of, ‘I want to better others and better the world around me,’ can do that. A kid can pick up trash on their way to the bus stop or purposefully and consciously be kind to others in their class. All of those actions are making a real impact on the world. You don’t need to be a billionaire or a philanthropist to make a real difference.