Teenage-Power

On Sunday I attended the confirmation ceremony of Anton Kleihues, a fifteen year old from Berlin, who is also active in betterplace junior. At the end of the church ceremony, Anton got up announcing that the collection would go to Choki Traditional Arts School in Bhutan on betterplace.org.

Amongst his group they had discussed various projects the donation could go to, but as Anton was familiar with Choki and had been involved in fundraising for the school, which supports underpriviedged children in Bhutan by giving them a solid professional education in the traditional arts, he was able to persuade the group to donate the collection to it. A total of 1150 Euro came together and I am very thankful to Anton for his commitment.

As a recent article in the New York Times points out, more and more teenagers are getting involved in charity.

Donating $10 to buy a mosquito net to save an African child frommalaria has become a hip way to show you care, especially for teenagers. … Unusual allies, like the Methodist and Lutheran Churches, theNational Basketball Association and the United Nations Foundation, are stoking the passion for nets that prevent malaria. The annual “American Idol Gives Back” fund-raising television special has donated about $6 million a year for two years. The music channel VH1 made a fund-raising video featuring a pesky man in a mosquito suit.

Part of what has helped the campaign catch on is its sheer simplicity and affordability — $10 buys one net to save a child. Nothing But Nets, the best-known campaign, has raised $20 million from 70,000 individuals, most of it in donations averaging $60.