On a National Day of Service, Today's Teens are Finding Innovative Ways to Help
Image credits: Altadena Girls, Anthony Dean Valentino and Dara Danenberg
Six months after the first youth march for integrated schools, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at the Washington Monument and urged the next generation to “make a career of humanity. … you will make a greater person of yourself; a greater Nation of your country and a finer world to live in.”
Today, as we celebrate a day of service in his name, teens are reaching out to each other through the ashes of one of the largest wildfires in our nation's history to do just that.
As an example, as TikTok was powering down, teens like Avery Colvert were stepping up.
After her middle school, Eliot Arts Magnet, burned to the ground in Altadena, 14-year-old Avery launched Altadena Girls on Instagram to help girls who had lost everything not only secure clothing, shoes, and personal care products, but "restore...their personal identity and confidence." KCRW News deemed her a ‘femininomenon.’
Images via @altadeenagirls | Anthony Dean Valentino
"I was in a group chat actually with all of my friends who lost their homes in the fire," the 8th grader told CBS. "And they were all talking about things that they didn't have." She contacted the Hollywood Beauty Awards, spread the word across social media, and within hours had powerhouses like Charli XCX, Mindy Kaling, Ariana Grande and Meghan Markle sending items or dropping by in person.
Recognizing the specific need for black hair care products, Ashleeta Beauchamp (35) brought hundreds of dollars worth of items to Avery's location, and a week later volunteers launched Altadena Teen Boys Fire Recovery starting with sweatshirts, sneakers and sports gear.
Images via The New York Times
Indeed, as fire fighters battled flames across the state evacuated teens continued to volunteer their time and talents with smart organizations like One Voice, providing domestic caretakers whose employment has been interrupted with rent, food and necessities, the Open Air Emergency Worker Fund, helping outdoor workers like street vendors, landscapers, and recyclers impacted by the fires, and the Domestic Workers Alliance, more than half of whom are Black, Latinx, and immigrant women.
Why is it important to spotlight next gen efforts like these?
Because at times of national crisis when so many feel inadequate and ineffective, today's teens feel inspired. And they act on their ideas.
Images via The Guardian | Anthony Dean Valentino | KCRW News | Dara Danenberg
The classmates, neighbors and fellow teens who rallied around Avery Colvert did so not because celebrities, Hollywood stylists or royalty took notice; they did so because they saw kids their age lose everything and they wanted to help. Their hearts broke as homes burned, and they knew amplifying a good idea could make a real difference.
They were right.
Now working with social workers to make sure girls are able to find transportation to get to her new, larger space in Pasadena, Avery Colvert sees her efforts as just the beginning. “Eventually, I would like this to be big," she told The Guardian recently. "It’s already big as it is, so I feel like there’s really no option almost than to make it something better.”
We agree, and we're here to help.
Because when teens step in with big ideas, they do - as Dr. King suggested - make a finer world in which to live.
Looking forward,
Illana
ÊXTRAS: Three more places where teens can volunteer you won't want to miss: See this list from The LA Times, this guide from Secret LA, and these names from UCLA.
