Posted by Monique Dubos on June 25th 2009 in Organizations, Volunteers Edit
David Burstein – “18 in ‘08”
David wasn’t old enough to vote when he realized that his generation was underrepresented at the polls. He was 16 during the 2004 elections, and the story that was repeating over and over on TV was that today’s youth don’t get involved in politics. He decided to do something to spur his peers — “a generation that has so much at stake, ranging from education to college tuition, from health care to global climate change,” he says — to get involved in the 2008 presidential election. David launched a non-partisan campaign aimed at launching activism and encouraging voter registration. “Whatever way they get involved, we don’t take sides. That they get involved is what’s important to us,” he says. A documentary targeting 17 to 24-year-olds was sold across the country. The Los Angeles and New York City school districts bought the film to show in civics classes. Sales of the film funded public service announcements featuring celebrities and policy forums that were held around the US. The campaign encouraged 25,000 new voters, said Burstein. Since the election, “
18 in ‘08” continues to spur political participation through policy forums that spark discussion and ideas about how to solve the problems that face his generation. David says, “Young people are increasingly drifting away from party, moving toward ideas, beliefs. As a political observer, I think that’s a good thing.”
Eric Glustrom – Educate
Teachers at Mt. Masaba High School, one of Educate’s partner schools in Mbale, Uganda with Eric. Photo | Margaret WokuriEric was told he was too young to go Africa alone. His parents had misgivings about sending their 17-year-old son to Uganda to execute his plan of making a video about life in the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement. But Eric would not be deterred and his parents finally consented. The first person he met when he stepped off the bus became his best friend and the catalyst for an initiative to educate people to become leaders for social change in their country. Benson Olivier had lost his family and was living in the refugee camp where he dealt with the challenges all refugees face: malnutrition, poverty, malaria, the threat of violence and hopelessness. Benson said he needed an education so he could help solve these pressing problems, and Eric made a commitment to help by paying for Benson’s education. Since 2002,
Educate has evolved into a network of US high school and college groups that mentor Ugandan students ages 16 to19 through the two-year leadership curriculum. The first students to graduate have taken their leadership skills and “started an orphanage, sent 70 kids to school, and raised over $10,000 from farming” to fund it all themselves, Eric says. He estimates that they have “directly impacted 9,000 people, about half the people” in the settlement. But, he says, the biggest thing Educate! has done for the people of Kyangwali was to believe in their ability to create change.
Darius Weems – “Darius Goes West”
Darius and friends at the Grand Canyon. Photo courtesy | Darius Goes WestIn the summer of 2005, Darius and his buddies took a road trip. Twelve guys, most still in high school, jumped in the van and headed west from their home in Georgia to California, in the hopes of getting MTV to pimp Darius’ ride. It was a typical adolescent lark, except that Darius lives with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and his ride is a wheelchair. DMD is a genetic disease that causes the deterioration of the voluntary muscles, eventually leading to heart failure, usually before the age of 30. Darius hoped that an appearance on a national TV show would bring much-needed attention to the fatal disease. He didn’t get on MTV that time, but it has since offered to produce a news special about Darius and DMD. Darius’s friend Logan Smalley, the videographer for the cross-country trip, spent a year editing what became “
Darius Goes West”, a documentary that has won 28 film festivals awards worldwide. When they began to get requests for copies of the movie from around the country, they decided to sell the DVD, donating proceeds for DMD research, which so far amounts to $1.6 million. “It’s not always about what you do for yourself,” Darius said. “Putting a smile on the faces of parents with kids with this disease, giving them a little hope, makes me want to keep on fighting. It won’t save me, but these kids are the ones who will discover a cure in the future.”
18 in ‘08
Educate
Darius Goes West
Yellowed bike posters hang on the classroom’s grey and brown walls. Old bicycles hang down from the ceiling. I did not come to buy a bike or even to look at a bike, but to teach English to Somali speakers. I came here to check out a literacy program led by friends of mine in the Seabury neighborhood of Minneapolis.
It seems like yesterday I stepped onto the property of SafeHouse Outreach (SHO) and was totally freaked out at the sight of several hundred homeless men and women. Being a middle class suburban kid I had never been exposed to such a sight. 
NEED magazine subscribers and friends had a chance to escape the heat and chat over a glass of wine with NEED staff, writers and photographers at Spill the Wine in Minneapolis. It was great seeing all the people that make NEED possible in the same space meeting one another. We had Spill the Wine overflowing with inspiring stories and great conversation.
The keynote speaker Don Budinger, business and social entrepreneur. photo | Steve Floyd
The Peace Village serves as a refuge, providing shelter, care and education to second and third generation descendants of the victims of dioxin (Agent Orange). The chemical was used during the America-Vietnam War to deforest land and subsequently has entered the water supply. The effects of dioxin are trans-generational and range from neurological disorders, like the inability to form memories, to babies being born without vital organs or limbs. Moved and inspired by the children and the dedicated staff, and armed with an initial set of needs, Wilson and Krockow established Cane International. 
A trip to Uganda six years ago put Sylvia Allen face to face with people in desperate need. She saw households headed by children as young as 12 years old, and schools filled with orphans; all of this the tragic effects of the AIDS epidemic. She describes herself as having been “emotionally drained” by what she saw. Allen, by nature, is not one who thinks problems will solve themselves or that they are someone else’s to fix. And while she never, ever thought she would start a non-profit, if that was what was needed, she was going to do it. “We have an obligation, those of us who are living comfortably… to help other people,” she said. So when the head of Mbiriizi Primary School in the village of Masaka asked her to be the school grandmother, she said, “Yes!” She accepted this new responsibility with her characteristic enthusiasm and determination. Grandmotherly letters to students and an occasional gift would not be enough. No, Allen returned home and formed Sylvia’s Children, then set about improving the lives of her new grandchildren.
So far, Sylvia’s Children has supplied the Mbiriizi Primary School with a library, a dormitory for students, four blocks of classrooms, and teacher housing. It financed construction of a well, stocked the library with books, and brought in computers with internet access. It has supplied musical and sporting equipment, and brought nurses and a dentist to the school to treat the children. The school has more than 1000 students, and about one quarter of them are orphans. Sylvia’s Children sponsors over 200 of these students.
I recently spent a Monday night serving guests in PSP’s dining hall. Chefs for Change is a monthly event that invites the public to an elegant dinner hosted by top chefs from the Twin Cities. Thirty to 40 guests enjoy a five course meal and wine pairings. The restaurants donate everything from the meal, including recipes for guests to take home. This generosity allows PSP to receive 100 percent of the proceeds.
I jumped at the chance to work next to a top chef! Chef Devane needed help plating his sushi masterpieces and asked for my help. After a demonstration, two other volunteers and I were intensely focused on the art of sushi. Twenty minutes later we had assembled 40 Japanese salads and 40 salmon roll dishes.
Volunteer Andrea LaChapelle feels the same way: “I think it’s a great thing to contribute to. I can’t necessarily afford to buy the meals, but I can definitely volunteer. I get to try the food, it’s for a good cause and I get to meet new people.” She has participated four times already.
Maggie with residents of Kopila Valley Children's Home. Photo | Kayla Sponza.
War had destroyed much of the country’s educational infrastructure. Nofziger returned to the US and brainstormed ways to help. Within two years she had started Schools for Salone (SFS). The organization builds schools in rural communities where the government spends little of its resources. With access to education, children are often empowered to break the cycle of poverty in their towns. 
Monday, June 22
photo | Steve Floyd
