Happy World Toilet Day Today, Monday November 19th, is world toilet day. It may not be the prettiest way to celebrate this Grammy winning band Jars of Clay as my Spotlight Warriors. But I"m pretty sure they wont mind. This band founded my favorite water charity, Blood:Water Mission. They have accomplished water projects in 1000 African Communities and provided HIV patients with care. Now, they are taking another important step. Did you know that 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation? That's what they wanted to talk to me about when I interviewed them before their concert. Toilets! Music and Philanthropy make a powerful partnership.
Spotlight Warrior: HANSON
Hanson Gives a Dam! On October 25th, the Grammy nominated band Hanson performed at LemonAID Warrior's GIVE A DAM concert, to build a rain catchment dam in Kenya. These amazing musicians are also dedicated to helping our friends in Africa pull themselves out of extreme poverty. And on top of it all, they answered the request of a 12 year old girl when I asked if they would play in my back yard and trusted me and my warriors to host the show. They even let me and musician friends perform. They were also kind enough to sit down with me and talk about my two favorite subjects: Music and Philanthropy.
Spotlight Warriors: Nile Rogers and Lou Wegner
I was invited by a radio show called Love That Dog Hollywood to host a segment called "Warrior of the Week," where I spotlight kids who are socially active and making change in the world. I also interview musicians to talk about their philanthropic work. My co-host is 16 year old Lou Wegner who founded Kids Against Animal Cruelty, so we also network and find homes for shelter dogs. Nile Rodgers was a guest on the show. He is the Grammy winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee who is the founder of the Three Dot Dash Just Peace Summit. Check it out!
Spotlight Warrior: Denise Restauri
Lemon:AID Warriors is forever grateful to Denise Restauri. She was the first one to recognize my little lemonade stands and through her Ally Katzz Tween Summits, she introduced me to a network of girls who are going to change the world. She nominated me for the Just Peace Summit and the best thing is that she checks in on me every so often to notice what I'm doing and offer encouragement. She was also responsible for a highlight of my life, which was inviting me to open the Year of Youth Culmination Ceremony at the United Nations in New York. Since that event, LemonAID Warriors became an even bigger part of my life and inspired me to accomplish way more than I ever thought possible. If you are lucky enough to have a mentor, like Denise, then there's nothing you can't accomplish. She writes at Forbes.com where she continues to give a voice to my generation. Sign up to recieve her posts and get ready to be inspired!
Here's my introduction at the UN.
Spotlight Warriors: Maddie and the Serenading Seniors.
I always love encouraging people to turn their passions into something good. One of my best friends Maddie did exactly that. She turned her passion for music and singing into something good, by deciding to sing to seniors with her classmates. She rallied me and her classmates, organized some rehearsals at her house after school and her mom booked us "gigs" at local senior homes and sing to the residents. The seniors had really interesting life stories and the staff were especially happy we came. They have hard jobs and I think they were happy to have a break to hear some music. I caught them dancing in the kitchen! Afterwards, we visited with the seniors and had snacks. Thank you Maddie for having the true Lemon:AID Warriors spirit! Check out her blog here!
Spotlight Warriors: The 2012 Global Teen Leaders
This is my Three Dot Dash family. (thats Morse code for Peace). I was chosen to be one of the 30 Global Teen Leaders to go to NY for one amazing week. We heard speakers and did activities from leaders in all different industries to learn how to expand our boundaries and take our organizations to the next level. It was seriously life changing. I learned so much about how to present myself and my organization, as well as learning about film, photography, social media, branding, creativity, how to speak in an interview, and so much more. I gained so much more confidence in myself and in LemonAID Warriors. Best part...meeting 30 outstanding teenage leaders from all over the world who will be my global family forever. Click here to learn more about the summit.
Spotlight Warrior: Anna Safranova
I met Anna at the Just Peace Summit in New York, hosted by the We Are Family Foundation. Anna started an organization called My Dream City that takes her passion for art and her love of children to bring joy and art education to Russian orphans. Here is my interview with the amazing Anna!
Jump for Joy PhilanthroParty
My little brother Jasper, along with his two friends Emily and Sylvie, threw a triple-philantrhoparty birthday. They invited their whole 4th grade class to Sky Hight where the walls and floors are completley made out of trampolines! Instead of presents, all 3 kids asked for donations. Emily and Jasper's donation's benefited Blood:Water Mission, while the money that Sylvie collected went to World Wildlife Foundation. Along with having a great time, they collected over $1,000.00 We all ended up jumping for joy (get it?)
Spotlight Warrior: Sean Carlo
Sean Carlo was on fire this week! Not only was he my go-to guy when it came to hosting this year's Can Carnival, he decided to throw a PhilanthroParty for his 10th birthday. He had an awesome bowling party, AND....instead of accepting presents, he asked for donations to the Los Angeles Mission. SC is passionate about helping the homeless, and has that LemonAID Warrior spirit, along with being a great friend to my brother.
Spotlight Warriors: Chase and Arabella
Teaming up is double the fun! Chase and Arabella are two of the most enthusiastic and hardworking LemonAID Warriors I've ever met. When you put them together, they are unstoppable! Their PhilanthroParty LemonAID stand was a huge hit. Arabella is supporting a gorilla named Bosco, and Chase has joined me to help build wells in Africa for Blood:Water Mission. I can't wait to go to their next event!
Spotlight Warrior: Madison
Welcome new LemonAID Warrior leader, Madison! Maddie's been spreading the word about LemonAID Warriors at her school. She's also offered to help organize our next event, 2011 Crazy Can Carnival. She wrote this article for her school paper. She's also invited me to come speak to her whole school! Maddie has a unique ability to inspire people. and we are going to do great things together. Thanks Maddie!
Spotlight Warriors: Katie and Alexis
Congratulations Alexis and Katie for winning the LemonAID Warriors Pucker Face Contests! Alexis was the winner of the first contest at the AllyKatzz Tween Summit with her unforgettably hilarious Pucker Face. Katie won when I held the contest at the United Nations Year of Youth Celebration. Does Katie look familiar? Yes, she is the Katie, founder of Katie's Krops! Katie's Krops is an amazing organization that grows crops to feed the homeless. They both win a personalized case of Jones Soda with these photos on them. Katie's going to give her personalized case of Jones Sodas to the people at her local shelter. That's SO Katie! A Pucker Face contest is a great way to raise awareness for your lemonade stand. Try it! Katie Alexis
Spotlight Warrior: Wyatt
A while ago I blogged about Wyatt’s amazing work for Oceana when he was one of my first Spotlight Warriors. He turns his love of art into an opportunity to save the ocean by making a claymation movie about the TrashMonster, and then selling his sculptures. His work was honored by Oceana where he received an award and they made this movie. Honestly, seriously watch this mini movie!! Then check out his website. Wyatt is a true LemonAID Warrior, and I’m still his biggest fan!!!!!
wyattrocks
Spotlight Warriors: Emma and Sophia!
Welcome new LemonAID Warriors Emma and Sophia! Emma and Sophia held a very successful LemonAID Stand for my favorite charity, Blood:Water Mission and I am so grateful. It was so successful, they were able to provide over 70 people with clean water for one whole year. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon! I can’t wait to see what they do next.
By the way, you can also see Emma beside me in October’s issue of Los Angeles Magazine.
Spotlight CANADIAN Warriors: Madi and Brynn
Welcome Canadian LemonAID Warriors!!!! Introducing Brynn and Maddie, founders of LemonAID Warriors Canada. They launched their first event and that's just the beginning. I am so grateful for their support and enthusiasm. I'm going to learn a lot for them! Here's their first blog entry!
Event Results!
We had an amazing Stand For Clean Water yesterday raising$150 for Blood:Water Mission. Together we have helped 150 people in Africa receive clean drinking water for an entire year. Great Job Everyone! Thank you for your support and enthusiasm.
Our Next Event!
We will be participating in the Oak Park Garage Sale on May 7th from 8:00am – Noon. It would be great to see you there so we can work together to empower more kids to take action and support the causes that are important to them.
Spotlight Warrior: Wyatt
I’ve been inspired by huge, amazing fund raisers with celebrities and fancy gift bags. They raise thousands of dollars and get a lot of attention for their cause. Awesome! But truthfully, the events that inspire me most are the ones that are small, personal, and unique. I love events that make me say, “I can do that!”
On November 7th, I went to 7 year old Wyatt Workman’s art show at a boutique called Dari. Wyatt made an extremely impressive claymation movie called “Save the Sea From The Trash Monster!” He wrote a book about it, too. He was selling his movie, his book, and his clay sculptures in support of Oceana.
The first thing I did when I got home was get out the clay! Wyatt is a true LemonAID Warrior. He uses his 7 year old creativity to make the world notice what is important to him. The Ocean! Way to go, Wyatt. I’m a huge fan!!!
Spotlight Warriors: Tara Suri and MacAllan Durkin
The Tween Summit in New York was unforgettable! It was the first time anyone recognized my little lemonade stands as counting for something bigger. I was excited...but then freaked out. There I was, standing beside Tara Suri and MacCallan Durkin who were SO accomplished. But they made me feel better immediately. The summit was what mad me feel like I can push LemonAID Warriors into something that not only helps but inspires others to take action. I was in a room full of girls and women who were talking about how my generation is going to change the world for good. I was so honored to get the award from Denise Restauri of AllyKatzz. She totally understands how small gestures lead to big things. Also, my Pucker Face contest was attacked by mobs of girls! While they were getting their pictures taken sucking on lemons, I signed them all up to be LemonAID Warriors for my National Lemonade Stand on Memorial Day.
Read about my amazing warriors. MacAllan Durkin and Tara Suri
But, my most memorable moments came from meeting other awardees, like Tara at www.aandolan.org, and 15 year old Macallen. Her organization builds shelters and schools in Mexico and Africa. Learn more athttp://goodygoodies.org/index.htm
I also met the mother of Brit from Be Like Brit at http://www.belikebrit.org . 18 year old Brit died in the earthquake in Haiti while volunteering with the poor. Her mother promised to build an orphanage in her honor. We all decorated tiles that will be part of a wall at the new orphanage. I realized my work for Haiti is not done, and I want to keep going!