You don’t need a big pocketbook to give. You don’t need a ton of free time to volunteer. You just need a big heart and a willingness to help. And 10 year old Minnesotan Sanya Pirani has those in spades.

When Sanya was just seven years old she watched a YouTube video about the life of children after war. She saw kids her own age without clothes, shoes and other basic necessities. All things she couldn’t imagine living without; things she took for granted. From that point, she felt compelled to help others.

“Sanya wanted a popular doll for a long time, so I gave her a little more than $100 to buy one,” Dilshad, Sanya’s mother, reminisced. Sanya felt uncomfortable buying an expensive doll when millions of children didn’t have enough to eat.

Eight year-old Sanya used the doll money and bought 100 pieces of candy. She sold them for five dollars each, making $500. She donated all the money towards feeding a village of 700 people through Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). “She hoped that by the end of 2017 she could finish feeding the entire village of 700 people for one year” Dilshad continued.

Soon after, Sanya found out from the county commissioner the local Crisis Nursery (an organization that helps parents who are dealing with emergencies such as a sudden illness, housing problems, divorce or separation, or financial strains, may need time to resolve the crisis) needed help.

She channeled her artistic abilities and made bookmarks. She sold them at her mom’s work, school and soccer practice. After two months, she made $500 and donated every last penny to charity.

The young humanitarian soon realized she couldn’t save the world on her own, she needed a team. Sanya‘s teacher and principal allowed her to speak to the entire third grade class. Under Sanya’s leadership, the class ended up raising nearly $2,300 for charity. Sanya herself fundraised more than $24,000.

The following year, she partnered with her strongest supporter yet. Her mother’s State Farm insurance agent. Dilshad was meeting with Erik Westrum when he asked her, “Where do you need us?” It’s the former professional hockey player turned insurance agent’s unofficial motto.

“Erik mentioned his work to fight Parkinson’s disease and asked if I was involved in the community. It’s something he asks all of his customers because he wants to support causes we care about,” shared Dilshad.

“Many of my customers volunteer but I was touched and inspired by Sanya and her family,” Erik said with a big smile. “She is an amazing young girl and I knew I wanted to help her help others.” Erik continues to provide donations to Sanya to help her build upon her efforts.

Sanya, with help from Erik and hundreds like him, is still actively helping the local and global community. The preteen has a close relationship with the local Community Action Partnership (CAP) agency raising more than $5000 for the nonprofit. She also ran a successful food school supply drive with local libraries. Globally, she has raised nearly $27,000 for FMSC and more than $2000 for world church services and Aga Khan Foundation.

Her work has not gone unnoticed. Sanya has won awards from the local CAP, was the only child recognized on National Philanthropic Day, and received a Certificate of Recognition from Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton.

Be like Sanya. Do something, anything – big or small that makes a positive difference in your community. Be grateful for what you have and help those who are less fortunate. Please feel free to visit Sanya’s social pages (see above) to support her so she can continue to help those who need it the most.

Sharing Time, Treasures and Talents

A charismatic leader has his team’s rapt attention as he introduces their next project, one with an international focus. He calls on a team member to help define how the work supports the team’s mission. He provides positive feedback by acknowledging the team member’s contribution. He reiterates goals and provides clear direction on how to begin.

Finally, he rallies the team to tackle their work with an enthusiastic, “let’s make it a great meeting, ok!”

This leader isn’t a motivational expert giving a TED talk or a successful CEO or entrepreneur. He’s a fifth grader - addressing members of the Service Club he started at his school three years ago to help his peers and community.

The project is “plarn” - a process that uses plastic bags as “yarn” to create mats and rugs. The children make plarn balls out of plastic bags they collect. The group sendssend the plarn to women in Uganda who will use it to create items for their homes.

Shrey G. Pothini is no ordinary young man.

Shrey, who just turned 11, is already making a positive impact in his community – and across the globe. He is defying assumptions adults may have for a boy his age.

The preteen started the Service Club at Harriett Bishop Elementary in Savage, MN, to help his peers feel a sense of belonging within their school and community by participating in leadership and philanthropy. With Shrey’s leadership, interest in the club – and the club’s reach – has grown tremendously.

“I’m really excited we have kindergartners through sixth graders participating in the club,” exclaimed Shrey. “Over half of the 100 club members are kindergartners through third graders. We include their siblings too if they want to join in on our projects. We may be young, but we are also a very powerful group!”

This enthusiasm drove Shrey’s desire to find a way for other young kids to get involved in service opportunities before junior high. With help from his mother, Seema, Shrey applied for a grant to expand the club to the nine other elementary schools in his school district.

The project so impressed the State Farm Youth Advisory Board (YAB), they agreed to help Shrey expand the club. The YAB gave Shrey’s school $25,000 to cover expenses to establish additional clubs.

As the rest of the district joins in, Shrey continues to lead his peers toward meaningful work, allowing them to share their time, treasures and talents. Club members have:

• educated their peers about global children’s rights,

• sent educational supplies to schools in Guatemala,

• created poetry art for a nursing home, and

• helped students empower themselves by learning self-defense.

   

View INFOGRAPHIC of Harriet Bishop Elementary Service Club Impact

“Students who are in the club are looking at their daily life differently and beginning to identify ways they can help other people,” Principal Erika Nesvig shared.

For other schools considering implementing a similar club, Nesvig recommends the club be student-led and considers projects that go beyond raising money for a cause.

“When the students had to grow their hair to make wigs, or when they collected stuffed animals for donation, it had a greater impact on them and helped them feel a greater sense of reward,” stated Nesvig.

We need more young people like Shrey Pothini, and more groups like the Service Club, to help make our world better. Clubs like Shrey’s help kids learn empathy for others and give them a better sense of how they fit into the larger global community.

Learning this is a huge step toward becoming adults who care about giving back. Be like Shrey and do something today to make a difference!

When you see her in the water, Ivori Hunter looks like any other kid. Her smile is brilliant; her eyes bright and full of life. On this overcast day at the lake, she’s near the shore, sitting at the end of a line attached to the speedboat 30 yards in front of her. She’s obviously nervous, but when the boat starts to move, slowly pulling her through the water, her eyes grow even bigger.

It only takes a few seconds for her to overcome her initial fears. And as the boat speeds up, she throws her arms up in the air, letting out a whoop of joy. It’s Ivori’s first time waterskiing, but this isn’t your typical “first time waterskiing” experience.

Back on land, Ivori is in a wheelchair. And there are dozens more kids with physical and developmental challenges on the dock, waiting for their turn.

A Day to Remember

It’s all part of a program called Extreme Recess, created by Dreams for Kids, a nonprofit organization that brings sports to children with disabilities – many for the first time. Formed in 2000 in Chicago, the name Extreme Recess was given to it by the kids in the program, and that feeling of shared participation permeates the entire enterprise. Most recess clinics feature a 1:1 volunteer to participant ratio, which ensures kids receive the attention and engagement they need. Other Extreme Recess events have included track, baseball, martial arts and snow skiing.

“We all have disabilities of some sort,” said Tom Tuohy, founder of Dreams for Kids. “We don’t ID ourselves as having a disability, but if you’re in a wheelchair, that’s how you’re spoken of and introduced. It’s isolating and disempowering for a young person. Extreme Recess gives these kids the chance to come out from the sidelines by playing sports – many for the first time in their lives.”

Extreme Recess fills an important role in these children’s lives by helping them understand that the same things that are possible for others are possible for them, as well. It encourages a limitless sense of possibility that every child deserves.

“I would have never imagined that my son would have been able to go waterskiing,” said James Michael, the father of an Extreme Recess athlete. “I’m glad that they taught me that lesson – that my boy is capable of so much more than even I thought he was.”

But the day at the lake didn’t just feature waterskiing. Participants went tubing, kayaked, and even enjoyed the water in an amphibious boat car. No wonder Ivori’s smile was so large after her trip around the lake.

“Very awesome,” Hunter said. “I had a blast!”

Making Dreams Possible

Like all not-for-profit programs, Extreme Recess operates with the support of its community. The day of Ivori’s adventure was made possible through a $25,000 grant provided by State Farm’s Neighborhood Assist program. The program, which provides grants for causes that help grow communities and neighborhoods, is voted on by visitors to the State Farm Neighborhood Assist page. Extreme Recess was one of 40 groups in 27 states and provinces which received grants.

“The goal of the Neighborhood Assist program is to empower communities through the individuals that live there,” said Cooper Kennard, State Farm Youth Advisory Board coordinator. “Through these grants, we’re hoping to help build these incredible projects and allow them to be sustainable for years to come.”

It’s a goal that Extreme Recess has taken to heart.

“We keep expanding every year, and we are hoping to offer one day per month in 2015,” Tuohy said. “This program is all about offering new experiences – things these kids have never done or even imagined before. Right now, we’re planning a trip to Key Largo, so that the kids can go deep sea diving to find hidden treasures. I can’t think of a better way to bring these families together and to show these kids that we should be stressing ability – not disability.”

Submissions for the 2014 State Farm Neighborhood Assist program are currently being narrowed down to the top 200 programs. Voting for the final 40 grantees is open to everybody, and will begin on April 28.