Everything Under The Sun: Kids Just Want To Engage In Community Service

This group of girls started their own summer camp to promote community service.

Not often do we think of very young children being role models for adults. But in this case, it happened. Mac Winslow's son, 7-years-old in 2013, became worried about some of his classmates, who didn't get enough to eat. He saw them going home with backpacks of additional food, so they wouldn't be hungry over the weekend. So, William decided to make a contribution to the program through a week-long food drive that eventually provided 1400 pounds of food and $310 for the program.

The actions of his son inspired Mac so much that he developed an organization that would help young children get started on community service projects of their own, just like William did. In addition, he wanted his organization, START A SNOWBALL, to be able give children with community service ideas a seed grant to get them started.

Mac explained, "I have spent a career in sales and leadership roles, and love to see people think outside of the box and make a difference. We want to give other kids the opportunity to learn about the power they have inside of them to make a difference, and support them as they work towards changing the world in their own way."

Now, a few years later, Start a Snowball has given seed money to many different community service projects around the US, all started by children. Of course, the youngster who started it all, William Winslow, continues his active involvement in issues related to child hunger. When President Trump published his so-called skinny budget, he severely decreased the funding for child hunger programs. So, William took advantage of available tools online and has his own petition on Change.org, calling for restoration of funding.

Some of the projects that are being funded by Start a Snowball include Pack A Sack, by a girl in Land O Lakes, FL, that provides a sack of food to send home with children whose families are food insecure; Taylor Tinsley of Detroit started The Maria Joy Foundation to supply support and awareness for foster children and adoption; Hannah of Farmerville, LA, is providing a Bike Library at a local state park, where visitors can check out a bike to ride around the park; a 13-year-old from West Bend, WI, has the Family Blanket Project, which relies on community members to make blankets for kids displaced into shelters with their families; a high school student in Detroit started Paco's Card Project, in which he organized members of the Honor Society to make cards for child patients at a local hospital. But these are only a few of the projects that have received funds.

These two youngsters, William (left), and Braeden, both started projects to help relieve child hunger.

The amount of creativity that children are using to construct their community service projects is astounding. Even more so are the projects that have been created to operate over the long term. The commitment of these youngsters gives hope that this youthful generation in formation have their hands on the ways to create positive change.