Teens Take Charge to Make an Impact!

What started off as an inspirational outburst from a 15-year-old kid in California, has steadily grown into a platform for today’s youth to secure the future for millions of others. With its unique approach and being maintained entirely by kids of the age group 14 – 19, YTA hopes to one day become a truly global forum for kids of all ages to do their part for society.

“Imagine no gifts on your birthday this year. Not just this year, but next year and the following year and the following year…. That sure would be one sad birthday. Right?”

Filled with catchy pieces of writing like this – The YTA or Youth Taking Action website is totally apt at attracting young souls. The organization intends to make use of the huge difference in the cost of living index between the developed and the developing countries – a fact that most MNC’s today use to their advantage. “If they can do it – why can’t we?” is their line of thought. They intend to use what seem to be insignificant amounts of savings in the developed nations to make large impacts in the yet to develop countries.

Their website www.YouthTakingAction.org has many ideas that not only make it easy for the kids to donate – but actually make it fun. They have a reward system called PhiCoins (Philanthropy Coins) which is similar to travel miles and can be exchanged for various prizes, ranging from baseball caps and magazines, to actual interviews with celebrities. PhiCoins can be earned by making donations, inviting friends, volunteering, etc.

Just recently, professional tennis player, Mahesh Bhupathi, agreed to donate some of his time for short motivational conversations with YTA members.

YTA’s sophisticated online portal emphasizes how very small actions can result in large impacts. One of their programs, called the “Birthday Club”, encourages the youth to donate the monetary value of just one gift from the many gifts that they receive on their birthday. Their second program, known as the “Share & Care Club”, promotes teens to forego a can of soda or a bag of chips every month and use the money instead to help the needy.

The funds raised by the participating members in these two programs may not seem like much. But, YTA’s network of partner organizations can show mind-boggling results with these small donations. For example one organization reveals and supports facts like - $1 can save 20 children from potential blindness and perhaps death due Vitamin A deficiency.

YTA is currently in the process of gaining publicity and is sending out press releases to all major newspapers and magazines in the USA and Canada. They are also developing an ingenious method of advertising – specially-generated tags in social networking sites, such as MySpace, are aimed to rope in hundreds of potential members.

The team in India is planning on visiting local schools to give presentations about its programs. They hope to enthuse the students to save Rs.50 a month to create the same impact $1 could do. Other teams in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Toronto, are also working hard to do the same in their own communities.

One can only hope that these dedicated kids can soon overcome the challenges facing them and rise up to the occasion to bring YTA to the world: because as someone once said “It’s too darn good a thing to lose…..” .

Go ahead – do your bit today – please support them in spreading the word and become a YTA member too- www.YouthTakingAction.org.