UNDER 20 Honoring students who give back to the community

Adecade ago, INtown was looking for a way to bring awareness to young people who were giving back to the community through volunteerism and philanthropic work. With the publication of our 10th annual 20 Under 20 this month, we will have profiled 200 local students doing extraordinary things to better the city. We asked public and private schools along with service organizations and the general public to nominate students who have been active volunteers in their communities. As always, we are astounded at how much time and effort these students have put into their volunteer work. The 20 students you will meet here have collectively donated thousands of hours of their young lives, traveled to other countries, created nonprofits and worked with the underprivileged and disadvantaged as part of their service.

And we are, once again, delighted that the spirit to give back starts at such a young age, like Lilah Didier-Sober, a 9-year-old who conceived a bake sale to help refugees, and Cayden Edwards, a third grader who already has his own foundation that helps furnish the rooms of underprivileged children. You’ll also meet Will Milling, who created a senior class project to build prosthetic hands for landmine victims, and The Scalise Sisters, three young women dedicated to raising money to help breast cancer survivors.

As usual, picking just 20 honorees each year is an incredibly difficult decision, so we have also selected 18 runners-up because we felt their service also deserved recognition.

We hope these uplifting stories will inspire you to give back to the community. And thank you to the businesses and schools whose advertising support makes this section possible every year.

Asenior in Ben Franklin Academy’s Work/Study Program, Adele works with the children of the refugee community in Clarkston, Georgia. She volunteers several days a week at the Willow Branch Apartments’ free after-school program and summer camp. She helps refugee children, many of whom have parents who speak little or no English and have fled violence from around the world. Because of her dedication to her volunteer work with this refugee community, Adele was awarded the International Relations Scholarship by the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta. She was also selected for participation in the ACLU’s summer advocacy institute in Washington, D.C., where she was able to learn new skills to support and advocate for refugee communities. “One of my favorite memories is of a Congolese girl. She spoke little, probably because she was not very fluent in English, but I helped her and her friend with their homework fairly often. When Valentine’s Day came, she presented me with a beautiful Valentine and gave me a hug. That day showed me just how big of an impact I can make on someone through actions as simple as helping with homework or spending time together.”

After volunteering with Friendship Circle, an organization that provides companionship to children and adults with special needs, Daniel created Serve It Up Tennis Camp. He collected tennis rackets at his school and raised more than $1,200 for the camp, which was held last summer at donated courts at the Sandy Springs Tennis Center. “I was excited about organizing the tennis camp this past summer for children with special needs but what I did not realize until the camp was over was the impact the camp had on the campers’ entire families. I knew the special needs kids were having a great time, as we (the volunteers) all were, but when the parents came up to us afterwards and told us how much the camp meant to them seeing their kids so happy, I realized how being involved impacts more than just the people you are working with directly.”

Barry has participated in shoe drives, has helped build a playground for an elementary school and volunteers in Grant Park for cleanup days. “One moment that greatly impacted me was when I volunteered with my cousin and his friends at a shoe drive known as “A Foot in the Right Direction.” While there, my mom and I were fortunate enough to be able to donate 24 pairs of shoes. The moment that will stay with me forever is how excited one of the boys got over my shoes. I was confused at first and didn’t understand why he was so excited — to me, they were just my old shoes. But I came to realize that to him they were much more. That moment made me realize how lucky I was to have a stable family and that many other kids are not as fortunate. That moment was bittersweet — I was happy I could help him, but I felt guilty that he had to wear my old shoes. That moment made me want to work harder for my community and those in need.”