Talia Leman - Random Kid
“Sometimes, I think, the smaller your town, the more you reach out, because you feel more separated.” Those are Talia Leman’s words while trying to explain what made her found the non-profit organization RandomKid.com. Not yet a high school freshman, she already has an impressive list of projects that she’s organized and worked on to help kids around the world.
When Hurricane Katrina hit, and she was only ten years old, she ”was watching some kids I knew try to raise money with a lemonade stand they set up. They raised $300 dollars, which is a lot, but it was very frustrating to watch people drive by and yell from their window ‘sorry, I would stop but I have to be somewhere’. So then I thought about Halloween, how everyone is already there waiting for you with the porch lights on, so we might be able to raise more.” By spreading the word about Trick-or-Treat for the Levee Catastrophe (TLC), regular school kids raised over 10 million dollars, which is about what the top five corporations in America donated each year! After seeing just how powerful kids can be when they work together for a common goal, Talia founded RandomKid.com to harness that power to solve other world problems, too.
The group has a few rules about the projects they do, and they are kewl ones!
1. The fundraising plan has to teach Life Skills to the kids involved.
2. The fundraising must fund a specific project, so the kids can see their direct impact on the world.
3. Every child who works on the project or is a recipient of help will get a chance to meet and communicate with each other, either over the internet or in person, creating a web of real kids and real connections across the globe.
Usually, the fundraiser fits the goal: A walk/run/play-athon to help kids with club foot. Bottled water sales to bring safe water technology to people with no access to clean water. House-shaped keychains to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina build new homes.
The CEO of a global non-profit has it tough. “I play soccer, swim, horseback ride, and sing. My life has a lot of laughter and fun. I am also different than my peers because I don’t have time to hang out. I also don’t watch TV. My nonprofit work keeps me busy so that I always have something I am working on. That doesn’t give me much free time, but I love what I do so much, that it’s better than free time for me, because it energizes me. It’s my fuel.”
Talia also travels the US speaking to schools about the ‘The Power of ANYone’, and how every single one of us can make a difference – especially together. “Mother Theresa has this saying, and I don’t remember it exactly, but the point is that even the gigantic ocean is made up of single drops. All we need to be are single drops and we are automatically a gigantic ocean.”
For her outstanding work, she has been the recipient of numerous international and national awards, was named UNICEF’s National Youth Ambassador for 2005-2006, and is the current spokesperson for Build-a-Bear Workshop's Huggable Heroes program. As she says, “Being a good role model, by the way, doesn’t mean being different than you are, it just means being your best self.”
To get involved, go to http://www.randomkid.org.
