There is an inspiring story in the New York Times about how more high school and even elementary school students are getting involved with humanitarian efforts.  The story highlights student activism and volunteer projects around the nation including the story of Rachel S. Rosenfeld:

Rachel is a high school junior in Harrison, N.Y., who came down with a painful intestinal ailment that forced her to miss the entire 2006-7 school year. So she resolved that if she couldn’t go to school herself, she could at least help other kids who wanted to.

From her sickbed, Rachel sold T-shirts and solicited contributions to build a 316-student elementary school in rural Cambodia. Borrowing an idea from university fund-raising, she offered naming opportunities: for $25, donors could buy chairs to be named for them. All told, she raised $57,000, which was channeled through an aid group, American Assistance for Cambodia.

Now Rachel is mostly healthy again and back in school, but over the December vacation she traveled to Cambodia to cut the ribbon at the R. S. Rosenfeld School. [NY Times]

The article links to many wonderful organizations benefiting from the work of students including a project called Stayin’ Alive which aims to create awareness about malaria among high school students and encourage participating schools to raise at least $1,000 from dance proceeds to support malaria control. Each school’s donation will help provide 100 life-saving bed nets, protecting at least 200 children from malaria. Over a three-year period, Malaria No More will partner with 10,000 Stayin’ Alive dances nationwide, raising a total of $10,000,000. Funds will be used to secure 1,000,000 bed nets, protecting 2 MILLION vulnerable children. and visit http://www.malarianomore.org/stayinalive/

Related:

New York Times article

Malaria No More

American Assistance for Cambodia