How To Make A Difference by Teagan Stedman age 15
Seven years ago I found out that my friend had cancer: he was feeling isolated and terribly sick. I looked online for ways to help and volunteer with hospitals and other organizations but there really weren't any opportunities that would let an 8 year old help out. I thought there probably were other kids that wanted to do something to help my friend as well and probably were also frustrated that there was not a lot they could do.
I did not want to just ask people to donate money without giving anything in return so I thought about what I might be able to give people in exchange for a donation. I knew my friend liked music and I knew how to play the guitar plus I wanted to give other kids the chance to help so I decided to put on a battle of the (kids') bands concert to "Shred Kids' Cancer".
I knew the key to attract an audience would be a great venue so I called the legendary Roxy Theater on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood and to my surprise they agreed to host the venue! Once I had a great venue for the event getting kids to want to participate was no problem.
I continued to test my luck by contacting a local business to help support the event- I literally just walked into Guitar Center and asked to "speak to someone in charge". I explained the situation and about my friend who was battling cancer and was able to get them to donate raffle items and was lucky enough to get them to help get celebrities judges to attract more of an audience to the show. I talked to my after-school music class to help spread the word. I printed flyers and got the word out and Shredfest was born!
My friend who had cancer was extremely touched and blown away by all of the support! 400 people came to the first Shredfest at The Roxy; we had 10 kids' bands and 3 celebrity judges. My friend was even well enough to come on stage and perform a song with my band. After the event we were able to donate a lot of money to pediatric cancer research.
Since then, I found out that pediatric cancer is an orphan disease, meaning that drug companies cannot make enough of a profit manufacturing treatments for kids with cancer so they choose not to. Kids are forced to take adult treatments which are many times too toxic for their bodies. I felt it was necessary to continue to battle for kids with cancer and raise necessary funds to support their treatments and show them that they are important, that we are here for them.
Two years after the first Shredfest I was able to make Shred Kids' Cancer an official non-profit organization and I have been lucky enough to have over 20 successful Shred Kids Cancer events raising over $275,000 and funding 8 clinical trials for pediatric cancer research. Shred Kids' Cancer clubs are sprouting up all over the nation. If you are interested in joining the movement and starting your own Shred Kids Cancer club at your school or within your community you can download a toolkit here
Our motto has been "One person can make a difference and everyone should try" - John F. Kennedy
6 steps to making a difference no matter the cause:
1. Find something that you see a problem with that you are passionate about and that speaks to you.
2. Partner with existing organizations. You do not need to re-invent the wheel just yet: look for ways and organizations that already exist that give kids opportunities to volunteer, get involved, or raise awareness. After helping out with an established organization if you feel you can add something new or add your own twist then start something on your own. If you do not have an organization that addresses your passion (or allows kids to help) in your area then it may be time to think about starting your own movement.
3. Get your local community involved. Friends, family, schools and local stores and companies are always more interested in helping out especially if it involves a cause or a person that is within your community.
4. Set realistic and measurable goals. Want your message to reach 100 people? Want to raise x amount of dollars? Want to get 50 people to volunteer? All of these goals have numbers (that can be measured) to see if you came close to reaching them. Having measurable goals will keep you on track and will make you feel like you are achieving real results. These measurable goals will also help with #5.
5. Stay on budget. If you are doing a fundraiser - spend about 50% of your budget or less on expenses. For example, if you estimate that 200 people will attend your event and you are charging $10 per person, you should spend less than $1,000 on expenses or it won't be worth it. The 50% gives you some wiggle room just in case your estimates are not accurate. If you are not holding a fundraiser you still need to manage how much time you are spending on your tasks.
6. Have fun. Community service addresses some serious problems but that doesn't mean you can't have fun tackling them.
To learn more about Teagan and his organization, visit http://www.shredkidscancer.org/.