Two Coins

Dear friends,

If you have two US coins which total 35 cents and one of them is not a quarter, what are the two coins?

This was one the many lateral thinking questions a group of eight NYC public high school students had to solve while working with us as interns as through the city’s Work, Learn & Grow youth employment program. Several times each week, we’ve met (virtually) to hone their skills in marketing, negotiation, collaboration and lateral thinking and exposed them to career opportunities both in nonprofit organizations and in several other industries.

During our time together, I was reminded of the faith in young people that guided our founder, Monsignor John Patrick Carroll-Abbing, when he first began Boys’ & Girls’ Towns of Italy so many decades ago. It is an invigorating and inspiring thing to be in the presence of a group of young people and see how they apply their energy and innovation to building a better and more equitable world. I would like to use this month’s note to thank Amy, Dynasty, Jonathan, Kevin, Malak, Rachel, Vanessa and Weimy for the time and passion they’ve given to this internship and our mission of providing every child with a chance in life.

As their final project, our interns have created their own fundraising page with the goal of raising $2,880 – enough to sponsor eight of the children currently in our programs in Ethiopia, India and Latin America. I hope each of you reading my email today will take the time to visit their pages and consider making a donation. If you cannot make a donation today, I encourage you to share their campaign on social media or leave them an encouraging comment.You can choose to give to their team page, or to any of their individual fundraising pages, where they talk about their own personal motivation to support marginalized young people around the world. I’ve included some of my favorite excerpts below.

In the summer of 2010, my family and I moved 8,045 miles from Hong Kong to the United States. I was given the opportunity for a fresh start, a new beginning. However, this is not the case for all of us. Across the world, there are one billion children who lack the basic necessities, and many more have plummeted into poverty because of COVID-19. These children deserve the chance to fulfill their dreams and ambitions.”

“As youths we believe that child sponsorship has the power to drive change that ripples throughout children’s lives, their families and entire communities.”
“Every day, millions of kids wake up without the security and guarantee of food, shelter, or an education. … I believe that there is no reason why children should be excluded from these resources and opportunities. Every child deserves an imaginative, lively childhood without having the constant worry about survival.”

A Chance In Life is so grateful to be working with these impassioned young people to support vulnerable youth their own age. I hope you will join me today in helping them build a better world for their generation and generations to come.

SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY

P.S. Want to know the solution of the riddle of the coins? Give us your “two cents” and visit their fundraising page to figure it out! (Answer is in the comments.)

Author
Gabriele Delmonaco

Two Coins

Recent posts

A Spark of Educational Hope in Sembabule District, Uganda

Warming Hearts, One Coat at a Time

Welcome to the Team!