Saving Grace

Although I posted already this month about Save the Children, I couldn't resist this story about 12-year-old Asma'a Abdullah, a displaced girl in Sa'adah, Yemen, who--despite limited literacy--challenged herself to learn a landmine safety curriculum from Save the Children and has been training her peers on the subject ever since. Children refer to Asma'a as "their teacher, their mentor and instructor on mine risks," said the Yemen Observer. What a role model.

Give Me Shelter

Like 16-year-old Mackenzie Bearup, I found refuge in books as a young kid, wandering for hours a day in the world of words. Unlike Mackenzie, a CNN Hero, I wasn't driven to this place by intense physical pain.

Six years ago, Mackenzie was dancing to "American Idol" when her knee seemed to explode with pain. By the next day, it had swollen to grapefruit size, and within a week it would collapse when she tried to walk.

Doctors diagnosed Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, an incurable condition affecting anywhere from 200,000 to 1.2 million people. When meds and other treatments failed to ease Mackenzie's pain, she found that the only thing that distracted her from it was reading.

The experience inspired her to reach out to other kids who were suffering. She began collecting books for a residential treatment center, near her Georgia home, for severely abused children. With a goal of 300 books, she gathered 3,000 -- and a passion was born.

Mackenzie has gone on to collect more than 38,000 books to date for homeless and abused children in six states. With her mom's help, she launched a nonprofit organization, Sheltering Books, in 2009.

That's a story worth a book of its own.

(ps Thanks to Generation Cures, via Twitter, for the heads-up on Mackenzie)

Fair Play

Save the Children's k2kUSA is a new campaign aimed at helping kids advocate for each other, with a goal of ensuring "a fair chance in life for every kid in America." The k2kUSA council includes notable teens/tweens like Nat & Alex Wolff ("The Naked Brothers Band") and Gov's son Patrick Schwarzenegger.

Taking aim at child poverty, the campaign's website features an ultra-brief "fairness quiz" for kids. Through a partnership with Scholastic Book Clubs, a new book is automatically sent to a child in need each time the quiz is completed. The goal is 90,000 books, so get your kiddos to the keyboard, stat!

2 Good 2B Forgotten

Long after the flowers have faded, the photos emailed, the DJ packed up for the next party...the prom dress remains. For some teens, the dress packs too much sentimental value ever to part with. For others, it represents a chance to help another girl's dream come true.

Donate My Dress organizes local dress drives in an online database that helps generous teens pass on, to financially struggling peers, the dresses they've worn for prom, sweet 16, quinceañera or other special occasions. 'Cause pretty is as pretty does ;)

(image: Betsey Johnson dress & accessories in Elle Girl magazine)

Birth Day

Talk about kids helping kids! Check out this story about the Sanders family from San Francisco. Jabari, 9, and his 11-year-old sister Faith brought their baby brother into the world when mom unexpectedly went into labor. Moral of the story (besides keeping a towel & string handy when you're expecting!): Stay calm under pressure. And be ready for anything.

(Sanders family photo: Anda Chu, AP/Bay Area News Group)

Go Daddy

This cool Fender guitar drawing by our 13-year-old is a great fit for Father's Day gifts that benefit Save the Children, including a personalized mug, greeting card & baby T. See much more at Karate Kat Graphics.

Buddy Can You Spare a Quarter?

That's all it takes to feed a homeless child breakfast, Denver restaurateurs Tammy and Noel Cunningham were shocked to learn 20 years ago, when they launched the Quarters for Kids campaign to mobilize young philanthropists in Denver.

Over the past few weeks, students from 33 area schools raised almost $20,000 to feed homeless children in Denver shelters. Contributors won the right to wear hats to school, listen to their iPods in study hall, chew gum in class, and other enticements dreamed up by student leaders.

The mayor declared this Monday Quarters for Kids day, and the Cunninghams opened their eatery, Strings, to participating kids for a celebratory breakfast.

In its two-decade history, Quarters for Kids has raised about half a million dollars (!) for this fantastic cause, and inspired thousands of kids to help their homeless peers. Amazing what a quarter will buy.

(photo: Kristin Morin via the Denver Post)