Kids CAN Change the World!: Home

Cruz made a name for herself at five years old when she visited Washington D.C. with her family. As representatives of an L.A.-based immigration advocacy group, they were there to deliver a letter to Pope Francis urging him to speak out on behalf of undocumented workers and support the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans Act. The Pope discussed the issue in a meeting with Congress the following day. Cruz's activism earned her an invitation to meet President Obama in 2016 even though her parents couldn't accompany her because of their undocumented status. She took part in the Women's March in D.C. where, as the featured speaker, she spoke in both Spanish and English saying, "We are here together making a chain of love to protect our families. Let us fight with love, faith and courage so that our families will not be destroyed."

At 16, during a fishing trip in Greece, Slat discovered massive amounts of plastic in the water. Two years later, the dutch inventor launched his non-profit, Ocean Cleanup, to research using circulating currents to address the pollution issue. The group has raised over $31.5 million in donations to help achieve Boyan's goal.

Scott was less than a year old when she was diagnosed with cancer and spent her first few years of life fighting against the odds. After receiving a stem cell transplant around her fourth birthday, she vowed to start a lemonade stand to raise money for other children going through the same thing. With the help of her brother, the first stand raised $2,000. The lemonade stand to support cancer research became an annual event for her family and Alex raised over $1 million before losing her own battle in 2004 at eight years old. Her family continues to carry on her legacy through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and has raised over $150 million to date in the hopes of finding a cure.

Makosinski was 15 when she invented a flashlight powered by body heat for the Google Science Fair in 2013. In doing so, she found a way to reduce waste (single-use batteries getting dumped in landfills) and provide light to people who can't afford electricity in their homes. She also invented the eDrink, which cools your hot beverage by turning the excess heat into electricity that can charge your devices. Her inventions have gotten her worldwide recognition including an appearance on the "Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" and several brand partnerships.

Masih was Pakistani boy who escaped child slavery at 10 years old and became a leader in the movement to put an end to it once and for all. He helped over 3,000 children escape bondage and traveled the globe speaking out against the issue. Masih was assassinated when he was 12 and roughly 800 people attended his funeral service. However, his legacy lives on well beyond his death. In 2009, Congress started an annual award in his name given to activists fighting to end child labor.

Young people using social media may not seem life-changing, but one look at Abed's Twitter page will change your mind. At just seven years old, she documented her life in war-torn Syria to call attention to the atrocities happening there. With some assistance from her mother, Abed has called upon world leaders to take action.

Stagliano was in third grade when she came up with her plan to help feed the homeless after growing a 40 pound cabbage in her yard. That single crop fed 275 people at her local soup kitchen. It also inspired her non-profit, Katie's Krops, which builds vegetable gardens for the sole purpose of donating the food to the homeless. Now, there are more than 100 gardens in over 30 states being operated by young people like Katie.

Hreljac has been working to make clean water accessible to people in poor areas since he was six and first learned about the issue. He began by doing chores to earn money to send to organizations building wells in poor countries before starting Ryan's Well Foundation when he was 10. The charity has brought drinkable water to over 800,000 people in 16 countries. Ryan's Well Foundation also partners with schools to educate children about the situation.

Copeny, a.k.a. Little Miss Flint, captured President Obama's attention in 2016 after she wrote him a letter urging him to meet with her and her community members who were traveling to Washington D.C. for the congressional meetings on the Flint water crisis. She continues to fight for the people of her hometown in any way that she can, including crowdfunding for donations to buy backpacks for students in Flint. Mari is also a youth ambassador for the Women's March, the Climate March, and Equality for Her.

Martinez is an environmental activist who spoke at the U.N. three times by the age of 15 urging leaders to take action against climate change. He and 21 other people around his age are the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the federal government arguing that ignoring climate change means they are denying the constitutional right to life, liberty, and property. Martinez has even turned his message into music with a hip-hop song called "Speak for the Trees," which was chosen as the theme song for the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Ulmer is another example of how a little lemonade can change the world. After learning about how much bees do for the environment and how they're dying out, four-year-old Ulmer decided to take action by joining a local children's business competition. Her product was a family lemonade recipe sweetened with locally-made honey with a portion of the sales going to organizations fighting to save the honeybee population. She sells her lemonade at public events and has a partnership with Whole Foods.

Gupta was inspired to collect eyeglasses for children in need at 14 years old after breaking his own corrective lenses and having to wait a week for a replacement pair. He read a statistic that 12 million children around the world are living without the glasses they need to see clearly, which prompted him to launch his Sight Learning organization. The group collects used glasses and delivers them to children who need them. They have given out over $1.5 million worth of eyewear in places like Mexico, Honduras, Haiti, and India.