Children’s Day 2020- Superstar Spotlight!

Happy Children’s Day! Children are making remarkable actions everyday, so today we’re highlighting a few talented kids who are making big change in our world.  

Jahkil Jackson

After 8 year old Jahkil Jackson helped his aunt distribute food to Chicagoians experiencing homelessness, he knew he wanted to step up and create some serious change. He set to work, creating ‘Blessing Bags’ filled with goods like toothbrushes, deodorant, socks, granola bars, and much more! Now 12 years old, Jahkil’s nonprofit ‘Project I Am’ has helped over 35,000 people worldwide and he has found a new passion as a motivational speaker, youth ambassador, and Marvel Hero. Wow!! Great job Jahkil! 

More information about #projectiam at officialprojectiam.com 

Sophie Cruz

When she was just five years old, Sophie Cruz planned to meet Pope Francis when he visited Washington on official business. She was turned away by security but the Pope called her over- he spoke with her and took her letter, which urged him to support DAPA, or the ‘Deferred Action for Parents of Americans Program’.  While Sophie is American, her parents are immigrants and could face deportation. Pope Francis voiced her message at the US Congress the next day, calling for greater openness to refugees and immigrants. Since then, now-10 year old Sophie has met with former president Barack Obama, and was even the youngest speaker at the Women’s March in Washington DC. How did she get the courage to do all of this? “God made me like that” says Sophie. Keep it up!

Marley Dias

Marley has always been an avid reader- but at 11 years old, she was tired of reading books in school about “white boys and their dogs”.  So, in 2015 she started a campaign called #1000blackgirlbooks, and planned to collect and donate 1000 books with a black girl as the main character. She has since donated over 9000 books and landed a book deal of her own! Fantastic work Marley! 

You can find out more or donate books at marleydias.com 

Mikaila Ulmer

Another superstar for this Children’s Day is Mikaila Ulmer, a CEO at only fifteen! When Mikaila was four years old, she got stung by a bee. Twice! But after this, she started researching bees, and became fascinated with their ecosystem. Feeling inspired, she pulled out her granny Helen’s flaxseed lemonade recipe for a local competition, and swapped out the sugar for honey. Now, after ten years in ‘Buzzness’, Mikaila’s lemonade has moved out of her lemonade stand and into over 1500 stores nationwide! The name has changed from ‘Bee Sweet’ to ‘Me and the Bees’, but she still donates a portion of every sale to organizations dedicated to saving the honeybees.

Mikaila’s first book hits the shelves in August 2020. Maybe we should see what all the buzz is about? You can find out more at meandthebees.com 

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez

Now 20, Xiuhtezcatl (Shu-tez-cot) has been speaking out about environmental issues since the age of six. His mother co-founded the Earth Guardian Community Resource Center in 1993, and sixteen years later Xiuhtezcatl started a new Earth Guardian youth group to stand up against the use of pesticides that were harming his community. He has spoken about countless issues, such as climate change and the fight in Standing Rock, North Dakota. He is also a talented hip hop artist, believing that it is much easier to get people to listen to music than speeches- he uses his music to deliver plenty of environmental messages. Great work, Xiuhtezcatl! 

Learn about Xiuhtezcatl and Earth Guardians at earthguardians.org 

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about some of the stellar kids giving back this Children’s day! What can you do to help out? Talk to your kids about what they are passionate about, and go from there! Maybe you could help out at a local shelter? Or organize a park cleanup? Or sell goods and donate the money to a charitable cause? The options are endless! Happy Children’s Day, from ICAN to all of you! 

Got a superstar in your community? Tag us in a post on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. We’d love to see what our listeners can do! Check out the ICAN Radio blog to learn about other cool kids and activities!