East Bay Teens Turn To Public Service Amid Pandemic

Press release from Above and Beyond Leadership:

September 23, 2020

Above and Beyond Leadership, or ABLE, is a non-profit with the mission is to help out others and allow students to demonstrate leadership in the communities. ABLE is an umbrella organization that contains projects within it; each of these projects is focused on a different topic. Many of these projects focus on fundraising, service, and education.

ABLE members, many of whom are high schoolers, hope to leave a positive impact on their communities. All projects are led by students. Any member can start their own project within ABLE; this eliminates the need for them to create a whole new nonprofit, a costly and lengthy process. Through their projects, members focus on societal or humanitarian concerns they feel strongly about.

Some projects are centered on fundraising. For instance, the Shukratal Orphanage project, led by ABLE president Aman Gupta, has raised around $6,000 to help an orphanage in India. The building is in need of repairs and the orphans do not have a consistent source of food. By raising money, project members hope to fix the orphanage and provide necessary resources. The Oeleta Learning Center, led by Beatrix Hermann, aims to build a learning center in West Timor, Indonesia. Many children in the area live in extreme poverty and lack opportunities for education. Donations help to provide resources for them.

Other projects involve teaching. Express Education, led by co-president Sam Zhou, allowed middle school students to retain and gain new knowledge over summer. Several topics, such as Chinese, math, English, and chemistry were covered in the 2020 summer session. Youth Virtual Workouts, led by Hubert Tan, provides motivation for students to stay fit and healthy during quarantine. The sessions include both exercise workouts and nutrition information.

ABLE benefits both communities and members in the organization. Students who join ABLE learn leadership skills and gain service hours. They also practice collaborating on ideas and communicating efficiently. Interested? Visit abovebeyondleadership.org to learn more!

The organization was funded by Dr. Sherry Hu, and run by a team of high school and middle school students, Aman Gupta, San Zhou, Nichelle Wong, Beatrix Hermann, Elizabeth Tan, Jonathan Lei, Helen Kang, Kashyap Patel, Emma Yao, Francesca Paulazo, Hubert Tan and Ariana Nassiri.

This press release was produced by Above and Beyond Leadership. The views expressed here are the author's own.