Brotherly love
Marc was also always available by phone or e-mail to offer Craig advice on speeches, grant applications or media appearances. Craig remembers calling Marc from Chicago right after his first appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to tell him his famous host had promised substantial financial support live on national television. Craig could hear this loud thumping sound on the other end of the phone. "I said, ‘Marc, what's that noise?' He said it was him jumping up and down."
Craig and Marc remain each other's biggest supporters, and their latest joint endeavour – Me to We: Turning Self-Help on Its Head, the book the two have cowritten, is their most ambitious collaboration to date, and one that they unabashedly hope will spark a social movement. Since Craig started FTC as a child with other kids, detractors have argued that the organization's work wasn't appropriate for children, that it took away from their youth to be so immersed in the major problems of the world. But the critics missed the main point: the kids were being driven by the success of their projects and they were having a good time at the serious business of helping others. Now Marc and Craig want to help adults learn the same lesson. "This is what we do for fun," says Craig. "It's not a job. We do it because we love it."
Children freeing Children
Free the Children
FTC is an international children's organization that has involved more than one million children and youth in its projects. Youth members have raised funds to construct more than 400 primary schools in the rural areas of developing nations, providing education to more than 35,000 children. They have also distributed more than 175,000 school and health kits in 38 countries and medical supplies to needy families in 13 countries. FTC currently supports drinkable water projects, health clinics, alternative income cooperatives and primary schools in 21 developing nations.
The organization's advocacy campaigns have led Canada, Mexico and Italy to pass legislation to better protect sexually abused children. It has lobbied corporations to adopt labels for child-labour-free products and was selected in 2001 by the United Nations and The Office of the Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict to be the lead nongovernmental organization coordinating youth outreach for the decade of peace and nonviolence toward children.
Leaders Today
Teams of trainers visit schools, communities and religious groups to host programs that give youth the leadership, teamwork, communication and self-confidence skills needed to become active global citizens. The program has provided leadership training to more than 300,000 young people throughout North America. It operates summer and March-break trips for youth interested in volunteering in India, Nicaragua and Thailand, as well as leadership/volunteer retreats to its own centres in Kenya and Arizona.
For more information on these two efforts, visit www.freethechildren.org and www.leaderstoday.com.
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