Pencils of Promise

[Storyteller.]

Cause of the Month: Pencils of Promise
By Katrina (AppleTini)

As we gear up for the new school year, Pencils of Promise is hitting its prime season for helping children across the globe. "Pencils of Promise partners with local communities to build schools and increase educational opportunities in the developing world. We focus on early education, high potential females and empowering a new generation of passionate young leaders to create profound good." Less than two years ago, founder Adam Braun started this movement with $25.00. Since then, it's grown into so much more, with over 40,000 supporters internationally.

In the beginning, Adam Braun gave one pencil to one child on the streets of India, and his passion for empowering children to write and share their stories with something so simple as a pencil has only grown. Today, seventy-five million children live without educational opportunities, and this number includes only the children, not the adolescents or young adults who've gotten through life so far without an education. Pencils of Promise exists to erase this number, one school at a time, one child at a time.

Something incredibly special about Pencils of Promise is the organization's unique ability to look past statistics and see each individual at his or her core. Pencils of Promise believes that each person, each dollar, and each pencil DOES help. This organization prides itself on the fact that in 2009, 90% of its donations came from individuals ages 20-29--young adults willing to put their funds on the line for a great cause, and for the good of humanity. For more information about how you can help, visit www.pencilsofpromise.org.