DREAM BIG! DREAM OFTEN!

Kelsey is the founder of Bumble’s Bibs (bumblesbibs.com), which she started in honor of her grandmother, Bumble, who passed away from a motor neuron disease in 2013. The idea was born during a 2014 mission trip to Mustard Seed Communities in Jamaica, where Kelsey and her mom were feeding meals to severely handicapped children and adults. Kelsey thoughts bibs would help keep the residents clean, dry and therefore, more comfortable. In turn, caregivers would spend less time cleaning the residents and more interactive and therapeutic time with the residents. “We remembered the large, decorative bibs that Bumble made for her grandchildren from kitchen towels and cloth baby diapers. When we returned from the mission trip, we started sewing large bibs to send to the Mustard Seed Communities.” She also recruited volunteers to help sew and deliver the bibs. “To date, with a wonderful team of volunteers, we have sent approximately 800 bibs to the Mustard Seed residential care facilities.” Bumble’s Bibs has also inspired the creation of a new “bib ministry,” where young women living in a home for unwed mothers and mildly disabled adults will be taught how to sew bibs for their fellow disabled Mustard Seed residents.

Ella’s love of animals, especially after a community cat named Little Bit was hit and killed by a car on her street, led Ella to found The Friends of 4th Street Ferals. The organization began with a mission to end the cycle of unwanted kittens by educating her neighbors and enlisting their help to accomplish a short-term goal of spaying and neutering 20 cats and kittens. Long term, she established an organized network in the neighborhood to make sure that a dozen colonies of feral cats in the area were stabilized by spaying and neutering or adoption to families. “I’m proud to say that these cat colonies were all successfully stabilized with over 125 adults neutered and more than 75 kittens adopted!” She has also volunteered with Girls On The Run, Meals on Wheels, My Sister’s House, Foster Foundation, and Genesis Shelter.

Cristina has devoted a significant amount of her time to the National Charity League (NCL), a mother-daughter service organization committed to community service and leadership. “As I entered high school as a freshman, I developed an interest in healthcare alongside community service. I bridged the gap between the two passions by obtaining an internship at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta with NCL. As I dedicated my time to the hospital, I had the privilege of playing bingo with sick children. After calling several numbers, a young boy with leukemia sprang up with a radiant smile, yelling ‘Bingo!’ The simplicity of winning a toy buoyed his spirits, enabling him to forget his illness temporarily.” She was selected for the Teen Leadership Board of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, through girlFriends. Cristina has also volunteered with Operation Gratitude, Ronald McDonald House, Hospice Atlanta, Atlanta Community Food Bank, Piedmont Hospital and many more.

The YMCA of Metro Atlanta awarded Christopher McCrary Jr., member of the East Lake Family YMCA, with the 2016 Teen Leader of the Year award during the 31st annual Y-CEO Golf Invitational last October. McCrary has been involved with the Y since 2011, serving on the Teen Board, Volunteer Club, Young Men’s Leadership Academy, and Global Service Leadership program at the East Lake Youth and Teen Development Center, which is a part of the YMCA. Chris, a 10th grader, received the Wharton Scholarship for his service as a member of the YMCA Teen Advisory Board, Young Men’s Leadership Academy, and East Lake Teen Volunteer Club. Chris was also a Leader in Training at YMCA Camp High Harbour last summer. Chris has raised more than $2,500 for the Y’s Global Service Leadership Program and had the opportunity to participate in YMCA service trips to Costa Rica and South Africa. “The Y has exposed me to so many different experiences and has given me the opportunity to see things I wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise. The Y has shown me different leadership styles, and has introduced me to not only Y leaders, but also business and community leaders throughout Atlanta.”

20 UNDER 20 RUNNERSUP

LAYLA FELDER, 13

In 2012, she started a club at Atlanta International School called The Kids Opera & Art Posse to inspire kids to support the arts and become the next generation of opera and art patrons, and artists.

ZACHARY FLASH, 18

As the cadet in charge of North Atlanta High School’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), Zachary is responsible for the training and mentoring of 234 cadets. He was selected as an APS Young Superintendent Ambassador and won the National Legion of Valor Bronze Cross Award, which recognizes cadets who demonstrate excellence in military, scholastic, and civic affairs.

KATIE KRANTZ, 17

Katie mentors middle school students through Girl Talk at The Lovett School and is currently trying to start a LGBT+ safe space affinity group as an offshoot of Lovett’s educational Spectrum Club, which she leads.

CAROLINE GRACE MCCLATCHEY, 18

Caroline is co-president of girlFriends, a group of students from Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School who volunteer and raise money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. In the group’s first year alone, it raised $8,000 for Children’s.

LIZZIE WAMSLEY, 16

The Lovett School student created a program to donate books to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and created an addition to the VolunTEEN program by adding a shift where teens read to patients to stimulate their brains and encourage more youth-to-youth relationships during hospital stays.

SPENCER VAUGHN, 12

A 7th grader at the Friends School of Atlanta, Spencer spent most of his summer vacation helping to educate second through fourth graders in summer math camps as a math camp assistant. He enjoys helping younger kids excel in math and reaching their goals as a math whiz.

MEGAN ANANDAPPA, 17

On many a weekend, you can find this St. Pius X Catholic High School student feeding the hungry at St. Francis Table soup kitchen in Downtown, while at school she is the president of the campus group that promotes human rights issues, helping to lead events in the community and even in Washington, D.C.

ADAM KEYS, 18

The B.E.S.T. Academy senior is working as a research assistant at Georgia Tech, while participating in dual enrollment at Georgia State University.

These three third graders lead Scholars With A Vision (S.W.A.V.) to provide assistance to the community through donations, community service and scholarships. Their goal is to raise a minimum of $500 per year to contribute to a KIPP scholar who has successfully completed high school and is headed to college.

S.W.A.V. has donated furniture to families in need, fed the hungry in partnership with Quest Communities and is scheduled to partner with Calvary Transition Homeless Shelter to provide a formal dinner for clients and donate various personal items to mothers and children. They also adopted a family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Jordyn had this to say about her work with S.W.A.V.: “It made me happy to volunteer and feed the homeless; they were so happy about eating something that we take for granted every day. I remember them smiling so big when they got the sack with food in it. My mom took me to a street in Atlanta where all the homeless people live right next to a shelter. One day I will feed them all and maybe find them somewhere to live.”

KAYLA TRAWICK, 17

This Frederick Douglass High School senior is the author of “Aren’t I Fortitude,” an inspirational creative writing project about strength and courage, no matter the circumstances or obstacles one may face in life.

MICHAEL MOORE, 17

A volunteer at the Agape Youth and Family Center, as well as a mentor to younger students, he’s also Recycling Coordinator and Leader of the Living Wall Subcommittee at The Lovett School where he’s seen several projects come to life, including Lovett’s recycling/composting program, e-waste drives, and solar array and living wall installations.

EMILY BLANK, 17

The Woodward Academy student founded a chapter of Girl Up, the international movement under the United Nations Foundation, which encourages girls to take action and lead the efforts to improve the lives of girls and women locally and globally.

GABBY KASTEN, 17

A senior at the Weber School, Gabby sits on the board for Creating Connected Communities, an organization that throws holiday parties for underprivileged children. She also volunteers for the Shearith Israel women’s shelter and Meals on Wheels.

ADAM SPECTOR, 17

The Weber School student was honored with the Presidential Award for more than 100 hours of community service, including volunteering at the JCC Summer Camps, coaching a program devoted to serving developmentally challenged teens and adults, and serving on the board and leading soccer clinics for Kicking for Autism.

KENDALL ROBINSON, 15

A junior at Greater Atlanta Christian School, Kendall founded a nonprofit company, Love Rolls, Inc. that collects physical and monetary donations to purchase toilet paper for the homeless and for those in need in the metro area.

PRECIOUS SMITH, 17

The Academe of the Oaks Decatur student’s activities range from working at food banks to gathering clothes and hygiene kits for homeless people to construction of a coat rack near a Downtown Marta station that’s full of coats, free for the taking. She’s also raising money to help a Diné family expand their home.

CHARLES PORGES, 17

Charles is the youngest member of Praxis, a program for young peple who have left school or college in order to begin their professional careers. Charles quickly adapted to the program and is already managing a group of freelancers at Guild Quality.

KOURTNI MACKENZIE STEWART, 15

The Westminster Schools student serves as a mentor/tennis coach to lower school students and serves as the Community Service Intern for her family’s nonprofit organization L.E.A.D. (Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct) which partners with Atlanta Public Schools to empower an at-risk generation to lead and transform their city of Atlanta.