In our society, our role models and biggest influencers are generally those who are older than us. I always believed this to be the case until my brother was born. This summer, my five-year-old brother sold lemonade and donated the profits. Seeing my brother exceed my productivity at such a young age gave me a sense of reality that I wasn’t aware of until then. Change starts with the younger population. This is why Charity Ball has such a successful and productive outcome. It is because we, as high school students, have the motivation and drive to spark change, especially in our modern day environment.
The image that comes to mind when we hear “young philanthropists” usually isn’t eighty high school students working tirelessly to raise 200,000 dollars in less than 50 days. This image would normally be seen as unachievable. We are high school students, but we are also young philanthropists advocating for change in our community.
How can a group of high school students achieve this nearly impossible task alone? The answer is we can’t. The 83 representatives of student council are not entirely responsible for the immense amount of work put into Enloe Charity Ball. The Enloe community is responsible, the Raleigh community is responsible, but we as individuals are not. A community effort is one in which people from all different ages come together to support one unified cause. Charity Ball is the epitome of a community effort. Charity Ball takes the whole Raleigh community and creates a camaraderie working together to inspire change.
We are never too young to make a difference in our community. We are never too young to advocate for change. We are never too young to help raise 200,000 dollars to support the one in 57 children who can’t reach their goals as easily as us. Change starts with us.
Ella Cifaldi
Executive Council Officer
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