Texas Teens Donate $22K of Their Own Money to Charities Around the World

Groups of teenagers in Georgetown, Texas, are donating their own money to nonprofit organizations to do good to those around them.

Seventh-grader Ainsley Herbert said she recently donated her money to World Vision International to buy a goat and two chickens for people living in another country.

“Ainsley is part of a group called Ten at a Time. Ten friends contribute $10 of their own money (not mom’s) once a month, then one member chooses a cause to donate the money to,” according to KXAN.

Since the original group was formed by 10 boys in 2014, young people in the area have donated a combined $22,000 to organizations in Texas and around the world.

Ainsley’s group was started last year by her friend, Aubrey Bryant, and it is one of ten chapters located in Central Texas.

“My brother was actually in a Ten at a Time group before me, and I had always wanted to do it once he got in that group,” she told reporters.

Last year, Aubrey chose to donate to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation. “I personally had a friend that died of a brain aneurysm,” she said.

Ten at a Time was started by Ron Miller, who grew up poor in the Projects of New York City, according to the organization’s website.

The site continued:

When he was 12 years old The Boys Club of New York changed his life’s path when they provide him with the opportunity for a better life through education, ultimately supporting him from junior high all the way to his Master’s Degree. With a keen awareness that Ron’s life would have turned out very differently if other people didn’t invest their time, money, and resources into Ron, he and his wife Erin have made an effort to do their part to give back, hoping to set a good example for their two son’s Calvin and Carter.

Since then, members have donated to causes such as cancer research, efforts to fight human trafficking, suicide prevention, and adoption, the website stated.

“My life’s changed for the better because of it,” said Bart Madeley, who works at Brookwood in Georgetown (BiG), a place where adults with special needs can make and sell pottery, ornaments, and baked goods.

Donations from groups such as Ten at a Time keep them open for business.

BiG’s website stated:

We want to change the way our world views this population by taking the “status quo” of providing these individuals with custodial care to these individuals creating beautiful, marketable items to sell to help sustain the vocational community they enjoy everyday. They have become artisans, bakers, gardeners, card makers, jewelry makers, and more.

“I found community, I found good friends, and I found a lot of fun along the way,” Madeley concluded.