Students Helping Students

Students Helping Students is a youth run organization committed to providing educational supplies to underserved children both here and abroad, giving them tools to succeed. A Seeds of Compassion Youth Program Grant – this request was submitted by Kevin Vu, a local teen who became passionately involved with Students Helping Students after a summer internship with Teens in Public Service. In Kevin’s own words: “…the students we serve in South Africa value a simple pencil like I would value my iPod or cell phone. It may take thousands of dollars and political and legal pressure to hire qualified teachers, build suitable facilities, and establish effective curriculum for these schools, but it takes only a few dollars to provide a student with a year’s worth of pencils and paper.”

Kevin Vu , with the organization Students Helping Students,
proudly presents supplies collected to support schools in South Africa and the Puget Sound.

The review team at The Mother House Fund was impressed with Kevin’s request because of the committed team of volunteers he had already assembled, and the compassion he exhibited through his insatiable desire to provide tangible assistance to students living in challenging situations. Kevin is an out of the box thinker with tremendous energy to make positive change. He took the extra step to create local and global connections when he decided to use the funds raised through his efforts to purchase school supplies for both local Bellevue School District schools and schools in South Africa. When the Pencils Fight Poverty, the precursor to Students Helping Students, was formed in 2009, they supported Generation Joy and South African schools. Kevin and his team of volunteers decided to reach out to local Bellevue School District schools when they realized there were students in need both locally and abroad. Students Helping Students chose to support Lake Hills Elementary and Highland Middle School learning they have the highest percentage of students on free or reduced lunch (63% and 42%, respectively) in the Bellevue School District.

Kevin Vu packing boxes of supplies he collected to ship to students in Africa

Kevin Vu and project volunteers from Students Helping Students, receiving a
Mother House Fund grant from fiscal sponsor, Cathy Michalec, of Teens in Public Service