The Enough Foundation - A student-led organization doing what's human

The plan of action is one that takes into account an often overlooked factor: reality. The reality is, to take initiative and lead with such projects as The Orphanage of Opportunity is certainly bold and noteworthy, but also very expensive. Thus, the plan of action with Enough and The Enough Foundation is to stretch the reach of student capability as far as possible to accomplish our goals. As kids, we often think differently than adults. Where as most others would take a standard route in much of what we need to do (such as fundraising), we tend to think WAY outside the box. And it works. For example, part of our "For The Kids, By The Kids" fundraising campaign for our proposed orphanage included letter writing to local businesses within chapter communities. One student developed the idea of the "stolen pen". Rather than writing your typical donation solicitation letters, we hand wrote absolutely hilarious letters to businesses, claiming to have stolen their "most prized ballpoint pen", and asked for "ransom", aka a donation. The idea was an absolute hit, and companies responded very positively. Our work and projects do not progress in a linear sequence of steps, more so on an odd parabolic sequence where we continue to aim higher and achieve greater results. Many of our steps are concurrent with each other. For example, while we are still fundraising for the proposed Orphanage of Opportunity, we are also in frequent contact with others to advise on how to successfully run an orphanage once our funding is complete. We have students overseas that are additionally doing surveying so that we can understand the numbers behind the people we are trying to help (how many are sick, how many can read, etc.). One important aspect in the steps we take is that although we may take large strides, we always walk on solid ground. The prospect of building an orphanage is certainly daunting to anyone, but we have spoken and continue to remain in contact with many organizations to make sure we are taking the right steps and making the right moves in what we do. Although we are student led, we always seek the advice of others to ensure the strengthened success of our work when completed. Also very important is that we understand and are aware of various risk factors and obstacles that make what we do even more difficult. It is this awareness and knowledge that helps us to best avoid problems and work more successfully. On the note of race/religious relations, Enough also finds it important that discriminated against individuals write their own narratives, and create their own identity, rather than letting the identity of stereotypes and racism take over. As stated before, we believe that the best way to write one's own narrative, or rather rewrite, is through positive service to others. So far the impact we have had has been immense. Though there are not exact numbers, we estimate we have helped thousands of children overseas thus far with our disaster relief funds raised exceeding $10,000. Our message of "doing what's human" has led to acknowledgement by everyone from the Governor of Connecticut, to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Enough has chapters is many schools throughout the United States, so in addition to being a now national organization, the reach of school chapters further extends the impact we have had on local communities in improving race/religious relations, as well as raising awareness and mobilizing action for poverty abroad. We will only continue to increase the impact we have on a global level.