NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) — The staff of a local nonprofit that has spread its joy to Greece, the Caribbean, Africa and beyond could serve as proof that you can think big and do big things, no matter how young you are.
It should be noted that they are high school students.
“Art made from feelings is just so beautiful to look at.”
“I think it’s so important to spread the joy I get from art.”
Anya Acharya and her friends Saatvi, Zara and Samantha shared joy and lots of crayons as part of the non-profit organization Colors 4 Change.
“We take recycled art supplies that people donate to us and we refurbish them and then send them to underserved facilities,” Acharya said.
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The aim is to help children and teenagers discover their creativity. They first receive donations that come from events at schools, restaurants and businesses from people who just want to help.
The crayons are then cleaned up and those that still need a little love are melted into new shapes. They are sorted by color and placed in batches for delivery. (More on that later.)
But how did this all start?
Acharya said it started with her big sister, Anaisa, who wanted to raise money for a nonprofit organization for mothers and children in India.
“We were talking as a family and thinking, ‘What else can we send?’” Acharya said. “We decided we wanted to send art supplies.”
Soon, with advice from family and help from friends, Colors 4 Change grew into a non-profit organization with global impact.
“Costa Rica, Greece, India, Jamaica, a lot of those places have contacted us and asked us for donations,” Acharya said.
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One donation showed how a good deed can turn into a mission. Once they received a request for a donation from Tanzania.
“They had no running water,” Acharya said. “Basically we asked artists from all over the world from places like Ecuador and Dubai, as well as local artists, to send some of their artwork.”
They raised about $1,500 to build a well for the children in Tanzania.
When Acharya’s sister went to college, she took over the nonprofit. So one afternoon in Naperville the girls were packing up and leaving.
They were on their way to donate crayons and other supplies to the Alive Center, a free after-school drop-in center for teens.
“They contacted us,” said Amy Logan of the Alive Center. “They were looking for an organization to donate to and they found out we’re a teen center and they said, ‘Oh my gosh! We’re collecting all these school supplies, all these crayons, art supplies. Would you be interested?’ ‘ And of course I said, ‘Absolutely!'”
Logan said the children “took it upon themselves” to not only go to school and do their homework and be involved in extracurricular activities, but also decided to give back to the community.
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“That’s huge,” she said. “These are our future leaders.”
But for Acharya and her friends, it’s quite simple.
“Helping and volunteering is really rewarding, and it fills you inside with something that you don’t really get from doing anything else,” she said.
Acharya said Colors 4 Change also has an environmental mission. Colored pencils are made from paraffin wax and are not biodegradable. So recycling them is good for the planet.
The girls even recycle the plastic bags their donations come in. For more information, visit Colors4Change.org.
