logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Teens Running International Nonprofit

Saras Chung
March 16, 2012
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

March 14, 2012; Source: Washington Post

What were you doing when you were 18? Recent high school graduate Abby Gribbin, a teen from Leesburg, Va., is the founding member and president of San Pablo, a nonprofit group that provides scholarships to poverty-stricken families throughout southwest Guatemala. Abby manages the organization from her Leesburg home, communicating regularly via phone and e-mail with fellow aid workers and families they assist in the country. “It’s a really small nonprofit,” Abby notes. The organization has six permanent members and was formally established two years ago.

Though young, Abby has been interested in nonprofit work for many years. At the age of 12, Abby, her parents, and six other siblings drove to Guatemala from Leesburg in their Chevrolet Suburban. Four months after they arrived, Hurricane Stan wiped out cities across the country, leaving already impoverished villages in complete devastation. San Pablo was hit particularly hard. Shanties were leveled and all order collapsed. There was an immediate need for food, transportation and rations. The Gribbin family focused their attention on delivering supplies to San Pablo from surrounding locales and became involved in reconstruction efforts. “Imagine drinking dirty water. Every day you’re sick, and it’s just part of life,” recounts Abby.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Six years have passed and Abby remains devoted to rebuilding San Pablo. Working with two pastors based in San Pablo, Abby and her family collect and manage funds that pay school fees for youth in the city. She also manages outreach on behalf of the group, obtaining donations from newsletter subscribers, fundraisers at her high school and by partnering with catering companies. The Gribbin family estimates that the organization has helped nearly 80 children go to school for approximately $300 a child each school year.

Abby herself will start college at Virginia Tech in September. She plans to continue studying Spanish, international relations or business. Meanwhile her 16-year-old brother, Matt, will run the nonprofit group while she obtains her degree. Abby’s work with San Pablo is indicative of the new generation of teens who are much more involved in giving back and participating in social action than those before them. According to the Pew Research Center, unlike generations before who may have treated such community service functions as punishment, the current generation of young people often sees social injustices as an opportunity for fulfilling engagement and for change. –Saras Chung

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Saras Chung

Saras Chung is a PhD Candidate in Social Work at WashU. She promotes strategies in education for healthy and engaged youth.

More about: EducationGivingGlobal IssuesManagement and LeadershipNonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Finding Power in Community: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers’ Union
Sheri Davis
How Environmental Education Is Moving into High Schools
Ayana Albertini-Fleurant, Dr. Janelle M. Burke, Kari Fulton, Joe Hurst and Ariel Murphy Bedford
Why Access to Education Is Key to Dismantling Mass Incarceration
Syrita Steib
Hierarchy and Justice
Cyndi Suarez
Salvadoran Foreign Agent Law Threatens Human Rights Movements
Devon Kearney
Charitable Tax Reform: Why Half Measures Won’t Curb Plutocracy
Alan Davis

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
Finding Power in Community: Lessons from the Chicago...
Sheri Davis
How Environmental Education Is Moving into High Schools
Ayana Albertini-Fleurant, Dr. Janelle M. Burke, Kari Fulton, Joe Hurst and Ariel Murphy Bedford
Why Access to Education Is Key to Dismantling Mass...
Syrita Steib

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.