Some of the greatest and most well-known charities have actually been masterminded by children. The following are three of the most successful foundations created by children.
ALEX’S LEMONADE FOUNDATION

Alex Scott is the mastermind behind this extremely well known charity. Diagnosed with cancer before the age of one, she was ready to raise money to help other kids like her by the young age of four. She used to quote “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade,” literally and told her mother she wanted to run a lemonade stand. She raised $2,000 in her first attempt!

Alex Scott unfortunately passed away at the age of eight. By that time she had raised over one million dollars to help find a cure for cancer. Her parents continue her great work with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. They have since gathered over $75 million to find cutting-edge research projects as well as provide resources to children and families affected by cancer.

THE LADYBUG FOUNDATION

Hannah Taylor was five years old when she witnessed a man having to eat from a garbage bin the middle of winter. She was filled with such sadness, she kept asking her parents, “why?”  When Taylor’s mother noticed how bothered she was by learning that some people have no home, she told her, “Sometimes when you worry and feel sad about things, if you do something to change the problem, your heart won’t feel so sad.” Three years after the incident, she founded The Ladybug Foundation. It’s an organization that asks businesses for spare change in order to pass on to the homeless. To date, it has raised over $2 million.

SOLE TO SOUL

When sisters Vienna, 13, Hayleigh, 13, and Sarah, 10 heard that a fire at a boy’s school near Nairobi in Kenya left a community in ruin, they knew they wanted to help. After seeing pictures of hundreds of children their age walking around barefoot, the three sisters decided to raise money to provide over 1,200 pairs of shoes. As part of the Sole to Soul project, the young girls went door-to-door to collect second hand shoes in good condition. They also ran stalls in public locations in their hometown of Nashua, New Hampshire and ended up raising $33,000 to buy new shoes for some 1,500 kids.

We often underestimate the power of a child’s imagination. It is clear that with a powerful imagination and vision, even children can create a meaningful and successful foundation to help others!