Last fall I wrote a column about our Nanaimo Interact Club (student Rotary Club) and their amazing Your Move Campaign that raised money and awareness for AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe.

The next day I got an email from Woodlands Grade 11 student, Meghan Hall. She loved the idea, she said, and she wondered if she could help. Would a thirsty man turn down a glass of cold water? I responded … or with words to that affect.

Meghan is one among hundreds of exceptional teenagers in our Mid Island Region; teenagers that don’t get recognized often enough in the media; teenagers who are faced with much more challenging studies than my generation. They’re also faced with many more opportunities to get into trouble given today’s sexual mores and drug culture – In my days I remember a persistent rumour that you could get high, I mean really high, by mixing coke (cola that is!) and aspirin!

How much more trouble could you and I have got into if we had had the same opportunities today’s kids have? Good question, isn’t it?

Also more of today’s kids have part time jobs than we did as teenagers and they tend to do a whole lot more volunteer work in the community.

Given this varied and challenging work load, there’s no doubt that they have multi tasking and time management skills that my generation never had or ever will have. Today’s kids are just fine thank you very much.

Meghan Hall is a good example of the kind of teenagers I am talking about.

Working as a “mentor” for the Interact Club, I am aware of the time Meghan spends on our various projects but recently I heard about some of her other commitments.

She’s heavily involved with the Student Council at Woodlands Secondary School on such projects as the White Ribbon Campaign to end violence against women. Outside school she has organized a Human Rights letter writing campaign for Amnesty International and a Small Arms Control Campaign for Oxfam. She also keeps busy in her position as Student Ambassador for the Kid’s Help Phone. This is a long list of activities and I’m sure I’m missing some.

Now Meghan is in the midst of organizing perhaps her biggest campaign to date. It’s a Red Cross program called the One Step Campaign to raise money and awareness for victims of land mines.

Land mines, Meghan tells me, leave a high percentage of their victims alive but requiring surgery and amputations. Beyond the pain and suffering, these injuries also have a dramatic affect on many economies because many of the amputees are unable to work. This is especially true in areas such as Afghanistan where poverty is rampant. .

In many areas, she tells me, two thirds of the victims are children.

Meghan’s goal is to raise $5,000. That amount will pay for surgeries and prosthesis for 20 victims.

To date she has asked Wellington, Dover Bay and Woodlands high schools to help out and received an enthusiastic response. Soon she’ll be approaching local businesses and service clubs for support, support she and especially the victims deserve to get.

When I asked what she gets out of doing all of this volunteer work, her response was quick and simple.

“I like helping people,” she enthused. “It’s what I love doing. Eventually I want to work for an organization like the Red Cross or Oxfam.”

And what else does she get? I had to push to get her to talk about herself but eventually she agreed that she gets to meet “tons of great people”; she has improved her public speaking and organizational skills; and in general, she’s “learned a lot”.

Hidden Heroes know that when you commit yourself to helping others, you always receive more than you could ever give.