YouthGive is growing a community education event called YouthFest that brings together children, youth and families to learn and take action on global and local poverty issues.

The idea was created by the YouthGive Club at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, where students have organized an annual educational fair (the next on May 21st) that enables kids and families to learn about the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations to reduce extreme poverty. The fair highlights the important work that local and national nonprofits are doing to make a difference on each goal to reduce extreme poverty. High school students teach younger students about these issues through an educational scavenger hunt. Younger kids get to vote on where to move a pool of community donations to featured organizations, such as Charity: water, Kiva, Mercy Corps, Right to Play and Room to Read.

Stay tuned as YouthGive develops YouthFest tool-kits to organize similar events in your community!