If you asked 8-year-old twins Maggie and Sophie Lile what
their favorite thing in the world was, the answer would be a resounding “ART”,
but their next favorite thing in the world is SAVING the world. The thing that
makes them feel the best is when they know they have done something really
great for someone else.
It all started 4 years ago, with the very first
GlobalOneness Day and people from around the world started celebrating the connection
that we all have as residents of the planet. The Lile family had already been a
big part of Humanity’s Team, the organization behind the creation of this
global holiday. Maggie and Sophie, with the help of their Mom, started the
first ever “Share the Love” event.
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| This picture is from the 1st "Share the Love" event in 2008. |
“Our first event was a lot of fun,” says Angie Lile (mom
to Maggie and Sophie), “We held it at our house with a small group of people
and collected books for kids and wrapped them up. We collected lots of ordinary
household donations and we even made cookies.” All of the books, cookies and
other donations were divided up between three different shelters: Sheffield
Place, Gillis and Emancipation Station.
“I remember feeling really good about all the work we did
and the next year was even better!” said Angie, who continued to hold “Share
the Love” donation drives every year since then.
As the girls got older, their ambitions got bigger. “Last
year, we combined forces with the Girl Scout troop and had the event at their
school,” Angie says. They were able to
create 35 individual meal sacks and 22 personal care packs.
Meanwhile, word of their “Share the Love” events
continued to spread to other members of Humanity’s Team, which is a global
movement dedicated to helping people to see and understand our connection to
each other as fellow earth beings.
Each year Humanity’s Team leaders from all over the world
come together for a week-long strategic planning meeting and retreat. This past
year the event was held in Colorado and the entire Lile family traveled out to
meet these leaders.
“While we were at the meeting, the girls and I all
received the Presidential ‘Call to Service Award’ for our hard work,” explained
Angie. She proudly shows a picture of the girls, holding their certificates.
They also received little pins and a letter from President Barack Obama. “I was
so surprised but also really proud of them. This feels like a pretty big deal.”
It is a big deal if you think about all the people who
have benefitted from the hard work of 2 small girls over the years. Imagine
what a whole school could do? Or even a whole neighborhood? Of course, this is the very heart of how a
grassroots movement operates. There have been many grassroots movements over
time, and all of them have been a huge benefit to the world. Humanity’s Team is
just one of these many groups and the Lile family plans on continuing the good
work.
The next Global Oneness Day is coming up, October 24
th
and the ambitious 8-year-olds are planning another donation drive.
The goal is to create meal sacks and personal
care packs for as many people as we can and distribute those to Emancipation
Station. This is a great organization which provides daytime shelter to
homeless women in Kansas City. They offer personal training such as health and
wellness, computer skills, and other life skills.
Another recipient will be The Gillis Center in Waldo who
also provides shelter and learning for families in need.
If you think you can’t change the world, you are wrong,
and 2 8-year-old girls have shown that hard work can make a difference. They
had one thing to say about receiving this award and that was, “Won’t you join
us in making a difference on Global Oneness Day?”
Whether you help a friend, relative or a complete
stranger, make October 24th your personal day to give back to the
world. You might be surprised at what a difference you can make.
Donation locations for this year’s drive will be
available at various locations around the metro. If you can’t make it to a
drop-off, you are welcome to arrange for a special drop-off or pick-up. The
details will be posted soon on this website so stay tuned.
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Please help spread the word! We've created a flier that you can download and send to your friends and/or print out and hang up in your business. The more we collect, the more people we help. 
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