RE Log - Spring 2020

SPRING 2020 Ransom Everglades LOG 39 Value in Kind The Today Show talks kindness with RE middle schoolers Ransom Everglades Middle School students took center stage for a story on kindness that aired on NBC’s Today Show on Oct. 3, 2019, discussing the importance of being kind during a classroom interview with correspon- dent Savannah Sellers that tugged on heart strings. “These children make you rethink all of what kindness is,” NBC’s Al Roker said. Sellers spoke with nine students – Mia Bouyoucef ’25, Thomas Crowley ’24, Kaitlyn Gonzalez ’24, Tyira Jackson ’24, Zoe Katsoufis ’24, T.J. Malone ’25, Daniel Mendelson ’25, Francisco Gomez Rivas-Vazquez ’24 and Sindhu Talluri ’25 – in the middle school activities room on Sept. 22. A Giant LEAP RE microlending club moves up all-time lending list With a $175 loan to a woman in Cambodia who runs a small grocery store, the Ransom Everglades student- run club LEAP (Lending to End All Poverty) moved into eighth place on the all-time lending list among more than 2,000 participating schools according to the non-profit micro-lender, Kiva. RE’s LEAP had made 1,234 micro- loans for $178,350 – as of fall 2019 – to individuals or small businesses in 70 countries since the club’s start in 2007. LEAP members executed the online loan to the Cambodian business woman during an advisory period. They also used Kiva’s website to send $100 to a mother of four who runs a general store in Timor-Leste, $50 to a group of female business owners in Senegal and $125 to a father in Vietnam to help him build a hygienic toilet in his home. The club made more than $3,300 in loans in September. “It makes me so happy to see the positive impact that our club has had on those who need help,” LEAP President David Civantos ’20 said. Civantos, vice president Elliot Sable ’21 , secretary Tim Sucher ’20 and other members use the Kiva website to research small business owners who need financial help “Kindness is almost like this universal language that exists in every culture, every race, every religion,” Bouyoucef said. The students responded to questions, and also commented on videos illustrating kind acts – such as one showing a track athlete helping an injured competitor across the finish line. “That is such an important thing to do, to take the effort to be kind,” Jackson said. The students also shared tips about how to be kind online. They advised following positive accounts and using social media to support others or causes they care about. “They were angel children, for sure,” Sellers said to her colleagues in the studio to conclude the segment. “It feels good, right?” and then distribute loans that fit with the club’s goals. Since its start, LEAP has invested primarily in female business owners (61 percent) who work in agriculture. Bolivia has received the most money, and Pakistan has received the most individual loans. The group participates in occa- sional fund-raising events at the upper school, but primarily uses proceeds from previous loans to fund additional loans. Seed money from several RE parents got the club off the ground in its early days, but LEAP has been proudly self- sustaining ever since thanks to a 98 per- cent repayment rate. Rafael Fernandez ’09 founded the club with the assistance of Humanities Department Chair Jen Nero.