EVERYDAY YOUNG HEROES
Yoni Kalin - Washington, DC
YSA recognizes 18-year-old Yoni Kalin of Washington, DC as an Everyday Young Hero for his colorful approach to increase art in early childhood and advocating for environmental responsibility.
While sitting with his family at a restaurant having dinner, doodling with a pack of kids’ crayons on the table, Yoni observed a waiter casually pick up a box of untouched crayons and toss it in the trash. Motivated to find an alternative to throwing out unused crayons from restaurants, he challenged himself to match this resource to a community need. Yoni reached out to daycare centers, elementary schools, and after school programs in the Washington, DC area in order to determine if art supplies were needed for their program, ultimately learning that a lot of facilities were struggling to secure art supplies amid tightening budgets. Through identifying this community need, Color My World was born. As the founder and Co-President Yoni has expanded the Color My World project across the country, manages the project’s website and provides support to the Color My World teen volunteers on signing up restaurants and identifying underfunded children’s centers in need. To scale the initiative, and make it sustainable, Yoni created an online toolkit to train all Color My World participants.
For his dedication to combining his passions for art and recycling in order to find a unique way to secure art supplies to children’s organizations, we honor Yoni Kalin as an Everyday Young Hero. To learn more about Color My World, visit www.
To nominate a young person who has improved their community through service to be recognized as an Everyday Young Hero, please visit www.ysa.org/awards/hero.
