A group of middle school girls committed $10 each last month and donated the total to a nonprofit that provides resources to families in need worldwide.
“You can donate goats, chickens, food, medicine,” explained 7th-grader Ainsley Herbert about the donation to World Vision International. “I chose to donate a goat and two chickens.”
Ainsley is part of a group called Ten at a Time. Ten friends contribute $10 of their own money (not mom’s) once a month, then one member chooses a cause to donate the money to.
The girls’ group, started by fellow 7th grader Aubrey Bryant last year, is one of 10 chapters under the Ten at a Time umbrella, all of them in Central Texas. The original chapter, started by 10 Georgetown boys, began donating in 2014.
Since then, middle and high schoolers have donated $22,000 of their own money to hundreds of organizations in Central Texas and around the world.
“My brother was actually in a Ten at a Time group before me, and I had always wanted to do it once he got in that group,” Aubrey said.
Earlier this year, Aubrey chose Blue Santa to donate to after selecting the Brain Aneurysm Foundation last year. “I personally had a friend that died of a brain aneurysm,” she explained.
In addition to donating the money 10 months out of the year, some groups also volunteer in person.