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"Why Me?"
Zak Tanjeloff
Sarasota High School, Class of 2003
I was lucky enough to travel a lot in my teen years, especially in the third
world. The things I saw were unimaginable and very hard to deal with. I asked,
“Why me? Why I am I so lucky to have all that I do, while the majority of this
planet suffers so greatly?” This experience really shaped me as a person and I
wanted to share it with others. So I started a club at school, appropriately
named “WHY ME?”, the exact question I had asked myself months earlier.
We started by just collecting school supplies to send to the third world, but
it quickly became more than that. It evolved into a youth led global
awareness and relief agency. WHY ME and its volunteer shave hand delivered
supplies in 5 countries, and also has helped out right here in our hometown.
We deliver much needed things such medical supplies, school supplies,
sporting goods, toys, clothes, etc. Twenty students have truly shared my
experience and more, by traveling on two separate trips to Guatemala. These
students lived in houses with local families with no running water,
electricity, or even beds. In spite of these hardships, the kids had a great
time, learned a lot about the world they live in, and managed to hand deliver
$200,000 worth of medical supplies to the local medical center. We also put
35 elementary school kids on scholarship, kids who would otherwise not be
able to attend school. All this was done in less than a year and was 100%
youth led and organized.
Currently, “Why Me?” has expanded to 5 high schools. It is also being
started at the university level at Tufts University. This fall we are
bringing 4 Guatemalan teens to Sarasota, the same teens in whose houses we
stayed, to stay with us. This will finish off the culture exchange and
give these kids a new view on the world as well. WHY ME is also raising
money for scholarships for children in Zambia and Namibia, as well as
Nepal. We are in close work with the Peace Corps to also achieve some
community projects in Latin America and east Asia. We have received
recognition for our works from the School Board, the mayor, and even from
Congress.
Besides helping countless children abroad, “Why Me?” has helped teens here,
teaching them that the world we live in is not the world we live on. Who would
have thought one person can make such a difference?
About Zak
Zak also runs Cross Country and Track. His crowning achievement of his running career was the marathon he ran last January, finishing first in his age
class. He also ran across Florida to help raise money for children with motor
disabilities. Zak spends a lot of his time with his WHY ME program, helping
kids locally and internationally. Zak hopes to go to college and major in
political science. He has two loving parents, a sister Jasmin, 21, and a beautiful girlfriend of four years, Emily. For more information on the WHY ME
program, or to start it at your school, go to www.whymerelief.org.
· Click here to go back to the list of Fall Contest winners
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