Personal Growth with Michael and Carolyn

At Loveworks, we believe that one of the ways that you can become one of the best versions of yourself is to focus on personal growth. We love curating things like books, music, organizations, blogs or resources that have encouraged your personal growth. 

Today, we are going to share with you a couple of ways that students who are part of Loveworks have made a difference in the world. We hope these stories will spark an idea inside of you to make a difference.

Water4 is a non-profit that aims to end the water crisis through local, missional businesses. It was started in 2008 with a focus on providing alternative delivery models for safe water in developing countries. Water4 innovated its way to a market-based solution that enables private businesses to provide ongoing safe water service delivery. Water4 is focused on professionalizing the provision of safe water by equipping a network of businesses throughout sub-Saharan Africa to create lasting economic, physical, and spiritual change. This approach puts the solutions to local problems in the hands of local people and ensures that safe water access is sustained by local resources for lasting impact. Since 2008, Water4 has impacted more than two million people with safe and Living Water.

Loveworks Box City Become an overnight advocate in action in this special night dedicated to raise awareness for homelessness! Our students will bring a box, blanket, and pillow while leaving comforts at home to join in this incredible night of fun and cause. Expect music, dancing, and making a difference in this world.

Zohaib Begg: Chief Kindness Officer

Zohaib Begg is a 8 year old from Ashburn, VA who has always had a great sense of appreciation and admiration for doctors and nurses.  After spending a lot of time as a patient at an area hospital, he wanted to find a way to support the folks who were so helpful to him.  Zohaib had the clever idea to reach out to local hotels to secure protective gear for frontline medical workers.  

Since the start of the pandemic, Zohaib has helped 18,000 front line workers. He was named a Youth Ambassador for the Off the Charts foundation based on his efforts since the start of the pandemic. 

Along with his charitable efforts, Zohaib enjoys playing and watching sports. He plays soccer, basketball and golf and loves going to Capitals, Nationals, and DC United games.

His motto is that you can make a difference at any age.

dream big and do what you dream

Zohaib is a BIG dreamer and a doer. He doesn’t just dream but he does what he dreams. At a young age he already knows what makes him happy and what energizes him including his family, playing soccer, and helping others. He feels really happy when he is able to help someone else. It makes him happy for the rest of the day.

Origins of a Giving Spirit

He gained his strong sense of respect and admiration for doctors and nurses when he spent years in the hospital as a younger child. That feeling never went away. So when Zohaib asked his mother, Isma, what they could do to help hospital workers fighting the deadly coronavirus pandemic, they got to work. It is his giving spirit that kept the family continuing to work to locate and distribute donations. Recently, Zohaib asked for a website to allow anyone who needed PPE to request it through their site.

Global Youth Service Day

His latest effort focused on other people in need by putting together care kits to give to people in D.C. and Virginia for Global Youth Service Day.  For the project, Zohaib worked with the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Volunteerism and Partnerships, which put him in touch with the various service organizations in the District. Bombas sock company agreed to partner with Zohaib “to spread the kindness further” and help distribute 1,000 socks to children battling illness and to those in need. The kits also contained toothpaste, chapstick, face masks and toothbrushes. Trader Joes and Wegmans donated sanitizers and wipes for the toiletry kits.  Zohaib invited friends, classmates and neighbors to help him put together the care kits in the driveway at his parents’ house.  The group prepared kits they delivered to several organizations that serve families, homeless youth, and needy communities.

The Next Big Dream

Zohaib plans to continue helping frontline workers and the homeless community. His big dream is to become aware of another population he can help and to become a professional soccer player while continuing to give to others.

He also wants to find ways to support others and their causes like his friend Matteo who runs races for children with cancer through Hopecam and serving as a Youth Leader with Off the Charts, founded by young Matteo to comfort and empower children with cancer through the leadership of their peers.

Zohaib reminds all of us that you are never too young to make a different. Find one problem and one solution.

Zohaib’s Advice – Be Kind and positive

Being kind and positive is contagious. The more you dream, the more you will discover solutions to the problems you see in the world. Learning and being kind is the most important thing we can do for others.

You can find Zohaib online at https://www.zohaibhelps.us/

Check out one of Zohaib’s favorite books, Dream Big by Kat Kronenberg. DREAM BIG takes readers back to the wilds of East Africa, where life began. Inspired by Joseph Campbell’s book, A Hero With A Thousand Faces, the books shows how each animal goes on their own heroic quest to achieve their dream. Along the way, they meet a moody Baboon who doesn’t believe dreams can come true. But when Baboon sees Caterpillar turn into a winged Butterfly, Tadpole into dancing Frog, he figures out A Powerful Secret—SHHH—that exists between the stars and the animals once they truly believe in themselves and their dreams. You can enjoy The—SHHH—Secret too once you read the book!

Key Takeaways

• You’re never too young to make a difference.
• Dream big and do what you dream.
• Being kind and positive is contagious.