By Rebecca Pauley

How can a small band of teens transform an urban lot of trash into a bounty of green, natural treasure? What if a neighborhood filled with neglect and despair can once again be filled with hope; and an overgrown lot be replaced with a thriving oasis?    

Welcome to Denzel Thompson's urban gardens: flourishing acres of flowers, plants and greenhouses, creating an abundance of fresh vegetables and herbs for the local residents to enjoy.

Denzel Thompson,18, is the youngest co-founder of Philadelphia Urban Creators (PUC). PUC is a youth led, community-based organization that sees overgrown or garbage-covered vacant lots as starting points for gardens that provide fresh vegetables and herbs for the public.

Denzel related that the idea sprouted when he was around 14 years old. “I found it difficult to stay healthy like many kids in my neighborhood because
of the lack of access to fresh food and produce.

“Then, after visiting New Orleans with friends to help out after Hurricane Katrina, I realized that Philadelphia and New Orleans suffer from the same type of  social issues. After that trip, we started discussing the idea of Philadelphia Urban Creators,” he explained.

Since PUC's start, Thompson and his team have planted about eight gardens, including one that expands about three acres! This captured the attention of locals and the media.

As word of this great organization spread, Thompson went on to win a National Teen Nick Halo Award. He also has the help of world-renowned actress and activist Queen Latifah!

A process such as creating an urban garden is no easy task, and requires a tremendous amount of teamwork and perseverance.

When asked about his team, Denzel replied, “We definitely put together the team for its resources...and I did not just sit down with a group of people that were just like me. With my group I made sure that we were all diverse, because the more diverse you are, the better your ideas can prosper, and the better great things will come to you at the end. The more diverse you are, the better intake of positivity.”

By Rebecca Pauley

You are walking along a busy city walkway out of the corner of your eye you spot a homeless man clad in rags, shaking a rusty can in his outstretched hand. After some consideration you decide to walk past the man and continue on with your day. You figure the man has made several regrettable choices that put him in this position, and perhaps someone else will give him money or food.

What if  a child appeared, instead of a man,hungry in a city street with nowhere to call home.

Zach Bonner, a fourteen-year-old philanthropist, made that choice and decided to help. Not just help, though. Along with collecting truckloads upon truckloads of food and supplies, he walked across the country to spread awareness of the Invisible Youth of America. Moreover, he gave these children what they needed most of all, hope.

I got the chance to interview Zach during his recent stop in Philadelphia about his many charitable projects through his Little Red Wagon Foundation, and about the movie highlighting his achievements, “Little Red Wagon.” I discovered that Zach truly changed the way thousands of Americans think and that he is an inspiration to all of us.

As kids, we depend on the adults to take care of the ongoing struggles America faces. But not Zach, who at six years old saw a TV news segment about a hurricane that left hundreds of people homeless in his home state of Florida, and decided to do something. 

“If we keep expecting everybody else to do their part then we ourselves don’t get involved and nothing will really ever get accomplished,” explained Zach.