For Adeel Chaudhry, what began as a school project evolved into a student’s dream. The freshman always wanted to help others in need.

He has a board of goals at home and one of them was to help the people starving
in Myanmar – specifically the Rohingya people. It was not until an assignment in his English class that he decided now was the time to make an impact.

The project was for Alesandra Barth’s English class where she asked her students to research a recent genocide happening in the world. This project was for the book they had been studying in class Night  by Elie Wiesel.

“I gave them a few options,” Barth said, “but Adeel had his in mind and so he said ‘Hey, can I kind of go off the map? I know that something’s going on here to these Muslim people and I’d love to find out more about it.’”
Chaudhry worked with two other students for the initial class project, but he spearheaded the project, expanding it beyond a mere assignment.

“I wanted to do a fundraiser or something or maybe a food drive,” Chaudhry explained. “Then I found out that raising money was the most effective way… [this project] was the perfect opportunity.”
The group – which consisted of freshmen Omar Dais, Jaiden Tan and Kat Greer – raised money
to support Action Against Hunger, an organization dedicated to humanitarian programs.

The project started small; the group only marketed their classes.

“We had a goal to reach $100 and we just hit $108. We wanted $2 per person and most people donated,” Chaudhry said. “Some were really generous and donated $10-$20.” The group advertised it to Barth’s first and fifth period freshman classes.

Beyond the classroom, Chaudhry’s parents – who have family ties to Pakistan – inspired him
to help others after the they traveled to the middle-Eastern nation last year.

For Adeel, the trip was a life-changing, eye-opening experience.

“It made me a lot more humble and appreciative for what I have,” he said. In the future, Chaudhry hopes to be able to extend this fundraiser to the entire school.

“I want to help others because something I realized that something I love doing is helping people,” Chaudhry said. “So whatever way I can pitch in, I would love to.”