Between pageant competitions, dancing and acting, Amelia Lisowe, 12, has a lot going on – but still finds time to brighten the worlds of foster children.
The Arkansas native’s family motto is “find something you’re good at and use it to make the world a better place,” Amelia told USA TODAY. The young volunteer has done just that.
In 2018, she founded her nonprofit organization Lisowe’s Lights, which provides night lights to children in the foster-care system.
“Sometimes, foster kids have to leave in the middle of the night because of neglect, abuse or drugs,” said Amelia, who is now in the sixth grade. “Having that night light makes it more comfortable in a new house where they may not know anybody, and makes them feel more safe.”
The Bryant Middle School student raised enough money in 2018 to donate more than 500 night lights to foster kids across central Arkansas, according to the organization.
Since then, Amelia’s nonprofit has extended its reach to 50 U.S. states and nine countries, People.com reported.
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‘A need in my community’
Lauren Lisowe’s involvement as a board of directors member of Court-Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, influenced her daughter Amelia’s decision to make an impact in the foster community.
“I got to go along with her to a lot of events when I was younger,” Amelia said. “Finding a way to help foster kids was easy for me to do when I saw there was a need in my community.”
Amelia, then 8, searched for places to volunteer – but kept being turned away. She was too young, she was told.
“I felt kind of defeated because I love to volunteer,” she said.
One day as her mother mentioned that foster children occasionally have to leave their homes overnight, Amelia considered her own fear of the dark.
“I couldn’t imagine being in a new home and being in that darkness,” Amelia said.
She shared her idea of collecting night lights for foster children with a school counselor. Her school then hosted a drive collecting $1 donations, and Lisowe’s Lights expanded from there.
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“Finding out that I could help foster kids and make my own place to volunteer instead of having to go somewhere was really helpful, because I could encourage other kids that they’re never too young to make a difference,” said Amelia, whose lights have since been shipped as far away as England, Poland, Ukraine, France and New Zealand.
‘See the smiles on their faces’
This month, Lisowe’s Lights launched a new Ambassadors of Light program. Twelve young ambassadors from across the U.S. host night-light-packing parties in their communities and promote the organization via social media. The program, Amelia says, encourages youths to get involved with the foster care system and helps them earn volunteer hours.
In her own community, Amelia has hosted events with an organization called Second Chance Youth Ranch, a private placement agency that serves and supports foster families.
“The night lights (are) a wonderful blessing and a big help to kids who are sleeping in a strange place,” said the youth ranch’s co-operations director and former foster parent, Rachel Hubbard.
Amelia says she finds the experience of helping fellow children “rewarding.”
“A foster care organization in Tennessee said the first thing the kids always pull out of their bags is the night light, and they can just see the smiles on their faces,” she said.
The nonprofit’s growth over the past few years has been “surreal,” Amelia’s mother and Lisowe’s Lights president, Lauren Lisowe, told USA TODAY. The organization has so far sent over 15,000 lights to children.
“As adults, we don’t always think about things like that, we don’t think about being afraid of the dark when you stay somewhere new,” Lauren Lisowe said. “For her to have that idea and have the initiative to follow through with it, and to be able to make that impact, it’s been a really neat experience.”
