Introducing...

Zach Hunter

He’s a teen living in America and is also an abolitionist, and an awesome one at that. The video above is the first indication I got of how much of an impact 1 person can make in the world, and I am continually learning more as I go on.

“It was black history month,” Zach recalls. “I’d been learning about people like Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman, and I thought, Man, if I had lived back then, I would’ve done something to help them. I would’ve tried to end slavery and fight injustice. And when I found there was still work to do, I realised I couldn’t stand around and wait for someone else to do something.”
(Exert from ‘Do Hard Things Page 185, Alex and Brett Harris)

He was only 12 when confronted by the reality of modern day slavery, and was 15 when he launched Loose Change to Loosen Chains(LC2LC). Through the campaign, he aims to raise money and awareness though asking his peers to gather and hand in loose change they have lying around. It was a good idea too; there is about US$10.5 billion of loose change lying around in American house holds, as estimated by Real Simple magazine.

In the first hurrah of LC2LC, Zach raised nearly $10,000 through his school and church, not a bad effort. And he continues to push the abolitionist movement. He appears on popular news programs such as CNN and CBN. He has written a book titled Be The Change (it is one of my favourite books). He was selected as the student global spokesperson for the Amazing Change campaign in coordination with the film about William Wilberforce called Amazing Grace. And tours not only around America, but in various places overseas, fingers crossed he will come to Australia in the near future. He has inspired thousands of people world wide and has raised about $20,000!
If this is what he can achieve while still in High School, imagine what a movement of high schoolers could achieve. His mission is to see the end of slavery in his lifetime, and he is working hard to achieve his goal. To find out more about Zach or LC2LC go to myspace.com/lc2lc.

-Emily

“FREEDOM!”
Zach Hunter and fifteen thousand other voices on his signal