Mathew Brown was 8 and his younger brother, Jacob, was 6 when they learned that their grandmother's best friend had breast cancer. "We could not just sit around and do nothing," said Mathew, now 14 and a ninth-grader at Notre Dame High School in Ottawa, Ontario.

The brothers founded Brothers Beading in 1992. They made jewelry and sold it at craft shows, sending the proceeds to Breast Cancer Action in Ottawa. Several years later, they changed the name to Children for Charity Craft and raised more than $40,000. They plan to continue their fund-raising activities until there is a cure for breast cancer.

Daniel and Betsy Nally's inspiration came in 1996, when a shortage of turkeys at the Greater Boston Food Bank several days before Thanksgiving threatened to hurt American families. They were 9 and 6 years old, respectively. They sprang into action, flooding the neighborhood with fliers and canvassing door to door for both cash and food donations. "I felt that it was very wrong for some people not to have a hot turkey dinner," said Daniel. This led to the founding of a nonprofit agency called Turkeys R Us, which donated more than 9,000 turkeys and helped to create more than 183,000 meals.

Taking action to make the world better has its challenges for both the Browns and the Nallys. For Mathew and Jacob, finding people to believe in their cause and take them seriously nearly bankrupted the family. "In 2000, we organized a concert featuring the Village People and many other entertainers," said Mathew. "Some of the acts dropped out at the last moment, and sponsors kept finding excuses not to help us." They had booked the Ottawa Civic Auditorium, which holds 5,000 people, and fewer than 2,000 showed up.

It was stressful for the whole family. "We survived," said Mathew. Despite the poor turnout, the family enjoyed working the event. Jacob, now 11, worked backstage with the acts, while Mathew feverishly sold lots of jewelry, netting more than $1,000 for the cause.  

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