Travis Hansen, a former NBA player and BYU graduate, started up a foundation called Little Heroes. According to their website, www.littleheroesfoundation.org, the mission of the foundation is to "improve the metal and physical well-being of children throughout the world by service, supporting and enhancing human life." One of the ways the organization spreads the word is by providing basketball camps to youth across America.

I attended this basketball camp last summer in Lehi, Utah. The first two days focused on a series of rotations which helped improve our basketball skills. On the third day we did no basketball development; instead we watched a video about the work the foundation does abroad and assembled backpacks filled with school supplies. We then wrote letters to school kids like us in Africa which we included with the backpacks. The backpacks and our letters were sent to these school kids along with our well-wishes. Hopefully they find them helpful in their studies.

I believe that everyone should try to help others and to view all people as equals. We have a responsibility to treat others the way we would like to be treated. More people should try to think of ways of providing thoughtful and meaningful service. I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve these African school children, but they are not the only ones that need help. There are millions of kids in poverty that could use our help, and if more people got involved, I believe we could help all of them.

Education is a great tool that can help people see the problems with their living conditions and help them find ways to solve these problems. Through service we can help these children have the best schooling opportunities they can so that they can make a good impact on the world around them. We as Americans can also benefit from this because it enables us to see the privileges we have and learn to be grateful for them.

Overall, I think the Little Heroes Foundation is a great way to help children throughout the world, and I think more organizations should be developed to spread the feeling of service.