Kate Atwood, second from right, was 6 years old when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

When I was 11, my father died. I didn’t know anyone my age who had lost a parent. I thought that only people who were my parents’ age lost a parent.

I certainly didn’t know Kate Atwood then, but I’m happy to know her now. Atwood’s mom died from breast cancer when she was 12. Atwood saw the need for an organization to bring bereaved children together to let them know they’re not alone.

In 2003, she started Kate’s Club, a group that empowers kids after the loss of a parent or sibling. Social, recreational and emotional support programs help them cope with their loss and remember that even though they just had to grow up fast, they’re still kids at heart.

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Zachary Peskin, right, and his brother Adam discuss the Special Business Partners Program with a retailer.

It’s Autism Awareness Month, but for people who have autism or live with someone who does, they are aware every day. Zachary Peskin, 16, decided not only to be aware but also to be active.

Zachary’s older brother, Adam, is autistic. After years of watching others serve Adam, Zachary noticed that his brother’s greatest joy came from helping others. It was the little things: from setting the table to setting up events at the local community center. Last year, it hit Zachary — if his brother could give back a little, then the opportunity for the developmentally disabled community to give back collectively was great.

Last year, Zachary started Special People Helping Others, or SpPHO. Group members attend SpPHO-sponsored activities and community events to sell 3-for-1 Bracelets. It’s called the 3-for-1 because for every bracelet sold, three causes can be helped: SpPHO, Meals on Wheels and Doctors Without Borders, an international medical and humanitarian aid organization. SpPHO is a group that helps people such as Zachary’s brother by letting them help others.

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Taylor hopes to send 30,000 teddy bears to children in hospitals across the U.S. by September

If you’ve been in the hospital or had a family member or friend there, you know how lonely and scary it can be. Once visiting hours are over, the levity and the hugs stop. But, if it were up to Taylor Crabtree, the hugs would last all night.

When Taylor was 7 years old she started TayBear. Like many little girls, Taylor and her friends made hairclips to sell for extra money. She didn’t just go out and blow the money, though. Instead, she used it to buy teddy bears for kids in the hospital with cancer and chronic blood diseases.

Taylor’s goal was to buy 50 bears for her local hospital. But, she couldn’t resist the letters from kids (and kids at heart) asking her for more bears to hug at night. Now, at 17, Taylor has donated nearly 21,000 teddy bears to Hematology/Oncology departments across the country.

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Lauren Melodia sells fresh fruits and vegetables in her Brooklyn neighborhood each week.

Have you seen an eggplant before? What about an acorn squash? I have, and you may have, too. But Lauren Melodia has found a lot of people who haven’t.

In an effort to help her community eat healthier and fresher foods, she started a Community Supported Agriculture project. Every week, Melodia hands out vegetables and fruit to residents in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. She encourages her neighbors to stop eating food out of a box that has ingredients they can’t pronounce.

CSAs are popping up countrywide because they’re a mutually beneficial partnership between a local farm and a community. The residents provide a stable financial base for the farm. In turn, the farm provides affordable produce for the people — food they might have never seen before, but can certainly pronounce.

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