(6 of 7)
Just a year ago, the triangular plot situated behind row houses was strewn with debris, offering little for children except two basketball backboards and hoops without nets. Now the hoops have nets, and the triangle has been transformed into a smooth, attractive greensward edged with shrubs. In the center stands a shiny yellow swing-and-slide set. "Truthfully, this park wouldn't be here," says Roberts, "if it weren't for Adam's group."
She is talking about Adam Hornstine, 16, who lives 15 miles from Camden, one of the state's poorest communities. By contrast, Adam's neighborhood, where he attends Moorestown High, boasts many homes with parklike landscapes. His group is actually a high school club he founded as a freshman and named MAGIC (Moorestown Alliance for Goodwill and Interest in the Community).
The inspiration for MAGIC came from a newspaper article Adam saw about the Camden chapter of Christmas in April, a national organization that recruits people of all ages and skills to fix up homes in disadvantaged neighborhoods. "It sounded like a nice project, and something my friends would be interested in too," says Adam.
English teacher Mary Betancourt, a MAGIC volunteer and Adam's mock-trial adviser at Moorestown High, says someone once defined a gentleman as a person who makes everyone comfortable, regardless of status. "That's Adam," she says. Depending on need, anywhere from a handful to hundreds of teens show up to take part in MAGIC projects in collaboration with Christmas in April and local organizations. (Today Adam is the only student on the board of directors of Camden's Christmas in April group.) For MAGIC, Adam has single-handedly raised more than $7,500 in grants, donations and supplies.
In October, for national Make a Difference Day, Adam wrote to 374 schools in a three-county area asking them to participate in a concerted food drive for the Food Bank of South Jersey, which provides 16,000 meals a month for the hungry. Thanks to MAGIC, the Food Bank has collected more than 4,000 lbs. of food. After previous drives at Moorestown High, "we often didn't know what to do with the food," says school principal Lynn Schilling. "Adam jumped in right away and gave us a mission." --Reported by Emily Mitchell/Moorestown
ON THE BOARD An expert from the school of hard knocks
One evening last month in new York City, the advisory board of the fledgling South Bronx Community Justice Center was holding a planning session. Seated around the table were lawyers, community leaders, probation administrators and Cory Kadamani, one of the center's creators. Cory is 17 years old; he serves as both volunteer and employee at the center, a project of a well-regarded community organization called Youth Force. Staffed and run by young people, the justice center was created to solve neighborhood disputes that might otherwise end up in court.