In February, eighth grade S. Canton Scholars Academy student Keven Kim came to realization: Compared to others, his life was quite comfortable and convenient.

Though Keven appreciated his fortune, he decided to do something to help those who didn’t have the same advantages he did.

“All around the world, there are those who live a relaxed life while others struggle to receive a single meal,” he said. “Seeing this struggle through my own eyes, I had decided to inform others of this desperate struggle and how to support those in need.”

To do that, Keven helped to organize a food drive in his community of Canton, Missouri, and created a video entry for the third annual IWitness Video Challenge explaining his motivation and how he was inspired by watching testimony. Keven’s entry was a regional finalist.

Keven undertook the project for his Technology class under the supervision of teacher Michelle Glass. Glass said she was amazed at the results of Keven’s video submission.

“Keven exceeded my expectations because he not only did this, but he also brought it back to the school and got others involved so it became truly a whole community event,” she said.

In order to get the food drive, which happened in April, off the ground, Keven recruited both friends and his school’s National Junior Honors Society, to help him.

“Having a large scale donation drive would have been hard for a student to plan and commence into action,” he said. “Therefore, without struggling alone, I had asked for support throughout my school for the donation drive to commence smoothly.”

Both Glass and Keven emphasized how one thing they learned is how a seemingly small idea can be extremely meaningful.

“During the creation of my IWitness video, I have found that not only supporting the community was extremely rewarding to myself, but that the experience of leading and learning of how a small change — like I was conducting — could make a large difference to those around us,” Keven said.

"[The IWitness Challenge] made me think deeper to understand the meaning behind why we do things."

Though he discovered this on his own, Keven also got this message from watching several testimonies where one person’s small good deed had meant the world to a Holocaust victim. He said from his challenge not only did he find out the difference a small amount of support can do, but he also learned how to think more critically.

“This challenge made me think deeper to understand the meaning behind why we do things, to engage myself into the project that is not shallow, but filled with mass amounts of different meanings,” he said.