OMG Kids Making A Difference

I recently had a chance to interview the founders of OMG. Not sure what that is? Read on.

Question: Where did the name One More Generation (OMG) come from?
Answer: When my sister and I decided we wanted to create a company that will help raise awareness about the hundreds of endangered species needing help, our parents told us that we needed to spend two weeks researching all about endangered species and tell them which animals were in danger of becoming extinct and what was causing the problem. Everyday after school, we would come home and read about different animals or our mom would take us to the library so we could learn more. We were amazed to learn how bad the situation was and apparently, overtime we learned a new fact about yet another species in peril, we would both say OMG (Oh My Gosh). Our parents said to each other that whatever name we come up with for our organization, we somehow needed to include the OMG.

When our parents told us we needed to hold our first board meeting so we could come up with a name for our organization, we all sat around the table and my sister and I came up with whatever name we could think of. Our parents wrote down the top 10 names and after reviewing all the choices, we came up with One More Generation. My dad said that he liked the fact that when he asked us why we wanted to save endangered species, we had told him that we wanted animals such as the cheetah to be around for our kids to see in the wild. So, in otherwords, for the next generation. That – combined with the letters OMG – is how we came up with the name.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with OMG? What’s your biggest dream?
A: The main reason my brother and I started OMG was to make everyone aware that their are so many animals who need our help. If we can help all the kids our age understand that it is our responsibility to help these animals, then maybe that sense of compassion will continue on to their kids, and so on.

We also want to afford adults an opportunity where they can get involved with helping us save animals without having to do a ton of research about where to donate and how. We already work with various agencies helping different species and someday we will be financially strong enough that we can create our own conservation programs to make sure the animals get the protection and support they need.

As for our biggest dream, we hope to someday have the worlds largest animal sanctuary. We don’t like the way animals have to be caged up of confined to small areas like in zoos and aquariums (all though we understand their need as well). We want to be part of a program that allows all animals to live in conditions that are safe for them and our environment – someplace where people from all over the world could come and learn about the different animals on this planet, without harming the animals or subjecting them to unnatural conditions.

Q: What are some examples of projects you’ve been working on?
A: One of our first projects we got involved with was trying to raise funding to support the Ann Van Dyk Cheetah Center in South Africa. My sister and I have been adopting cheetahs there for a few years now and we love all the hard work they do to save so many endangered species. We are in the process of trying to raise $50,000.00 to help support their program.

We also partner with the Center for Biological Diversity and they asked us to get involved with trying to stop the Rattlesnake Roundups. We still have two counties in GA that hold these events and nationally, and it is estimated that up to 100,000 rattlesnakes are collected and ultimately killed for these event nationwide. We have been trying to meet with the event organizers to see if we can convince them to convert the events to a Rattlesnake Festival where no snakes are caught for the event, and instead only a handful of live snakes are brought in by local Nature Centers who are licensed to keep and show animals for educational purposes. There have been several other communities who made the switch and they have been extremely successful. We have already met with the head of the Department of Natural Resources and with our State Legislature in an attempt to get support. My sister and I also collect signatures on a petition to stop these events. So far, we have collected over 1,200 signatures which have all been turned over to our State Legislature.

When the Gulf Oil Spill happened, we were really sad to see all the oiled sea birds and sea turtles. We asked our parents what we could do to help and they suggested we contact the agencies involved with the animal rescue efforts. We contacted four agencies and they all asked us to help collect badly needed animal rescue supplies. We talked to all the local churches and some of them allowed us to meet with their congregation and kids groups asking for help.

Once we had enough supplies we drove down to New Orleans and delivered all the supplies to the Marine Mammal & Sea Turtle Rescue Center. We spent several days there working with all the volunteers who worked so hard to save as many animals as they could. The center had 146 sea turtles, a dolphin, and a few sharks at their facility and we really enjoyed working with everyone.

We are working on various other projects currently but one of the biggest is our Plastic Bag Ban program. Since starting OMG, we learned that we can not only focus on saving endangered species, we also need to get involved with helping to clean up the environment.

Did you know that in America, we consume over 1-million single use plastic bags every minute? Only about 1% of these bags are ever recycled. These plastic bags are too small and lightweight for recyclers to even mess with trying to recycle them. When they do try, the bags clog the machinery which then costs them money to fix so most places don’t even try anymore.

That means that these bags are free to float about the country, and ultimately they end up in our oceans and streams. Sea turtles and other marine life often mistake the bags as jelly fish or other food items and end up dying from ingesting plastic. If we can create a Plastic Bag Ban in our community or state, we will significantly help reduce the amount of bags end up in our environment.

Q: Can you share the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
A: I would have to say that our biggest challenge has been trying to raise funds for the various projects my brother and I have been working on. We are hoping to partner with the Jane Goodall Roots and Shoots Foundation on a Nationwide Challenge which will allow kids all over the country to get involved and help raise funds for our projects.

The other thing that seems frustrating, is trying to figure out how to get support for the Plastic Bag Ban program. At every public meeting we hold, 100% of the people who attend raise their hands in a show of support for creating a ban in their community, but when you get to the politics of the issue, it seems like everyone is moving in slow motion.

Q: How can people help you in what you’re doing?
A: If anyone would like to get involved with what my sister and I are doing at One More Generation, they need merely send us an email and tell us which program they want to be part of. We are always in need of funding so we welcome any and all fundraising efforts. Anyone wanting to make a donation can do so on our website and we encourage everyone to reach out and contact their local mayor and city council members and ask them to consider a Plastic Bag Ban in their community.

We are also always looking for ideas from our fans on what other initiatives they think we should get involved in. If you have a particular situation that you feel needs help, please let us know your ideas. We plan on starting and OMG Ambassador Club where kids all over the world can get involved with OMG on making a difference for the next generation.