Author: pebbletossers

Dear Pebble Tossers Family,

I want to share some news that’s close to my heart.

After 16 years as the Founding Executive Director of Pebble Tossers, I will be moving to a new position with the Board of Directors at the end of this year.

Throughout my time as Executive Director, Pebble Tossers has been more than just an organization to me—it’s been a family united by a shared mission to make a tangible difference in our Atlanta community. Together, we’ve worked tirelessly to engage over 24,000 youth in meaningful community service to uplift the most vulnerable among us. We created a platform that empowers youth to learn, explore, and understand their place in the world and become responsible leaders and engaged citizens.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to each of you for your unwavering dedication and support. It’s been an honor and a privilege to lead Pebble Tossers, and I’m immensely proud of all that we’ve accomplished together.

As I embark on this new chapter, I do so with optimism for the future of our organization. With your continued passion and commitment, Pebble Tossers will continue to thrive and make an even greater impact in the years to come. Our Board of Directors has developed a strong five-year strategic plan that provides a visionary yet achievable roadmap, and our dedicated team will carry out this plan with your best interests in mind.

Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. I look forward to working alongside you in my new capacity – as a fellow volunteer.

Warm regards,

Donate To The Jennifer Guynn Legacy Fund

Richard Hicks

Kris Manning

Lisa Gill

Claire Park

Jamie Lackey

Kim Beasley

April isn’t just about spring showers and blooming flowers; it’s National Volunteer Week! This week is a vibrant celebration of the everyday heroes who dedicate their time and energy to making a difference, particularly to a certain group of people who don’t get much spotlight in the volunteer scene: youth!

Youth bring fresh perspectives, boundless energy, and a willingness to learn that injects a powerful spark into any cause. Whether it’s planting trees for a greener future, organizing a book drive for children impacted by foster care, or mentoring younger students, young volunteers are making ripples in their communities.

This National Volunteer Week, we’ll be highlighting the amazing work our Teen Leadership Program (TLP) members have been engaged with since August!

Read more about their impact on our interview with Pratima and her experience of leading the group’s advocacy project and providing nutritious meals for couples experiencing homelessness residing at the Zaban Paradies Center.

What is your group project about and what made you want to create your project?
Our group project is centered around the cause area of alleviating homelessness and hunger directly by serving food and advocating for the problem. 

Q: What skills did you gain or develop as a teen leader, and how did you apply those skills to lead your project?
A: I learned how to efficiently coordinate events with nonprofits like Zaban Paradies Center. 

Q: What challenges did you encounter while working on your project, and how did you overcome them?
A: Our advocating aspect of our project was extremely slow, but overall, we still made an impact by forming bonds with the residents of the center.

Q: Tell us how the TLP supported your goals as a teen leader and what your next steps are after completing this TLP year.
A: TLP supported my goals by respecting opinions and my say in my projects, as well as fostering a sense of responsibility. 

Q: Describe a time when you felt really proud of yourself as a teen leader.
A: I felt really proud when I was able to list off my accomplishments of my project from the first year I served on the TLP- our hard work and dedication to preparing and serving food to the residents at Zaban helped me realize reality, as well as fill my heart with empathy and push me to work harder for this cause area. 

Q: In honor of Global Volunteer Month, who inspires you and why?
A: The spelling bee crew in our TLP. I believe in their cause, how they structured and planned their event and their legacy. Everything was well-aligned and genuinely motivated me to be as involved as them next year and this summer. 

Q: Imagine you’re giving a TED Talk about a leadership lesson you learned. What’s the title and your main takeaway message?
A: Never let your team drag you down. I had faced many conflicts this year, which made me unavailable to attend meetings or put in as much effort for research/other resources as an advocate, but I really did not see much effort from my “team.” Although it was no excuse for me not to do much to help facilitate our progress, my team did not have my back and lacked communication for many different things. Unfortunately, it made me feel guilty, but it taught me a valuable lesson about the acronym: Together Everyone Achieves More. 

Join the Teen Leadership Program!
Applications to join the 2024-25 Teen Leadership Program are open to all rising 9th-12 graders in the metro Atlanta Area. Learn more about how teen leadership can activate positive change in their world and apply today!
We are looking for advisors ages 22+ to serve as mentors/positive role models for the program. Interesting in helping teens? Contact Earline at earline@pebbletossers.org for more information.

April isn’t just about spring showers and blooming flowers; it’s National Volunteer Week! This week is a vibrant celebration of the everyday heroes who dedicate their time and energy to making a difference, particularly to a certain group of people who don’t get much spotlight in the volunteer scene: youth!

Youth bring fresh perspectives, boundless energy, and a willingness to learn that injects a powerful spark into any cause. Whether it’s planting trees for a greener future, organizing a book drive for children impacted by foster care, or mentoring younger students, young volunteers are making ripples in their communities.

This National Volunteer Week, we’ll be highlighting the amazing work our Teen Leadership Program (TLP) members have been engaged with since August!

Read more about their impact on our interview with Sanaa and her experience of leading the group’s Environment + Park Clean Up Project across metro Atlanta.

Q: What is your group project about and what made you want to create your project?
A: Our project is about helping the environment stay clean and looking after the wildlife that is being affected by the immense pollution in our parks. Each of us in this group feels very passionate about doing our part for the outdoors, as it is often overlooked in the realm of community service.

We thought giving our time towards the parks would not only be a service opportunity but also allow us to spend some time outdoors, as well as gain an appreciation for all that nature has to provide. Because our group is in high school, we don’t get to spend much time outside, so we were very fortunate to be able to work on an outdoor project.

Q: What skills did you gain or develop as a teen leader, and how did you apply those skills to lead your project?
A: Communication is a skill that I have been working on this year in TLP, and it is something I wanted to exercise during our project. I implemented this in our project by being the leader of this service group, creating a group chat, and talking with our group regarding the specifics of our project. This has allowed us to create a viable plan and execute it in a timely manner.

We would not have been able to be as productive if it weren’t for the time we took to talk to each other and work through the scheduling problems we were facing.

Q: What challenges did you encounter while working on your project, and how did you overcome them?
A: One big challenge we faced during this project was finding a time that would work for everybody so we could clean up a park together. It was my goal to find time for at least one park cleaning that our whole group could do together as a bonding experience as well as improve communication for this project. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a date and location that worked for everyone, given there are 9 people in our group. Instead of doing this project together, it was more beneficial and effective if each of us did it separately and accounted for the amount of trash that each one of us picked up. 

Not only was this more effective, but I feel it was better in the long run because we were able to hit nine times more parks than we would have if we had done this project together. I see that as an accomplishment because we were only aiming for a couple of parks at the beginning of this project but ended up cleaning way more than that.

Q: Tell us how the TLP supported your goals as a teen leader and what your next steps are after completing this TLP year.
A: The TLP program has taught me to prioritize finding myself and the importance of knowing your strengths and weaknesses before you go out into the real world. I have realized the importance of knowing yourself before you try to face any challenges because only then will you fully be able to recognize all of your capabilities.

I would love to be a part of TLP next year and maintain my leadership role as a student advisor, as that has helped me focus on leadership skills that are useful in my personal and educational life.

Q: Describe a time when you felt really proud of yourself as a teen leader.
A: I always feel proud when I recognize I can incorporate the skills that we discuss in our TLP meetings into my every day life. I feel that I have a lot more to learn about myself and developing these skills, especially in high school, can only benefit me in the future. For example, communicating with our service group was a major factor that contributed to the success of our project. Additionally, I have noticed that my communication with my friends outside of TLP has changed to become more effective, and this helped me in my high school journey.

Even while preparing for interviews, I feel I can express myself better and clearly answer each question to effectively communicate my feelings regarding the topic.

Q: In honor of Global Volunteer Month, who inspires you and why?
A: My entire family inspires me so much. My parents are so loving and kind, and I aspire to be like them. The way they carry themselves and their perseverance through any obstacles thrown at them have shown me what it means to stay vigilant and strong. 

My nine-year-old sister inspires me as well. Being so young, she has already found a passion for advocating for substitutes for plastics to mitigate the health effects that microplastics have on the environment, wildlife, and us humans. She has taught me that no dream is too little and has encouraged me to want to make a difference in my future.

Q: Imagine you’re giving a TED Talk about a leadership lesson you learned. What’s the title and your main takeaway message?
A: To me, being a leader is being aware of everyone’s skills and weaknesses and knowing when to utilize them best. Having a vision of who can do what best and how to execute that is crucial for the group’s success. For example, during the environmental service project, I recognized that the most efficient solution to our problems was for everyone to carry out the project independently. Not only would this solve the problem, but this would also amplify the effects we were trying to have on the environment by cleaning up 10+ parks. I also understood that the final presentation, which would explain the purpose of our project to the rest of the TLP members, would be most efficiently executed if everyone was involved in the process, and it was.

I feel this was part of the reason why we were able to execute the project even better than we had planned and create a presentation, which all of us agreed with.

Join the Teen Leadership Program!
Applications to join the 2024-25 Teen Leadership Program are open to all rising 9th-12 graders in the metro Atlanta Area. Learn more about how teen leadership can activate positive change in their world and apply today!

We are looking for advisors ages 22+ to serve as mentors/positive role models for the program. Interesting in helping teens? Contact Earline at earline@pebbletossers.org for more information.

April isn’t just about spring showers and blooming flowers; it’s National Volunteer Week! This week is a vibrant celebration of the everyday heroes who dedicate their time and energy to making a difference, particularly to a certain group of people who don’t get much spotlight in the volunteer scene: youth!

Youth bring fresh perspectives, boundless energy, and a willingness to learn that injects a powerful spark into any cause. Whether it’s planting trees for a greener future, organizing a book drive for children impacted by foster care, or mentoring younger students, young volunteers are making ripples in their communities.

This National Volunteer Week, we’ll be highlighting the amazing work our Teen Leadership Program (TLP) members have been engaged with since August!

Read more about their impact on our interview with Grace and her experience of leading the group’s second year of coordinating a major Spelling Bee event with Corners Outreach.

Q: What is your group project about and what made you want to create your project?
A: My group project is focused on supporting Title I Kids with their education. Many Title I students are learning English as their second language and aren’t provided the same resources as other kids their age.

I believe that every child deserves support and equal opportunities, so I helped create our project to do just that. Our group project tutors Title I students, volunteers with education-based nonprofits, runs after-school snack drives, and hosts an annual spelling bee with Corners Outreach.

Q: What skills did you gain or develop as a teen leader, and how did you apply those skills to lead your project?
A: I learned what a growth mindset is and how to apply it to my service project. Every year, I take time to reflect on my project. I think about how I executed my goals, the challenges I faced, and how I dealt with criticism and obstacles. After I have reflected, I set new goals to expand my project and conduct it in a more efficient way.

For example, this year, our spelling bee went well, but I would like to give the kids more resources to prepare for it since they would like more words to practice with. So next year, I will make practice worksheets for them and work with their afterschool teachers to implement a Word of the Day.

Q: What challenges did you encounter while working on your project, and how did you overcome them?
A: It was challenging to organize the preliminary spelling bee rounds. Corners Outreach has over 100 students, and some of them were absent because they were receiving extra help from their teachers after school. To track which kids I tested, what their results were, and what words I used, I created spreadsheets and organized a meeting with the staff of Corners Outreach. Thus, we were able to quiz the students who still needed to be tested, and we could monitor our progress.

Q: Tell us how the TLP supported your goals as a teen leader and what your next steps are after completing this TLP year.
A: Since the TLP is comprised of like-minded teens, we support each other’s goals and provide support when needed. When a member of my service team chooses to peruse a service project, we all support it and delegate roles. For example, to run the spelling bee, we delegated the tasks to ensure no one was doing all the work. Some members fundraised books, some prepared the students, and some coordinated with the nonprofit Corners Outreach. In doing so, we learned communication, time management, and leadership skills.

​​Next year, my goal is to create a digital notebook with everything needed to run the spelling bee so that even after I graduate, it can continue. In addition, I would like to help Corners Outreach expand the spelling bee program across multiple locations, since it’s only offered in the Dunwoody location as of now.

Q: Describe a time when you felt really proud of yourself as a teen leader.
A: I feel very proud when I see the students at Corners Outreach smile after they have accomplished something, such as finally understanding a math problem or spelling a word correctly. It makes me happy to know that they are proud of themselves and are doing well. It motivates me to continue to expand my project to help more students.

Q: In honor of Global Volunteer Month, who inspires you and why?
A: Ms. Jen inspires me because she has made such an impact on many people’s lives through volunteerism. She created Pebble Tossers to provide volunteer opportunities to kids, but throughout the process, she has inspired hundreds of people of all ages to volunteer. Her story motivates me to fine tune my project so that I can be able to have a lasting program that inspires students to pursue their education, similarly to how Ms. Jen inspires people to pursue volunteerism.

Q: Imagine you’re giving a TED Talk about a leadership lesson you learned. What’s the title and your main takeaway message?
A: The title would be “Don’t Stress Over the Small Things,” and the main takeaway would be to focus on the whole picture instead of the little things. When you focus on small details, it’s very easy to become stressed and forget your initial goal. Instead, break up your goal into broader topics and focus on the details after solidifying the important things. Also, understand that nothing plays out exactly how it was planned, so instead of getting caught up in a hiccup, focus on executing your goal.

Join the Teen Leadership Program!
Applications to join the 2024-25 Teen Leadership Program are open to all rising 9th-12 graders in the metro Atlanta Area. Learn more about how teen leadership can activate positive change in their world and apply today!

We are looking for advisors ages 22+ to serve as mentors/positive role models for the program. Interesting in helping teens? Contact Earline at earline@pebbletossers.org for more information.