PACKING TO INSPIRE: At a recent gathering organized by the nonprofit SOL, young people joined forces to put together Youth Activism Kits, designed to inspire their contemporaries to lead a life of helping others. The kits are available at the Arts Council of Princeton and elsewhere.
By Anne Levin
Last April, Wilberforce School ninth grader Olivia Kim organized a large group of high school students to help the Princeton Mobile Food Pantry put together packages of food and mini hygiene kits for community members in need.
As she prepares to enter her freshman year, the 15-year-old is onto her next charitable project. Partnering with the Arts Council of Princeton and the public libraries in South Brunswick and Plainsboro, Kim and fellow members of SOL — the service-oriented nonprofit she founded in May 2025 — have put together a different sort of package which she hopes to get into the hands of young people who share her passion for helping others. Last year, a similar effort created some 400 kits; this year, 1,000 are available.
An $800 grant from the Karma for Cara Foundation has funded these Youth Activism Kits, which Kim describes as “small canvas pouches filled with meaningful items that we hope
to inspire youth to serve,” she said.
Sol is the Spanish word for light. “Here at SOL, we aim to bring light to areas of darkness,” reads the nonprofit’s website. “Based on the East Coast, we focus on Service, Outreach, and Leadership using the hands of youth. We are passionate about next generation involvement and seek to encourage and motivate more change-makers.”
Inside the kits are inspirational items such as mini-notebooks with pens, stickers, and temporary tattoos; along with what Kim calls “action items” — wildflower seeds, mini thank-you cards, and QR codes linked to recommendations for making the most of the kits and joining the SOL mailing list to learn about virtual volunteer opportunities.
“We had two events where youth from Princeton, Plainsboro, and South Brunswick gathered together in a park to pack the kits,” said Kim. “Now, we’re in the process of distribution.”
The kits are currently available at desks and tables in the partner locations.
SOL’s newsletter reaches more than 500 youth across five continents, nine countries, and 22 U.S. states. “We have spread almost 200 acts of service to a community of youth by inspiring them to be a part of their local community,” reads the website. “We’ve provided virtual and in-person opportunities for volunteers all around the world.”
As of September 1, a new chapter of SOL is set to launch in Africa. “We’re going global,” said Kim. “This is the big launch. We are really starting to reach out and get people to start chapters.”
Kim hopes that the young people who pick up the kits are inspired to use the contents more than once. “We don’t want this to be a one-time thing,” she said. “This should be a lifetime journey of service. We include tools to use the skills they have learned from this kit. So the packet of wildflower seeds could be given to someone in the community for them to plant. The thank-you cards are to do a handwritten note to someone they are acknowledging. We want families, not just youth, to become more involved in the process.”
With three more years of high school before her, Kim intends for SOL to continue its growth. Once she graduates, she will likely remain involved.
“I’ve seen many people with these kinds of organizations pass the CEO job to someone else when they graduate from high school,” she said. “Depending on how successful and large we are, I might consider keeping my position. I don’t want this to be something where I just do this for high school and I’m done. I definitely want to remain involved in some capacity.”