Hannah Taylor

Hannah Taylor (http://www.cbc.ca/change/images/5_1195714248-resized.jpg (Unknown))

"Together we can make a difference. Together we can make change." These wise words were spoken by sixteen year old Hannah Taylor. Hannah Taylor is the founder of the Ladybug Foundation, a foundation she created to help fight homelessness. Hannah founded the organization when she was just eight years old and it is an official charity that receives donations and support from across Canada.

Hannah Taylor was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1996. When she was five years old, she saw a homeless man eating out a garbage can on a cold winter day. She was shocked to see that some people don't have enough food to eat without begging, or digging through garbage cans. From that day on she was full of questions, the main one being, "why?". The young girl could not understand why people with lots of food wouldn't just share with those who don't. She asked why people wouldn't share, but no one had a good answer for her. So, she pursued the dream that had evolved over three years - to end homelessness. When she was eight years old, Hannah founded the Ladybug Foundation.

Hannah's foundation is a registered charity that has raised over two million dollars towards homelessness over the eight years it has existed. Hannah has spoken to thousands of people, including over 175 schools, and groups of people in numbers up to 16 000, representing homeless people, and speaking for them. Hannah really believes that things can change. Her dream is to go outside and be able to go for a walk without seeing one person without a roof over their head, or enough food to feed their family. Hannah inspires people across the nation to make a difference and be the change. She makes us all realize that it is possible to change the world, no matter how small, young, or quiet you are. It is possible.

There are more than fifty soup kitchens, emergency shelters, missions, youth shelters, and food banks across Canada that are in existence because of the Ladybug Foundation. One of the main fundraising events that the Ladybug Foundation puts on annually is on Red Scarf Day on January 31st. Walk a Mile in Their Shoes first took place last January on Red Scarf Day, and is planned to become an annual fundraiser. Throughout the year, anyone can go online to The Ladybug Foundation's official website to order a red fleece scarf with a Ladybug Foundation logo on it, as well as a message from Hannah. The scarves are worn across Canada and Singapore on January 31st, while people across the nation walk a mile for homelessness.

Hannah Taylor is important to me because she really helped me to believe in myself, and that I can make a difference even though I am young and feel like I have no voice, I now realize that I do. Hannah Taylor is an inspirational person and has began making her mark in this world very early on in her life and will continue to make the world a better place through her work with homelessness, and her inspirational work as well.