(Describer) In computer animation, clips of teens reporting the news orbit the planet Earth. Title: Teen Kids News. Created by Albert T. Primo. In a tv studio, a long-haired girl wearing a sport coat sits at a news desk. Title: Lylah.

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Hi, and welcome to "Teen Kids News." I'm Lylah. We've got a lot to cover in this week's show. So let's get started. Here's our top story.

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(Describer) A rotating graphic reads 'Teen Kids News: Top Story.'

You know, there's something that we all could use a bit more of and it doesn't cost anything. That's something is kindness. Ava tells us about how one teen came up with an idea to bring kindness to those with a particular need.

(Describer) Ava.

It's a sad fact that here in America we have people who don't get enough to eat. As many as 13 million families across the country face food insecurity. I know that's a big number to wrap your head around. So look at it this way. One out of seven kids in this country goes to bed hungry. For many kids, a vital source for food is school lunch. That's why the recent federal budget includes $15 billion specifically for school meals. That means nine million more students will now be able to have free school lunches. Still, there's a long way to go. Too many communities across the U.S. suffer from poverty, food deserts, and unhealthy diets. That's what led Charlie Hirschhorn to come up with a helpful idea. Community refrigerators stocked with food and available to anyone in need. He calls it the Friendly Fridge Network. Speak about a true act of kindness. How did you come up with the idea? Well, the idea of a community refrigerator is not at all new. Having a free to take from public and always accessible refrigerator has been going on for years, but my idea came from a news article I saw. After seeing the article, my friend and I in her neighborhood walked around, found a deli that was willing to take our refrigerator and we plugged it in, filled it up with food, and it had started. That's amazing. So how does it work? Well, we actually have a network of volunteers that help us stock the fridge with hundreds of pounds of free food. And since the fridge is unmonitored and always open, people can come at any time of day and take out whatever they need. That's really terrific. When you first started, volunteers donated all the food. Does food come from anywhere else? Now, actually we use a hundred percent rescue food in our fridge and this food, which would've been thrown out by grocery stores like Wegmans and Whole Foods is redirected to us and for a hundred percent free.

(Ava) And as we've just reported, there are many families out there who can't afford to buy all the food they need. What's been the reaction to the refrigerator with free food?

(Charlie) We have seen nothing but positive reactions. Whenever I'm around the fridge, if I'm stocking it and somebody sees me loading it up, the thanks they give are just unmatched. It is the most rewarding feeling you can ever feel. I can imagine. Speaking of rewarding, your good work was rewarded by an organization that encourages acts of kindness. We'll talk about that when "Teen Kids News" continues. We'll be right back.

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(Describer) A spinning title appears: Teen Kids News.

(Describer) Title: Ava.

Welcome back. We're talking with Charlie Hirschhorn, the founder of the Friendly Fridge Network. Also joining us is Dr. Christine O'Connell. She's the executive director of Riley's Way Foundation, an organization that offers the call for kindness program. Gotta say, Call for Kindness is a great name. Tell us about the program. Well Riley's Way, we invest in and support the next generation of kind leaders and the Call for Kindness is our national flagship program that works with young leaders all around the country who have an idea to make a difference in their community and we help them make it happen. And you offer grants to young people working to make a positive change, right? Yes. We give them $3,000 in seed funding to take their idea and make it happen, but we also give them a year long professional development fellowship where they learn leadership skills and they get to network and and develop a community with other young change makers just like themselves who want to make a difference in the world. Charlie, how did you find out about Call for Kindness, and what made you apply? Well, I actually have my mom to thank for my involvement with the Call for Kindness. She had seen an email promoting the grant and told me that this is definitely something I should look into. After reading the website, I was blown away by not only what Riley's Way stands for, but the possibility of a community of like-minded people that could only help me grow. That's nice. Christine, you must get a lot of applications. How's the judging handled? Yeah, we get hundreds of applications every year. And the applications are judged on how well they align with our values of kindness, empathy, inclusive community and youth leadership. All of the projects have to be youth led and the judges for the Call for Kindness, 70% of them are under the age of 25, so the judging is all youth-led. We really try and encourage that in all that we do. What was it that made Charlie's idea stand out? Well, the year Charlie won, we had a special topic of food insecurity. What he was doing with the community refrigerators really resonated with us. This was an issue that young people really cared about and Charlie's model was such a great model, that great model that he was doing in New York, but it's something that could be replicated all over the country. Charlie, how are you using the funding? Well, the original $3,000 from Riley's Way helped us grow incredible amounts. I remember just at that time, our fridge was in desperate need of repair. It was breaking down, and we knew that although it was almost summer, we would need a cold weather kit for the winter. So we used a lot of that money to not only replace our fridge but install a cold-weather kit to help us. Why would you need that? Well, since our refrigerators are outside year round, and I do live in New York-- it gets pretty cold. And refrigerators are not really meant to operate outside, so we need to install a cold-weather conversion kit to make sure that all the electronics stay safe. That makes sense. Christine, since Call for Kindness is an ongoing opportunity, what do teens need to do to apply?

(Christine) Well, first of all, they can go to call for kindness.org to learn more about the program, and they need to come up with an idea to make their communities better, to make the world better. The contest is open from January to April every year, and there's a different special topic every year too. So it's a great opportunity to get funding but also to get another peer community of young people who care about making a difference. Terrific. Thank you both. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having us. You might say there are two kinds of people in this world, those who see a problem and say that's too bad, and those who say, "I'm going to try and do something about it." If you're in that second group, and I hope you are, then definitely check out the Call for Kindness grant program. For "Teen Kids News," I'm Ava. We've gotta take a short break and then we'll be back with more "Teen Kids News."

(Describer) A spinning title appears: Teen Kids News.

(Describer) Title: Lylah.

In our Bit of Belgium series, Emily tells us how a storm was the key to prosperity for a landlocked city.

(Describer) Glimpses show a horse drawn carriage, trays filled with pastries, a boat gliding down a canal, a commuter train driving through an old city, and a statue of a lion resting its paw on a sphere. Title: A Bit of Belgium. A painting shows people in a courtyard surrounded by gothic style buildings.

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(Emily) During medieval times, no one expected the small town of Bruge to become one of the wealthiest cities in Europe.

(Describer) Emily.

That it did was thanks to a storm. The North Sea was a major trade route. Bruge, in what is now Belgium, was built close to the water, but not close enough. Twelve miles of land stood in the way.

[thunder rumbles]

Then a miracle happened. A storm blew in carving out a waterway reaching ten miles inland. All the people of Bruge had to do was dig a canal two miles long, and suddenly they had access to all the world's lucrative trade routes. The merchants of Bruge became rich, selling high demand items like lace. The web-like fabric was all the rage. Men and especially women sported the latest fashions, adorned with intricate designs and lace. As the money poured in, Bruge went on a building spree, they erected one of the tallest bell towers in Europe. Century after century, its bells rang out the hours. They dug canals throughout the city. Back in those days, canals were highways that carried merchandise. Today, the canals of Bruge are a major tourist attraction and a perfect way to sightsee.

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(Describer) From on board a boat, a brick building with a tall tower at the end of it is shown. A boat goes under a stone archway carved into the bottom of a building. City busses pass buildings and a boat floats down a canal lined with mossy walls.

As you glide past old buildings and under arch bridges, tour guides tell the town's history in French...

[guide speaking French]

and in English.

(guide) It's the smallest bridge in the town...

(Emily) If you wanted to know where the rich lived, just look for houses that were red. Others used tricks to pretend they were wealthy. Homes were taxed based on the number of windows they had. While this building looks like it has plenty of windows, these are fake. The solid wall is painted to look like windows. You've probably already noticed one of the signatures of Bruge. Many of the buildings have the same roof pattern, called stepped gables. More than just decorative, the stepped design served a practical purpose. It helped chimney sweeps climb up the roof. If your idea of a chimney sweep is Bert, the happy-go-lucky sweep who dances on roofs with Mary Poppins, the reality is quite different. A chimney sweep was a hard, dirty and dangerous job because chimneys were narrow. Children were often used. Sometimes they get stuck. Like I said, it was a dangerous job. Notice the hole at the top of the facade. It was a way to communicate. Long before text and emails, important messages were sent by carrier pigeon. Those holes allowed the winged messages to enter the house. That statue on the corner was not for decoration. It was believed to offer protection against the plagues that all too often ravaged Europe. Although rebuilt over the centuries, Bruge still portrays the beauty, the horror, and the history of the Middle Ages. With “A bit of Belgium,” I'm Emily for "Teen Kids News."

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(Describer) Title: Teen Kids News. Speaking Up For Safety!

It's time for a quick commercial break, but we'll be right back with more "Teen Kids News." So don't go away.

(Describer) A spinning title appears: Teen Kids News.

This report is brought to you by the National Road Safety Foundation. Just to bring you up to speed, last week we met Jackie. She's this year's winner of the Drive to Life PSA Contest. It's sponsored by the NRSF, in partnership with Young Minds Inspired. YMI creates and distributes educational materials to teachers and families across the country. In addition to winning $2,000, Jackie was given the opportunity to turn her concept into a PSA for national broadcast. The NRSF flew a professional TV crew to her hometown in Arizona. So this is a clapboard. We don't really need to clap each time, but we need to hold it up because it tells us the scene we're shooting and the take number. And then when we're in the edit room, it makes it easier to find the takes that we know we want to use. Okay? My idea was showing how teenagers speak up about things like in the restaurant when they get their order wrong, but maybe they're a little bit more hesitant to speak up about their safety in the car.

(Katarina) Jackie's family and friends agreed to be the actors in the PSA along with Jackie.

(Describer) In a car.

Mom, you shouldn't be texting. Stronger. -Mom, you shouldn't be texting. Good. Now it's time for Jackie to show her finished PSA to the contest sponsors. Hello everyone. My name is Jackie Gilles and I will be presenting my PSA on Speaking Up for Safe driving. Before starting, I just want to thank everyone that is a part of this. This is something that would have never even crossed my mind as a possibility. It's such a rare and amazing thing to be able to do, and I just want to thank everyone for making this experience possible. I'm proud to now show you my PSA “Always Speak Up.”

(Describer) A waiter sets down plates of food.

There we go. Excuse me, I asked for no cheese. Oh, I'll get a new one. -Thank you.

(Describer) In a theater.

I think you're in our seats. Sorry. We'll move.

(Describer) In a car, Jackie sits next to her mom, who texts while driving.

(announcer) You spoke up at the restaurant. You spoke up in the theater. Why not speak up now? Mom, you shouldn't be texting. -Lo siento. -Thanks, Mom.

(Describer) On a video call.

That was great. Very nice. Very nice. -Really good. -Congratulations. -Wonderful. -Good job. Really nice. -I really liked it. -Thank you. Gets the message across really nicely.

(Describer) Michelle Anderson.

Congratulations, Jackie. You did an amazing job with your PSA, and it's great how you were able to convey the message about speaking up in different scenarios that we often are in. And then you chose to speak up, especially when you are with an adult. Oftentimes young people are afraid to speak up to adults, but you did the right thing in this video. Great job. Thank you. Ditto to everything Michelle just said. I think that the way you related different scenarios to a passenger in a car was really cute and interesting. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was very well done. Very simple, but in the best way, when I say simple. It really does convey the message in a naturalistic way. -I really liked it. -Really good job, Jackie. As everyone has said it, it gets across the message effectively. No clutter. Very straightforward. And it's kind of nice that you brought your mom into it too. Yeah, yeah.

(Describer) Dominic Kinsley.

I especially like the way that the lead in situations had that little bit of-- it takes a little guts to send something back at the restaurant or to get somebody to move out of your seat. So they were really good examples of recognizing that speaking up isn't a easy thing to do, but you do it in other situations when your life isn't at stake. So why not do it now? Just a really insightful and effective PSA. Thank you. Jackie. What was the best part of working on the PSA? The actual filming process was really interesting to me because I didn't realize how much actually went into filming a PSA. Why is a contest like this important for teens? I think contests like these are really good idea for young people to do because we're able to express our ideas and say how we feel about certain situations like speaking up for safe driving. What are your plans for the $2,000 prize money? The money's going straight to my university tuition. Nice. Thanks, Jackie. To find out more about the next Drive 2 Life contest, as well as other contests sponsored by the National Road Safety Foundation, check out nrsf.org. Who knows? Maybe we'll be doing a story on you! For "Teen Kids News," I'm Katarina. Well, that wraps up our show for this week, but we'll be back with more "Teen Kids News" next week. See you then.

(Describer) Titles. Producer: Marilou Yacoub. Director/Writer, Alan J. Weiss. Additional credits scroll. Executive producer Alan J. Weiss. Copyright Alan Weiss Productions, Inc, 2023, all rights reserved. Contact: info@teenkidsnews.com. 212-974-0606. Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.