Manchester High School is Flagship School for Twelve Good Deeds Project

Manchester Township High School has been selected as one of 12 schools in the country to participate in the flagship Twelve Good Deeds project of the Twelve in Twelve Foundation.

Participating students and staff members will complete 12 good deeds locally while raising funds to support 12 global humanitarian projects.

JD Lewis, the founder of Twelve in Twelve, visited MTHS to present the program to select students in an assembly program on February 6.  Lewis is an actor, director, playwright, and acting coach. He started The Actor’s Lab in 1990 and has worked with some of the top names in the entertainment industry.

Lewis told students that Twelve in Twelve started when his older son said to him, “Dad, we have this incredible life, so why aren’t we doing something good?”

This led to a family journey that took Lewis and his two sons to all seven continents in a single year – 12 countries in 12 months - to do humanitarian work. They set a world record as the first family to do so. 

After they returned, they wanted to continue their work so they started the Twelve in Twelve Foundation.  Twelve Good Deeds is their newest project, which aims to get schools involved in raising funds for the foundation’s global work through doing good deeds locally.

Students were captivated as Lewis described his global journey and shared anecdotes about the family’s adventures.  He also spoke about the work they did in schools, orphanages and HIV clinics in parts of the world where children die every day because they don’t have medicine or clean water.  “You have no idea what’s going on over there,” he said.  Being famous, being a celebrity, being rich is not what matters, he told the students.  “Being able to say ‘Your kids are dying and I’m going to help you’ – that’s what matters.”

He challenged the students to ‘think about our planet as a community and start a love revolution right here in New Jersey.’

How the Twelve Good Deeds Program Works:

A student commits to obtain a minimum of 12 sponsors who will support them in completing 12 Good Deeds in 12 weeks. Each sponsor will pay one dollar for each good deed completed. Total cost per sponsor is $12.  Total amount raised per student is $144.  The good deeds include things like donating canned goods to a food bank, writing an appreciation letter, helping a neighbor, and spending quality time with an elderly person.

Once a student commits to the Twelve Good Deeds Program, they will receive an e-book, where they are able to follow the global journey of the Lewis family. Each reader will experience the adventure of Twelve In Twelve, one family’s trip around the world to make a difference.  Not only will the participant get the benefit of learning about the family’s travels, they will also be introduced to many different countries and cultures throughout the world, making this a constructive global educational program.

As funding becomes available, the progress of each project will be posted online on the Twelve Good Deeds website for all participants to view.  The purpose is to have each participant understand the direct impact of their fundraising efforts and to see how the money raised actually makes a difference in people’s lives around the world.  The Twelve Good Deeds website will be an interactive platform, encouraging students to engage in the process at hand.  Each global project will have regular postings of their progress and participants are encouraged to post and communicate with the projects directly, and also with other participants.

Students and staff are now signing on and will be looking for sponsors beginning in late February.

More info on Twelve in Twelve is available at www.twelvegooddeeds.org and their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TwelveGoodDeeds.