Community Corner
Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Bijan Peters
Whiz Kids is a new feature that highlights the accomplishments of local kids.
Name: Bijan Peters
School: McLean High School
Accomplishment (s):
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- Packaged food to feed 100,000 people in McLean High's Stop Hunger event.
- Shipped these preserved meals to 23 different countries.
- Helped raise $25,000 to fund this project.
Key to Awesomeness:
- Organized McLean High's Stop Hunger event.
- Winner of 2011 McLean's Rotary Club's Youth Service Award
Bijan was introduced by McLean High principal Deborah Jackson as someone very likely to become President of the United States.
Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Crosstown rivals Langley High School and McLean High School overcame their bitter sports rivalry and worked together in this project with amazing results.
Bijan humbly says that many people helped including many veterans, the Rotary Club, local churches and community groups as well as local Boy and Girl Scouts troops.
Many people gently tried to warn the kids that making 100,000 preserved meals in one day was just not possible, in fact it may even be a little crazy to try.
They made those 100,000 meals in 4 hours.
Motivation: "Tim Maddux from Stop Hunger gave a presentation at my school and asked us "What's worse, that 30,000 people die of hunger every day, or that I don't give a damn?" This was shocking to me and I've thought about this every day since.
Wisdom Earned: "This experience taught me you can make a difference if your heart is in it and you try, no matter what people say."
