Pittsburgh Cares 12-year-old winner in ‘Who Cares’ video contest

Pittsburgh Cares 12-year-old winner in ‘Who Cares’ video contest

Pittsburgh Cares’ first video contest is a winner, as far as Holly McGraw-Turkovic is concerned.

She’s the organization’s director of youth programs, and she says she is very pleased with the 18 entries.

One pair of boys produced a video about their recycling club. A young girl provided statistics and proposed solutions for the problem of homelessness. Students from The Environmental Charter School at Frick Park, from 8 to 11 years old, produced a slew of videos about ways to alleviate various ecological concerns.

McGraw-Turkovic talked to the teacher who directed these students. “She thought it was a good compliment to what they were learning,” she says, “and a good way to get kids to think what they would do and how they would get other people to take action.”

All the videos, including the winning video by 12-year-old Anna Yaksich of Cheswick (with her friend and Sydni Henley), can be seen on YouTube. Anna’s video talks about the $9,000 she and Sydni have already raised for Animal Friends’ no-kill pet shelter, starting when they were 7, and encourages other kids to pitch in.

For her efforts, Anna has won a $500 mini-grant to help her get started on her next project to help Animal Friends — or to give directly to the shelter. Notified on Oct. 30, Anna had not yet decided which to do.

Pittsburgh Cares plans to hold two more Who Cares kid video contests soon — around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January and Global Youth Service Day in April.

Writer: Marty Levine