Teen's Charity Aims to Move the Earth, $2 at a Time Kelly House - The Oregonian
go to original April 27, 2012

Julien Leitner's charity, Archimedes Alliance, operates on the principle that small acts of kindness from multiple people can make a big impact.

PORTLAND, Oregon - The 14-year-old founder of fledgling charity Archimedes Alliance learned the value of giving before he learned to read.

When Julien Leitner was still a baby, his parents began taking him on weekly charity outings. They often retell the story of when, uncoached, a very young Julien donated the money he'd earned playing violin on the streets of New York to a homeless man whose panhandling had attracted far less attention from passers-by.

Leitner was too young to remember the incident, but his father says such small acts of selflessness are typical of his son.

As he grew older, Leitner wanted to do something with more impact.

"I wanted to feel like I was really making a difference," says Leitner, of Northwest Portland.

The "aha!" moment came when a fifth-grade science teacher quoted Archimedes during a lesson on levers.

"Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I can move the Earth."

Leitner made a connection between the quote's mathematical significance and his do-gooder goals.

"It hit me that I might not be able to do something on my own, but there has to be a billion other people like me who want to make a difference but feel they can't," Leitner says. "I thought, 'What if everyone just pooled their resources?'"

Over the next several months, he devised a plan for a charity based on Archimedes' principle. Leitner launched Archimedes Alliance in September with a goal of getting a million people to donate $2 apiece. The resulting $2 million would go to a small charity with visible impacts on the local community.

"I wanted them to help individual people, not abstract causes," Leitner says.

In eight months, Leitner has raised more than $13,500 - far from his goal, but a sizable amount for an eighth-grader.

"He's a very professional young man," says Emily Bender, a spokeswoman for the School of Rock in Southeast Portland, where Leitner studies guitar.

Bender is working with Leitner on the school's annual concert this weekend. Proceeds from the $10 show Saturday at Mississippi Studios will go to Archimedes Alliance.

On a promotional video, the curly-haired kid looks earnest as he tells the viewer, "My name is Julien and I want to change the world."

With a little parental guidance, Leitner wrote a mission statement, drew up a business plan and assembled a board of directors.

He wanted the chosen charities to be small, efficient productions that spend no more than 20 percent of their budget on administrative costs. They can have a religious affiliation, but not an agenda.

"Julien really wants to make this work," says his dad, Peter Leitner.

Alliance donors can vote for one of three charities - VillageReach, Invisible Children and Outreach International. At the end of the donation period, the charity with the most votes gets all the money.

The alliance's first few donations came from friends and family, but word of mouth and media attention quickly attracted more. Most were only a few bucks, though one Seattle businessman mailed $1,000.

Pretty soon, the fan mail started coming.

"Two dollars won't change my situation one way or the other," one donor wrote. "Maybe it will change someone else's."

Julien Leitner knows $2 million is an ambitious goal. He expects to switch to a model where the money is distributed every six months, regardless of how much is in the pot.

He hopes the small donation request ("For two bucks, you can buy a bag of chips," he says in the promo video) will keep donors coming back.

"Pass it on," he says. "I'd rather you send this to 10 people and donate two bucks than donate 10 bucks and send it to two people."

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