When freshman Kayden Kantor’s mom said, “Kayden, you’re going to do this, and it’s going to be great,” she hadn’t yet known that the National Charity League, an organization for girls to volunteer at charities, would lead her to become a better leader, help her create new friendships, or keep her more involved in her community.
“I applied, and it turns out I really love it. I think it’s really fun. It has a leadership role, so I’m working with a bunch of different people. It’s a great way to get exposed to a lot of different things, and it’s just a really, really cool organization,” Kantor said.
In seventh grade, Kantor’s mom told her about the National Charity League, commonly known as NCL. It’s a nationwide program for mothers and daughters to do charity work together. Her mom told her it was a great program, which made her want to apply. After being part of the program for three years, Kantor has decided she will continue to pursue philanthropy until she is in 12th grade.
“NCL’s goal is to create well-rounded, well-cultured young ladies and to make the world a better place. We work, we do philanthropy with different organizations, and we participate in cultural events every year, as well as self-govern ourselves,” Kantor said.
Kantor is part of the South Bay chapter, which includes Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach. Chapters are the specific areas where the organization is located, and in her chapter, she is currently the parliamentarian and will soon be the president on May 31.
“I run parliamentary procedure. If you have ever watched a TV show, and you see all the old people voting, and they go nay, or yay, that’s what I do. I run the little votes to make decisions for our class,” Kantor said.
Kantor is able to win awards depending on how many hours of charity work she does. No matter what, Kantor must complete at least 15 hours of philanthropy each year. To reach her goal, she gets to pick the number of hours she spends with a certain organization.
“There is a presidential award, and there’s rewards you can get for doing a specific amount of hours with a certain organization. I’m going for my Yellow Rose Award this year, which is 50 hours in a year, and I’m at 27 right now,” Kantor said.
The National Charity League partners with more than 20 different organizations, such as the American Red Cross and the Sunrise Senior Center.
“My favorite ones are the Friendship Foundation summer camps, where you go, you get paired up with a special needs kid, and then you hang out with them for the week. I also like Lovejoy, where you get to walk dogs, because I think that’s really cool,” Kantor said.
The National Charity League is for girls in seventh through 12th grade, and each grade level has a cultural focus each year. Cultural focuses are seen in groups as they listen to music and watch plays, musicals, or dances.
“This year, our focus was musicals, so a group of us went to see The Notebook, the musical, at Pantages. Last year, it was a dance. We’re just watching it for fun, and you get to experience all these things,” Kantor said.
Kantor has made many new friends through the program, including freshman Isla Fredericks. Fredericks has been a part of the National Charity League since seventh grade and currently attends the meetings with Kantor.
“Kayden is amazing [and] she’s a really good leader because she’s been president before. She’s a great person to work with and to have in your NCL class because she is always talking to people. She’s just really kind and energetic, and she has a really great personality,” Fredericks said.
The National Charity League has taught Kantor and Fredericks new skills, such as how to write an agenda and how to be grateful for what you have. They learn this at the meetings they attend once a month.
“We all have specific roles, and you get to go to meetings with your mom. I’ve learned how to lead a meeting because I was president my very first year, and I have also learned how to properly vote on an idea,” Fredericks said.
Besides teaching her new skills and being good for her college application, the National Charity League is a great experience for Kantor to make an impact, form new connections, and create fun memories.
“My favorite moment was when I did my second volunteer week at Friendship Foundation for their summer camp, and I got paired up with this really fun kid,” Kantor said. “I had the best time just being able to brighten his day and make his week a little bit better with the limited time that I had with him. He was really funny, and it was just great, and it made me feel very happy and fulfilled.”
