Inspiring Hope: Teen Teaches Peers About Prevalence Of Birth Defects

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Jasmine Liu. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light. 

Jasmine Liu’s journey began with a two-week summer camp.  

The summer before her junior year of high school, Jasmine earned a coveted spot at Kode with Klossy, the exclusive coding camp for teenage girls. There, she and her team focused their project on exploring birth defects. They learned about the prevalence of neural tube defects, which affect the brain, spine or spinal cord. However, they also learned about the unfortunate disparity in treating these defects. 

 It was from that experience that Jasmine’s idea to start NeuraHope sprouted. As the founder and CEO of the organization, which specifically works to educate youth about neural tube defects, Jasmine has plenty on her plate. Whether she’s running a clothing drive for a local maternity care organization or leading a summer workshop to educate her peers on the topic, Jasmine’s devotion to spreading awareness of birth defects always reigns supreme.  

Now a senior in high school, Jasmine is busy filling out her college applications. Still, she works daily to keep NeuraHope running, and hopes to maintain her role leading the organization when she continues her education next year.  

What inspires you to volunteer? 

One thing that really inspires me is seeing everybody around me doing their best to contribute to their community. This past summer, I was at a program in Washington, D.C. where I met so many inspirational changemakers who were also around my age. Seeing them do this amazing work and really make an impact in their community has truly motivated me to push forward with my organization.  

Tell us about your volunteer role with NeuraHope. 

I lead a team of around 45 members from 15 different countries. We have several different departments that I generally oversee, including our events, marketing, funding and grants and podcasting. So, my role includes making sure that all of the departments are working together, and that every member is contributing to the team and doing their tasks. 

That’s a lot of work on top of a normal high school workload. How do you find time to get it all done? 

It’s been pretty difficult, honestly. I’m currently a high school senior, so I also have to do college applications. Google Calendar is my best friend when it comes to managing my schedule. Over the summer, I’ve been able to do a lot more work in terms of advancing our organization and doing outreach. The good thing is, because I have a big team, I’m able to get a lot done. I would say on a daily basis, I do around two hours of work for my organization, but over the weekend is when I have most of my meetings with the departments and the directors to keep everyone on track. 

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?  

We noticed there weren’t really any organizations that focused on the educational aspect of birth defects, particularly for the younger audience. Because we did so much extensive research beforehand, we thought that shouldn’t just be contained to this project. Even though there’s sexual health education in schools right now, birth defect education isn’t covered in schools, even though we believe it really should be since it’s a prevalent issue that applies to everyone.  

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer? 

I never expected this initiative to expand as much as it has. In the beginning, I was sort of  ill-prepared for the amount of work it required. It takes an immense amount of work and planning to be able to run an initiative like this. So one thing I’ve learned is that I need to become more accustomed to asking for help when it’s needed and to make sure I have a good, supportive network around me. 

Tell us about future partnerships, programs or events that you are excited about. 

We’re working with the Department of Education to potentially add birth defect education in sexual health education in schools. We’re working on doing that in Massachusetts and some other states, so we’re hoping to get that implemented in maybe two or three other states. Additionally, we currently have 17 chapters this year, but we really want to expand. So we’re hoping to potentially get to around thirty chapters to expand our reach and do a lot more fundraising and supporting hospitals. Our fundraising campaign is aiming to raise $12,000 to support people in low-to-middle income countries to access the health care they need.   

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about? 

Many of us may not recognize how much privilege we have. Other families around the world may not have the same opportunities, and I think it’s extremely important to really engage in your community and try to help as many people as possible. It’s really important to have a sense of community so that we’re able to bring each other together through hardships or difficulties. We’re at our best when we have each other around. 

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering? 

Just go for it! Go to your local community organizations and just go for it. Honestly, the hardest part about going out to volunteer is reaching out. You are going to end up experiencing so many new things and meeting so many amazing people. Just get out there and try to interact with your community. You really learn a lot while helping those around you. 

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Jasmine? Find local volunteer opportunities.