i am a son of an immigrant that has been in the white house twice. and congress. i am the luckiest guy in the world. >> thanks, man. for more of this conversation, you can download the podcast. >> they are protecting the planet. saying no to plastic bags. sharing a love of baseball with children halfway across the world. and giving kids of all ages a chance to celebrate their birthday. already, these young people are making a difference and a reminder that you are never too young to change the world. tonight we are honored to share their stories. this is "young wonders." a lot of ups and downs this

year. tonight, the next generation reminds us of the unwavering generations. the promise of a better tomorrow. the focus and courage of these young people is truly inspiring. it is a testament to the positive power and change. thrilled to introduce you to this year's young wonders. five extraordinary kids. even at such a young age, they realize they held the power to be a compassionate force. and they didn't wait to grow up to act. as you meet them, i hope you will be inspired by their efforts. you can go to cnn.com at any point in the show. all star tribute which is this sunday night. kelly ripa will once again join

me as a compahost. we visited the indonesian island of bali. in this paradise with its lush forest, and beaches and rice fields, nature surrounds these sisters and when they began noticing plastic pollution ever where, these children got to work. the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic dumped every minute every day. five years on, bye-bye plastic beings has grown into a movement working to protect nature on the islands of the gods. >> bali has a sort of enchantment to it.

i think it is a magical place to grow up here. our house is really close to the ocean and surrounded by the rice fields, the forests. >> living so close to nature, i think it established a bond with mother earth at a young age. >> my sister and i would go on adventures and explore the different wonders. we have old ancient temples, and jungles and mountain ranges. >> the more we explore, we would start seeing plastic. >> it is a serious in-your-face situation here. plastic is a massive issue and really no escaping it. on the beach, the river banks, in the rice fields, it is everywhere. >> millions of animals die every

year due to plastic pollution. in 2015, there will be more plastic than fish in our ocean. plastic doesn't go away. the single use items, a plastic bag, once you throw it away in the environment, it never really goes away. it stays in the environment forever. why is this the mark that we're leaving behind. my name is mallati. >> my name is isabel.

>> one of our first actions was to create a petition to show the government of bali how serious we are. we had 6,000 signatures. we got a meeting with the governor of bali. and we got a memorandum saying he would support us. >> this going to be a busy summer for us. >> we have been working for five years to campaign. >> the focus is for elementary students. >> we have a kick ass group of kids involved. >> bye-bye plastic bag. >> this is a youth empowered movement. we started very small but ripple affected across the island. right now we are in our pilot

village. >> the village is home to 800 local families. the community was already having discussions about how to make their village clean and green. and we went with the idea of creating a copy/paste model that we could implement along the e eye -- island. we wanted to provide them with free alternative bags that they would get on a weekly basis. we've been working with them for three years now. if they are going to the market, they are bringing their alternative bag. it is safe to say that the village has reduced their plastic bags by 60%. >> when i see people using alternative bags i get a huge

sprout of joy in me. seeing the shift especially in this village has been heart warming. >> right now, we are heading into a village where we have a social enterprise. the project takes place in a small balinese village. this is their project. they are taking lead. >> i love working with these women. these bags are really unique because they are all from recycled or donated material. we have three designs. the first one is newspapers and recycled magazines. and the next one is our tote bag and then we have crochet bag and

these are from recycled clothes. >> we are paying each women for each bag she makes. and they are resold around the e island. there is not a moment that goes by where i am not laughing and smiling with all the women and their children. >> which is your favorite? i like this one. you like it? it looks good. >> it is a wonderful sense of community in the workshop space. we are meeting with our local high school students in our pilot village location and we are going to put up a river boon. we need a net, recycled bottles and lots of stones.

it is a floating dam device to stop trash from passing it. one of our biggest challenges on bali is not having an island wide waste management system. when you see the first piece of plastic that is stops, it is like you are holding your breath to see if the net holds it, and it holds it. yes, it did it. you can see on the other side of the river how clean it was compared to the other side. and then, it doesn't end there because after that, they have to do daily, weekly clean ups and they are the ones taking that trash out of the river and separating it. not only is it a visual wake up call where people see that the trash is being stopped and see the trash pile up, but also having a clear impact. >> wow, look at that. look at that.

>> for the associations, this river boom means cleaner water that it is receiving. >> water is life. every second breath we take comes from the ocean. i think this is where we have to say thank you to the ocean. i know that we can have a world that says bye to plastic bags. the world can say bye-bye to plastic bags. >> really makes you think, their work has spread far beyond the island. up next, a teen from wisconsin who turned a passion for little league into a ball game for kids halfway around the world. share the love event,

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wonders was 12-years old when he turned a tragedy into a beacon of hope for kids around the world. he was searching for a way to honor his coach's legacy. and he found it in a team from uganda. many kids lacked the gear to play. in green bay wisconsin, there was old equipment lying around. max has traveled to kenya several times delivering more than just equipment. he brings joy as he shares the love of the game. >> what i like about baseball is the mental aspect of the game. all eyes are on you especially when you are on the mound

dealing with adversity and negative situations. and it happens a lot in life and baseball teaches you how to deal with that. my name is max and i am 18-years old. i started the organization angels at bat. baseball means a lot to me because it is the game that i loved playing and the game i wanted to be better at. >> todd was one of those coaches that believed in max. >> he thought we were going to do great things. when max was 12-years old, his coach had taken his own life. we had to tell him that his coach had died. >> i felt numb. i didn't know what to do or how

to deal with it, so i spent the next six months trying to figure out how to honor him and how to grieve the process. in august of 2012, i watched the little league series. >> and we are underway. >> uganda was representing africa for the first time in its history and they had stories of where the team came from and not everybody had uniforms or enough balls. i knew i had that in my garage, and my friends in their garage, so i thought let's gather it all together and send it to africa so they could play. when i had this idea, it popped in my head, let's do it for todd. >> when max came to me with this idea, i was so proud that he was thinking this way, but i also was worried as a parent that this sounded impossible.

so i waited to see if this idea stuck. and it stuck. >> it stuck with me for two years until it was a thing and it still stuck with me. >> probably the easiest part of this charity has been the collection of the equipment. >> that's great. thanks for doing this. >> there is a lot of good people in the world and they want to help. >> we get equipment in a variety of ways and sometimes we have people drop off equipment at our doorstep. >> we were fortunate that after about a year and a half, we met a rotary club member who invited them to join them on a trip to africa. >> that first trip when we went to kenya, me and my mom took 19

suitcases worth of equipment. >> the very first day we arrived, we played baseball with children in an orphanage. and i realized, his dream just came true. >> teaching them baseball, it hit me like a brick. i was 14-year-old kid at the time, i had no idea the magnitude or the effect it could have. >> i knew pretty early on this was a kid who had this natural innate compassion and empathy for others. >> we put number 20 on all balls gloves and helmets. and that was my coach's softball number when he played. >> my husband would be so proud.

i know todd is smiling down on max. and max is doing it in his memory. >> angels at bat was found in green bay, wisconsin. but established multiple branches across the states that are also led by teenagers. >> anyboin the past six years, collected about 10,000 pieces of equipment. so we've been on the road for upwards of 20 hours now to drop off our u haul with equipment. this summer i went to kenya for

the fourth time. one thing i have noticed is a huge gap between the wealthy and the poor. we've taught kids from wealthy families and taught kids who have been in the slums. >> we are at the children's home, the place where my charity kind of started. it is an orphanage for kids infected with hiv. watching the children's home kids grow up with angels at bat, it is a special moment to see something that you believe in wholeheartedly have an impact on peoples' lives across the globe. >> i met max last year when he brought things for baseball and

we played with him. >> one, two, three steps. >> when max goes to kenya, he and his father will have clinics where they will teach the skills of baseball. >> there you go. just like that. >> he will bring the equipment to universities, high schools and if we can, primary schools. >> george is our boots on the ground. he is president of the kenya little league. >> good baseball equipment like balls and gloves and the helmets have been quite a challenge. >> there is no way for them to get equipment other than donations. the goal of kenya little league is to grow baseball and make

baseball the sport in kenya. one of the days that we are in kenya we got to see the best teams in the country go against each other. it is cool to see a sport that was foreign four years ago being played perfectly in a way. having this organization has made me more driven. it's made me see that anybody can do anything as long as they put their mind to it, they believe it and they want it. >> angels at bat is one good idea, one good boy with a really good heart. >> i have been asked a lot what is my mission statement. and my mission statement is that i don't have one, because my goal is to never stop. >> max is now a college freshman and plans to start a college

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welcome back to "young wonders" our next wonder believes everyone should get a chance to celebrate their existence. celebrations are where special memories are made and there is cake. who can beat that. when this 14-year-old found out everyone didn't have the means to celebrate. she created the birthday giving program. they have shown hundreds of people of all ages that no matter where they are in life, their birthdays are a big deal too. >> i think having a birthday it is important to create memories and important to create something thaw can hold on to and remember for a long time in

your life. >> happy birthday, anna. >> thank you. >> it is important to know that even when you are facing hardship, that people are going to be there for you and love you for who you are. >> with the birth of sonica, her birthday celebration was even more special and we wanted to celebrate with our family and friends. >> i thought about how other people who were living in less fortunate conditions also celebrated when my family and i would travel and we would see homeless men, women and children, and that really opened my eyes to all of the problems and issues going on. >> they're here!

hi, come in. >> the birthday program mission is to provide birthday bags and to celebrate individuals who are affected by poverty, addiction, abuse, homelessness, and physical and mental challenges. mostly families are involved in my organization. may two cousins, my brother. >> we had a facebook fundraiser where we paid to promote an ad. >> it is important to have families involved because family supports you. >> i am a volunteer under my sister, she had big ideas and see how passionate she was for the birthday program, i wanted to go along with her. >> all right. let's make cake. >> so the recipe is one cup of water, half a couple of oil.

cake making is a very time consuming process. we think about all the little details that go into it, the decorating, like anya is into decorating. and it is worth it. ♪ >> we spend a lot of time shopping. we feel that's important to put extra time in to customize the bags because it is a more enjoyable experience for the recipient and we want it to be worth while. we have all our party supplies done. we have boys, six, seven, and two, nine-year-olds. we are all together all the time. >> it is hard to shop because we

need to count how much of each thing, we are mostly holding up the cash register, so some times people get annoyed. but we explain oh, it is for charity. >> thank you. >> i feel like we have accomplished a lot so far. it has grown, and grown and grown. we started with one organization and now, we are partnered with over 20 organizations. >> we're glad to be here. >> so we have the children's division, the mentally and physically disabled adults division and the senior division. i handle the adults division and renna takes care of the senior division. >> i think it is important to celebrate the seniors because i didn't want them to be forgotten. a lot of seniors living in nursing homes have family out of

state or friends that don't visit them often. i want them to feel special and celebrate. >> people aren't having parties because of affordability. and we want them to feel that their existence matters in the world because it is important for their future, their development as individuals. >> majority of our members currently, a lot of them are residing in homeless shelters, and the foster care system and coming from single parent homes. with our numbers, it is hard to do especially with budget constraints. what sonica is doing, it captured our attention especially because it serves into our mission. there is a buzz around the club now. we're going to keep going and we're excited about it.

>> happy birthday. >> yeah. >> a lot of communities are often neglected because they are different. we definitely want all of the communities we serve to feel like we're family to them and we will be there to support them if they need us. >> happy birthday to you. >> i got a gift and i cake, and i got balloons and i got snapple and everything. i'm so happy. >> i feel celebrating a birthday is important and realize everyone is unique in their own way. >> my daughter penny just turned two. and she is a rambunctious little

toddler now who happens to have down syndrome. i have fears of how people perceive and will welcome penny. it breaks my heart that people can't see past the physical being. >> i hope this year is the best one yet. the kids that came tonight -- you're going to make me cry. what special hearts they have. it is so touching to know that there are young children out there who are giving of themselves to make other people feel good about themselves. ♪ happy birthday to you >> i think the memories that these kids are creating for each

other will last forever. they are four musketeers and i am glad that they are helping those who need us. we want to inspire other individuals to take the initiative and try making a difference. some people may feel hesitant to try a new idea. but you never know the impact unless you try. this idea started so small and we' we're surprised that it go the this far. i get a warm feeling in my heart and it is a priceless feeling. knowing they feel like that because of what we do. you are more of yourself when you are around other people that make you feel special. nothing else can make you replace that. >> such great work they are doing. they have delivered close to 500 birthday bags and counting. up next, meet 11-year-old who

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welcome back to "young wonders," two summers ago our next young wonder decided to do something amazing. liam hannon was thinking about the men and women living on the

streets of cambridge, massachusetts. he disproved the old adage there is no such thing as a free lunch. handing out 20 meals that first day. now with more than 2,000 homemade meals made. he is giving out more than food. his messages of encouragement and care shows how a little kindness from a lunch buddy can go a long way. >> i think about how tough it is for someone to be homeless. everyone should have a place to live. helping people is important to me because people need a little kindness in their lives. my name is liam. right before the summer of 2017, i told my parents i didn't want

to go to summer camp so they told me i had to do something productive. one of the things we found was this website called brain chase, they had to do academic challenges. one of the subjects that liam picked was service. >> i thought because there are people right outside of my home that are experiencing homelessness, why don't i make them lunch. >> i was like you're a genius. >> i kind of had big ideas at first, something huge like getting a food truck. but then i realized that i need to think smaller. i knew if i started small, it could grow and go uphill and get larger and be better. >> usually when people think about cambridge, they think of

harvard and mit and expensive real estate. we have over 500 homeless people on our streets every night. >> i was scared at first. i thought people might be mean to me. but i realized mostly everyone was nice. when i gave someone a lunch, my face lit up. >> from there, things grew. the next week we did 50 lunches and then 60, and people were quick to help. >> we made 2000 or more lunches. hey, guys, i wanted to say hi, on sunday, i am passing out lunches so if you want to help, that would be awesome. so see you guys later, bye. who wants to make sandwiches. >> i'm doing peanut butter.

>> i'm doing jelly. >> a lot of my friends come over to help. i know they are going to go to someone that needs it. >> who can make more slices of their item first. >> three, two, one. ♪ >> i win. >> the message i am trying to give is that they can be inspired to help others and that they can be happy. and it just makes me feel really good inside. >> today is sunday, and i am giving away 60 lunches with my friends and family. >> thank you, liam. >> you're welcome. >> have a good day. >> you too. >> a lot of people treat them like they are not even humans, but they are. and this shouldn't be happening to them. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> it was really nice to see

everyone, instead of being sad, they were happy. >> any time he has seen somebody struggling, hurting, upset, he would always step in. >> hi, james. >> there is this man named james. >> can i put this in your bag? >> he is not homeless, but he travels up because there is a lot of people. he is super friendly, and he taught me a secret handshake. >> one of the things we do is the acknowledgement, and it is more important than the food. >> bye, james. >> liam has stuck with this. this is his mission. he didn't just say i am going to do this for a little while. oh, i don't want to walk, it is

raining. so i was happy to present him with an award that we give to a number of folks into the community, all of whom are much older than liam. >> he has expanded from just the lunches and doing something more. >> liam is our partner, a family shelter provider. >> this is all kids' books. >> when i met scott and liam, liam was ten at the time and we started talking about how many ten-year-olds we had in the shelter at that point. and he said i want to do more, i want to do something to help. >> we've done supply drives with them for toys, for christmas or holidays. we've done school supply drives. >> it came about, we were thinking of the toy supply drive. i had a lot of legos.

and we donated all of the legos to hilda brand. >> no matter what is happening, he wants to give them healthy treats. >> thank you. i appreciate it. >> he wants to have a conversation and say hello and make them feel welcome. >> would you like a lunch? >> oh, sure, thank you. >> you're welcome. >> being able to provide that hope to someone means the world and it is amazing that he does that on his own time all the time. >> we wanted to be able to make more lunches because we kept running out too early. also to hand out lunches more efficiently. this is our new electric cart. and we were able to purchase it with the help of our gofundme. completely solar powered, space

to cook, emergency blankets and many other items. >> liam is one of the most good hearted people i have ever met in my life. three words to describe liam, powerful, inspiring, and passionate. >> liam is going to change the world. >> i am definitely proud that i have come all this way to make that many lunches. you just have to start small, get help from friends and do something that you love. >> liam one day hopes to have a full on food truck for his work. coming up, where are they now? we caught up with six young wonders from past years to see how they have grown.

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welcome back. we're showcasing remarkable kids doing amazing things is a cnn heroes tradition since 2007. this year we wanted to catch up with young wonders from past years to see how they and their efforts have grown since their moment in the tribute show spotlight. >> i remember, you know, looking in the crowd. >> give me a big hand for a young wonder. >> definitely one of the highlights of my life. and, you know, as cliche as it sounds, it is magical. i'm christopher cow and i was a young wonder in 2015. >> i'm the ceo. >> i finded reboot for youth. >> running a nonprofit at the age of 16 is hard. i was a 501-c none profit aimed at increasing youth for youth through technology. >> this is it a game, see.

up here, two plus one. >> we have given out about 150 computers and globally we have given around 50 computers. >> the net browser here. >> since then, we had tripled the amount of computers we donated around the world with the global reach of about eight to nine countries now. currently i'm in boston working for a data protection and disaster recovery company. in the future, i hope to continue my passion for technology working on the software aspect of increasing education opportunities and access to technology for disadvantaged people worldwide. it was very emotional for me. >> how cool is he? >> being there around people who were change makers was something that i really, really loved. >> my name is joshua williams. i was a young wonder in 2014. >> when i was 4 1/2 years old, i found my purpose in life. >> this is a not for profit to

stamp out hunger in our community. >> since i started, i have given out over 650,000 tons of food, over 30,000 individuals. >> since then, josh has grown significantly. recently we bought a warehouse where people can come for emergency food if they really need it. we're at about 2.2 million pounds of food so far. >> i really want to say thank you to everybody that made this day possible. my mom. >> we raise over 700,000 and given hem to 400,000 people across the rorld. so welcome to my dorm. i have some cool lights in the background. i have records. i'm attending nyu and the business school. personally, i'm trying to trade a career for myself that i can be able to help more people. i grew up with a foundation and the foundation grew up with me. so i think without it i wouldn't be where i am at all.

>> i'm mckenzie and i was a young wonder in 2010. i remember flying out to l.a. for the award show and getting all dressed up. it was really fun. >> when i was first interviewed for cnn heroes, i was 16. the doctor that diagnosed me. when something touches it, it's like a bomb goes off in my knee. they asked me if there was anything that helped with the pain. i said reading. the doctor did know about a shelter for abused children and they had just built a library. and she asked me if i would donate my books that i didn't want anymore and i knew that my few books wouldn't be enough. so i went around the neighborhood. i handed out flyers. >> thank you so much for donating. >> my original goal was to get 300 books. before i knew it, i have 3,000

books. today i am almost a half a million books. as it kept going and grew bigger and bigger, both of my brothers started to help out and then my health has gotten worse over the years. so my brother has almost taken over sometimes. it's my goal to at least make someone smile every day. and i can definitely do that by donating books. >> when i was a young wonder, i was 13. so i was just starting high school. i felt nervous. i was excited. i was overwhelmed. my name is maria keller. i was a young wonder in 2014. my mom told necessity when i was 8 that some kids don't have books. so i wanted to do something to change that what i heard. so i started a small book drive. and then told my parents that i

wanted to collect and distribute one million books to kids in need by the time i turned 18. since i was young wonder, i reached over 2.8 million books distributed to the kids in need and we estimate we touched the lives of 1.6 million children. now i'm 18 and i'm starting my first year at notre dame. so without reading impact, i don't think i would have been so committed to service. i don't think i will be myself as in some way responsible for the good of the world. and realizing my life and my energy in a way that can benefit others. >> at 16, jordan was on his boat getting ready to enjoy a beautiful day fishing with his family. >> i remember everything about the night. every second of it. i remember being vounsurrounded people that i felt so star

struck by. just so incredibly amazed by. >> he jumped into the water, was pulled toward the propellers and lost his legs. he started with the jordan thomas foundation. >> they provide pros spetices for kids that can't afford them. we're going to help them until they're 18 years old. so families never have to worry about that burden. my accident was a terrible descent, i wouldn't change it for anything in the world because it's given me a new found perspective in my life. i'm 29 now. we've raised a lot of money, almost two million now. so huge, huge impact cnn had. that exposure took us to another level in terms of outreach. every day i get multiple, multiple e-mails from kids throughout the world or their families asking for support. surround yourself with people that believe in you and your

vision and your purpose and you will go to the moon. >> i am ryan. i want to provide clean water for everyone in the world. >> i was 16 when i was a young wonder. and i'm 27 now. the ryians well foundation is a canadian not for profit that brings clean watter to the neediest people of the world. when i was 16, the foundation would have just started. you see the impact of what one little well can do and it's just -- it gives you a lot of inspiration. since then, we've been able to do 1,277 water projects all around the world helping hundreds of thousands of people, amazing. my name is ryan. >> 2018 in august i was invited to go to sweden to speak at water week with water professionals all over the world. i was there on a panel representing youth. who here now how --

>> today i was actually at an elementary school called st. mary's. it's look going this year. should be an interesting one. >> and the principal there, 20 years ago, was my first grade teacher in my elementary school who helped give me the idea to start the project in the first place. >> as a 6-year-old, he was really amazing. he was really determined. i always say keep going n this day and age, percent veers is the biggest thing for everybody. >> i think my words for the young wonders of this year would be stay true to why you got engaged and why you care about what you do. never lose that. it the can become an amazing part of your life for when you're an old wonder. >> incredibly inspiring group. so there you have them. if you want to learn more about the amazing kids you met tonight, get involved in their causes, just go to

cnnheroes.com. we're also thrilled this year's young wonders are joining us for the all star tribute live this sunday night. we'll honor this year's top ten heroes and find out who will be the 2018 hero of the year. co-hosting with my friend kelly ripa. it will be a great night. thanks for watching. i'll see you then. we'll be doing for tv what fm did for radio. >> some accuse your videos of being soft porn. >> they never had any problem saying how they feel. u2 zbrchlt what are your dreams? >> to rule the world. >> michael jackson is the man of the 80s. >> music to the all beat and tack. it's rap music. >> my life is over so my mind will speak my mind. >> heavy metal. it glorifies sex and violence, it hates