The MY HERO 12th Annual International Film Festival brought together powerful activists and

artists from around the globe.

Dear Friend,

Our heroes help us realize who we are and who we want to be.

Former child soldier Mohammed Sidibay from Sierra Leone said "I grew in a place where there were no
heroes... this is not saying that my country is a bad place. However, because of the conflicts my country
endured, I was forced to be an adult as a child. I didn't have anyone to admire, I was just trying to
survive. My friend first introduced me to The MY HERO Project, and I wasn't interested. I didn't believe
in heroes. But the more I learned, the more I realized what The MY HERO Project stands for... if good
people, enough good people, do little things in their own way, they will eventually outnumber the bad
things. MY HERO is trying to break the barrier that separates YOU from US, because we are really not
that different...and we can work towards making the world a better place." Now, Sidibay says "I believe

in the power of education," and he is working as a U.N. Ambassador and to become a civil rights lawyer.

We at The MY HERO Project envision inspired, creative, and empowered children and families around
the world who have the skills and tools they need to spread messages of peace, tolerance, sustainability,
kindness and heroism.

The MY HERO Project provides online educational resources and a digital library, hosts Media Arts
Festivals, and mentors students in resource-poor communities to try to increase media arts literacy and
promote education worldwide. Our web-based tools are used in classrooms, youth and senior centers,
and homes in 200 countries. Since the organization was launched in 1995, participants have created
content to make ours the largest inspirational archive in the world-with over 40,000 stories, 3,000
short films and hundreds of art works and audio clips.

As we close out 2016, we're reflecting on the impact we have made this year. We launched an early
childhood education project and produced lesson plans to help preschool teachers use MY HERO to
build young ones' skills in communication, literacy, math, social science and the arts as well as support
social and emotional development. We also facilitated incredible cross-cultural classroom
collaborations, including a Call to Action Learning Circle that paired a kindergarten class from Azerbaijan
with high school students in Moldova and middle school students from India-the five year olds led the
way by focusing all their efforts on kindness and helping people in need. MY HERO staff were proud to be keynote presenters at the 2017 Global Education Conference.

Our 12th Annual International Film Festival brought together powerful activists and
artists from around the globe. We are grateful to the millions of people who participate in MY HERO throughout the year: teachers who contribute lesson plans, staff members who work to grow the project, and people of all ages who contribute content to our ever-growing online digital library.

We're writing to ask for your help building our global learning community so that others have the opportunities to learn, discover and grow. In the coming year, we will be launching a new website that's more user-friendly and easily accessible through simple mobile devices. We are also partnering with young activists and advocates to try to bring MY HERO's content and resources to new communities, both here in the United States and in less developed countries worldwide.

We need your support to make our vision real. Please consider making a donation to support our
project. There are many ways to do so: a direct donation through our website, purchasing your products
through Amazon Smile, or through the #GivingTuesday matched donation drive.  Your gift helps bring hope, light and heroism to students around the world. To learn more about how your contribution is used, visit our sponsorship page or donate now.

With gratitude,

The MY HERO Project

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