Each month, END7 honors one student who has made a significant contribution to our growing movement of student advocates dedicated to seeing the end of NTDs. We are very proud to introduce our September Student of the Month, Lydia Silber, a senior at Lake Forest High School in Lake Forest, Illinois. Lydia, who learned about END7 after her sister attended a presentation at Boston University, shares:

“In April, my sister showed me a that said that roughly one out of every six people are infected with a neglected tropical disease (NTDs), and that all it took was $0.50 to treat one person for a whole year. Within weeks, I began fundraising for NTD treatment, and all throughout the summer, I was outside of restaurants and coffee shops raising money for END7. I sold bracelets and held pizza sales for a few weeks too. Though raising money was a huge part of this, to me raising awareness was even more important. I just wanted to supply as many people as I could find with access to information about NTD’s and insight into how treatable they are. I wear my bracelet every day, and each time I look at it, I am reminded that a lot of work still needs to be done for END7. I hope that all of the people that wear their bracelets think the same, and continue to spread the word. If my hopes are a reality, then I am confident that we will see the end of all seven of those NTDs by 2020.”

In all, Lydia raised an incredible $800 for END7 to support NTD treatment programs around the world. Her involvement is a great example of the power of people spreading the word about NTDs and END7 to their friends, family and community, and we are so grateful for her hard work!

We are are excited to see our like Lydia continue to grow. If you are ready to get your school involved in END7’s work, contact student coordinator Emily on or at to learn how you can get started!