Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

Lance Oppenheim, a 17-year-old budding filmmaker and social entrepreneur, is featured in “For the Win,” in the guest blog series about food insecurities on the White House website.

The weekly guest blog features “the remarkable initiatives that young Americans are advancing to win the future for their communities.”

Oppenheim’s blog focuses on his most recent video “Open Your Eyes,” which features Holly Joseph, a fourth grader at Norland Elementary School in Miami, who was the winning essayist in a national contest titled “How to End Childhood Hunger in America.” The contest was sponsored by the Opp-Guide, an organization co-founded by Oppenheim that helps youths locate service opportunities they find interesting so they can continue to serve their community.

Oppenheim’s inspiration for the essay contest came from generationOn, the global youth service enterprise of Points of Light. What Will You Bring to the Table initiative, which calls on kids and teens to take action to address childhood hunger in the U.S. Oppenheim serves as a National Youth Advisory Council member of the global youth service enterprise.

In his blog, Oppenheim points out that more than 16.7 million children live in food insecure households in the U.S.

“Food insecurity is an antiseptic, non-emotional term for children who find no relief when their tummy’s grumble; for children who miss meals and go to bed hungry, day after day, night after night,” Oppenheim writes.

In his own community in Broward County, 31 percent of all households eligible for food stamps receive them and 44 percent of all students enrolled in elementary school qualify for free or reduced lunches, writes Oppenheim.

“The United States, a super power and model for the rest of the world, has not fully addressed the vast problem of food insecurity for children. We can and should do better. Perhaps most disturbing is that so many of us are not even aware of the hungry families in our communities.”

Oppenheim has produced several films about difficult subjects, including Alzheimer’s, animal abuse and 9/11. Joseph, who is featured in his latest film, came to the U.S from Haiti, where he saw hunger all around him. When he came to the U.S. two years ago Joseph explains how he was “almost a hungry kid” were it not for “God and my mother helping me.”

About Lance Oppenheim

Born and raised in South Florida, Lance is a 17-year-old, award-winning filmmaker who directs, produces, and edits short films. A number of Lance's films have been commissioned by various national, non-profit organizations, including frequent collaborator, The Opp-Guide Cinema. During his summers, Lance works for The Weinstein Company and Hasbro/Universal Studios in Los Angeles, CA. While in L.A., Lance also collaborates on various independent projects.

About The Opp-Guide

Founded in South Florida in 2004, the Opp-Guide helps youth locate service opportunities they find interesting so they can continue to serve their community. In 2011, the Opp-Guide Mobile App was developed and is available for free at the iTunes store. The app allows anyone to search a nationwide directory of nearly 300,000 nearby community service opportunities.

Resources:

www.opp-guide.com