Malia Bott, Briahna Fuller and Emma and Sara Clinton have been best friends since second grade when they were in the same class at Rosa Parks Elementary School on Redmond Ridge.

After about eight years of friendship, the four Redmond High School (RHS) sophomores have shared many things. This includes their desire to make a difference in their community.

The four teens’ common interest has led them to start Teens Giving Back (TGB), an organization focused on — just as the name implies — teens giving back.

The first service project they did together was collect food for the Hopelink food bank. The girls stood outside a grocery store two Saturdays in a row — Nov. 1 and 8 — for five hours each day and collected 1,684 pounds of food.

Bott said with Thanksgiving coming up, they realize that some families may not be as lucky as them during this time of year and may need a little help with putting food on the table. So they asked customers going in to the store for non-perishable items such as dry pasta and boxed stuffing.

“I was so excited to hear that local students were getting involved and doing something to help their community — it’s such a rewarding, joyful experience,” said Jennifer Dreyfuss-Ibrahim, community engagement specialist for Hopelink.

She added that as an RHS alumni, she felt a moving connection to their drive.

Sara agreed that the food drive was a rewarding experience. She said she and her friends and their families are all really blessed, and after that first weekend of collecting food donations she realized how important it was to recognize what they had and what they could share with others.

All four teens realized they had been taking what they had for granted and that not everyone has the same privileges as they do.

“We should share what we have with the community for people who don’t have that,” Emma said.

Prior to forming TGB, Bott, Fuller and the Clinton sisters have participated in various service projects through school clubs such as the UNICEF and Key clubs. Sara said she has also participated in a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation walk to raise money for the cause.

But the Hopelink food drive the four held earlier this month was the first time they have organized and participated in a service project on their own.

“Their motivation to volunteer and dedicate their time to helping others is truly remarkable,” Dreyfuss-Ibrahim said about how the girls have chosen to spend their free time. “It is also so encouraging to reflect upon the fact that Hopelink has supporters at all ages, and that these students are already making a commitment to give back to those less fortunate.”

Bott said they like being their own entity because it gives them the freedom to choose which organizations to give to.

The next project the teens are looking at doing is Bears and Blankets. Fuller, who has been volunteering at Seattle Children’s Hospital since she was 8, said they will collect teddy bears and gently used blankets to donate to the hospital. The four girls are looking to start this project after the new year.

In addition to local service projects, Bott said they want to find a project that will affect change at a global level.

This project — along with the Hopelink food drive — will be part of the girls’ application to We Day, an event that brings youth together to make the world a better place. According to its website, We Day’s goal is to empower a generation to shift the world from “me” to “we” — from a focus on the individual to the power of community.

The upcoming We Day Seattle will be April 23 at KeyArena.

“We want to go really bad,” Bott said.

Although their goal is to make it to We Day — which requires young people to participate in a local-level and global-level service project — for the girls, just giving back can be enough.

“Just being able to give back to the community,” Emma said about her favorite thing about TGB.

Sara added that while the global project — which they have not figured out yet — may affect a bigger change, she prefers the local projects.

“You are really close to these people (you help),” she said.