Model Kyleigh Kuhn photographed by Anthony Deeying for City Model Management, Inc.
San Francisco — As a fashion model and philanthropist Kyleigh Kuhn, 23, has made it her mission to give back.
“A mother, daughter, and journalist have joined efforts to make Afghan childhood dreams come true,” Heidi Kuhn said.
In seven years, Kyleigh has raised more than $500,000 through the Roots of Peace Penny Campaign, founded September 11, 2003 alongside her mother, Heidi Kuhn and ABC7 news anchor Cheryl Jennings.
The mission of the non-profit organization is to build schools, soccer fields, and playgrounds while raising awareness of people struggling in war-torn nations around the globe.
As a working fashion model, with San Francisco’s City Model Management, Inc., Kyleigh donates 50% of her income to the organization and has been dubbed the “Non-Profit Model” in the fashion community.
Kyleigh, who is currently working in New York City says, “I’m here for modeling, but there are many connections to be made with [organizations like] the U.N., and being so close to Washington, D.C.”
She is currently in the process of opening her sixth school, a high school in Afghanistan’s Bamyan region, where 600 young women will begin classes in the coming weeks. Along with the efforts to bring education to these peoples, the Roots of Peace Penny Campaign also aims to bring them sustainability.
“More than 44% of the population remains under the age of fourteen, so we are proud to have made a small difference,” Heidi Kuhn said.
City Model Management, Inc., has made philanthropy a priority since its founding and takes great pride in being able to call Kyleigh a part of the family.
“As part of the modeling agency’s family, Kyleigh is the perfect child. She is an exceptional human being; gentle, sweet, intelligent and extremely dedicated to her work,” said Mimi Yapor-Cox, the agent who brought Kyleigh to City Model Management, Inc.
Having been profiled in C Magazine and the Abercrombie & Fitch fall catalog, as well as catching the eye of renowned photographer Bruce Weber for a feature in Vogue Italia, she is using her career to make a steady impact in the name of those who are often voiceless.
Kyleigh’s newest initiative, the Walled Garden Program, will give women the resources necessary to provide sustenance and income for their families, by teaching them to farm in their own back yards where they are able to perform labor, without the physical hindrances of a burka.
The Walled Garden Program will also provide these women with artisan skills to make jewelry and fashions that can be sold in the world market.
For more information about the Roots of Peace Foundation and the Penny Campaign, visit www.rootsofpeace.org.
Click thumbnails to view more images
1. Kyleigh Kuhn poses for a photo with a soccer coach in an area aided by the Roots of Peace Foundation.
2. Kyleigh Kuhn embraces a Croatian villager in an area de-mined by Roots of Peace.
3. The Kyleigh Kuhn Roots of Peace School. One of six the activist has built through the Penny Campaign.
