Jenny Chen used to write a youth column for Asian Fortune, until her busy school schedule and her magazine venture took most of her time.

Started last year, the children's magazine uses comics illustrated by artists around the world to teach kids about social issues. JJ Magazine (www.jjexpressmagazine.org) will be awarded a $10,000 grant. The non-profit magazine was one of the youth teams that came up with the most creative and sustainable plan for creating change in their community.

Jenny and Jack are surprised at the amount of community support that they received by January. As the only Metro D.C. area team that won the competition, they are proud of their hometown. “It just proves the compassion and social responsibility that is such a huge part of our community,” says Jack, 16, a sophomore at Thomas S. Wootton High School.

The team is now working how to budget the grant. Priority is making the magazine better and even more attractive to kids, so that those who would not normally read about social issues would pick it up and enjoy it.

“It's our way of introducing social responsibility into mainstream youth culture," says Jenny, 17, a freshman at Colby College. JJ Express Magazine also plans to distribute free copies of the magazine to underprivileged kids around the nation.

The young duo have big dreams to help youth around the world, bigger than the dreams they had when they first conceived of the idea more than 5 years ago. "But it wouldn't have been possible without our community," Jenny is quick to add. "The more support we get, the bigger we can dream."

And for JJ Express, it looks like the dreams are going to be sky-high. For more information contact, Jenny Chen, (206) 888-7238 or email editor.jjexpress@gmail.com