In 1992, high school students collected and transported aid packages with private cars to the refugee camps in the Balkans. They called their initiative: Students Help to Live (SHL). Today, Schüler Helfen Leben is Germany's largest youth-led humanitarian organization. In 15 current projects in Southeast Europe, the organization carries out youth, education, and reconciliation work for children and adolescents. In Germany, SHL encourages civic engagement.

Since 1998 SHL has been organizing the Social Day. It is  the largest student event in Germany. The principle is simple: students swap their school environment with a job for one day. They paint their neighbor’s fence, mow the Chancellor’s lawn or take over the job of a radio host for one day. Wages are donated by the students to support the SHL projects for children and adolescents.

So far, SHL has been able to implement over 130 Projects. For their work they have received the Westfälischer Friedenspreis 2002 (Westphalian Peace Prize) and in 2010 the Deutscher Engagementpreis (Engagement  Award). In addition, they were awarded the Bundesverdienstmedaille (Federal Medal of Merit), and in 2007 were  given the title of a "Place of Ideas in the Land of Ideas".