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2012 Regional Winners

Names are listed according to state, age as of March 15, 2012 and city they live in.

ALABAMA

  1. Eide, Ralph 'William'
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Cottondale
  4. Activity: Ralph founded Operation Teddy Bear Tuscaloosa after tornadoes devastated his hometown in 2011. Through the organization, Ralph has given more than 12,000 stuffed animals to children affected by tornadoes and those in need.
  1. Phillips, Corinne
  2. Age: 14
  3. City: Gardendale
  4. Activity: Corinne founded Hats for Health and has knitted more than 1,000 hats for premature babies and cancer patients and has recruited more than 200 volunteers to participate with the organization.

ARKANSAS

  1. Flynn, Teah
  2. Age: 14
  3. City: Farmington
  4. Activity: After losing her mother in an accident involving a drunk driver, Teah made it her mission to spread the word about safe driving and to do so, she made a YouTube video about the dangers of drinking and driving and produced a television segment regarding the hazards of texting while driving.
  1. Greer, Piper
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Little Rock
  4. Activity: Piper organized Cupcakes for a Cause and raised more than $300 to benefit organizations working to bring relief to people in communities around the world who suffer from a lack of clean water and proper sanitation.

ARIZONA

  1. Benning, Max
  2. Age: 15
  3. City: Scottsdale
  4. Activity: Using his artistic skills to help make a difference, Max spent more than 800 hours creating art and making videos on social issues so young people can hear, learn and better understand topics that generally are not part of their regular lives through Max Benning Productions.
  1. Finnie, Faith
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Gilbert
  4. Activity: Over a four month period, Faith collected quarters around her city for Feed My Starving Children, an organization that packages and sends food to starving children in underdeveloped countries. Faith collected more than $9,000 for the organization and was able to provide more than 39,000 meals to children all over the world.
  1. Gariepy, Dulce
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Phoenix
  4. Activity: Dulce wanted to help the younger kids at school with reading so she made 52 take-home literacy bags for each of the kindergarteners so that the students would receive additional reading and phonics practice at home.
  1. Moller, Krista
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Gilbert
  4. Activity: When The Clothes Cabin, a local nonprofit that provides free clothing to the homeless, was struggling to get by, Krista organized a clothing drive and fashion show to help keep the organization afloat. Her efforts accumulated $2,800 in donations and more than 2,000 pieces of clothing.

CALIFORNIA

  1. Adiseshan, Athman
  2. Age: 15
  3. City: San Jose
  4. Activity: Athman founded Bags Gag in 2009, a program that has earned national recognition for raising awareness of the harmful effects of plastic bags and for promoting the use of reusable bags.
  1. Bennett, DeAndre
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Elk Grove
  4. Activity: DeAndre has volunteered more than 1,000 hours in various activities and charities, including serving as Youth Commissioner, in which he represents the youth in his city and organizes all school events for the kids and families of his community.
  1. Blair, Emily
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Modesto
  4. Activity: Emily held a fundraiser for the Human Exploitation and Trafficking Watch organization and raised more than $4,000, which will be used to help train local law enforcement on how to recognize and prosecute traffickers.
  1. Blanco, Diego
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: San Gabriel
  4. Activity: Diego started Read to Me to share his love of reading with other children and organizes visits to local schools to read to the students, in both English and Spanish, and also takes a basket full of books and toys for the classroom.
  1. Bowman, Mikie
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Indio
  4. Activity: Mikie founded Kids Inspiring Communities to promote science and engineering education through robotics and has raised more than $14,400 to support robotics programs and education for youth.
  1. Buxton, Sol
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Moorpark
  4. Activity: Sol volunteers with Soles4Souls and to date, has collected and distributed more than 1,000 pairs of shoes to those in need.
  1. Cook, Leyla
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Garden Grove
  4. Activity: Leyla created Project Soldier, a volunteer program at her school where students come together once a week to execute a service project that benefits military personnel and their families.
  1. Ekeroth, Caleb
  2. Age: 16
  3. City: Escondido
  4. Activity: With a passion for both making videos and helping others, Caleb started teaching teens and young adults how to use and operate computer equipment with video cameras so they could promote and highlight their own organizations. Caleb's enthusiasm and generosity soon reached an international humanitarian group and he was able to help deliver computers and other media equipment to Ghana, all while helping to create a documentary of the trip.
  1. Grube, Katie
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Penngrove
  4. Activity: Katie has spent more than 2,000 hours volunteering for various causes in her community, including organizing beach clean-ups, making Cheer Cards for the victims of the tsunami in Japan and creating handmade blankets for local homeless shelters.
  1. Kebede, Sara
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: San Clemente
  4. Activity: Sara, a cross country and track runner, founded Shoes for Sheba, a charitable organization that collects gently used running shoes for girls in Ethiopia and has collected and donated more than 1,000 pairs of shoes to date.
  1. Ketcherside, Hannah
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Stockton
  4. Activity: Hannah held a fund drive and collected more than 2,000 pairs of socks for the homeless at St. Mary's Interfaith.
  1. Levin, Kaitlyn
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: San Jose
  4. Activity: Kaitlyn has not only raised $1,600 for Second Harvest Food Bank from playing the violin in front of a grocery store and taking donations, she has also held a food drive that raised $2,300 and collected 2,200 pounds of food for the organization.
  1. Lewis, Nick
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Eureka
  4. Activity: As an active member of the Drive 2 Stay Alive Project, Nick dedicates his time to teaching youth and parents in his community about safe driving practices, including writing a grant for more than $87,200 that was used to fund educational tools like driving simulator software and a seat belt convincer, which shows the importance of seatbelt use.
  1. Medina, Isaac
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Downey
  4. Activity: Isaac founded the American Red Cross Club at his high school to provide volunteers for various activities within his hometown and to date, the club has served more than 9,000 individuals and dedicated more than 6,000 hours of volunteer time.
  1. Olesiuk, Cierra
  2. Age: 14
  3. City: North Hollywood
  4. Activity: Cierra has improved the lives of more than 1,000 people by organizing a Shoe Party to collect and donate shoes to a center for abused women and children, volunteering every week to coach gymnastics to young children and helping to collect food for a local homeless shelter.
  1. Pawar, Hope
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Rancho Palos Verdes
  4. Activity: With the help of her sister, Hope created Books of Hope to collect books for children in the hospital and through the program has organized an annual fundraiser and in 2011 alone collected and donated more than 450 books.
  1. Pham, Megan
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Temecula
  4. Activity: After struggling to afford her own advanced placement exams at school, Megan founded iBap, a club where students would come together to fundraise for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, host college speakers and organize college tours for students who could not afford to go on their own.
  1. Priebe, Cassandra
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: San Diego
  4. Activity: With a goal to help preserve the planet, Cassandra creates and sells her own sculptures and artwork and donates the money to Trees for the Future, an organization which plants new trees all over the world. To date, Cassandra is responsible for the planting of more than 4,000 trees.
  1. Ratcliffe, Tremale
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Pomona
  4. Activity: As president of his community's Teen VALUE Council, Tremale organized and implemented a food collection and distribution that served more than 3,000 residents in the community.
  1. Riffel, Kaitlin
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Fresno
  4. Activity: Kaitlin founded Kids on a Mission to build a playground at the Rescue the Children Community in Fresno and through recruiting volunteers, creating a newsletter, organizing lemonade and bake sales and creating a video to raise awareness of her mission, Kaitlin has raised more than $26,000 of the $75,000 needed to build the playground.
  1. Tang, Eric
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Los Altos
  4. Activity: Eric created the program, Recycle for School, which gives back in many ways, including raising money for the school PTA, helping to protect the environment through recycling, cleaning up their school campus, neighborhood, and local parks and educating other students on environmental awareness and responsibility.
  1. Williams, Claire
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Pleasanton
  4. Activity: Aspiring to be an English teacher, Claire created the Read To A Teen program where young kids can work on their reading skills by spending half an hour reading a story of their choice to a teen every Sunday at the local library.
  1. Willis, Garrett
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Lake Isabella
  4. Activity: Since he was nine years old, Garrett has been traveling to Mexico to serve at an orphanage to help underprivileged children and has been instrumental in providing food and gifts to approximately 1,500 Mexican children over the holiday season.
  1. Wong, Brian
  2. Age: 16
  3. City: Alameda
  4. Activity: Brian has raised more than $20,000 for the Alameda County Community Food Bank by recruiting sponsors for his Hum-N-Play piano project at a senior residence, in which every Sunday he entertains the elderly with his piano music at Waters Edge Lodge during dinnertime and leads a sing-along of favorite songs from the past decades.
  1. Zenker, Madison
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Elk Grove
  4. Activity: Losing her aunt to cancer inspired Madison to create a nonprofit charity, Cases for Cheer, in which Madison donates pillow cases, 840 to date, to various cancer treatment centers in Northern California.

COLORADO

  1. Adams, Bailey
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Boulder
  4. Activity: After a service trip to Cambodia, Bailey founded The Cambodia Orphanage Project, an organization that benefits orphanages in Cambodia and has raised donations through various fundraising efforts that have positively impacted the lives of approximately 700 people.
  1. Scott, Kristen
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Colorado Springs
  4. Activity: After learning about the devastation that land minds can have, Kristen worked to fundraise more than $10,000 to purchase a trained land mind sniffing dog by organizing a penny war between three local schools and a city-wide event to educate people on destruction of land minds.
  1. Stone, Austin
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Parker
  4. Activity: After spending time in the hospital for diabetes-related complications, Austin started Project YGYG and with the help of friends and family, made more than 45 fleece blankets, collected more than 150 stuffed animals and 200 books that he donated to children at local hospitals.

CONNECTICUT

  1. Finn, Samuel
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Cos Cob
  4. Activity: Samuel believes art is about giving back, so he organized The Empty Bowls Project, in which he spent more than 1,000 hours over two years making clay bowls. For a $5 donation, parents, school staff and students were invited to pick out the bowl of their choosing, fill it with ice cream and keep the bowl with all proceeds going to the The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County.
  1. Pepper, Luke
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Torrington
  4. Activity: As an infant, Luke was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and has dedicated his life to raising awareness and more than $300,000 in donations for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation by organizing can drives, sports tournaments, concession stands, car washes, coin collections, letter writing campaigns and community education events.
  1. Stites, Madeline
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Sandy Hook
  4. Activity: Inspired to do more for shelter animals after her family adopted two rescue dogs, Madeline created a 1.1 mile walk for kids and their pets and raised more than $300 for the local SPCA, enough money to buy a new kennel for their facility.
  1. Temporale, Barbara
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Waterbury
  4. Activity: Barbara is dedicated to helping others through various volunteer activities including making valentines for wounded soldiers at Fisher Homes, collecting monetary and clothing donations for local shelters, recruiting volunteers and organizing a yearly food drive for two community food banks.

DELAWARE

  1. Rider, Emma
  2. Age: 14
  3. City: Bridgeville
  4. Activity: After learning that old shoes could help purchase water purification systems for developing countries, Emma began conducting shoe drives in schools, churches, businesses and organizational groups and has collected more than 40,000 pairs of shoes to date, which has resulted in 15 water purification systems, each impacting communities of between 500 and 10,000 people.

FLORIDA

  1. Ercolani, Alexis
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Indialantic
  4. Activity: Alexis is the youngest person to chair a Relay For Life event in the east coast area and has raised more than $35,000 for the American Cancer Society.
  1. Freeman, Harrison
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Destin
  4. Activity: Raising more than $80,000 to date, Harrison founded the Youth United Program, which offers youth a way to volunteer for numerous organizations as well as provides services to those in need.
  1. Hackley, Graham
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Tallahassee
  4. Activity: Graham raised more than $1,100 and a carload of canned goods, enough to provide approximately 100 people with a three-day supply of food, to support the Emergency Care and Help Organization (ECHO), a Tallahassee agency that provides food and job training for local families in need.
  1. Han, Katelyn
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Orlando
  4. Activity: Katelyn has spent 850 hours volunteering for local organizations in her city and has raised more than $16,000 for various charities, including First Harvest Food Bank and Relay for Life.
  1. Lafferty, Emily
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Port Orange
  4. Activity: After being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Emily started JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes in Volusia County and has raised $50,000 since the walk started four years ago.
  1. Oken, Abarie
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Brooksville
  4. Activity: Abarie has spent more than 2,000 hours volunteering with the homeless in her area and has raised $3,500 in food, supplies and donations to help make their lives more comfortable.
  1. Price, Micaela
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: East Rockland Key
  4. Activity: Inspired by an experience helping her dad collect food donations for the local food pantry, Micaela decided to organize her own food drive at school, in which she collected more than a ton of food.
  1. Sachdeva, Prateek
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Aventura
  4. Activity: Prateek developed an e-learning program to help kids learn reading and math in a fun, technological way in order to help increase literacy rates in the United States.
  1. Shpiruk, Devon
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Stuart
  4. Activity: Devon created a program called Elev8hope, in which he has given presentations to various classes and schools over the past three years, teaching and introducing compassion in three main areas: people, animals and the earth.
  1. Tacy, Cody
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Cape Coral
  4. Activity: Since he was in 8th grade, Cody has been a Cape Coral Police Explorer volunteer and has assisted his local law enforcement at numerous community events including helping to raise donations for fallen officers.
  1. Tran, Elizabeth
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Orlando
  4. Activity: Elizabeth created the Miss Miracle Pageant almost four years ago and has raised $65,000 to date for the Children's Miracle Network to make sure all children will have adequate medical care regardless of financial status.
  1. Wise, Rachel
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Zephyrhills
  4. Activity: Wanting to help prevent bullying, Rachel wrote a book entitled, Kachina and the Bully, and regularly does workshops on bullying prevention around the state, benefitting more than 3,000 students. The workshops focus on communication skills, assertiveness and problem-solving and deal with issues related to being the victim of a bully, a bystander or the bully.

GEORGIA

  1. Bearup, Mackenzie
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Alpharetta
  4. Activity: Mackenzie founded Sheltering Books, Inc., an organization that has collected and donated more than 100,000 books to children in homeless shelters in 35 states and underprivileged school children in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.
  1. Day, Andrew
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Fort Valley
  4. Activity: After seeing how much litter and debris was polluting the local rivers and streams, Andrew started a storm drain tagging initiative, during which 152 storm drains were successfully tagged and 455 houses were provided with educational pamphlets that explained the hazards of storm drain dumping and how to properly dispose of items that might be hazardous to the environment.
  1. Kezh, Andrea
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Decatur
  4. Activity: Born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate, Andrea has undergone several reconstructive surgeries. To help children in underprivileged areas afflicted with a cleft lip and palate, Andrea has raised more than $30,000 for Smile Train to help fund the necessary surgeries and improve lives.
  1. Ume, Ugonna
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Lithonia
  4. Activity: Ugonna created the Stephenson Outreach Program to coordinate, organize and recruit students at her school to volunteer including collecting and donating enough food to feed more than 200 families over Thanksgiving.
  1. Youngblood, Remington
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Duluth
  4. Activity: In 2011, Remington created Change 4 Georgia, an organization that benefits active service members and has spent more than 120 hours coordinating and collecting needed items to send to troops overseas.

IDAHO

  1. Connolly, Garrett
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Sandpoint
  4. Activity: Watching his school take budget cuts which led to the depletion of the playground and baseball field, Garrett spent more than 400 hours holding fundraisers and was able to raise enough money to clean up and create a brand new baseball diamond for his school.
  1. Drake, Ariane
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Pocatello
  4. Activity: After a service trip to Uganda, Ariane founded Hands4Uganda and has raised more than $30,000 in child sponsorships and donations to build a school and provide sponsorship for children in Uganda to attend school.

ILLINOIS

  1. Claggett, Adam
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: LaSalle
  4. Activity: Adam went door-to-door and setup a food drop-off to collect nonperishable food items for local homeless shelters. Through his efforts, Adam has collected more than 14,000 pounds of food and more than $5,000 to help the underprivileged.
  1. Frisch, Alexandria
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Oak Park
  4. Activity: With the partnership of Sarah's Inn, an organization committed to providing services and support to battered women, Alexandria recruited volunteers and actors, helped direct and was an overall project leader in creating a public service film about teen dating violence.
  1. Girata, Michelle
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Chicago
  4. Activity: Michelle dedicated approximately 35 hours to a local homeless shelter to serve food and also distribute food and hygiene products to people in need in her community.
  1. Hankins, Genevieve
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Aurora
  4. Activity: Genevieve has volunteered with the Fur Angels Animal Sanctuary for the past three years assisting with an animal foster program, helping at events to educate people on adoption and working directly with the animals.
  1. Hood, Joel
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Gibson City
  4. Activity: As president of his high schools service organization, Joel fundraised and recruited nine volunteers to travel on a service trip to help rebuild homes for those affected by tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri.
  1. Jacobsen, Alyssa
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Batavia
  4. Activity: After seeing the devastation by tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri, Alyssa convinced her family to change their vacation from Florida to Joplin to help those in need. Alyssa fundraised to fill 30 backpacks with stuffed animals and school supplies that she distributed to children and helped dispense food and water to people during her time in Joplin.
  1. Kelley, Alexis
  2. Age: 8
  3. City: Mulberry Grove
  4. Activity: As an active member of the Relay for Life of Bond County for the past four years, Alexis has played a vital role in the fundraising activities for her team, including organizing a toy drive and silent auction and raising more than $6,000.
  1. Rogers, Kerron
  2. Age: 14
  3. City: Chicago
  4. Activity: As an active member of a community garden organization, Kerron helps to maintain the garden including building a fence and watering the produce which is distributed to local families.
  1. Marchese, William
  2. Age: 13
  3. City: Wheaton
  4. Activity: As an active member of his school's student council, William has recruited 45 area schools to fundraise and raise awareness of the Autism Society of Illinois and has been instrumental in donating more than $17,000 to the organization.
  1. Rogers, Kyara
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Alsip
  4. Activity: Kyara invests her time to help students at her school by developing and running a tutoring group to teach Chinese and volunteering with an anti-bullying campaign.
  1. Saldivar, Laura
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Algonquin
  4. Activity: Laura started Jacobs Safety Initiative, a student-led organization at her high school to educate youth on the importance of safe driving through mock car crash assemblies, speaking events, creating educational materials and more.
  1. Woelfel, Rebecca
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Oswego
  4. Activity: Rebecca planned and organized a dance marathon at her high school and donated the $4,500 raised to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
  1. Woo, Jade
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: McHenry
  4. Activity: Born with Crohn's disease, Jade has raised more than $10,000 for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America through collecting donations for a silent auction and fundraising for a team she leads for the foundation's yearly walk.

INDIANA

  1. Robinson, Kennedy
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Fishers
  4. Activity: Kennedy started Mission Possible Kids, a program to encourage youth to participate in mission work, and through the program has made more than 3,000 Bandana Buddies for Orphan Outreach in Honduras and Russia, more than 390 Valentine's Day cards for service members in Iraq and more than 1,050 blankets for people in Haiti.
  1. Stone, Nathaniel
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Winona Lake
  4. Activity: In honor of a friend who passed away from breast cancer, Nathaniel organized a 5K race and raised nearly $25,000 to benefit the Kosciusko County Cancer Care Fund.
  1. White, Janis
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Elkhart
  4. Activity: Through Janis' Care and Share Program, Janis raises money through various efforts and donates to charitable organizations, including the Premier Arts Theater organization, in which she provides scholarships to kids in need.
  1. Winston, Chloe
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Indianapolis
  4. Activity: Chloe has positively impacted the lives of more than 200 people through her various volunteer activities including gathering toiletries and school supplies for children in Africa and pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House.

IOWA

  1. Bicknese, Emily
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Elgin
  4. Activity: Emily started Grandma, Will You Read to Me, a program where nursing home residents are recorded reading a book that is then sent, along with the book, to orphanages around the world. Since the program began, Emily has sent more than 60 recorded books to orphanages around the world.
  1. McAlexander, Jacy
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Rockwell City
  4. Activity: Jacy dedicates his time to increasing awareness of the organizations that helped him during his own battle with cancer through numerous public speaking events, raising $350 by selling a self-designed holiday card and collecting nearly 500 pounds of pop tabs to benefit the Ronald McDonald House.

KANSAS

  1. Bhakta, Saajan
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Wichita
  4. Activity: After visiting and witnessing the poverty in India, Saajan created PovSolve, an organization whose goal is to send $10,000 worth of support and goods each year to those suffering in India. To date, the organization has positively impacted the lives of more than 3,000 people and has inspired more than 600 volunteers to aid those in need.
  1. Lam, Anika
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Olathe
  4. Activity: With the help of her family, Anika has become a foster caregiver to animals from a local animal shelter, has helped nurse many animals back to health before adoption, shared her experience with her classmates to inspire them to help and organized an animal toy drive to collect needed items for the shelter.

KENTUCKY

  1. Ford, Maddie
  2. Age: 7
  3. City: Tompkinsville
  4. Activity: Maddie started her own Back Packs of Love campaign, in which she collected more than $6,000 in donations and personal hygiene items to fill 300 backpacks which were given to the homeless.
  1. Newsome, Virginia
  2. Age: 16
  3. City: Lexington
  4. Activity: Virginia founded heARTS, Inc., an organization that provides visual and performing arts supplies and opportunities to schools that have lost these programs due to budget cuts and through the program, has donated more than $15,000 in supplies that have benefited more than 2,000 children.
  1. Roy, Madison
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Louisville
  4. Activity: Madison is the co-author of the book, Flower: A Girl With Leukemia, and has raised more than $3,000 for cancer-related charities. She is in the process of writing her second book and hopes to raise a total of $8,000 by the end of the year.

LOUISIANA

  1. Berry, Kaitlynn
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Oak Grove
  4. Activity: Kaitlynn, who was diagnosed with a terminal heart condition, chooses to spend her free time helping and entertaining other sick and terminally ill patients through the local Hospice Program by dancing and drawing pictures for them.
  1. Windham, Cameron
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Jena
  4. Activity: Cameron worked with the Kiwanis Club's Needy Christmas program to provide gifts, dinner and a visit from Santa to more than 150 underprivileged families in his community.

MAINE

  1. Elliott, Katherine
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Scarborough
  4. Activity: Katherine founded The Driving Force, a nonprofit organization that collects items to donate to area nonprofits on a monthly basis, and has been able to donate to various organizations such as the Ronald McDonald House, the Salvation Army and a local soup kitchen.

MARYLAND

  1. McIntyre-Brewer, Cavan
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Jefferson
  4. Activity: After visiting the North Carolina State Veterans home and finding veterans without undergarments, Cavan created Socks for Vets, a program that collects handmade cards, goodies, homemade blankets, socks and other life necessities, along with collecting 5,000 thank you cards for veterans.
  1. Sharma, Varanika
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Waldorf
  4. Activity: In order to bring awareness to the environment, Varanika created the Go Green Environmental Group, in which she organizes various fund drives in her town to help save trees.
  1. Wall, Ariana
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Catonsville
  4. Activity: With the help of her sister, Ariana founded KidStuff and fundraised to purchase approximately 100 specially-designed bottles for babies in Chinese orphanages with cleft lips and palates who cannot drink from standard bottles.

MASSACHUSETTS

  1. Brokmeier, Noah
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Taunton
  4. Activity: Noah's diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes inspired him to start the campaign, The Diabetes Dude, to raise awareness of the disease and to teach others that people with diabetes, especially kids, can do anything anyone else can do.
  1. Cavin, Brendan
  2. Age: 8
  3. City: Quincy
  4. Activity: With the help of his family, Brendan created and sold more than 500 t-shirts and has raised more than $4,000 to help bring clean water to people in Africa.
  1. Kaminsky, Alex
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Swampscott
  4. Activity: In an effort to cleanup his hometown, Alex picked up approximately 1,000 pounds of trash, recycling what he could, and removed approximately 100 feet of graffiti from local buildings over the past year.
  1. Ostrow, Matthew
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Sharon
  4. Activity: Matthew cofounded the Youth Composting Organization for Massachusetts' Populace, Inc., a nonprofit organization that promotes composting and waste management efforts and awareness throughout Massachusetts.
  1. Sundstrom, Lauren
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Newburyport
  4. Activity: After volunteering at an orphanage in Ghana, Lauren founded Clothes for Hope, an organization that has raised more than $5,000 to purchase clothing and school supplies for underprivileged children in Africa.

MICHIGAN

  1. Coulter, Ella
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Lapeer
  4. Activity: In her efforts to help others, Ella organized a gift drive for a local family in need over the holiday season and also baked and sold more than 5,000 dog treats that raised more than $500 for a local animal rescue.
  1. Galdys, Michelle
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Grandville
  4. Activity: Michelle was instrumental in organizing a youth group at a local parish which has grown to more than 50 members and brings teens together for a positive cause.
  1. Herman, Amanda Grace
  2. Age: 8
  3. City: Cedar
  4. Activity: Raising more than $2,000 by selling handmade shopping bags, cloth purses, wallets, cell phone bags and rice bags, Amanda was able to donate the proceeds to a community in Ternopil', Ukraine to help build a church.
  1. Kuligowski, Paul James
  2. Age: 16
  3. City: Washington Township
  4. Activity: In his mission to collect, package and distribute blankets, socks, undergarments and toiletries to people with illnesses and the homeless, Paul has raised more than $20,000 and more than 6,000 items through various fundraising activities.
  1. Martin, Taylor
  2. Age: 8
  3. City: Brownstown
  4. Activity: To help the underprivileged in her hometown, Taylor raised more than $3,600 to prepare more than 1,100 meals and care packages filled with toiletries and clothing that she personally delivered to those in need.
  1. Miller, Kassie
  2. Age: 14
  3. City: Midland
  4. Activity: Through Operation Christmas Child, Kassie raised $14,000 by writing letters to friends and family to raise awareness of the plight of disadvantaged children around the world and requesting donations to fill more than 1,200 shoe boxes with toiletries, school supplies and toys that were sent to youth in need.
  1. Moore, Brianna
  2. Age: 15
  3. City: Detroit
  4. Activity: Brianna created Operation Warm Up/Heart and petitioned local businesses to donate food items to feed disadvantaged families over the holiday season. Brianna collected, decorated and delivered food baskets that fed more than 400 families in her community and also collected hats and gloves for approximately 320 local school children to keep them warm during the harsh Detroit winter.
  1. Skogseth, Emma
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Greenville
  4. Activity: Emma dedicates her time to helping children with special needs including volunteering to work one-on-one with children in a special needs class at her school and also raising more than $1,500 for the Special Olympics by participating in the "polar plunge."

MINNESOTA

  1. Morris-Thomas, Ivyana
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Saint Paul
  4. Activity: Ivyana volunteers her time by hosting a radio show three times a month during which she speaks about school and life experiences in order to mentor young kids in the area.
  1. Thomas, Claire
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Saint Paul
  4. Activity: With a passion for both art and nature, Claire has developed several projects to combine the two, including a school garden and composting program, a class that she co-teaches on nature and literature and a city-run public art project connected to the school garden.

MISSOURI

  1. Baxter, Taylor
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Fenton
  4. Activity: As a founder of YEAH (Youth Excited About Helping), Taylor led her program members in impacting the community and world with the idea that it is not the size of your hands that matter it is how hard they work by committing to a service project with various nonprofits once a month.
  1. Bernstein, Jacob
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Clayton
  4. Activity: With no local resource specifically geared towards youth and family volunteerism, Jacob co-founded www.volunTEENnation.org to provide a one-stop search site to promote youth volunteerism nationwide. To date, more than 5,000 youth have found volunteer opportunities from the events Jacob organized on the website.
  1. Hernandez, Bethany
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Saint Joseph
  4. Activity: Bethany has volunteered more than 1,000 hours this past year for numerous causes, including putting on puppet shows at women's shelters, daycares and nursing homes, packing backpacks full of food for kids who do not have enough food at home during the weekends and collecting donations to help those who were affected by hurricane Katrina.
  1. Morrison, Cara
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Liberty
  4. Activity: After learning about children in orphanages at school, Cara knew she wanted to help and has organized, planned and implemented talent shows, silent auctions and bake sales that have raised more than $11,000 for orphans in Zambia, Africa and Haiti.
  1. Pearlman, Matthew
  2. Age: 13
  3. City: Saint Louis
  4. Activity: In order to help young kids build character, Matthew created the website TeensOnSports.com, interviewed more than 400 athletes and turned these interviews into a book for elementary and middle school students titled That's Great Advice - Lessons Learned from the World's Greatest Athletes.

NEBRASKA

  1. Edwards, Hope
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Lincoln
  4. Activity: Hope founded StudentServe and with the help of a committee, organized local government, schools and businesses to raise more than $5,000 for supplies and recruited more than 9,000 people for a one-day volunteer event. Volunteers preformed a variety of tasks including landscaping and litter pickup, assembling care packages for military personnel, chronicling personal histories of the elderly and making blankets for the homeless.
  1. Nelson, Stevie
  2. Age: 6
  3. City: Tilden
  4. Activity: After losing two family pets shortly before his birthday, Stevie founded Stevie's 6th Birthday Wish to help local animal shelters and through the program has raised more than $38,650 and more than $6,000 in product donations for local animal programs.

NEVADA

  1. Barnes, Breeonna
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Reno
  4. Activity: Breeonna has dedicated more than 600 hours of her time and has raised $20,000 for numerous charities and organizations, including making Christmas shoeboxes filled with toys for children in underdeveloped countries, creating a library for an area homeless center's children, organizing a community clean up program and raising enough money to build a new building for the SPCA of Northern Nevada.
  1. Blue, Robann
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Las Vegas
  4. Activity: Robann is collecting pennies for the Pennies for Patients organization which benefits children with cancer and has raised more than $2,000 to date.
  1. Swanson, Donald
  2. Age: 15
  3. City: Henderson
  4. Activity: Donald has improved the lives of many people in his community by organizing a backpack drive that donated more than 150 backpacks with school supplies to local children, organized and collected holiday gifts for 25 families and 100 children at local churches and collected Easter basket items for local churches to distribute.

NEW JERSEY

  1. Certner, Zachary
  2. Age: 15
  3. City: Morristown
  4. Activity: Inspired by a close friend with autism, Zachary created SNAP to provide children in need of extra support with programs where they can be included with their peers, and also to focus on getting children in schools and communities involved with working and understanding the abilities, not the disabilities, of others.
  1. Fontanarosa, Julia Lee
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Denville
  4. Activity: With a passion for animals, Julia decided to volunteer with The Eleventh Hour Rescue by fostering 21 animals and hosting a school event in which she raised more than $450 in dog food and animal toys.
  1. Gurjar, Nidhi
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Iselin
  4. Activity: Serving as the Lieutenant Governor of Division 13 of the New Jersey District of Key Club International, Nidhi partnered with the Eliminate Project and raised nearly $5,000 to eradicate maternal and neonatal tetanus.
  1. McNamara, Kevin
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Holmdel
  4. Activity: Kevin partnered with the American Recreational Military Services to raise more than $13,000 in supplies for care packages which were shipped to troops stationed abroad in Afghanistan.
  1. Moore, Henry
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Galloway
  4. Activity: In order to help people in the community and inspire generosity and happiness in others, Henry helped to form the Carols for a Cause organization, in which Henry and other local musicians created an annual holiday CD and donated the profits, which have exceeded $8,000 to date, to area nonprofits.
  1. Ornstein, Sidney
  2. Age: 6
  3. City: Marlton
  4. Activity: After attending an American Girl fashion show at the Ronald McDonald House, Sidney decided she wanted to help and raised more than $1,000 by selling her homemade butterfly and heart-shaped pins.
  1. Rizzolo, Joey
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Paramus
  4. Activity: Joey developed the Freedom Walk, now in its fifth year, in order to remember those who died in the 9/11 attacks and last year was able to organize a Freedom Walk in Iraq with the help of the U.S. Army.
  1. Terry, Mya
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Oakhurst
  4. Activity: After spending time in the hospital, Mya created Mya's Mommy Bags, which are bags that consist of everyday essentials, so parents don't have to leave their children alone in the hospital.

NEW MEXICO

  1. McDowell, Mikayla
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Albuquerque
  4. Activity: For the past three years, Mikayla has volunteered with The Starteam at Sierra Vista Elementary and has been instrumental in raising more than $10,000 for various organizations including the Ronald McDonald House and University of New Mexico Children's Cancer Research Center.

NEW YORK

  1. Acquafredda, Vanessa
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Staten Island
  4. Activity: After a close friend was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, Vanessa decided to hold several fundraisers in support of her friend and has raised more than $1,000 to help her friend's family move forward through the difficult time.
  1. Ciminelli, Laura
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Amherst
  4. Activity: Laura organized the Goin' Bald for Bucks fundraiser at her high school which raised more than $12,000 to support cancer research and patient care at a local hospital.
  1. Connolly, Matthew
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Troy
  4. Activity: Matthew collected more than 5,000 books through his organization, Books 4 Kids, which he donated to underprivileged local school children.
  1. Dipalma, Brooke
  2. Age: 15
  3. City: West Islip
  4. Activity: After her father committed suicide, Brooke started the campaign, P.S. I Love You, which extends support to those fighting depression and self-inflicting thoughts through viral videos, a Facebook page and an annual day to wear purple in support of the cause.
  1. Fallon, James
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Armonk
  4. Activity: James partnered with Heavenly Productions Foundation to create Backpack Outreach in which he collected more than 600 backpacks filled with school supplies for underprivileged children in the Yonkers School District.
  1. Grassi, Kiera
  2. Age: 16
  3. City: Franklin Square
  4. Activity: Kiera co-wrote the book, Franklin Square, which captures the history of her community and has donated all of the proceeds to the Franklin Square Historical Society.
  1. McCarthy, Erin
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: East Moriches
  4. Activity: Erin has spent more than 250 hours volunteering with organizations and arranging fundraisers to raise more than $2,500 to give back to her community in various ways.
  1. Posner, Sean Martin
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Massapequa
  4. Activity: Motivated to help animal shelters around the world, Sean raised more than $1,000 in donations for a local shelter and plans to take his mission nationwide and inspire other kids to do the same in their area.
  1. Welych-Flanagan, Martin
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Syracuse
  4. Activity: Inspired to end Canada's commercial seal hunt, Martin began selling handmade bracelets and charms for donations and soon started giving lectures at schools and animal welfare meetings, which led to more than 1,400 signatures that were sent to the Prime Minister and a senator to help the cause.
  1. Zagorski, Skye
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Clifton Park
  4. Activity: Skye created Reach for the Skye to raise money for various charities including $350 to purchase holiday gifts for children at a local hospital.

NORTH CAROLINA

  1. Dungan, Kristin
  2. Age: 7
  3. City: Durham
  4. Activity: Over the summer of 2011, Kristin spent 300 hours volunteering and completing various service projects related to each of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals, including raising money for a literacy center, working at a food bank and making birth kits for women in Africa.
  1. Johnson, Jadin
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Charlotte
  4. Activity: Along with several initiatives to help those less fortunate, Jadin organizes local yard sales to raise money for children with cancer and through his efforts, has positively influenced the lives of more than 25 people.
  1. Pearson, Isaac
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Kings Mountain
  4. Activity: For the past three years, Isaac has planned and organized Jammin for Wishes, a local musical festival to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Walkathon in Charlotte, North Carolina and has raised approximately $7,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through this and other fundraising efforts.
  1. Rasenberger, Cole
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Davidson
  4. Activity: To save the animal habitats of endangered species and plant species that live in the North Carolina coastal forests, Cole made postcards with drawings of animal habitats that he had children from his school sign and sent them to a major fast food chain. A year later, the chain changed its bags to 100 percent recyclable fibers.
  1. Stinson, Ashley
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Hickory
  4. Activity: Ashley cofounded Cause 6000, an organization that has raised approximately $75,000 to build six water wells to help bring clean water to people in Africa and went on a mission trip to Ghana that brought medical treatment to more than 4,000 residents.
  1. Stowe, Andrew
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Wilmington
  4. Activity: Andrew has dedicated his senior year to educating others about the fight against hunger and providing them with volunteer experiences that make a difference in local and state-wide communities, including numerous food drives which have accumulated in $50,000 worth of donations.

NORTH DAKOTA

  1. Engle, Emily
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Minot
  4. Activity: After the city of Minot had severe flooding, Emily volunteered at the Souris Valley Animal Shelter taking care of more than 500 homeless animals, providing them with necessities and finding new homes for them.

OHIO

  1. Dittemore, Reilly
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Canton
  4. Activity: After seeing homeless children suffering during cold winters, Reilly founded Operation Blanket, an organization that collects, cleans and distributes blankets to local homeless shelters along with several other initiatives that have positively influenced the lives of approximately 1,000 people.
  1. Graves, Destiny
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Batavia
  4. Activity: For the past four years, Destiny has volunteered with the Bethany House of Cincinnati to sort and organize used clothing and toys for distribution to families over the holiday season and has recruited many of her classmates to help people who are less fortunate.
  1. Lo, Claire
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Shaker Heights
  4. Activity: To promote environmental awareness at her school, Claire founded The Green Club and recruited 95 students to assist her in fundraising for a compost machine for leftovers from the school cafeteria, planting a vegetable garden and educating students at neighboring schools on environmental issues.
  1. McClellan, Connor
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Powell
  4. Activity: Since 2005, Connor, with help from his school, has collected approximately 1,536,000 pop tabs or 1,200 pounds of aluminum which he donated to the local Ronald McDonald House to help families of children in the hospital have a place to stay.
  1. Million, Aunjanna'
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Middletown
  4. Activity: Aunjanna' founded Love You Like a Sister, a leadership academy for elementary-age girls. The academy has collected more than 16,500 pounds of food for Feeding America, 1,000 baby items for a local pregnancy center that serve mothers in need and 500 backpacks for a local program that donates school supplies to disadvantaged children.
  1. Rayles, Kiara
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: New Carlisle
  4. Activity: After hearing that her school was potentially facing budget cuts, Kiara decided to take action and made more than 700 bracelets that she sold at various school events and in her front yard raising more than $350 for the school district and increasing awareness of the issue within her community.
  1. Reinhart, Phil
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Milford
  4. Activity: Phil founded Learn the Life, an annual weeklong program at his school to raise student awareness of hunger, disease and education struggles faced by people in Tanzania, Africa and has also raised more than $5,500 for nonprofits that benefit the people of Africa.
  1. Tektas, Melisa
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Copley
  4. Activity: As a staff volunteer with PANDA, a youth organization targeting middle school students in an effort to prevent drug and alcohol abuse, Melisa organizes camps, meetings, activities, meals and family groups for students.

OKLAHOMA

  1. Crider, Jonathan
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Marlow
  4. Activity: After hearing a public service announcement that children near his town were going to bed hungry, Jonathan wanted to help make a difference and through fundraising efforts, speaking engagements and community involvement, he has raised more than $80,000 for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma's Food for Kids program which benefits more than 500 chronically hungry children in 24 elementary schools.
  1. Reynolds, Hannah
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Midwest City
  4. Activity: Hannah has spent more than 200 hours helping a classmate with special needs, including helping him stay focused on school, preparing for tests and encouraging him to try his best.

OREGON

  1. Ferguson, Matthew
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Hillsboro
  4. Activity: After his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Matthew raised $150,000 to create Matt's Chemo Bags, which consisted of comfort items and were given to cancer patients to keep their mind off of the treatment.
  1. McDaniel, Rheanna
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Scio
  4. Activity: After hearing that a school in Africa needed school uniforms in order to get financial aid from the government, Rheanna held a fundraiser and raised enough money and materials to make all 460 uniforms needed along with providing school supplies, shoes, books and medicine for the children.

PENNSYLVANIA

  1. Catley, Bobby
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Aliquippa
  4. Activity: Bobby has volunteered and given back to his school and community through a school mentoring program and founding Caring Caf, a coffee shop at school, where 100 percent of the proceeds go to an organization that helps families deal with the loss of a loved one.
  1. Fields, Grace
  2. Age: 8
  3. City: Sciota
  4. Activity: Losing her sister to a hematologic disorder inspired Grace to hold a toy drive and collect $10,000 in toy donations for children in the hospital to enjoy over the holidays.
  1. Forte, Vincent
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Lancaster
  4. Activity: After raising more than $70,000 to help his family fund a surgery for his sick brother, Vincent founded Silent Heroes for Brave Children, an organization that provides financial assistance to any family in Pennsylvania who has a child with a life-threatening illness.
  1. Horowitz, Jeffrey
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Wynnewood
  4. Activity: Jeffrey dedicated 500 hours volunteering in numerous fundraisers and charities and has collected $5,000 to give back to organizations such as UNICEF, UMCOR and Operation Santa.
  1. Kelly, Matthew
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Southampton
  4. Activity: After overcoming a rare form of anemia, Matthew wanted to bring new hope to sick children and show them that there will be a better tomorrow, so he started The New Hope Foundation, an organization devoted to bringing toys to children in the hospital year round.
  1. Morgan, Emily
  2. Age: 16
  3. City: Moscow
  4. Activity: Emily has made it her mission to personally connect with children as a role model to teach community youth how to really devour a good book, so through her program, How to Eat a Book, Emily has raised more than $23,000 worth of supplies and built six literacy centers filled with new books, bookcases and learning supplies including games, puzzles and journals.
  1. Rhodes, Abbey
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Hanover
  4. Activity: After a serious health scare, Abbey was dedicated to showing her appreciation for life and helping others and started The Teddy Bear Toss at her high school where people attending sporting events would all toss stuffed animals onto the court during halftime. Abbey has collected and donated more than 7,000 stuffed animals for children with cancer and more than $5,000 from various fundraising efforts for John Hopkins Hospital.
  1. Shilling, Stephen
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: McMurray
  4. Activity: Stephen believes every child should have a pair of shoes to walk in, so he collected more than 5,500 pairs of shoes in just under a year that were sent to kids in need in Haiti, India, Africa, Japan and throughout the United States.
  1. Swift, Chandler
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Parkesburg
  4. Activity: Her diagnosis of dyslexia inspired Chandler to start Princess Storytime, a program that promotes reading early and often and encourages young readers to overcome reading challenges.
  1. Trojak, Katharine
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Churchville
  4. Activity: The earthquake in Japan inspired Katharine to collect $10,000 worth of donated supplies to send to victims in Japan, along with victims of other natural disasters around the world.
  1. Yorty, Stuart
  2. Age: 15
  3. City: Waynesboro
  4. Activity: Stuart founded Operation GiveBack and with the help of volunteers in his community, collected enough food, toiletry items, letters from local students and a video documenting the community's appreciation for their service to send care packages to more than 525 soldiers overseas.

RHODE ISLAND

  1. Lin, Cassandra
  2. Age: 13
  3. City: Westerly
  4. Activity: Cassandra started TGIF (Turn Grease Into Fuel), a program that uses a sustainable system that collects grease, refines it into biodiesel and gives the fuel to needy families. She works with local biofuel companies to recycle the grease and with local charities to identify families that need heating assistance, through which she has helped more than 140 families stay warm during the winter.

SOUTH CAROLINA

  1. Foster, Caitlyn
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Simpsonville
  4. Activity: To help a local home for abused and neglected children fund the building of a new wheelchair-accessible house, Caitlyn recruited and rallied the support of her school's more than 2,000 students who raised more than $100,000 over their homecoming week to build the house.
  1. Wilson, Clara
  2. Age: 8
  3. City: Columbia
  4. Activity: Following in her grandfathers philanthropic footsteps, Clara began making and selling Cool Jewels for Charity and with the help of friends and family, raised more than $11,000 to rebuild a school for children in Vietnam.

SOUTH DAKOTA

  1. Gordon, Danika
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Whitewood
  4. Activity: After a tragic accident involving a fellow student, Danika formed a safety group at school called Be Safe; Be A Winner, in which she increased safety awareness among her classmates by holding various safety projects and school announcements and using a grant to buy bike safety books for the second and third grade students.

TENNESSEE

  1. Allen, Calleigh
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Sevierville
  4. Activity: Calleigh created the 2012 Prom Expo at her high school to provide affordable formalwear and through her efforts, collected more than 120 dresses, 40 pairs of shoes and jewelry. The event was held at her school where each shopper was assigned an attendant to assist them and all profits raised were donated to Juvenile Diabeties Research Fund.

TEXAS

  1. Albert, Zoe
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Allen
  4. Activity: Zoe started Faux Paws, a nonprofit that makes, advertises and sells faux fur flip flops and has donated more than $17,000 in proceeds to animal advocacy groups.
  1. Garcia, Lauren
  2. Age: 16
  3. City: El Paso
  4. Activity: Lauren, along with a group of concerned citizens, opened the San Elizario Food Bank, which today feeds more than 1,000 families every week, to help underprivileged people who have been granted political asylum into the United States from dangerous areas in Mexico.
  1. Hernandez, Aubrie
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Robstown
  4. Activity: Aubrie has volunteered approximately 120 hours with various organizations, including helping to collect 300 pounds of food and toiletries for a local food bank, cleaning a park during a community cleanup effort and helping the local police department during a safety rally for young children.
  1. Jess, Carolyn
  2. Age: 11
  3. City: Lake Jackson
  4. Activity: Carolyn created an educational website to inform people about endangered animals and collect donations for the cause and also has forgone gifts on several occasions in lieu of donations to help these animals.
  1. Kirkpatrick, Alyse
  2. Age: 7
  3. City: Burleson
  4. Activity: Alyse founded Pageant Queens Gone Green to educate others on the importance of keeping the environment clean and exemplifies this through her personal recycling and cleanup efforts. Alyse is also involved with Cooks Children's Hospital and was instrumental in collecting items to fill more than 300 Easter baskets for children at the hospital.
  1. Lamm, Jacob
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Magnolia
  4. Activity: With the help of an afterschool volunteer program, Jacob started Building H.O.P.E. (Helping Others Play Everyday), to rebuild a community park that had been destroyed in recent wildfires. Jacob and his fellow students have gone door-to-door to collect donations and are on their way to reaching their $60,000 goal.
  1. Lewis, Allison
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Garland
  4. Activity: After discovering there was only one wheelchair-accessible local park, Allison, a child with special needs, went to the city council to present the issue and helped persuade her local government to allocate approximately $500,000 to make the local parks accessible to those with physical disabilities.
  1. Neville, Garrett
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: The Woodlands
  4. Activity: After meeting a homeless man who had his feet amputated due to frostbite, Garrett created Good Soles Montgomery County Shoe and Sock Donation Center to give clean shoes and socks at no charge to those in need. Under Garrett's leadership, the organization has collected more than 10,000 pairs of shoes, created a 24-hour drop box for donations, enlisted corporate sponsorships and marketed the organization through print and radio advertisements.
  1. Orozco, Monica
  2. Age: 8
  3. City: Irving
  4. Activity: With a passion for reading and helping others, Monica raised enough money to purchase more than 2,350 new and gently used books which she gifted to every student at her elementary school over the holiday season.
  1. Pimentel, Victoria
  2. Age: 15
  3. City: Southlake
  4. Activity: Victoria started Operation Sweet 16 to support service members and has raised approximately $13,000 by organizing various fundraising events including a dog parade and shopping event.
  1. Ricks, Matthew
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Grand Prairie
  4. Activity: Matthew is an active member of Disaster Care Ministry for a local church and was instrumental in delivering more than 500 buckets filled with cleaning supplies to victims of floods and tornadoes and has traveled to Louisiana to help people affected by hurricane Katrina.
  1. Schroeter, Barton Buck
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Austin
  4. Activity: After battling cancer, Barton Buck created Bucks Barn, an organization that has provided more than 1,500 free presents to young cancer patients who are unable to leave the hospital to shop for their family's gifts over the holidays.
  1. Sumner, Jayson
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: Converse
  4. Activity: Growing up with a mom with congestive heart failure motivated Jayson to not only participate in the national fundraiser for the American Heart Association and Jump Rope for Heart, but to raise the most money in his school. Jayson succeeded by raising $1,000 more than anyone else in his district.
  1. Tedrowe, Michelle
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: San Antonio
  4. Activity: Michelle partnered with a local nonprofit organization, Any Baby Can, to create an exercise program for autistic children to prevent obesity, which led to a grant of nearly $1 million dollars to be used over the next five years.
  1. Thomas, Bethany
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Beaumont
  4. Activity: Driven by a passion to help young girls, Bethany has spent the past three years volunteering as a dance coach for children and acting as an inspiration to many.

UTAH

  1. Neeley, Tanner
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: West Weber
  4. Activity: Inspired to find a way for everyone to have access to fresh, healthy meat, Tanner has raised more than $5,000 to purchase young steers which he has raised and will donate to the Utah Food Bank.
  1. Struble, Katelyn
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Willard
  4. Activity: When Katelyn learned of the tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, she held a fundraiser and organized a 5K race that raised $1,200 and collected numerous letters of encouragement from her community to send to the students of Joplin High School.

VIRGINIA

  1. Bowling, Unity
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Henrico
  4. Activity: In an effort to eradicate illiteracy, Unity has raised more than $3,000, collected more than 3,000 books for donation and has also created a library of English/Spanish bilingual books in Dominican Republic so English-speaking volunteers can teach Spanish-speaking children how to read in both languages.
  1. Cai, Christopher
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Fredericksburg
  4. Activity: Christopher established an HIV community service organization called Let's Reach Out, through which he gives lectures at schools and HIV awareness events, distributes a newsletter throughout his county and presents monthly support groups for HIV patients.
  1. Levy, Gabrielle
  2. Age: 9
  3. City: Centreville
  4. Activity: Gabrielle founded Caring Kids Cards, a nonprofit organization that sends cards and care packages, more than 10,000 to date, around the world to firefighters, police officers, senior citizens, people in the hospital, military personnel, veterans and children who have lost their parents.
  1. Smith, Mariah
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Virginia Beach
  4. Activity: Mariah founded Blankets for the Homeless in Hampton Roads, in which she has donated more than 2,000 blankets and brown bag lunches to those in need in the Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Norfolk areas.
  1. York, Kate
  2. Age: 14
  3. City: Reston
  4. Activity: Through her organization, Show You Care, Kate has volunteered more than 500 hours and has shipped nearly 3,000 care packages to soldiers in the Middle East.

VERMONT

  1. Wheeler, Autumn
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Barre
  4. Activity: Since 2004, Autumn has volunteered to help collect, clean and distribute toys for Toy Joy, a program that collects and distributes gently used toys to children.

WASHINGTON

  1. Aney, Abbey
  2. Age: 8
  3. City: Monroe
  4. Activity: For the past four years, Abbey has spent her free time collecting money through chores, garage sales and lemonade stands in order to donate more than 5,000 new toys to a local food bank so every child feels loved during the holidays.
  1. Bervell, Joel
  2. Age: 16
  3. City: Snohomish
  4. Activity: As founder and president of Hugs for Ghana, Joel has fundraised more than $7,000 through various donation drives and has delivered more than 6,000 school supplies, $2,000 worth of medical supplies and more than 5,000 teddy bears to Ghanaian children.

WEST VIRGINIA

  1. Greer, Christopher
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Bridgeport
  4. Activity: With the help of his brother, Christopher built a playground for children with physical disabilities and returns yearly to clean, landscape and maintain the grounds.
  1. Towson, Kaitlynn
  2. Age: 8
  3. City: Fairmont
  4. Activity: As a member of the organization Pay It Forward, Kaitlynn volunteers to help people in need including collecting more than $3,000 and household items for tornado victims.

WISCONSIN

  1. Adams, Cheri'A
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Milwaukee
  4. Activity: Cheri'A consistently demonstrates the spirit of giving at her school by volunteering more than 100 hours assisting children with special needs in class to finish work and helping to calm them when they have challenging behavior.
  1. Brown, Sanay
  2. Age: 18
  3. City: Milwaukee
  4. Activity: Sanay is a Pathfinders Peer Advocate for the local youth center and spends her time helping to empower youth in need and also working with other young kids to develop and build leadership skills who want to volunteer for the program.
  1. Couillard, Haley
  2. Age: 10
  3. City: New Berlin
  4. Activity: After being crowned Miss Wisconsin Pre-Teen, Haley started getting involved in many charities, including donating thousands of stuffed animals to Goodwill and helping to organize and donate more than $3,000 in care packages for the troops overseas.
  1. Gavigan, Mary
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Fitchburg
  4. Activity: Mary founded the Friendship Bracelet Club at her school, in which kids made and sold friendship bracelets with all profits donated to the American Family Children's Hospital.
  1. Hakenjos, Conner
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Green Bay
  4. Activity: After struggling with a serious childhood illness, Conner created Conner's Care For Kids to help sick kids and has recently recruited every classroom at his school to collect art supplies to donate to children.
  1. Ricchio, Breanna
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Kenosha
  4. Activity: Breanna felt that everyone deserved a pair of winter gloves, so she created Project Winter Warmth, through which she collected more than 900 sets of new hats, scarves and gloves to be donated to those in need.
  1. Szprejda, Zachary
  2. Age: 17
  3. City: Pembine
  4. Activity: Zachary founded, advertised and organized the Pembine Community Run where more than 50 runners participated raising more than $1,170 which was donated to establish a cross country team at his high school.
  1. Turfle, Taylor
  2. Age: 12
  3. City: Lake Mills
  4. Activity: A big fan of animals, Taylor decided to give up her Christmas gifts and instead use the money to buy supplies for the local humane society to help animals in need.

Questions? Contact ACT Customer Service at (319) 341-2932 or kohls@act.org.