For Immediate Release:
September 9, 2005
Contact:
Yolanda G. Santos
Telephone: 214 824 1122
E-mail: YSantos@campfireusadallas.org
CAMP FIRE USA CONFERS HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT TO YOUTH LEADER
[DALLAS]
– Leadership, teaching, service and advocacy. That’s how thousands
of teens across the country spend hours and hours each week as they work
toward the Wohelo Award, the highest achievement in Camp Fire USA, one of
the nation’s leading youth development organizations.
Katie Rochelle Linman of Camp Fire USA Lone Star Council has successfully completed the requirements for Camp Fire USA’s highest honor. Katie received her Wohelo Award in a special ceremony on August 27, 2005, at the council office at 4411 Skillman, Dallas, Texas 75206. Katie, a senior at Flower Mound High School, is the daughter of Craig and Brenda Linman. She has been a member of Camp Fire USA since 1999. In order to receive the Wohelo Award, Katie carried out an action plan that included using her artistic and creative skills to brighten the lives of several groups in her community.
Katie created and ran two Camp Fire USA council-wide workshops to help members earn the "Salute to Hospitalized Veterans" emblem. She collected and prepared materials to make 12 different types of valentine cards, organized helpers, sought out speakers for the events, and ran the workshops. Three hundred cards were created each year and delivered to the Dallas VA Medical Center.
Katie initiated a program of making seasonal crafts for the residents of a local care home and then delivering them seven times each year. This involved deciding on crafts, gathering supplies, completing projects, and arranging to deliver them. She also enlisted the help of others. This project has been ongoing for five years.
Katie also headed a project to make and provide baby quilts for the clients of the Advocacy and Pregnancy Center. She gathered donated materials, cut and ironed quilt squares, compiled quilt kits, recruited people to sew, taught sewing techniques, and delivered completed quilts. Over 130 baby quilts have been completed and donated.
The Wohelo Award is an intensive, individualized project that is designed by the individual youth. Recipients have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to Camp Fire USA’s history and values, and they have also advocated for improved social conditions. The word Wohelo comes from the first two letters of the words work, health and love. In 1910, Wohelo was coined as the organization’s watchword. Each year, approximately 200 youth nationally receive this prestigious award.
Camp Fire USA youth interested in receiving the Wohelo Award generally begin the process in 10th or 11th grade. Nationally adopted guidelines with a series of steps provide the starting point for youth; each individual is responsible for creating his or her own action plan. For those outstanding youth who complete the demanding requirements, the process can take two years.
“Earning the Wohelo Award takes an enormous commitment,” said Tim James, Lone Star Council Executive Director. “It is important that these youth have the support of not only their local Camp Fire USA councils, but also of their families, friends and communities when they begin this endeavor. We take great pride in what this accomplishment means to youth and to what it means to the communities they serve.”
The Wohelo Award helps foster key developmental assets in youth, such as service to others, constructive use of time, planning and decision making, and self-esteem. The Wohelo Award allows Camp Fire USA to serve its mission of building caring, confident youth and future leaders.
"I get a lot of satisfaction out of making nice things and seeing them enjoyed by others. I learned that community service does not need to be dull. To make community service fun, look at your own interests and talents, and then see how you can use them to help others in your community. That way community service does not become boring or just a chore you have to do."
Camp Fire USA is one of the nation’s leading not-for-profit youth development organizations, serving over 750,000 participants annually. Camp Fire, with national headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, since 1977, provides all-inclusive, coeducational programs in hundreds of communities across the United States. Camp Fire USA’s mission is to build caring, confident youth and future leaders. By design, Camp Fire’s programs, including small group experiences, after school programs, camping and environmental education, child care and service learning, build confidence in younger children and provide hands-on, youth-driven leadership experiences for older youth. For more information, visit www.campfireusa.org.
Serving Dallas since 1913, Camp Fire USA Lone Star Council provides after-school, youth development programs at little to no cost to over 7,000 youth and adults, primarily from low-income families. For more information about the Lone Star Council, please call (214) 824-1122 or visit www.campfireusadallas.org.
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