For
Immediate Release:
September 9, 2005
Contact:
Yolanda G. Santos
Telephone: 214 824 1122
E-mail:
[email protected]
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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