It all began with an orange box. The 2009 Youth Citizenship Award Winner Heather Styles, a Lakeview Academy senior, says she knew very little about preparing a budget, project management or motivating people until she won the Cyworld Community Grant contest. The box contained her award letter and all the material necessary to make her project a reality.

An active volunteer at Good News at Noon in Hall County, a homeless shelter and feeding program, Heather noticed the living quarters in the men’s shelter and thought she could make a difference. Her essay and application lead to Heather’s being one of five recipients selected from across the United States.

“To get started, I met with the Good News Board of Directors, the shelter director and reported weekly to the Cyworld financial manager to get the project organized,” recalls Heather. “Realizing I couldn’t complete the project by myself, I enlisted my classmates, and it became a class project. We scheduled and planned work days to clean, paint, assemble new furniture, refinish cabinets, decorate the shelter with new curtains, pictures, rugs, sofas, bedding and more.”

The group also installed new vents, blinds, bathroom fixtures and cabinets. The makeover quickly became a community project with parents, teachers and students volunteering their time and talent. Cyworld sent a film crew from California to film and evaluate the project.

Although Heather says this project was a great learning experience, she’s also active in several other community service-based organizations. Her 3,000 hours of volunteering includes Key Club, church nursery and a variety of school activities. Heather’s Youth Citizenship Award earns her a delegate spot on the Washington Youth Tour, $2,000 college scholarship and $1,000 grant to the community organization of her choice. Heather is the daughter of Randy and Holly Styles of Cumming.

Clockwise from top left: John Dial, Daniel
Tilden, Hope Wooster, Christy Lyles,
Heather Styles

Out of 78 participants in this year’s Youth Citizenship competition, five finalists were selected for the interview round. Christy Lyles of Grayson High School, daughter of Kathy Lyles of Loganville, is this year’s runner-up. Other finalists are John Dial of Madison County High School, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Tom Dial of Colbert; Daniel Tilden of Heritage Academy, son of Mark and Linda Tilden of Hoschton; and Hope Wooster of Greater Atlanta Christian School, daughter of Ed and Lisa Wooster of Suwanee.

The finalists each received a prize pack including an Apple iPod® Shuffle and an iTunes gift card.

For more information about the Youth Citizenship Award, go to www.jacksonemc.com/citizenship or search Jackson EMC on YouTube and Facebook.