Dustin Garron
Renfrew, ON
Age at time of award: 17

Following a lengthy six-month stay in the hospital for treatment of depression, Dustin emerged with a new lease on life, determined to become a beacon for other teens who are struggling with the pressures of growing up and coming into their own.

He founded The Mental Health Project to educate teens about the resources available to help them cope with depression and to encourage a full recovery.

Through motivational speaking presentations at schools, this seven-time suicide survivor says, “We live in a hard society and [The Mental Health Project] makes it its mission to help teens get through their teenager years. Together, we can do this.”

The Mental Health Project is currently working on developing a peer-to-peer hotline where kids are able to call in and speak to a person who knows exactly what they are going through.

Brooke Harrison
Aurora, ON
Age at time of award: 18

At the age of 13, Brooke started the very first Youth Advisory Council (Y.A.C.) at the Philip Aziz Centre for Hospice Care in Toronto.

The centre, a non-profit organization, offers support to people living with cancer, HIV/AIDS, as well as many other illnesses.

The Y.A.C. comes from humble beginnings. What started off as Brooke and four friends meeting at her dining room table, has now grown into a twelve member council who work diligently to raise awareness and sponsorships for the Y.A.C.’s annual golf tournament.

Over four years, Y.A.C. has raised almost $110,000; however, Brooke’s philanthropic efforts don’t stop there.

Both of her charity cook books, “Cookin’ in Brooke’s Kitchen,” have raised over $60,000 for childhood leukemia research and help to fund three research fellowships.

Danny Huang
Edmonton, AB
Age at time of award: 18

During his time as a research student at a pediatric oncology lab, Danny had the opportunity to mentor a Rural Alberta student, Sarah, who explained to him that research and scholastic opportunities were not widely promoted in her community.

To bridge this information gap, Danny co-founded TeamUP Science, which established three science programs aimed to inspire under-represented youth in academic and scientific discovery.

In the lab, Danny’s work with Prostate Cancer has received national recognition, including Best-in-Fair honors at the Canada Wide Science Fair and he has co-authored a chapter published in the peer-reviewed textbook, Prostate Cancer: From Bench to Bedside.

In addition to his research, Danny also founded the first Kids Help Phone Student Committee, a team that works with the Edmonton Kids Help Phone director to fundraise and spotlight the importance of mental health education.

Anjan Katta
Vancouver, BC
Age at time of award: 18

While on a summer vacation in India, Anjan volunteered in Mumbai’s Dharavi Slums.

He soon realized that kids were not given access to an education because of a significant lack of qualified teachers.

Similarly, in BC, Anjan realized Model UN (MUN) – a combination of public speaking, debating and problem solving – was neither affordable nor accessible to the average high school student.

As a result, Anjan founded the British Columbia Model United Nations (BCMUN) and Voice of Youth (VOY). BCMUN provides ‘affordable, accessible, and accommodating’ MUN conferences to students across the province, and VOY hires teachers for the slum schools in Mumbai in the hopes of providing an education to more kids: the two work in combination, through a social entrepreneurial model where money raised from BCMUN goes towards VOY.

After lobbying to raise the minimum wage for teachers, Anjan with VOY hired 4 teachers, giving the opportunity of an education to hundreds of kids; in BC, his conferences attracted hundreds of students and raised over $18,000.