Maren Beeston, 17
Hanna, Alberta

Maren Beeston recognized there was a lack of music instruction, variety in instrument instruction and vocal teachers in the small town of Hanna Alberta - population of 3,000 and home of Nickelback!

She addressed this challenge by founding Summer Slam, a summer rock music school that focused on guitar, piano, drums and vocals. She successfully established and led a committee of youth to budget, fundraise and coordinate this project.

Summer Slam is in its third year of operation and is more than providing youth with accessible music instruction - it is about connecting young people with a similar passion who would otherwise not have had the chance to play in a group or meet each other.

Maren also co-founded the Hanna Paper Recycling project and works as a youth leadership coordinator for this project to recruit and maintain the youth workforce. This which is building positive business and voluntary sector relationships for youth in her community.

She is a founding member of the Hanna youth council, and has used a youth needs survey to improve local youth activities.

Maren has also been awardedthe Canadian Merit Foundation Scholarship, National Award.

Edona Çaku, 19
Toronto, Ontario

Edona Çaku immigrated to Toronto in 2000 and watched in horror as buildings in her hometown of Shkoder, Albania was being destroyed by a civil war - in particular the town's only public library. Edona vowed to replenish the shelves of the newly built library. She set a goal of sending 4000 books to Shkoder, Albania.

Edona's project was done in collaboration with Herbert H. Carnegie Future Aces Foundation. In 2004, Edona worked tirelessly and networked with many different non-governmental organizations, community groups and the federal government to realize her dream of filling the shelves of the library of her hometown. The Friends of the Toronto Reference Library, Highland Heights Junior Public School, and other community groups helped Edona achieve her donation goal of 4000 books.

Edona is currently a third year university student. She studies Medical Radiation Science at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and The Michener Institute of Applied Health Sciences.

Edona has also been awarded seven national scholarships including the Millennium Excellence Award, Canadian Merit Scholarship and Miller Thomson National Scholarship. She was recognized with the 2005 Youth New Pioneers Award, which honors the achievements of immigrants in Canada.
 

Stephanie Dotto, 18
Kirkland, Québec

After hearing a speaker at her school say that teens do not think they can make a difference in the lives of children around the world, Stephanie Dotto decided to try and make a difference in the lives of African children by traveling to Malawi and providing shoes, medicines and educational opportunities.

Through Stephanie's leadership and her charitable organization  "It All Started With The Shoes", over 1200 pairs of 'gently used' shoes were sent to children in Malawi Africa; over 700lbs of antibiotics, anti-malarials, vitamins were donated to a local hospital in Malawi; over $35,000 was raised to help build a school and a nutrition center named "Stephanie's Kitchen" was added to a local hospital to teach mothers of malnourished babies how to add more nutrients to their cooking.

Stephanie has taken to speaking to schools and at conferences in hopes of inspiring other teens to believe that they can make a difference. She was named "West Islander of the Year' by the Chronicle, a West Island Newspaper.

Ryan Hreljac, 13
Kemptville, Ontario

At the age of 6, Ryan Hreljac listened intently when his grade one teacher talked about the plight of people in Africa who had to walk many kilometers every day just to fetch water. Meanwhile, he was merely seven steps away from clean water. At that time, Ryan decided to raise $70 to build a well for a village in Africa.

Through the Ryan's Well Foundation, over 1 million dollars has been raised and has supported more than 142 water and sanitation projects in eight developing countries, seven of which are in Africa.

Ryan's Well Foundation has leveraged both partnerships and pennies to provide safe, clean water to over 210,000 people. His goal is to bring clean water to over a billion people who do not have it.

Ryan has received many accolades including the 2003 Order of Ontario - Ontario's highest honour.

next