Gavin Bennett, 17
Brampton, Ontario

Gavin Bennett had a desire to mentor underprivileged youth in his city of Brampton.

As a result, he founded Rivera Technologies, a non-profit organization that offers youth from underprivileged families the opportunity for computer literacy training in partnership with the United Achievers.

It is Gavin's goal that through his computer training program, enrolled youth will learn discipline and develop problem-solving skills in a fun learning environment, and subsequently excel in their academics despite their socio-economic circumstances.

For his consistent and dedicated efforts, Gavin has earned the Inspiring Youth Award, the City of Brampton Volunteer Award, and was nominated for the Ontario Junior Citizen Award. He has also been appointed the Chair of the Brampton Mayor's Youth Council, which advocates on behalf of all youth in the city of Brampton

Prerna Chandak, 19
Windsor, Ontario

Prerna Chandak believes that there is nothing more powerful than the power behind an idea, and that there is nothing more noble to pursue than a dream.

The idea that Prerna turned into reality was becoming a 'life advocate' - a term she has coined for encouraging young people through her own actions on a day-to-day basis to do what they dream.

Prerna completed over 800 hours of community volunteer service in her home town of Mississauga, ON, even while completing her last four years of high school in the span of three.

In 2004, she received the volunteer Recognition Award from World Vision Canada. In 2005, Prerna successfully convinced the Mayor of Windsor to create a Mayor's Youth Advisory Committee to represent, engage and connect with youth in Windsor.

More recently, Prerna's efforts have turned to fostering youth entrepreneurship. As a member of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce, Prerna created Windsor's first networking forum for young entrepreneurs to learn and interact with one another. This forum has since expanded to include the first international partnership between two Chamber of Commerce organizations (Detroit & Windsor), to promote youth entrepreneurship.

Cody Clark has always wanted to help others, ever since his parents were diagnosed with cancer. The empathy that Cody shows for others comes from deep within, and a visit to the Emergency Department at Kemptville District Hospital prompted Cody to develop the idea for "Cody's Individual Comfort Kits".

These individual kits are given to young patients to help make their visit to the hospital a more comfortable and less frightening experience.

The free kits, for children aged infant to 16, contain books, blankets, videos, toys, rattles and other things to make a child's stay at the hospital easier.

In four years, Cody has delivered 235 of these kits and has raised over $25,000. Cody was named an Ontario Junior Citizen of the Year for 2002 and was selected as North Grenville's Hal Anthony Citizen of the Year in 2003.

In 2005, Cody received the Governor General's Caring Canadian award for outstanding volunteer efforts. He was elected into the Kids Hall of Fame in 2005.

In 2006, April Dutheil took the initiative to organize a meeting with her local fire chief, medical first responder and neighbouring ambulance attendants to discuss ways to improve health care for the approximately 6,000 people who call the Queen Charlotte Islands home.

April identified a need for an increased number of trained public volunteers as the nearest ambulance was typically 25 minutes away, with the closest hospital being 40 minutes away.

After securing a community grant, April organized two free CPR-C courses which educated 24 people from all across the Island. Given that the Island has no cell phone service, knowing CPR is an essential tool that can be the difference between life and death for residents.

As April has been accepted into Pre-Med , her commitment to improving health care will surely continue on.