A junior at Park Center and only sixteen years old, Ashlee Kephart is no typical eleventh grader. With a published book, more than 5000 volunteer hours, and a founder of a non profit organization… she definitely exceeds the title of just another student in high school. Ashlee has had many achievements and it all started at a very young age. A few of her accomplishments include her book called “A Special Way of Remembering When a Parent Dies”, and the non profit organization she started called Kids for a Better World.

Kids for a Better World, is a charitable non profit organization that consists of little programs put into one. Before Ashlee founded Kids for a Better World, she was in Girl Scouts and supported the individual programs by doing garage sales. Now, she has her own board and volunteers to help. The organization was started to incorporate all the programs and spread the news to assist more people not only in the community, but also globally. Music from the Heart, Caring Bags for the Homeless, and Walk in My Shoes are a few donation efforts that her organization has developed. Each program focuses on helping individuals, children and families in need. Donations have helped many around the world, including people in Kenya and Liberia.

Ashlee is fully committed to her organization and school. She manages to balance her school work, fit in extra curricular activities, and is still able to contribute her time to help others. Her extra curricular activities include Mock Trial and Orchestra Pit for the musicals. Having a job and going to school isn’t unusual for students, the only difference with Ashlee’s job is that she doesn’t get paid. For Ashlee, having a real paying job is not a priority at the time. She plans on getting a job when she goes to college and will continue her involvement with Kids for a Better World. Receiving thank you letters and pictures from the people she has helped has been fulfilling and rewarding enough.

Recently, Ashlee was named one of the most caring young adults in America. She was given the award as one of the 2008 National Caring Award Young Adult Winners. This award is given out yearly to the most caring youth and most caring adults in America by the Caring Institute. With this award, Ashlee will travel to Washington, D.C. for the National Caring Awards ceremony to be honored with four other young adult winners.

“Seeing a need and trying to fulfill it”, is what motivates Ashlee to keep doing the programs. And she’s definitely doing a great job at it. She plans to open a chapter in Liberia in the future to help even more people in need. If you want to help with donations to any of her programs, you can visit the website www.kidsforabetterworld.com for more information. Spread the word so that you can help Ashlee fulfill the needs of others.

-Maria Pham, PCSH Webteam