Fifth Annual Power of Children Awards: Making a Difference
Awards Presented November 6 at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis will present the fifth annual Power of Children Awards to six Indiana youths during a ceremony on November 6 at The Children's Museum. The 2009 winners are: Jacob Allen Baldwin for Project K.I.D.; Carah Austin for her project History Makers of the Future, Inc.; Amber Kriech for her work on the Library and Media Center for the East Tenth United Methodist Children and Youth Center; Dale Pedzinski for his project Thumb Drives for the Homeless; Olivia Rusk for her video project "I Could Be Great;" and Kaylee Shirrell for Hats of Hope.

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis recognizes that children and young people make significant contributions and provide countless hours of volunteer service to make their communities better. In 2004, The Power of Children Awards were created by The Children's Museum to honor and empower middle- and high-school students who make selfless contributions. These awards help children and families realize that others in their communities perform extraordinary acts and that good deeds should be recognized.

The Power of Children Awards were inspired by the museum's dynamic exhibit, The Power of Children: Making a Difference. This moving exhibit focuses on three nationally and internationally known extraordinary young people who touched the world in unique ways—Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White.

"This year celebrates the fifth annual Power of Children Awards and recognizes six extraordinary youth from Indiana, the largest group the museum has had the privilege to present with a Power of Children Award," said Dr. Jeffrey Patchen, president and CEO of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. "The Power of Children Awards remain a unique and important way to recognize the powerful work that young people accomplish. These six youths have touched lives locally, nationally and internationally and this award will allow them to continue their work of making a difference in the world."

This year, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is honoring six youth role models who exemplify an extraordinary commitment to public service and social responsibility. During the November 6 awards presentation, the 2009 winners will each receive a $2,000 grant courtesy of the Kroger Foundation to extend the depth and reach of their extraordinary projects. Winners will also receive a Sam H. Jones Community Service Scholarship to be used for post-secondary education at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) or a scholarship for the University of Indianapolis, and a museum membership. The 2009 awards ceremony will be emceed by Joy Dumandan of 24-Hour News 8.

The Deborah Joy Simon Charitable Trust generously provided a major gift to support the establishment and continuation of The Power of Children Awards. Additional support has been provided by Kroger, Crowe Horwath LLP, Starbucks Foundation, Duke Energy, NCAA Hall of Champions, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, Herff Jones, IUPUI, University of Indianapolis, and WISH-TV 8.

To be considered for The Power of Children Awards, Indiana youth in grades 6–11 were nominated by adults, 21 years or older, who reside in Indiana. The nominees had to be individuals who actively created and implemented their projects during the 2008–2009 school year.

2009 Power of Children Award winners:
While volunteering with Project K.I.D., a national nonprofit emergency childcare preparedness organization, 15-year-old Jacob Allen Baldwin learned about Project K.I.D.'s Play Care capability, which provides respite childcare for emergency victims. The Carmel resident decided to help fill this gap of care in his home county. After working to obtain $3,000 in grant money and donations from local merchants, Jacob created a kit that will be activated in emergencies by Riverview Hospital to care for first responders' children, allowing them greater flexibility to work in times of disaster. Because of the success of his work, Project K.I.D. is now replicating the model at other hospitals in Indiana and around the country. Additionally, Jacob's team designed an affordable portable fencing system that is lightweight, requires minimal storage space, and can be easily erected, allowing the improvement of the safe perimeter that is critical to Play Care sites. Jacob's project is making a difference by raising awareness of the needs of children in disasters and demonstrating a viable solution that can be implemented both locally and nationally.

In 2007, Whiteland resident Carah Austin created History Makers of the Futureas a program of her previously established Find a Book a Home Foundation. Through the annual History Maker's Program, 120 children of financial and educational need have the opportunity to take an all-expense-paid trip to Madison, Ind., one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the U.S., to study Indiana history. The Whiteland Community High School sophomore hopes to carry on this program and establish it as a permanent project for her school to continue upon her graduation.

While visiting the East Tenth United Methodist Children and Youth Center, 14-year-old Amber Kriech learned of the church's desire to have a library and media center. An avid reader herself, Amber wanted to take on the project and volunteered her time to make this dream a reality. The Carmel resident purchased gently used books and furnishings for the library and, with items donated by Lowe's Hardware, built six bookcases to house more than 2,000 books the center had previously stored in boxes that were inaccessible to the center's youth because they could not be properly catalogued. Amber went on to recruit 30 people to assist her efforts and has raised money to help with the ongoing work of the Youth Center Library and Media Center.

During his junior year at Cathedral High School, Dale Pedzinski learned of Horizon House's need for volunteers to provide computer training for the homeless. The Arcadia, Ind. resident took on this volunteer opportunity and, after working with the homeless who visit the shelter, learned they needed resumes that could be updated and carried with them electronically rather than in a printed format, which can be hard to carry and store. To address this need, Dale wrote and was awarded a United Way grant for "Thumb Drives for Homeless" to supply USB Storage Drives to individuals who use the shelter's computer training services. As a result of Dale's efforts, 100 USB drives have been purchased along with workbooks and training certificates. He plans to keep this program running with assistance from future Cathedral High School seniors.

Twelve-year-old Olivia Rusk is living with alopecia, an autoimmune condition that causes hair loss. Because of her firsthand experience with alopecia, Olivia wanted to educate others about the condition and share her message that "it's OK to be different." With help from volunteers and local businesses, the Fishers, Ind. youth wrote, filmed and produced a music video titled "I Could Be Great!" that has been viewed on YouTube and on www.alopeciaworld.com by people from all over the world. Her music video has brought many letters from those inspired by her work. Olivia is currently developing additional educational opportunities to reach even more people with her message.

When Kaylee Shirrell's grandmother was experiencing hair loss following chemotherapy, the 17-year-old created a special loom-knitted hat for her. This gave Kaylee the idea to create more hats for other cancer patients who would benefit from these "Hats of Hope." The Brownsburg, Ind. teen was able to raise funds and volunteer support to create more than 300 hats that were donated to the American Cancer Society, Hendricks Regional Health Cancer Center, IU Simon Cancer Center, Little Red Door Cancer Agency, Riley Hospital, St. Francis Mooresville, St. Vincent Children's Cancer Center, St. Vincent Outpatient Cancer Center, Westview Hospital and the Wishard EMBRACE program. Kaylee continues to grow her Hats of Hope project by educating more volunteers on how to loom a hat. Her goal is to see Hats of Hope expand nationally.

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