Cool running
First-year student was nominated to run the torch in Canada because of her extensive volunteer work.
Anne Kuenzie
Issue date: 1/26/10 Section: News
|
"I hope they don't lose me, because the outfit is pretty much all white. I'm just like a snowball running around," Kephart said before her trek.
One of only 10 teens and 20 people total chosen from the United States, Kephart ran the torch for the Vancouver Winter Olympics the allotted 300 meters on Jan. 18 in Calgary, Alberta.
The relay, which is the longest in Olympic games history, began on Oct. 30, 2009 in Victoria, British Columbia and will end, after 45,000 kilometers, in Vancouver on Feb. 12 for the opening ceremony of the Winter Games.
The runners are not alone. A team of Olympic staff is required to run alongside each torchbearer for protection.
"They have a lot of Olympic people running around her to protect her in case something happens to any of the runners," Sharon Kephart, Ashlee's mother, said.
Coca-Cola, an official sponsor of the Vancouver Olympics, chose the torchbearers from a pool of candidates who were nominated for making a difference in areas of balanced living, recycling or community-building.
Ashlee was nominated and selected for her volunteer work with a non-profit organization she created from a collection of smaller projects.
Though Ashlee used to fund her volunteer projects through garage sales, she has upgraded to a registered non-profit organization called Kids for A Better World.
"The non-profit is a combination of things I've been doing since I was little and grown up," she said. "I found out it was easier to get the donations and get them where I needed them to go if they were all under one umbrella."
Kids for a Better World consists of different projects Ashlee started out of her home in Brooklyn Center:
• Music From the Heart was one of the first projects she began when she was 11 years old. Though she was too young to officially volunteer for the Ronald McDonald House, she was able to send CD players and karaoke machines so the children would be able to listen to music as they healed.
• Caring Bags for the Homeless are filled with hygiene items, socks, scarves, snacks and a card that says "I care about you."
• Music Uniting Service in Communities uses the musical skills of teens to entertain senior citizens at various nursing facilities, senior centers, VA hospitals and churches.
• Walk in My Shoes provides shoes to underprivileged children and families around the globe.
• Nurse Nancy's Wish List for elementary schools and Nurse Pam's Wish List for middle school provides various hygiene items and clothing to school nurses for distribution to children in need. Nurse Nancy's Wish List was Ashlee's first volunteer endeavor, which she began when she was nine.
• Children of the World United sends encouraging messages on bracelets to victims of terrorist attacks and to soldiers on active duty.
• Kids Sending Hugs collects new stuffed animals to send to children affected by natural disasters.
• Books to Share/Books to Read distributes books and school supplies to orphanages in underprivileged countries, neighborhood reading programs and children's hospitals.
The supplies are also sent to African nations as needed.
Ashlee said the cost to send a barrel of materials to Africa is $250 and a 40 foot container is $10,000. Kids for a Better World accepts both donations to put in the containers and donations to send the containers themselves.
She said the nonprofit has even sent a truck to help manage the roads during the rainy season.
"It's difficult for them to get around when the roads are all muddy," Ashlee said.
After becoming incorporated and achieving non-profit status, Ashlee said getting volunteers and donations became much easier.
She said she is usually contacted by volunteers through her website, www.kidsforabetterworld.com, to help volunteer or to begin volunteer organizations in their own area.
"They kind of take an existing program and then they can do it exactly or tweak it however works," Ashlee said.
Although Ashlee is the leader of the nonprofit, a board also discusses all aspects of the organization once a week.
"A lot of youth groups have been contacting her about speaking engagements and about how to start the projects in their area," Sharon said.
Sharon said her daughter used to spend between 10 to 15 hours per week on the non-profit, but has since scaled down to four to six hours now that she is at Hamline.
"Mainly, I haven't been as involved as I had been because I am at school, so some of the answering e-mails and work has been passed on to my mom and other areas of the board," Ashlee said.
Ashlee said the torchbearing coverage has boosted her speaking engagements and awards she has received from the community.
"People rediscover you," she said.
Be the first to comment on this story