THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SARASOTA COUNTY GRANTS YOUTH PIONEER AWARD

(Sarasota – June 12, 2006)  Danielle Padgett, a graduate of Riverview High School, won the Community Foundation of Sarasota County's prestigious $5,000 Youth Pioneer Scholarship Award for 2006. Danielle initiated the project: "Spreading Literacy and Love from Our Hearts and Hands to Yours."

As County Council 4-H president and Community Pride Coordinator, Danielle culminated her 10 years as a 4-H member with a program that benefited over 75 homeless children and their parents. With help from the Salvation Army and 125 other 4-H members at clubs throughout Sarasota, she coordinated donations of books, gifts and candy and worked with local companies acquiring donations and discounts for four evenings of fun and giving over a period of 18 months.

"My vision of a united county-wide 4-H project turned into a reality larger and more rewarding than I ever imagined," Danielle wrote in her scholarship application. "I gained financial support, volunteers from throughout our county and recognition for our 4-H program as well as myself. Our goal of "Spreading Literacy and Love from Our Hearts and Hands to Yours" continues to be a dream that lives on."

Danielle's ambitious outreach to help the homeless in Sarasota County (who's average age is only nine years old) was recognized as one of the top five 4-H community service projects in the state of Florida. She will attend Nova Southeast University in the fall, where she plans to major in Biology.

The Youth Pioneer Award was created on the 10th Anniversary of the Community Foundation in 1989, to honor individuals and organizations that were instrumental in the creation of the Foundation: Mr. and Mrs. Ray Grills; Mr. and Mrs. Alex Schoenbaum; the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation and the South West Florida Estate Planning Council.

Each year, a high school student is chosen in recognition of their outstanding achievement and extraordinary leadership in a special volunteer project of lasting impact for the community. They are awarded a $5,000 college scholarship.