Light Up Durham hands out its Annual "It's Cool To Care" Awards on July 4th and "shines the light" on individuals and organizations in our community making a difference in the lives of our youth.
Those receiving the Light Up Durham "It's Cool To Care" Awards give the youth they work with hope, a sense of belief in themselves, and in some cases second chances at being successful. They demonstrate that someone really cares about them...and so for their work, we honor them.
The 2009 "It's Cool To Care" Award Recipients are:
HERB SELLERS
Herb Sellers knows that it's important for young people to feel good about themselves as they grow and mature. He knows that there are many ways to support our youth, but Herb's passion for sports is his very special way of helping the youth of Durham become stronger, more hopeful and ultimately more successful.
Herb was instrumental in the formation of the Durham Bulls Youth Athletic League in 1997, which was the merging of two smaller youth sports leagues, Bull City Baseball League and the South Durham Youth Athletic League. The DBYAL now serves approximately 500 inner-city youth each year, ages 5 through 12, with free opportunities to play and compete in both baseball and soccer in an organized, team-oriented fashion.
A Durham native, product of Durham Public Schools, and a retired City of Durham employee, Herb continues to work untiringly for the youth of Durham and inspires those around him to become involved with our youth too.
To learn more about the Durham Bulls Youth Athletic League and Herb's work there, click here.
CHANDLER VATAVUK
Chandler Vatavuk has been volunteering and working with the young people of Durham since he was a youth himself. In fact, Chandler began his volunteer career at age seven. His volunteerism knows no bounds as he has worked with more than 20 local organizations and impacted thousands.
Chandler, a local attorney, and product of Durham Public Schools, has worked with Durham's Teen Court program, Durham Public School's Task Force for Dropout Prevention, Kid's Voting, and is a tutor and volunteer teaching assistant for autistic students. Although it's difficult to say where Chandler's greatest impact has been, he has worked very closely for a number of years with Durham County 4-H and is currently the President of the 4-H Advisory Leadership Board.
Chandler received our country's highest award for volunteer service in 2002 when he was given the President's Community Volunteer Award by former President, George W. Bush.
To learn more about the Durham County 4-H and Chandler's work there, click here.
STUDENT U.
Student U., a local summer academic enrichment program targeting middle school students, was born out of a dream. A dream of three college students from Duke University and UNC Chapel-Hill, who wanted to pursue their passion to change the world and address the unique needs of middle school students. Student U. has been making a difference since 2007 and has worked with approximately 150 students from Durham.
The slogan of Student U. is "where students are teachers and teachers are students," and it's literally true. The teachers that conduct the academic classes are college students from Duke University, North Carolina Central University, and UNC Chapel Hill. These student-teachers are not only involved with the middle school students during the summer program; they are present for them throughout their school year.
Student U. participants are showing themselves and others that they care about their education, their futures, and the people and the world around them. Student U.'s Executive Director is Dan Kimberg, one of the original dreamers and a founding member of this terrific organization. To learn more about Student U. click here.
Videos of this year's recipients are here, just click here to take a look!
