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Show The Salt Lake Tribune UTAH/NATION Sunday, April 27, 1997 A2l Utahns on Way to Volunteerism Summit BY NANCY HOBBS ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Whenit'comes to community service, 19-year-old Katy Ballengeris full of ideas that teen-agers can do to help younger children and even their peers. Like inviting students who are taking Spanish classes to serve as English tutors for children whose primary language is Spanish. Or having the varsity basketball team put on a weekend sports campfor youngerstudents. Or giving dance club membersthe “Tf people can catch thespirit and catch the vision ... this is something that can bring our country back up to the level it should be. As Americans, we each need to take part.” Katy Balienger opportunity to teach mentally and physically chal- Volunteer coordinator lenged children. “There are so many ways to involveall kinds of nae likes with service programs so that people have a choice andit clicks,” Ballenger said with a snap of her fingers. Once the subject is raised, Ballenger is off and running. An idea for one project here, there an example of another's good deeds that have made a powerful difference, After a weekendin Philadelphia as a guestofretired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powellat the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future, she likely will be even more pumped up. The summit is focused on reaching out to America’s increasingly disenfranchised youth and providing them the necessary resources to succeed and ex- cel. More specifically, the goal is to engage public andprivate sectorsin preventive programs to reach at least 2 million at-risk children and young people by 2000, The five-point plan includes mentoring and oneon-one relationships with caring adults; providing positive activities and safe places for children during non-school hours; making sure children get a “healthly start for a healthy future;” giving students educational experiences that will be meaningful in attaining a job; and providing students with an op- portunity to serve others. Ballenger wasborn with a missionto serve and can be a powerful rolemodel for others, her mother has learned. “She's been like this since she was bitty kid,” said Tina Ballenger, recalling 5-year-old Katy’s disappointment when her mother refused to buy a Cabbage Patch doll for a neighbor friend whose family couldn not afford one. Little Katy saved her money for oneyear, including aluminum can dividends, to buy the doll herself. It grew from there. Last year, Ballengerreceived a prestigious $6,000 National Caring Award and wasoneof 10 American high school students honored for community service by the National Association of Secondary School complete a one-year term as Miss Teen of Utah in July. “Tf people can catch the spirit and catch the vision . . this is something that can bring our country back upto the levelit should be. As Americans, we each need to take part,”she said. Other Utahnswill attend the summit as members of a community and state delegation. State delegates are Gov. Mike Leavitt and Lt. Gov. Olene Walker; Utah Commission on Volunteers executive director MichaelCall and chairwoman Nancy Bentley; commission member Gee>ge M. Romney; Chris Smith, director of the Cache Valley Volunteer Center; and LDS Church Apostle Jeffrey Holland. The United Way, which was asked to coordinate the communityefforts nationwide, selected 10 community delegates to represent Salt Lake City, one of the 100 cities invited to the summit. Julie Kilgrow, executive director of the United Wayofthe Great Sait Lake Area, said the delegates were chosen from severalsectorsto give as diverse a cross-section as possible. They include educators, church leaders, corporate executives, people who work with youth programs, and, in the case of 17- year-old Amador Guzman, a former gang member who shed that identity when a Boys & Girls Club counselor befriended him. “He is our shining star example of what it means when a caring adult steps into a youth’s life and starts leading him onto the right path,” said Kilgrow. Besides GuzmanandKilgrow,Salt Lake delegates are Sherianne Cotterell, director of the Sorenson Multicultural Center, representing Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini; Lisa Eccles, executive assistantto the president of the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation; Jim Jensen, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Sait Lake; Peter Mathes, general manager of KTVX-Channel4; Darline Robles, superintendentof Salt Lake City School couragesservice whereverit’s needed, from visiting the elderly in nursing homesto tutoring children in Pennsylvania on Friday so the judge could stop at honors stemmed from her founding of the HUGS (Help Us Give Service) Club at Olympus High School in 1994. Now, HUGSInc.has gonenational and Ballenger, the nonprofit organization's president, spends much of her time answeringletters from around the country asking how to start new chapters. The club en- math. When the Points of Light Foundation asked for namesof five American youthsto be invited by Pow- ell as a national delegate to this weekend’s summit, hosted by President Clinton and former presidents Bush,Carter and Ford, Ballenger’s name cameup. “Sf they let me start talking, I’m not going to be able to stop. I have so many ideas, so manythings to say,” said Ballenger, who just finished her sophomore year at Brigham Young University and will ele) NIN =a These are not your normal sandwiches. The bagels are softer so all the goodies don’t smush out. Goodiesliketurkey, ham, turkey pastrami, tuna, chicken, sprouts, tomatoes and other stuff. And enjoy one of the Bros’ deliciously crafted side salads, including pasta, potato, fruit or cole slaw, and a soft drink for $3.99. Offer good through May 4. Not valid with any other offer. No coupon required. Regular drink and small side salad only. District; Shelley Thomas, vice president of public affairs for Smith's Food and Drug Centers; Michael G. Jackson, senior minister of the Holladay United Church of Christ; and Andrew Valdez, presiding judge of the 3rd District Juvenile Court. Valdez, whostarted a mentoring program through the juvenile court, also is taking along his 17-yearold son,Tito. “T want to spend some time with him, but I also want himto see this,’ Valdez said. The duo left for Principals and the Prudential Insurance Co. Both ANDWICH SIDE SALAD & SOFT DRINK $399 Glen Mills Schools in Concordville and “spend a day there with mykids.” His “kids” are 10 young men who appeared before Valdez in court and were sent to the alternative school’s rigorous program. “Tf | hadn’t sent them there, they would probably be in jail now,” said Valdez. It is another type of program he expects will be discussed at the summit as a positive alternative to locking up delinquent youth, STYLING SALON HANG OUT WITH THE EINSTEIN BROS. 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