I first met Andra Nadeau Jakabson at the 2005 Relay for Life when she stepped forward and had her head shaved to raise money for Cancer. It was obvious, by the way she carried herself that this girl is a student who is going to make a difference in this world, a true leader.

I met her again in March 2006 when she was one of eight students who came down to Tacoma Washington with me for the four-day Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly. Since then I’ve got to know her extremely well because she and her close friend, Julie Hewitt, became two of the key leaders in our Rotary Interact Club, the kids that raised over $10,000 for AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe.

That said I wasn’t surprised when Nora Loftus of Kids Help Phone called and asked if I would be interested in doing a column on Andra who, it turns out, is the Chair of the Kids Help Phone Youth Council for the Mid Island Region.

For those that don’t know, Kids Help Phone is a national, bilingual, 24-hour, toll-free, confidential and anonymous phone counselling, referral and Internet service for troubled and abused children and youth. Over 100 paid professional councillors man the phones 24/7.

The big fundraiser the students and others are currently working on is the annual Bell Walk for Kids Help Phone that is happening this Saturday at Country Club Centre. Registration is at 9 am and the walk starts at 10. It’s a five kilometre walk with a one kilometre optional walk for families. Last year 110 walkers raised over $6,000.

For more information go to www.bellwalkforkidshelpphone.ca or call 604-267-7057

Andra got involved last year when she heard about the training opportunities provided by Kids Help Phone. That’s the sort of thing young leaders do; they take advantage of every training opportunity provided and volunteer their time to help worthy causes.

Kids Help Phone offers a one-day training conference that includes an intensive workshop on bullying, dating violence, loneliness and isolation. It also offers training in public speaking, fundraising, volunteerism and team dynamics. The students then help out with fundraising opportunities and do presentations at schools in their area.

If you are a high school student or if you know a high school student who would appreciate such training, email Nora@docadmin.kidshelp.ca for more information.

So now that I have met Andra’s need to promote Kids Help Phone more than her, let me focus a little more on this exceptional young woman who has just been accepted at Ottawa University for next year. (We’re going to miss her terribly).

I would need a full page in this newspaper to mention all of Andra’s activities so here are just a few. As well as being an enthusiastic member of the NDSS Student Council and the Rotary Interact Club, she is an active board member of ALANZA, the local group that is supporting the community development work in Guatemala started by Rebekah Shoop. That project has gained a lot of promotion over the past few years through this paper.

Andra is also heavily involved with an organization called REACH (Realizing Exploitation Actually Causes Harm). This is a group that does what it can to prevent sexual exploitation of today’s youth.

Because she is graduating this year and moving to Ottawa, Andra is seeking new student leaders to replace her and her friend Julie Hewitt. If you know someone who might be interested, please have them contact me at bill@hiddenheroes .ca.

Andra is just one of many exceptional young people who tend to be hidden from view while the trouble makers grab the headlines. Recently I learned that almost 59% of the 15-24 year olds surveyed made financial donations to charities and those between 15 and 19 made financial donations on average about $62.

Aren’t today’s teenagers great? You bet they are.