"Put your can'ts in a can and let's go for it!"

That's the way Carla Henderson coaches her Special Olympics and Disability Games athletes; that's also the way she lives her life.

I first met Carla a few months ago when she and a dozen or so other exceptional students applied to attend our Rotary Youth Leadership Awards workshop.

When I read her bio, I was prepared not to like her. Anyone who has accomplished so much at seventeen (She just recently turned eighteen) must be a driven, single focused, glory-seeking, "better than thou, " smart Alec," I thought to myself - Well in truth I wasn't quite that hard on her but I was prepared not to like.

Boy was I wrong.

There's no doubt that Carla is focused; she's focused on drawing the best out of herself and everyone she meets, especially her athletes; that said, not one of my other descriptors comes even close to describing this young woman.

Carla was just three and a half when she showed her ability to set her sites on a goal and achieve it.

She was a big fan (as big as you can be at three and a half) of Doug Lidster and Trevor Linden and her opportunity to meet them in person came when she heard about a fundraising event for Canuck Place, but there was a catch; she would have to raise money to get there.

So what did she do? At three and a half, she got her mother's client list and called each one asking for a small donation - She raised $3,500!

The compassionate side of Carla was demonstrated just a few years later. Although she doesn't like to talk about it, she has her own physical challenges, quite serious challenges, that she has been overcoming all her life.

When she was six years old, Carla was at Children's Hospital in Vancouver waiting for an MRI when a very sickly baby was wheeled in.

"If that baby doesn't have someone read to it and love it," she told her mom, "it won't make it."

A few days later she had collected books and asked her mom to take her back to Sick Kids so she could read to the baby. On arrival they were told that you had to be eighteen to volunteer.

To the average six year old that would have meant that her plans were dashed ... but were they?

It turns out that six-year-old Carla had memorized the number on the baby's bassinette and with that information she was able to find it, read to it, and love it.

Another goal had been defined ... and achieved.

Carla is a super volunteer. There's no doubt about that but it's her reason for this commitment that is so exceptional; she wants to help the people she works with to improve their life one small step at a time, and with that commitment, she's done the same for herself.

Her advice to other teens is to find something you really would like to do as a volunteer, something you are passionate about, and then, go for it. It's a wonderful opportunity, she says, to learn how to work in teams while developing your individual skills such as responsibility, assertiveness, compassion, kindness and caring.

"Volunteering," she says, "will help you grow and others will grow off you."

Carla Henderson is an extraordinary Neighbourhood Hero and, oh yeah, I like her ... I like her a lot.

By the way, keep your eye on the news over the next couple of days. I can't say more than that right now but as I write this, Carla is in Ottawa to receive a major national award and scholarship.