MONTANDON -- Sitting in her living room, her feet tucked beneath her, Larissa Luu remains amazed that she was singled out for the 2008 Young Heroes Award.
"It's just incredible that they thought my work was award-winning," she said.
Luu was selected by a panel of judges from the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia to receive the grand prize, a $1,000 savings bond and a laptop computer. She and her family will go to Philadelphia on Aug. 21 for the awards ceremony and banquet.
A rising senior at Milton Area Senior High School, the poised young woman was nominated for the award for her leadership of the Educate Cambodia campaign at the high school. Her advanced placement American history teacher, Michael Conn, nominated her following the conclusion of the campaign she organized to raise $30,000 and build a school in Cambodia.
"In my family, education always comes first," she said of her decision to lead the campaign. "I thought this was a good chance to help kids in another part of the world who don't have the opportunities we have in this country."
Her father, Anh Luu, escaped from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975, spending several weeks drifting in a boat in the South China Sea before being picked up by a U.S. Navy ship. He eventually came to the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation with a group of refugees, and sponsored by St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Lewisburg, settled in Montandon.
"I support my kids 100 percent," he said. "Education always comes first. I'm very proud of her."
He works at the Del Monte plant in Bloomsburg, and her mother, Linda, works at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Lewisburg.
For her part, Luu said the most difficult aspect of the campaign was juggling her schedule to keep up, although speaking before groups was pretty scary at first.
"The first time I spoke was in front of the whole school," she said. "After that, it was easy."
"I was amazed to see the response from the community," she said. "It was amazing how quickly we raised the $30,000."
The Educate Cambodia project quickly became a community effort, including students in all grades in the Milton schools, churches and service groups. Luu created a PowerPoint presentation that included images of children in Cambodia, which moved some of her audiences to tears. She helped develop the design of a signature T-shirt to generate publicity. People all over the region contributed to the effort in amounts large and small.
There were some who derided the effort, but Luu wasn't fazed by them.
"I urged them to open their minds," she said. "There were rude and disrespectful comments made by some, but I don't take it personally."
Luu and Conn recently were interviewed by Voice of America, and the interview was broadcast in southeast Asia in the Khmer language.
Luu said she plans to attend the University of Pennsylvania and hopes to become a surgeon.
"I've always been interested in the medical field, and I want to do something worthwhile," she said.
When she goes to Philadelphia next month to accept the award, her entire family will be there looking on. Her brother, serving in the Air Force in New Mexico, will try to make it home, and her sister, an optometry student in Philadelphia, will be there along with her parents and Conn.
News
Related Photos
-
Wayne Laepple/The Daily Item
Discussion
Cambodia drive nets teen hero award
- News
-
-
Two firemen face trial in arsons
DANVILLE — A firefighter said “it kind of hit me hard” after two fellow firemen were charged with setting fires in Montour and Northumberland counties and calling in false alarms in Union County.
-
Lewisburg high school back on drawing board
LEWISBURG — The Lewisburg Area School District is moving forward with a flexible version of its master facilities plan with the possibility that construction, including a new Lewisburg Area High School, could begin as soon as 2015 or as late as 2018.
-
Storms knock out power to more than 700 this afternoon
SUNBURY - More than 700 homes and businesses lost electrical service this afternoon when a line of heavy thunderstorms rolled through the region.
-
Masked gunman robs McClure bank
McCLURE - Police said a man displaying a handgun entered the MCS bank in Mcclure Borough just after 9 a.m., Tuesday and demanded money from a teller before making off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
-
'To Do': Carnival
MILTON -The Lions Carnival held from 6 to 9 p.m. May 30 at Brown Avenue Park.
-
Electronic fingerprinting soon needed to provide long-term elder care
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Aging will soon begin using an electronic fingerprinting process to screen people applying to work in a long-term care facility or home health care agency.
-
Buggy driver falls asleep in Lancaster County; collides with bus
NEW PROVIDENCE — Pennsylvania State Police say the 15-year-old driver of a horse and buggy fell asleep at the reins and collided with a school bus.
-
17-year-old New Columbia boy in critical condition after Sunday crash
WATSONTOWN -- State police said a 17-year-old New Columbia boy is in the hospital in critical condition after the car he was driving crossed the center line on Route 405 and slammed into an oncoming car.
-
60 and Counting
The singer John Prine wrote these lines in a song titled ‘The Late John Garfield Blues: “An old man sleeps with his conscience at night. Young kids sleep with their dreams.”
-
Police Log 05.29.12
A roundup of police news reported by departments across the Central Susquehanna Valley.
-
Powerball ticket worth $1 million sold in Northumberland County
One Powerball ticket worth $1 million from the May 26 drawing was sold at Turkey Hill, 140 W. Lincoln St., Shamokin, Northumberland County.
- Water main break closes county government center
- More News Headlines
-
Two firemen face trial in arsons
