Point Loma High School senior Becca Smedley has been named a finalist for the 2007 Huggable Heroes Award, an honor bestowed by the Build-A-Bear Workshop chain to recognize young people who help make the world a better place.
Smedley was chosen to be among a field of 30 elite young people to be honored. More than 1,300 nominations for the Huggable Heroes award were submitted in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
While many high school students spend much of their time playing video games or cruising the mall, the 17-year-old has been helping establish and run a non-profit organization that collects fashionable, gently-used clothing for young girls in need.
“I find I’m a lot less naïve,” said Smedley. “I’ve seen the struggles some people go through in a life that’s much different than my own. Plus, I’ve learned so much about leadership and organization skills from serving on the board.”
The nonprofit organization is called My Girlfriend’s Closet. It was started in 2005 by Smedley and six of her friends and their mothers.
After collecting and sorting items, the clothing donations are carefully screened by a panel of aspiring teenage fashionistas. My Girlfriend’s Closet then hosts free shopping-spree events for foster youths and other teens in need.
Smedley and 9-year-old Kali Bowden of Imperial Beach were among those chosen in the semi-finalist round.
They are both awaiting final notification.
The ten winners of the award will be honored at a ceremony at Build-A-Bear Workshop “bearquarters” in St. Louis in July. Build-A-Bear Workshop is an international, publicly-traded company of retail stores where customers can create their own stuffed animals. Each of the ten winners will receive $10,000 in the form of a $7,500 scholarship and a $2,500 donation to the charity of the hero’s choice.
Smedley will be attending UC Santa Barbara in the fall. Regardless if she takes the Huggable Hero award with her to college, she will be taking along a legacy of touching lives in the community.