The Gee Whiz Kids® Award is a category of the Heroes of the Heart® Award program designed to honor exemplary children age 12 and under, who represent the heart of America. Congrats to our newest award winners!

Nominate a Child for the The Gee Whiz Kids® Award

The Gee Whiz Kids® Award is designed to honor children who are age 12 and under. To nominate a child for the Gee Whiz Kids® Award CLICK HERE

Nominations are accepted from September 1st to December 1, 2014. Questions should be emailed to: scholarships@heartofamerica.org

—or mailed to—

The Heart of America Foundation
c/o Rachel Martin
1625 K Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006
Attn: Gee Whiz Kids Award

Email your nomination between September 1st and October 31st, 2014.

Congratulations to our 2013 Gee Whiz Kids® Award Recipients

Share their stories on Facebook.

1st Place - Jessica Carscadden from San Diego, CA

While cleaning her room, Jessica decided to donate her stuffed animals to a local fire department to keep in their trucks for children they meet on calls. This small personal donation inspired Jessica to start We Care Bears, a stuffed animal drive for emergency services in her area.

We Care Bears has placed bags of stuffed animals in over 400 local emergency response vehicles for scared or injured children. Jessica continues to seek out opportunities to expand her efforts. While in Nevada for a school cheerleading competition, Jessica took time to donate hundreds of bears to local fire stations as well as the Ronald McDonald House of Las Vegas.

Jessica is an inspiration to her peers, encouraging students to serve their community and providing opportunities for them to get involved with her project. Recently, We Care Bears held a large volunteer event for local youth that created over 500 bags of bears, which is enough bears for every single police car in San Diego.

To learn more about Jessica¡¯s service activities, visit: wecarebears.webs.com and www.facebook.com/WeCareBearsProject

2nd Place - Alexander and Hannah Laman from Loveland, OH

Hannah and Alexander founded Adopt a Book in 2011, a non-profit that collects and distributes new and gently used books for children in need. To date, their organization has collected over 21,000 books and distributed them to 29 local organizations that work with at-risk youth. Hannah and Alexander have inspired hundreds of volunteers to partner with their organization including many of their peers.

Passionate about reading and the availability of resources, Hannah and Alexander petitioned the city to place a Little Free Library along a historic bike trail, encouraging people to share and recycle reading materials. This library has been a huge success with its take-a-book, leave-a-book approach.

To learn more about Hannah and Alexander¡¯s service activities, visit: www.adoptabookohio.org and www.facebook.com/AdoptaBookOhio

3rd Place - Connelly Cowan from Mount Pleasant, TX

In 2012, at just seven years of age, Connelly learned about struggling schools in Guatemala from fellow church members who had recently returned from a mission trip. She felt inspired to help and began collecting school supplies. Connelly wrote letters to friends and families and made announcements at her school and church (by watson). By raising awareness in her community, Connelly collected over one thousand supplies that were delivered to several schools in Guatemala.

In 2013, Connelly re-launched her collection efforts under the name Connelly¡¯s Classroom Project. She created a short movie about her project which helped her reach more people within her community. To date, Connelly has collected over three thousand school supplies and is currently collecting money to purchase desks.

Past Gee Whiz Kids® Award Recipients:

2012 Gee Whiz Kids® Award Recipients

1st Place – Connor from Rochester, NY
2nd Place – N'Jhari from Tampa, FL
3rd Place – Bailey from Tompkinsville, KY

2011 Gee Whiz Kids® Award Recipients

1st Place – Joshua from Miami Beach, FL
2nd Place – Sarah from Leesburg, OH
3rd Place – Gabrielle from Mason, OH

2010 Gee Whiz Kids® Award Recipients

1st Place – Alexander from Lee's Summit, MO
2nd Place – Anthony from Columbia, SC
3rd Place – Marlee from Saginaw, MI

2009 Gee Whiz Kids® Award Recipients

1st Place – Joelie from Sand Springs, OK
2nd Place – Kamish from Carrollton, TX
3rd Place – Coree from Wayne, NJ

2008 Gee Whiz Kids® Award Recipients

1st Place – Coral Park Elementary School
2nd Place – McKenna Heffner of Corning, NY
3rd Place – Rebekah Makin of East Brunswick, NJ