One of 14 finalists will be Utah's Young Humanitarian 2011: $5,000 college scholarship

The first round results are in! The application judges for the 2011 Young Humanitarian Award have returned their choices and these fourteen amazing Utah youth have been selected from 73 applicants state-wide to move on to the final round of judging in this prestigious award.

Interviews of the finalists will be held April 30th and the top four will be selected to attend Youthlinc's Annual Benefit at LaCallie on May 19th where the winner of the $5,000 scholarship will be announced. Three runner-up awards of $1,000 will also be given that night.

Take a look at what the finalists have been doing to serve their communities!

BYU Senior, David Williams, has served extensively with 2ft Prosthetics where he is the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board. He works with the non-profit to restore self-confidence to amputees in developing countries through the production and distribution of quality prostheses. He has also worked with BYU Global Engineering Outreach, Habitat for Humanity, and Kaizen, building wheelchair ramps at schools in Mexico. He served an LDS mission in St. Petersburg, Russia.

East High Senior, Andrew Hagedorn, has directed his passion for service toward the homeless in Salt Lake City. He has been involved with Youth for Youth for the last four years where they have raised over $200,000 for the Road Home. He is president of the Youth Government Commission that is also dedicated to helping the homeless in Salt Lake. He also has served with the Neighborhood House, Peer Court and The Children’s Center. He travelled to Mexico on a Youthlinc humanitarian trip in 2010.

Skyline senior, Megan Christensen has an extensive service background dedicated to helping those in need. She is the Community of Caring president at Skyline and has worked with the homeless community through the Salvation Army and organization of school food drives. She is currently part of the Best Buddies program and coaches a Jr. High soccer team. She has also traveled to India as part of a Youth Making a Difference humanitarian trip.

East High Senior, Candy DeLaFuente, has served all over the Salt Lake valley. She has worked with the Bennion Center, the Utah Food Bank and the Utah Humane Society. Her favorite service experiences have been working one-on-one with individuals in need. She was a Youth Teaching Youth volunteer for many years where she taught English to people in Salt Lake City to help them better adjust to life in the United States. She also enjoyed working with the elderly at the Sarah Daft Home.

Utah Valley University Senior, Emily Gillespie has a strong focus on international service through her work with HELP International in Uganda, a Kaizen trip to Mexico and an LDS mission to Chile. At home she has served with the UVU Service and Learning Center and the Canary Garden Family Grief Center. She began her service in high school while serving with the Timpview HOPE Squad focused on suicide prevention for at-risk teens.

Juan Diego Catholic High School student, James Monsoor III has been dedicated to serving others by serving on the Draper Peer Court and working with the Road Home and Christmas Box House. He has a passion working with those in need on the health front demonstrated by his work with the American Cancer Society, Making Strides against Breast Cancer, organizing food drives and volunteering with the Draper City Health Day.

Skyline senior, Sena Hughes is actively involved with Skyline’s Community of Caring and works with the Student Ministry Group at Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church. She has hands on experience with people from all walks of life due to her work with the Hartvigsen School, Learning for Life Camp and the Salt Lake Rescue Mission. She organized a Hoops of Hope Event at her school to combat AIDS, volunteered in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and has travelled to Tanzania and Kenya on humanitarian missions.

BYU Senior, Kirtley Sorenson, has been involved with many service organizations and international service trips. She has worked with the BYU Center for Learning and Service where she was program director, organized the Stitch Club to make bandages and worked with the Women’s Crisis Center. She traveled with HELP International to El Salvador to work with children in orphanages and went to Mexico with Charity Anywhere where she helped build houses for needy families. She served an LDS mission in the Philippines.

University of Utah Senior, Jaimie Riding, has served her community alongside multiple organizations, recently including AmeriCorps and the Bungalow Care Center. Her time at the University of Utah has offered a variety of opportunities to serve through the Bennion Center and Service-Learning scholars, teaching English in China with the Bond Language Institute, and organizing the 2009 Special Olympics. Jaimie also traveled to Peru on a Youthlinc humanitarian trip in 2007. Jaimie started serving others in high school where she was involved in her school’s Interact and Key club and volunteered with Big Brother Big Sister.

Judge Memorial Senior, Jeffrey Scott is the development manager for the Apache Project where he works with St. Charles Elementary on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. He has worked with the Ulster Peace Project since 2008 which promotes peace in Northern Ireland by hosting workshops in Salt Lake focused on communication and conflict resolution. He has also worked with the Boy Scouts of America, referees for a youth lacrosse league and is a member of Rotary Interact Club.

USU freshman, Amanda Bell has served her community through Special Needs Mutual where she works with disabled youth. She is involved with a local youth group where they have served at multiple locations including the Ronald McDonald House, the Utah Food Bank and free medical clinics. Bell helped the international community while travelling to Fiji with Alliance for Youth Services where the group developed sanitary upgrades for remote villages in the country. She also traveled to Honduras on a humanitarian trip with Project Honduras

West High Senior, Annie Reed is currently working with Amigos de las Americas where she is serving as the assistant training director. She travelled with the group to Paraguay in 2010 and Costa Rica in 2009. She has devoted her attention within this group to environmental health. She serves her home community through her work with the Salt Lake Peer Court, the Utah Food Bank, Deseret Bakery and Pajamas for Utah Charities.

Weber High Senior, Morgan Henrie has dedicated much of her service to working with the Pleasant View Youth Council where they work towards community improvement by running a soup kitchen, regularly visiting with the elderly, cleaning public areas and collecting gifts and food for those in need during the holidays. She has also been involved in tutoring elementary school children with disabilities at an Ogden school and has organizing community activities with the Boys and Girls Club as the High School Club Officer.

Westminster sophomore, Cara Cerise, is dedicated to the equality and inclusion of all people. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Inclusion Center for Community and Justice. She is working toward HIV prevention as a Woman’s Health Intern at the Utah Pride Center where she is also a translator. She has served as a camp counselor as Camp Anytown since 2006. At age 16 she founded the Utah chapter of Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere to support Utah’s youth. She has travelled to Paraguay on a humanitarian trip with Amor y Esperanza where she worked with elementary students.