Published: Feb. 8, 2017
A spirit for volunteering
Slinger HS senior honored for community service
ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043
SLINGER — When she was in sixth grade, Slinger High School senior Erin
Keliher did about 40 hours of volunteer work in one semester to fulfill
one of the requirements to be on Junior National Honor Society.
Today, she has an 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheet of paper about half-full
listing all of her volunteer project — and that’s just this year.
On Tuesday, Prudential Financial announced the winners and
distinguished finalists for its annual Prudential Spirit of Community
Awards program, which recognizes youths and their community service.
Keliher was one of six distinguished finalists and will receive an engraved bronze medallion.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a teacher say anything but glowing
reports about her,” Slinger High School associate principal Patti
Harmann said. “If you need an extra hand around school, Erin is there to
give it.”
Shorewood
High School’s Katie Eder was named the state winner. She will receive
$1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expenses paid trip to
Washington, D.C., to join the other top honorees from around the U.S.
There, 10 students will be selected as America’s top youth volunteers.
“Prudential is honored to recognize these young volunteers for their
exemplary service,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld in
a news release. “We hope that their stories inspire others to consider
how they, too, can volunteer their time and talents to improve their
communities.”
A member of student council at Slinger, Keliher keeps herself busy and
has worked hard to give back to her school and the community.
But her generosity and desire to help others doesn’t stop at the Washington County borders.
She’s also active in Wauwatosa, Milwaukee and Johnson Creek.
Today, for example, she will spend almost the entire school day at
Slinger Elementary School working with fourth-grade students about how
to be kind to others, be confident in themselves and how to combat
bullying. Then, she will go The Gathering of Southeast Wisconsin, a
nonprofit organization aimed to feed the needy near downtown Milwaukee.
“She’s an all-around great kid,” Harmann said. “She’s just a great
role model to others. When they see somebody not being asked to do
things, that says a lot of things to students that I don’t think we can
pass along, without teachers having to push and pry, it goes a lot
further teaching those lessons by our verbal input. They’re seeing it.”
Among her other volunteer efforts, she helped coordinate a
safe-driving campaign that encouraged teens to wear seat belts and
avoid distracted driving — an effort that earned Slinger two $25,000
grants. She also chairs a teacher appreciation committee, and provides
tours and cleaning services at the Ronald McDonald House.
Every summer, she can be found directing traffic in the parking lots during the Washington County Fair, along with her mom.
“I was pretty proud of all the hard work I’ve put in to receive this award,” Keliher said. “I just love volunteering.”
She volunteers because she believes she is doing something and loves the idea of helping others. To her, it’s a win-win.
“I kind of felt a sense of accomplishment, fulfilling a need to help others,” Keliher said. “Making somebody else happy made me happy.”
In the years that followed, there was a volunteer project she shied
away from. According to her list, she is actively involved in 20
volunteer projects. She is also grateful to have the support from
family, her school and her job to accommodate her lust for helping
others.
There are two projects she pointed to as the ones she’s most proud of.
One of them is Dylan’s Run/Walk for Autism. Her cousin has autism. That one is closest to her.
But the one that did more than what she dreamed of was the Celebrate My Drive campaign.
That campaign raised awareness for safe driving.
“I reached out to businesses and I met with business leaders to spread the word through posters,” Keliher said.
She also summoned her classmates to participate. She said all of her
classmates pledged through a website that they’d practice safe driving
techniques. All those pledges led to Slinger receiving $50,000, which
can be used for whatever the school or clubs might need.
“I was always taught that I should have safe-driving techniques,”
Keliher said. “It was nice to keep those thoughts and push them onto
other people, make sure they’re driving safe.”
Harmann said she was surprised when she heard of Keliher’s honor, but
only because she hadn’t heard of it sooner. She wasn’t surprised the
award was given to Keliher.
“She is so modest,” Harmann said. “Sometimes these things happen that
we’re not aware of. She just goes about what she does, does the right
thing every day.”
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