St. Viator senior honored for volunteer work
A fourth-hour AP Biology class drew a rather unusual visitor: U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, who came calling to recognize senior Hank DeTrempe of Barrington.
DeTrempe was named one of the top 10 youth volunteers in the state and a recipient of Prudential’s Spirit of the Community awards.
For the last six years, DeTrempe has worked with his brothers and cousins to organize Alpine Children’s Charity to raise money for organizations focused on research into childhood diseases.
He is co-president of the charity’s junior board, which supports the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Children’s Heart Foundation and Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation.
By organizing an annual Ski-a-thon in Vail, Colo., and a major golf outing in the Northwest suburbs ever summer, DeTrempe and his young volunteers raised more than $175,000 last year and over $1 million in only six years.
Walsh said he had planned to call DeTrempe to congratulate him, but on his way to the airport, he stopped by St. Viator to do it in person.
“You have a celebrity in your midst,” he told DeTrempe’s classmates. “I am just blown away by his accomplishments.”
Walsh urged students to follow DeTrempe’s lead and take a more active role in their communities.
“This is a crazy time in our world, and we need young people to get involved and help improve the world around them,” Walsh said. “I think the best way for students to make a change is by getting involved with charities. Hank exemplifies this.”
Service in the community is an essential part of an education at St. Viator High School, where each student is required to complete at least 25 hours each year.
“Oftentimes, our students exceed the minimum requirement,” says Principal Eileen Manno, “which reflects a commitment to our mission as a Viatorian school and our conviction that service to others is a constitutive element of the Christian life.
“Hank is a role model to other students,” Manno continued. “He shows his classmates that one person can make a difference in the lives of others. Each year, Hank involves our students in his charity by making it part of our annual ski trip. It gives our students the feeling that they are part of something that is truly changing the world.”
Prudential has honored outstanding students since 1995 for their exemplary acts of volunteerism. Last year, St. Viator student Janice Guzon of Hoffman Estates was named one of the top volunteers in the country for her work in bringing eyeglasses to people in Third World countries. She was recognized in Washington, D.C.
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