Hoffman Estates teen wins governor’s volunteer award

On Thursday, April 19, Isha Jog, 17, a junior at Hoffman Estates High School, was awarded the Youth Service Governor’s Volunteer Service Award, from the bipartisan Serve Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, during a ceremony held at the Executive Mansion in Springfield.

As the D.A.R.E. America Illinois Youth Advisor, Jog is passionate about encouraging elementary school students to choose to stay drug and alcohol free and live a nonviolent lifestyle. Recently crowned Miss Northern Suburbs’ Outstanding Teen 2012, Jog is an active spokesmodel for the Children’s Miracle Network and the U.S. Army.

Last year she founded “Holiday Heroes” a nonprofit teen volunteer group that performs community service projects during several holidays throughout the year. She collected over 700 Valentine’s Day cards and goodies for the senior citizens at Friendship Village; distributed 500 canned goods to the Willow Creek food pantry, as part of her Halloween Against Hunger campaign; served dinner and taught dance to at-risk children at a youth center on Christmas Day; and on National Read Across America day, she organized Dr. Seuss motivational reading presentations for students in three District 54 schools.

Jog became a cultural ambassador for Indian culture through the nonprofit organization Indian Dance School. With this title, she has performed at 152 different venues in the Chicago and Schaumburg area, performing at charity dinners and fundraisers while educating the American public on the classical art of Indian dance.

As a busy 11th-grader, Jog is a member of varsity Forensics, Orchesis dance team, regional and state champion of the Business Professionals of America team and a student leader in S.A.D.D. Club (Students Against Destructive Decisions). She is a daughter of Gauri Jog, director of the Indian Dance School and Nitin Jog, who runs the nonprofit company, Think of Others, to raise resources for other charities and NGOs in India.

Jog was also recently nominated for Schaumburg’s 2012 Youth Volunteer of the Year and received the 2012 Impact Award Emerging Leader Honorable Mention.

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