Gilroy and Morgan Hill Teens Break from Apathetic Generation

The Silicon Valley chapter of the Red Cross announced 30 different awards this week and three local teens were honored. See their descriptions of the youth heroes from Gilroy and Morgan Hill below:

This year’s Youth Award went to Kaille Casaje of Morgan Hill, who joined the South County Red Cross Club in the spring of 2012. With her strong organizational and leadership skills, Kaille managed to start a Red Cross Club at Sobrato High School for the 2012-2013 school year. Under her guidance, the club has developed a strong core of leaders and has been very active, having led cleaning projects, run clothes and blood drives, and even baked and decorated cookies for each of our local fire departments.

The Youth Advisor Awards went to Peggy Pinarbasi of Morgan Hill and Terrie Berry of Gilroy, under whose leadership two very active and enthusiastic youth groups have started in South County. In the past year, members of the Sobrato Red Cross Club and the South County Red Cross Club have been involved in several activities including making four Scrubby Bear presentations, cleaning two disaster supply containers, and setting up a “Red Cross Disaster Worker” Scarecrow at Gilroy Gardens.

Gordon Sakai of Gilroy also took home the Emergency Services award for Preparedness and Partnerships.