Danielle Alvarez
March 2007

At 18 years old, Danielle Alvarez has established a legacy of service.

Living in Parker, Colorado, Danielle is of Puerto Rican descent and the proud daughter of a military family. She currently attends Ponderosa High School.

After Danielle’s mother became injured in an auto accident several years ago, Danielle charged herself with additional home responsibilities. Beyond caring for her family, she works at two jobs, volunteers with a myriad of organizations, competes on her school golf team and maintains a 3.65 GPA.

Danielle has been recognized with several honors and awards, such as the Presidential Volunteer Service Award, the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Award, the National Honor Society, and the Ponderosa High School Student of the Month.

Danielle has also accrued several leadership experiences, such as Link Crew Leader, where she was responsible for welcoming freshman and new students to her school. In addition, she is a World of Difference peer trainer, a position through which she has trained not only middle and high school students but also teachers to become more aware of individual prejudices and deal with difficult classroom situations.

Beyond school hours, Danielle volunteers her time with a variety of charities, causes and people. She has participated in Walk for the Cure, her church and with her school’s Interact Club. In fact, Danielle is a driving force in the Club, where she has organized a project to collect soda can tabs for the PKD Foundation; with her collections, the Foundation agrees to pay for several minutes of treatment on a kidney dialysis machine. Her commitment to the community is personal and evident even in her use of her own money to purchase gift certificates from various fast food restaurants to feed the homeless and hungry.

Danielle’s professional goal is to become a pediatrician. She hopes to serve under-privileged children in the US and abroad.