Stephanie Dye, of Saint Louis, loves to play the Cello and decided to combine her passion for music and her love of wildlife and wild places. She is 12 years old has been a Sierra Club donor for four years now.
On warm Saturdays you can find Stephanie playing her cello on the sidewalk in the University City Loop on Delmar Street, in front of Archetypes – her favorite store. She has a CD player set up next to her and plays Irish tunes and Disney pieces accompanied by guitars and the Disney Orchestra. She plays to a busy and appreciative lunch crowd patronizing the many outdoor restaurants in the Loop. Dad waits nearby while she plays and he serves as her “equipment manager”, moving things around, turning pages, and changing CDs.
Stephanie sets up two popcorn cans for donations from passersby, one for Sierra Club and one for the Saint Louis Children’s Hospital. To date, Stephanie has collected close to $1000 from street donations, with about half going to the local Sierra Club.
Her father, Bob, reported that normally the Children’s Hospital receives a little more in donations than the Sierra Club, at a ratio of about 3 to 2. However, during the 2004 elections the donations were about equal for each organization. Asked why she thought Sierra Club donations went up, Stephanie explained “Because people knew George Bush wasn’t going to support the environment much and they thought John Kerry cared and would do good things.”
Stephanie says she gives of her time and her talent “because I really love the environment.” “I also want national parks to be free of oil drilling and mining.” She has a personal concern about dirty and unhealthy air as well. She explained that because of her allergies, when she and her family are going from city to city on vacation, she can tell when a city has bad air.
Stephanie has been recognized numerous times with awards and scholarships for her achievement, musical talent, and community and volunteer service. She recently won an award from Lands End for outstanding community service which included $1000 to give to her favorite non-profit(s) and a feature in a Lands End children’s catalog. Stephanie has decided to give $500 to the Sierra Club Foundation and $500 to the Saint Louis Children’s Hospital. You can see her in the latest summer children’s catalog.
Stephanie is an exceptional individual. She gives of herself because she cares about the world she lives in and so she shares her gifts and resources – time, talent and financial, to help make the world a better place.
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