Letter from the Editor-D.A.P.L. Recipients for January 2009

Hello V.I.T.s,

We are very excited to introduce to you the D.A.P.L. Recipients for January 2009. Our Driven and Passionate Leaders are doing some amazing things around the world and we are pleased to write about them. Each month we choose our D.A.P.L. Recipients based on three major key ingredients. One, they must be between the ages of 8-19, Second, they must be considered a role model, someone Deko and Posh could turn to for guidance, and Third, they must have their own business, or have written a book, or are volunteering and giving back, or leading by example, or just doing some amazing things we feel they should be recognized for. At the end of 2009 we will be selecting One Tween and One Teen for our D.A.P.L Recipients of the Year! For the month of January we chose 8 recipients they we feel are our Deko and Posh Leaders.

We will list them here in no particular order, please do visit their websites and read about them and their story, they are also pictured in the header portion of this blog. Aurelie Pare is fourteen years old and lives in Moncton, new Brunswick, Canada. Aurelie has wrote a book called "The Healthalicously Good Cookbook and started her very own publishing company called Aurelie's Healthy Cuisine Inc. Her website is www.aurelieshealthycuisne.com. Aurelie was born to a doctor and a health-conscious mother but she never imagined she would be writing a book. She believes that she can help improve the health of North America. Aurelie also enjoys playing the clarinet, sewing, and singing in the choir. We can't wait for the official publication of her book. Dallas Jessup is seventeen years old, lives in Vancouver,Washington and is the founder and spokesperson of the non-profit "Just Yell Fire" at www.justyellfire.com. She is a CNN Hero and a black belt martial artist. (We were at the CNN Hero's event in Hollywood this year, and trust us this is a huge accomplishment) Dallas envisions a day when a girl can go to the mall without fear, to a party without risk, and a girl can walk home without dying. Just Yell Fire teaches young girls and young women to quite literally fight back against sexual assault and abduction. Did you see the show recently on "One Tree Hill" when Sophia Bush's character took down her abductor? That was awesome and that is what Dallas is teaching girls. Dallas has been featured on GMA, the Montel Williams Show, Today, Fox, NewsLive, CNN, Jimmy Kimmel Live, ABC news and many others. Danielle DeCesare is eleven years old, lives in Danville, California, and has the website www.girlambition.com. Danielle wants all girls to have high self-esteem and understand Internet safety, so she created this site. Girl Ambition is a new website for tween girls that is super fun and has a really great inspiration show, email, IM, and activities. Danielle is on a mission to teach girls about safe Internet practices. One of her dreams is to meet the President, we are sure she will do this! Emily Willis is thirteen, lives in St. Augustine Florida, and is the owner of www.emmysquestion.com. Emily's mother is a recovering alcoholic and Emily had a very hard life growing up. She kept a Diary of her life as she felt like she was the only girl in this situation, later she found out she was one of eleven million kids in the United States who had an alcoholic parent. Emily asked her grandmother if she would turn her Diary into a book, a book to help other kids in her situation. Her grandmother did exactly that and Emily's Diary became "Emmy's Question," and now Emily and her book are helping other's. Her book as won four awards and is being used in schools and by counselors all over the United States. Emily sings in her school choir and plays in the handbells group. Emily wants to empower other kids of alcoholics and she hopes to start a foundation to help kids whose parents are alcoholics or drug addicts. Jason O'Neill is thirteen years old and lives in Temecula, California. Jason is the owner of www.pencilbugs.com. Jason started his business at nine years old and has created a very cute Bug on top of a #2 pencil and each one comes with a Certificate of Authenticity which gives their birth date, given name, care, and training instructions. Jason donates a portion of his sales to help foster kids. He has received many awards and he is on a mission to take his business to the next level with video games, board games, and he would like to write a book. He believes that if his business continues to grow he will be able to keep donating to help other kids and this is very important to him. Kristyn Heath is eighteen years old and lives in California. Kristyn owns www.snooptunes.com. Snooptunes is a patent-pending technology that allows an unlimited number of people to share music from any type of portable music player (iPods, MP3s, PSP, DVDs, CD players, etc.). The device she invented is called NoeString Attached, she created this product four years ago at age fourteen. Kristyn and her product have been featured in many different publications and will be featured on HGTV's "I Want That! Tech Toys." Kristyn started off with a product and now she has a mission of creating opportunity for other kids. She would like to help girls achieve and realize their dreams through entrepreneurship. Justin Sachs is nineteen years old and lives in San Diego, California. Justin is the owner of www.justinsachsonline.com. Justin is the founder and chairman of the board of the Peak Performance Lifestyle Foundation. He established this foundation at age sixteen, which is a non-profit organization dedicated and committed to empowering teenagers with the tools they need to become leaders and to contribute to their communities. Justin is also the author of "Your Mailbox is Full," a teen development book which teaches teenagers the life-skills and leadership development principles. Justin plans on graduation college in 2011 with a degree in Business. He has volunteered and has received a tremendous amount of awards. Justin has been recognized by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Anthony Robbins, and many others for his outstanding level of leadership and contribution of his community. Christina Volpe is seventeen years old and is from Southington, Connecticut. Christina is the spokesperson for www.teencentral.net. Christina works actively doing community service for different teen outreach programs such as the Southington Town Wide Effort to Promote Success, which focuses on giving teens a voice and parents and education about what teens have to face today. Christina wants all teens to know that there is a safe alternative to their problems, drugs, sex, and violence are not the answer to a problem that they face. She hopes to learn from her fellow teens and help mold the future.

For a complete story of all these individuals and their accolades please email us at info@dekoposh.com and we will forward you more information. These are amazing tweens and teens and no doubt this will not be the last time you hear about them. If you know someone that you feel should be a D.A.P.L. recipient please forward their name, age, location, and email address to us along with a reason why you think they are amazing!

Keep Dreaming...
"Do your best and you will be a success." Deko and Posh

Love Life, Dream Big, Live Well
dekoposh, Inc. Team