Two Kamiak High School students recently won the first New Day Hero Award of 2013 for their non-profit Bold Futures.

Tiffany Coons and Heather Pearson, both Kamiak juniors, are the founders of Bold Futures: Kenya Feel the Love, a student-led organization that helps girls in Kenya get the education they need to one day become self-sufficient leaders.

They were honored on the King 5 talk show "New Day Northwest" on Jan. 17. The New Day Hero Award is sponsored by "New Day Northwest" and Sterling Bank.

“It was an honor to be recognized for our work and have our organization be recognized and hopefully bring awareness in the community, so that more people are aware of it and more willing to help,” Tiffany Coons said.

Bold Futures is sponsoring school fees for girls so they can get a better education and make a better future for themselves – and their communities.

So far, the non-profit has raised funds to pay for one girl to go to school for about a year. It is working with a Kenyan organization to find and sponsor more girls. One year of schooling costs about $200.

The juniors visited the East African country last summer to find out what the children there need help with most. They decided to support education in Kenya, especially for girls.

They have held several fundraisers since then, with all funds going “straight to the girls.”

“We were most inspired [to help] by the need we saw in the school system, especially in girls education,” Heather Pearson said.

“A lot of girls get pulled out of school because they couldn’t afford the fees or thought it would benefit the family more if they were married off.”

At first, Tiffany and Heather’s goal was to raise enough funds to go to Kenya and help build either a well or a school through another organization. But they soon decided to go bolder – and created their own non-profit.

Kenya feel the love? Go to www.boldfutures.org to donate or find Bold Futures on Facebook.

-Sara Bruestle