Rancho Santa Fe’s Malia Rappaport to be honored as ‘Outstanding Youth Volunteer’

RSF resident Malia Rappaport is a 2012 honoree as “Outstanding Youth Volunteer” for National Philanthropy Day. She is a volunteer for Kids Included Together and Girl Scouts of America.

Malia was nominated by Girl Scouts of San Diego and Imperial Counties and Kids Included Together. For 100 years, Girl Scouting has built girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. Malia, 17, exemplifies that mission. She credits her diagnosis of Tourette’s syndrome at age 5 with sparking a desire to educate others and foster understanding of those living with disabilities.

Malia has been a Girl Scout for 12 years, and she calls Girl Scouting “a driving force” in her life. Her projects have included spending a year working with the Oceanside Women’s Shelter, assisting with its transition house. She also created a bilingual listening library for the Ronald McDonald House, and she has served breakfast at the St. Vincent de Paul homeless shelter once a month for more than three years. When she participated on the peer planning committee for the Great Escape teen weekend encampment, Malia helped develop a more inclusive and supportive program for the Girl Scouts with special needs.

Malia, a high school senior at Canyon Crest Academy, will earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, an honor just 4 percent of Girl Scouts achieve. She is completing one of the major requirements, a comprehensive service project based on her passion for encouraging inclusion for children living with disabilities, dovetailing her work with the national Youth Inclusion Voices “I am Norm” program and Kids Included Together.

The 40th Annual National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon will be held on Thursday, Oct. 25, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront (1 Park Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92101). For more information, visit https://afpsandiego.afpnet.org/ or call (888) 323-7237.