‘Forest Heroes’ Tomtishen and Vorva Honored with Special UN Award
The United Nations announced today that Rhiannon Tomtishen ’13 and Madison Vorva ’13 have received the first Forest Heroes Award for North America. Presented at the UN Headquarters in New York, the award recognizes the girls’ five-year campaign to raise awareness of palm oil, which is linked to destruction of rain forests and is used in a variety of products, including Girl Scout cookies.
According to the official United Nations press release, “The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat received 90 nominations from 41 countries and selected 15 finalists. After a long and difficult deliberation, the jury finally decided on the following regional winners: Africa’s Paul Nzegha Mzeka (Cameroon), Asia’s Shigeatsu Hatakeyama (Japan), Europe’s Anatoly Lebedev (Russian Federation), Latin America’s Paulo Adario (Brazil) and North America’s Rhiannon Tomtishen and Madison Vorva (United States)…Each hero embodied innovative approaches and grass-roots initiatives that make a direct impact on the forests to which they have dedicated themselves.”
“No students better embody our school’s mission than Rhiannon and Madison; they are, indeed, ‘curious, creative, and responsible citizens. . . whose meaningful and balanced lives will better the world,'” says Greenhills head of school Peter Fayroian. “The United Nations is appropriately honoring these two incredible young women, and acknowledging what young people everywhere are capable of accomplishing.”
