Nathan Yagi-Stanton of Bellevue

Last year, Nathan Yagi-Stanton learned that Tham Truong, Sammamish High School's popular custodian, hadn't seen his family since fleeing Vietnam at the end of the war. Truong's savings had never stretched far enough to cover the cost of a trip home.

Yagi-Stanton figured raising money to help out would be easy. "We sold T-shirts that read 'Tham 2 Vietnam' and gave him the trip during an assembly.

"Most everyone can afford a $5 T-shirt. I've found people want to help and if you tell them the need and give them a way, you can bring those desires together."

Yagi-Stanton began volunteering when he was 7, helping a neighbor set up and take down an annual display of Christmas lights. In middle school, he organized a food drive that netted nearly 2,000 items.

At Sammamish, he collected $6,500 in spare change from fellow students for tsunami victims, raised money for the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina and volunteered at Bumbershoot. He was a youth director on Bellevue's 24-Hour Relay Challenge, a benefit for teen services. Yagi-Stanton, who wants to attend a college that specializes in training students for peace and humanitarian efforts, also has helped patients at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center build gingerbread houses.

His current goal is to raise enough money to make the senior prom affordable for every student.

"I just get a thrill out of helping people."

Sherry Grindeland, Seattle Times Eastside reporter