GOLDEN - Ana Dodson could have just forgotten about the significance of the trip her parents has planned for her to return to her native country of Peru. She could have considered it a vacation and ignored what was really on her heart.
Instead, Ana, then 11 years old, decided to act. For her efforts over the past six years, Dodson is being honored on Wednesday at the Caring Institute's 2009 Caring Awards.
Ana, who is now 17, is one of 10 inductees, including Retired Gen. Colin Powell, into the Caring Hall of Fame.
The Caring Institute was founded by former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole.
Ana, who was born in Peru, lived in an orphanage during the early part of her life. She was adopted and brought to the United States when she was a baby. It was 11 years before Ana would visit her home country again.
"I've always known where I come from and always loved it and valued it," Ana said. "But when I went back, the poverty struck me so hard. I could have been one of those children on the street or in an orphanage."
When Ana went back to visit for that first time, she met a girl, Gloria, whose words would change Ana's life forever.
"We got to know each other through the time I visited," Ana remembered. "When I was leaving to go back to the bus to head home, she came back to me and hugged me. She started crying and said, 'Ana, I know that one day you're going to help us, and that you'll never forget us.' That was the point where I was like, 'I've got to do something.'"
With a humble heart, Ana founded Peruvian Hearts, a nonprofit supporting Peruvian orphans with education, health care and nutrition. In the six years since its founding, Peruvian Hearts has helped thousands of Peruvian youth.
Today, Peruvian Hearts provides more than 700 orphaned children with breakfast, lunch and a multi-vitamin everyday.
The organization has also replaced worn-out and dangerous orphanages with clean and safe structures to give Peruvian youth an opportunity to grow in a loving environment until the day they move to their forever home.
"Peruvian Hearts will no longer be needed when all children in Peru are no longer in a state of poverty," Ana said. "The goal is that they can [have the opportunity to] dream. Like kids here in America, they can dream about being a pilot or a doctor or an actress.
"That is my hope," she said. "That we can all get together and realize that, together, we can change the world."
To learn more about Peruvian Hearts, you can visit http://www.peruvianhearts.org/.
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