Soroptimist International of Bellevue Metropolitan recently honored Kara Chambers of Redmond with the Violet Richardson Award at its annual awards dinner held at The Big Fish Grill.

Chambers, 17, a senior at Redmond High School, was recognized for her volunteer service, and a matching award will be given to the organization for which she volunteers.

She was inspired at the age of 12 by her brother, who introduced her to an international organization, Invisible Children (IC), a grassroots group of young people committed to bringing attention to the neglected crisis occurring in central Africa and the atrocities being perpetrated on the people and children by an organization called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRC).

In the ninth grade, after a few years of small-scale voluntary efforts to aid the IC, she founded a group called the Current Events Club focused on raising awareness and support for organizations similar to IC. When she entered Redmond High School, she joined Schools 4 Schools, where she now serves as president. Its weekly meetings focus on education and fund-raising for central African programs, most notably its sister school Anaka Secondary School in Uganda.