As the star of SecondStory Repertory‘s production of “Dear Edwina Junior” last weekend, 13-year-old Ruth Sneha Thomas has come a long way from her humble beginnings in India.

Born into poverty, the Redmond Ridge resident was adopted when she was 4 months old by Peter and Vanita Thomas. With 148 million orphans worldwide, Ruth considers herself lucky to be one of the few to be adopted and works to inform others about the importance of adoption. She and her siblings Sarah and Sandeep have participated in and led various fundraisers and drives to provide funds as well as clothes, toys, school supplies and other items to help children in poverty around the world.

Ruth began performing at age 4 as part of a dance troupe in New Jersey. She has led worship at church on several occasions and has been a lead singer, dancer and actor at various venues. She has been a part of the Columbia Choir, the Hiz Kidz Choir and the Rosa Parks Elementary and Evergreen Junior High schools choir ensembles. Ruth was also selected by the Washington Music Educators Association to participate in the Honor’s Choir.

“Dear Edwina Junior” is the story of 13-year-old Edwina Spoonapple, who wants nothing more than her place in the spotlight and to be part of the Kalamazoo Advice-a-palooza Festival.

In addition to her philanthropic efforts and stage tendencies Ruth studies at IQ Academy, an online school, and is an advocate for virtual learning. This year, she met Gov. Chris Gregoire and lobbied in Olympia to gain Washington State lawmakers’ support for virtual public schools and to maintain equality without cutting the budget for virtual education.

To watch videos of Ruth’s performances, click here.