Brianna Machuga is a winner.
The 17-year-old Cuyahoga Falls girl will travel to Washington, D.C., next month to receive a national youth volunteer award from the National Park Service.
The junior at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School is the winner of the park service’s George and Helen Hartzog Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service-Youth Award.
The award, among the most prestigious in the park service, recognizes volunteers for their contributions that lead to the development of innovative projects and volunteer involvement.
Brianna, the daughter of Brian and Pamela Machuga, has logged more than 700 hours as a volunteer in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park since she was 7 years old.
“To receive this award is absolutely amazing,” she said in a statement. “I never dreamed I could be recognized on a national level.
“To me volunteering is just something with which I grew up and something I intend to do for the rest of my life,” she added.
“Volunteering is like an extracurricular. It’s fun and it’s great to be able to teach and help people. It’s something you want to do.”
Brianna volunteers in the Cuyahoga Valley park as an actress, office assistant and program assistant for youth and special events programs. That includes the Underground Railroad and the highly popular Polar Express.
Her favorite volunteer duty is helping with the holiday-themed Polar Express.
She has volunteered on the trains carrying pajama-clad youngsters and she has worked at the North Pole in Peninsula.
“To create magic for kids is something very special.” she said. “You put a smile on their faces and that makes it all worthwhile.”
She began her park volunteering at age 7 when she helped her mother, a park ranger, stage an Easter egg hunt in the Cuyahoga Valley.
In 2011, Brianna started a special collection of hats and winter coats for homeless shelters from Polar Express riders.
She has delivered more than 140 coats and 300 hats, gloves and scarves.
“Every little bit helps,” she said of the effort that is now an annual drive.
She was nominated for the award by the Cuyahoga Valley park.
She was earlier named the top youth volunteer in the Midwest region with its 57 park units. This advanced her to the national finals. She said she had no idea what her chances of winning the national award were.
“I had a lot of hope,” she said.
Outside of the park, Brianna helps with vacation Bible school at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Cuyahoga Falls, worked props at Weathervane Community Playhouse on The Mystery of Edwin Drood and helps with seventh-grade visitation at St. V-M.
At St. V-M, Brianna is an honor student. She is a dancer in school productions, serves on the board of the International Thespian Society, the Spanish Club and Students Against Drunk Drivers.
She is considering attending Kent State University to be a double major in communications and sign language interpretation.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.