Naperville Top Youth Volunteer Praised by Congressman

NAPERVILLE, IL — A Naperville teen who was named one of the top 10 youth volunteers in the country has received even more praise.

Jungin Angie Lee, a senior at Metea Valley High School, was named a National Honoree of the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards for her work co-founding the nonprofit Angie’s Hope, which raises money for spinal muscular atrophy research, according to the City of Naperville. Lee was diagnosed with the condition when she was 15 months old.

Congressman Peter Roskam visited Naperville to give Lee his praise. Surrounded by her friends and parents, Edmund and Kim, Angie listened as Congressman Roskam read the entry he submitted into the Congressional Record last May before presenting it to her.

His entry into the record is as follows:

I am pleased today to recognize Jungin "Angie'' Lee, an exceptional and accomplished young woman from
Naperville, Illinois. Angie was recently named one of the top ten youth volunteers in the nation by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. When Angie was just 15 months old, her family learned she had an autosomal recessive disease called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This genetic disorder causes debilitating and often fatal muscle weakness. Yet this disease did not stop Angie from helping people. Nine years ago, at the ripe age of 8, Angie and her friend, Kyra Scadden, started a nonprofit called "Angie's Hope'' to raise money for SMA research. Since its inception, Angie's Hope has gone from raising $200, literally one penny at a time through a penny collection drive, to raising $40,000 in 2015. Through it all, Angie has never lost sight of the fact that individual efforts can change lives. Angie has helped raise over 200,000 dollars for SMA research with no plans to stop anytime soon. She is planning "something big'' for the charity's 10th anniversary and would eventually like to expand the nonprofit to multiple states. Angie truly is an inspiration for all of us. Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating Angie Lee on receiving her award and thanking her for the dedication and commitment she has displayed in her work.

Lee’s nonprofit has raised nearly $200,000 over the past nine years through fundraising efforts to help find a cure for her rare neuromuscular disease.

Lee started raising money in second grade with a friend. She had a goal of raising $200 in pennies.

She accomplished that goal and every year she saw the amount grow. That’s when she decided to create her own nonprofit called Angie’s Hope.

Photo courtesy of the City of Naperville. From left, Jungin Angie Lee, Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico and Congressman Peter Roskam.