JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)- A senior at Science Hill High School is set to receive the Congressional Award Gold Medal. Julia Gilmore has been working towards this honor for the past 2 years.
“I’ve just been so grateful to have finished it in time by my senior year,” said Gilmore. “That was my goal and it really has given me a lot of recognition and connections to people so I could expand my service and my platform.”
Julia Gilmore created her own platform, the Gilmore Giving Tree, for service projects and to collect money for charity. Through her platform and other means of collecting charity, Julia has raised $94,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“I’ve been working with Saint Jude since I’ve been nine,” said Gilmore. “Every year during Childhood Cancer Awareness month in September, I hosted a different fundraiser to help give them [St. Jude children] toys or gift cards or cash donations.”
Gilmore is one out of 574 youths across the country to receive the Congressional Award. Julia said she’s had a lot of support from friends and family. Julia’s brother Tommy Gilmore said he couldn’t be more proud of his older sister.
“I’ve seen, like, the joy she’s put into other people,” said Tommy Gilmore. “It’s really driven me to be a better person just like her because when you see someone do a good thing, you obviously want to go start doing the same thing.”
Julia will be attending UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall, she will be double majoring in journalism and global studies. Her brother Tommy said he will miss having his sister around when she goes off to college.
“I’ll call her almost every night,” said Tommy. “But I’m I’m probably going to have to have her help me study a lot because I’m going to need her smarts by my side.”
The Congressional Award Gold Medal allows Julia to go to Congress in June.
