Youth, 11, a volunteer whirlwind

Bailey Lake isn’t the typical 11-year-old. When she’s not going to school, dancing with her dance team or managing her own 4-H projects, this young volunteer keeps busy making the world around her a better place.

Lake’s lengthy list of altruism would give the likes of Bill Gates and Bono pause.

After using her 10th and 11th birthdays to enlist her buddies to Walk to End Alzheimer’s and raising nearly $1,100, Lake stepped up for last October’s Pink Me Up run/walk to benefit Save A Sister, the local foundation that helps cancer patients cover some of the many expenses that aren’t covered by insurance.

As if being an active 4-H’er isn’t enough to keep a kid busy caring for livestock and competing in various events throughout the year, Lake takes her involvement up a noticeable notch by volunteering countless hours at 4-H events.

She helped  serve at the 4-H Interstate Exchange’s annual spaghetti dinner in March and the Older Americans Day luncheon in June, volunteered at the Agape Junior Livestock Show in July and the 4-H awards and banquet at the Northwest Montana Fair in August, along with many other projects for the County Extension office.

That’s not all: During the summer, Lake volunteered weekly at Klothes Kloset in Columbia Falls and during the school year she has been assisting at Edgerton School as a classroom aide.

Last January this little girl with a big heart was selected as part of Flathead County’s 4-H delegation to Helena to meet with legislators at the Montana 4-H Legislative breakfast. She spoke about the importance of 4-H in our community and advocated on behalf of local and state 4-H programs.

Lake’s generosity of her time and talent was recognized last year when she was awarded the Hand to Heart Award by the Flathead 4-H Foundation.

The 4-H emblem is a four-leaf clover with an “H” on each leaf. According to 4-H history, those four H’s stand for Head, Heart, Hands and Health — for “Heads trained to think; Hearts to be true; Hands to be helpful; and Health to render service. As the story goes, one of the H’s in the original emblem created in 1907 and revised in 1911 stood for “Hustle.”

Lake’s got ’em all.

Back in December an anonymous person treated an elderly couple to lunch at the Alley Connection in Kalispell. Unbeknown to the kind stranger, the husband and wife happened to be celebrating their 63rd wedding anniversary.

Their daughter, Dr. Karen Beiser of Laurel, wrote a note to the Inter Lake to say thank you.

 “Your generosity could not have been better timed. Your treat for them warmed my heart and theirs as well,” Beiser wrote. “Just when you begin to believe all the negativity we hear and see all around us, someone like you restores our faith in human kindness and generosity. It meant so much more than you know. What a wonderful treat for an anniversary gift.”

And, as a sweet after note, Beiser’s dad was so touched he anonymously paid for someone else’s meal the next time he and his wife were in the restaurant.

Community editor Carol Marino may be reached at 758-4440 or by email at community@dailyinterlake.com.