Islip girl to meet Obama, receive UN award

Olivia Bouler, the 12-year-old Islip girl who has become the Audubon Society's fundraising rock star, is headed to the White House and receiving an award at the United Nations.

She received a personal invitation from President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama to attend a briefing and holiday reception on Dec. 14 in Washington, Olivia's mother, Nadine Bouler, said.

"This is beyond my wildest dreams," Olivia said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "One of my lifelong dreams was to meet the president and his family. I want to tell him to keep pursuing renewable energy and animal rights."

Details about the briefing and reception were not available Wednesday.

Olivia, a seventh-grader at Islip Middle School, gained fame two years ago when she offered her paintings to people who donated to the National Audubon Society in response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. To date, she has created more than 500 paintings and raised more than $175,000 for the nature group.

She has published a book, lobbied on Capitol Hill for environmental reforms and spoken to schoolchildren in various states and countries about her passion for animals.

"I'm glad that she is still able to advocate for her beliefs," Nadine Bouler, 43, a high school teacher, said. "We as a nation need to work together to move our country in a more environmentally sound direction."

Monday, Olivia is scheduled to visit the United Nations to receive the Youth-in-Action Humanitarian Award at Auburn University's 18th annual International Quality of Life Awards.

This is the first time the Alabama school, which has honored former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, will present an award to such a young person, said Harriet Giles, director of external relations for the university's college of human sciences.

Officials selected Olivia for two reasons: Her grandparents and father went to Auburn, and her philanthropic work caught their attention, she said.

"This is a special case," Giles said. "She's achieved such distinction at an earlier age. This is a young child who is such a role model for her generation and generations that follow her."