LI girls head to UN for youth celebration

Olivia Bouler, the 12-year-old Islip girl who became the Audubon Society's fundraising rock star, will head to the United Nations Thursday to talk about her passion for the environment.

She and 13 other girls will discuss global and social change on two panels at the International Year of Youth Culmination Celebration at the UN. Each girl was chosen as an A.L.L.Y. Award recipient by AllyKatzz, a media company that operates a social networking website for tween and teen girls.

Also a panelist and award recipient is Rachel Shuster, 14, of Dix Hills, who formed a Kids Care Club chapter.

"I want to talk about how the environment is easy to reach, that you don't have to do exactly what I did, but every little thing that people do counts," Olivia said. "If we show that kids can make a difference, we can start a movement and change the world for the better."

The Islip Middle School student first 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. To date, she has created more than 500 paintings and raised more than $175,000 for the Audubon Society.

Since then, Olivia, who will enter seventh grade next month, has spent several days on Capitol Hill lobbying for environmental reforms. She's also spoken to schoolchildren in different states and countries about her passion for animals.

Recently, Olivia was chosen from 37,000 applicants as one of 10 national Kohl's Cares Scholarship Program winners. Kohl's will give her a $1,000 college scholarship and will also donate $1,000 to the Audubon Society in her name.

"I think it's great that I can still help and still contribute to the birds," Olivia said.

At Thursday's summit, Olivia and the other award winners will address a group of more than 150 young women, from ages 10 to 24.

Denise Restauri, founder and chief executive of AllyKatzz, hopes girls at the summit will see Olivia as a role model. "Our mission is to give girls and young women online and offline the ability to stand up, speak out and be heard," Restauri said. "She'll be very inspirational for the girls that are there because she really does show that you're never too young."

Meanwhile, Olivia is showing no sign of slowing down. In April, her first book, "Olivia's Birds: Saving the Gulf," was published. Last month, she went to Costa Rica to spread her message internationally.

"The reason I still continue to do this is because it's not going to be changed if we don't make the difference," Olivia said. "Everyone I talk to I hope to inspire them to do whatever they can to help."