Edson A. Kodama

Kodama with Junior Chamber International (JCI) President in Bamako, Mali in Africa. They handed out 400 stuffed animals and bed nets to an orphanage to distribute to three other orphanages. “There were about 40 kids there with only one person watching over all of them,” Kodama said. There were about 400 kids in all.

Senior Abby Narishkin wrote and submitted a story about freshman Naomi Kodama to the Herff Jones “Power of a Person” contest.  The story is about Kodama starting her own fundraiser called “Nothing But Nets.”  It is a non-profit organization that works to eliminate malaria by sending nets to Africa.

“I specialize in these kind of stories in Yearbook, and someone had told me about Naomi and I thought that would be a perfect story for people to read.  It’s totally out of the ordinary and you don’t see people like her everyday,” Narishkin said.

The winner is not determined by the caliber of writing, but the story with the most Facebook likes.  The winner receives a prize of $500.

“If I were to win the contest, the money would go towards college tuition,” Narishkin said.

Jostens yearbook company has offered to match the prize and offer $500 to Kodama’s foundation of choice.

“I would feel so blessed to win, not only because of the money but because we could get Naomi’s story out there and beyond the city,” Narishkin said.

To vote for Narishkin’s story, go to http://hjpower1person.meltwaterrise.com/entry/8373