[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 24, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E398-E399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HERMANTOWN FIFTH-GRADERS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD M. NOLAN

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 24, 2015

  Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize three very 
compassionate fifth-grade school children for their leadership in 
protecting us against the silent killer of carbon monoxide poisoning. 
The students who have stepped forward to meet an important community 
need are Bryanna Kliegle, Alexa Aagenes and Ani Jovanovich of 
Hermantown Middle School.
   I don't think I have to remind anyone that winters in Minnesota can 
be very cold. We Minnesotans are hardy souls and deal with it. But with 
the cold temperatures, there is a silent killer that unfortunately 
creeps into our communities every year as people try to warm their 
homes. This killer is called carbon monoxide poisoning.

[[Page E399]]

   Bryanna had a friend who died from carbon monoxide poisoning just a 
few weeks before Christmas. She turned her grief into action, reaching 
out to two friends to help her so others would not be lost to this 
killer. They formed a group and went door-to-door raising donations to 
buy carbon monoxide detectors for local families. These detectors cost 
only about $20.00 each, but within a short span they formed Hopes of 
Faith to handle the donations. To date, they have raised more than 
enough money to buy 200 detectors and then received 100 more from Safe 
Kids Minnesota and Kiddie, a company that makes the units.
   Bryanna recently spoke at a school assembly and told her classmates, 
``We didn't think we could do this much at first. We're just fifth-
graders. Regular fifth graders, but we reached out and wanted to take a 
chance.''
   How many times do we look around our communities and think something 
should be done and wait for others to lead the way? Bryanna, Alexa and 
Ani are exceptional young students we can look to as leaders. They saw 
a need, stepped forward and did something about it. I am so very proud 
of them.

                          ____________________