Katie Stagliano, a 10-year-old Pinewood Preparatory School student, has won a spot in the Build-A-Bear Workshop Huggable Heroes class of 2009.  
Stagliano joins an elite group of 12 young people from the United States and Canada being honored for demonstrating outstanding leadership, dedication and compassion to make the world a better place.
Stagliano started “Launch Katie’s Dream” to help see to it that no child goes hungry. She plants vegetable gardens and donates the harvests to soup kitchens and organizations that help feed those in need.  Katie also sells t-shirts with the phrase, “No Hungry Children…. All it takes is a Seedling,” from which 10 percent of the sales go to help her cause.
Collectively, the 2009 Huggable Heroes class has raised funds and collected items valued at more than $16 million and have done all this by volunteering more than 6,000 hours of their time throughout the year, and the numbers keep rising.
Stagliano will unite with the other 11 youths named 2009 Huggable Heroes in St. Louis, Mo., at the Build-A-Bear Workshop World Bearquarters, July 22-24, where she will participate in ceremonies and leadership workshops.  
Stagliano also will receive $10,000 ($7,500 in the form of an educational scholarship and $2,500 from the Build-A-Bear Workshop Foundation to be donated to the 501(c)(3) charity of the hero’s choice).
From January 16 through February 27, 2009, Build-A-Bear Workshop accepted nominations for Huggable Heroes. Hundreds of young leaders were nominated for their volunteer and community service efforts. Nominations were narrowed down to a field of 208 semi-finalists, 50 finalists and now to these final 12 Huggable Heroes.