Fort Wayne teen gets national award for her work supporting the troops

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Alison Mansfield may only be 15 years old, but she's making her mark in the world. For the last five years she's worked to support American troops overseas. Now those efforts have earned her a national award.

"It's really humbling because honestly I've never believed you should be honored for just doing the right thing," Mansfield said. 

The Fort Wayne teen is one of only ten the country to be selected as a Build-a-Bear Huggable Hero.

As a fifth grader, Mansfield interviewed a wounded soldier for a school project.

"He never lost his faith in God, never lost his faith in country and he actually looked me in the eye with his skull caved in and said I would do this again for my country if I could," Mansfield said.

The soldier's story inspired her. She started organizing fund drives and garage sales and in five years the young teen's collected more than 48,000 items like socks, toiletries and snacks to send to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I'm so grateful for the freedom of speech and freedom of religion and things like that that I enjoy everyday and I realize it's the soldiers that make those kinds of freedoms possible," Mansfield said.

The Huggable Heros recognition awards Mansfield a $7,500 educational scholarship and $2,500 to donate to the charity of her choice.

"I'm really excited because it will give me the opportunity to share the news of the soliders with a wider audience," she said.

And she has a message for anyone interested in giving back to their community.

"If you're passionate about your cause, then other people will join you and you can do things beyond your wildest imagination," Mansfield said.