A member of the local Optimist Club has been recognized for spending nearly half his life involved in helping young people.

But Parteek Singla says that is only the beginning.

Singla, 17, the youngest member of the Greenville Optimist Club, has received the Nestlé Very Best in Youth Award. He is among 27 students nationwide to receive the award, which recognizes youth for academic excellence and a commitment to community.

Singla, a senior at J.H. Rose High School, was selected for the award from a field of nearly 1,000 nominations. He is the only recipient from North Carolina.

Singla was recognized for his work with local organizations such as the United Cerebral Palsy foundation and the Greenville Youth Council as well as global efforts including tsunami relief and AIDS charities.

"What Parteek and each of the Nestlé Very Best in Youth have achieved at such a young age is commendable and they deserve to be recognized," said Ken Bentley, vice president of community affairs and educational programs at Nestlé USA. "These kids have, and are forever changing the lives of those surrounding them, as well as the lives of people they may never meet."

As part of the award, Nestlé is donating $1,000 to the charity of Singla's choice, the Make a Wish Foundation of Eastern Carolina. The money will be used to help grant wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Singla was 9 years old when he launched a fundraising campaign to help provide a swing set for local children with cerebral palsy. His efforts earned him the first of two Greenville's Young Citizen of the Year awards in 1999, making him the honor's youngest recipient.

"He's far-sighted to be his age," said Candy Nichols, past president of the Greenville Optimist Club, who has known Singla since he was in middle school. "He exudes a goodness you just don't find ... he's constantly looking for ways he can help someone."

When he was 14, Singla, now an Eagle Scout, devoted himself to helping a 9-year-old boy with special needs become a Cub Scout. Singla gathered Boy Scouting books, helped the boy achieve badges and even organized a recognition ceremony, inviting others to celebrate the child's achievement.

Nichols, who has worked with Singla as part of the Optimist's childhood cancer project, said the teen is known for his ability to get others involved in community-service projects.

"He is a master at getting his friends to join him," she said. "He's infectious."

Three years ago, Singla initiated a schoolwide campaign to collect books for children in Africa whose parents were suffering from AIDS. He later launched a communitywide emergency-relief campaign to collect medical supplies for tsunami victims in Southeast Asia.

"He does have a lot of help but he's the ringleader," said Dot Lovin, Singla's school counselor at Rose. "He's very much a self-starter ... and he does it all without missing a beat academically."

Singla, who is ranked among the top students in his graduating class, has received state awards in science, math and history and has won a number of public-speaking competitions. He has spent his summers doing medical research at East Carolina University and Johns Hopkins.

He has been awarded an East Carolina Scholars award with guaranteed acceptance into the Brody School of Medicine after graduation. He also received scholarship and fellowship offers from Johns Hopkins, Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

One of the reasons Singla chose East Carolina was to be able to continue some of the community projects he began here. Already, he is considering a project to provide aid to Uganda.

"When you do community service ... you actually see first-hand the difference that you made," Singla said. "It is really easy to get hooked on. It's like, 'Wow, I can make a difference.'

"I can do something. I can get out there and do something."

Contact features writer Kim Grizzard at 329-9578 or kgrizzard@coxnc.com.