SOMERSET COUNTY, Pa. -- In a special ceremony among students at the Turkeyfoot School District, 15-year-old Chelsea Hoover received the Rising Star Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Chelsea took on the big task of holding her own "Light the Night" walk. Instead of reaching her goal of $2,000 she brought in almost double that amount.

"I was so pleased just with the help of the community," said Chelsea. "Everyone was behind me every step of the way."

Chelsea decided to raise money for the organization for her school project after her aunt took her to another "Light the Night" walk. When she saw the amount of luminaries lit up signifying those who are battling the cancer, Chelsea found her calling.

"I was really touched by that," said Chelsea. "I just wanted to help people. I wanted to be part of something that big."

Chelsea is no stranger to taking on big tasks.

"When she gets a thought in her head, she goes for it," said her mother Rhonda Hoover. "She wants to go above and beyond and that is in anything she does."

"My parents were like you have so much on your plate there is no way you can take this on," said Chelsea. "I know what I'm capable of. I went ahead and did it anyway."

It was a decision that made not just her parents proud, but a whole community.

"For her to raise this much money in this area is amazing," said Rhonda. "We are all like family and we all want to help. That's what our community is all about."

Organizers of the senior project said students at Turkeyfoot usually start it in their freshman year. While fundraising is a common theme, teachers said Chelsea's drive is unique.

"If anyone else would have else would have come to me with this project, I would have turned them down because it was huge," said teacher Kathi Smith.

Chelsea didn't stop at the walk. She also held penny wars with different grades in the district to raise money, sold teddy bears and blankets and even held a balloon release for those who lost their battle with leukemia.

"We need more young people to get involved," said Chris Ann Phillips, who is with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. "She is an inspiration to those her age."

School officials said that work ethic of Chelsea's will take her far well after graduation.

"She does think ahead of her age," said Dean of Students Jeffery Malaspino. "She not only identifies the problems, she solves the problems. She never says I don't know what to do."