Melissa Poe of Nashville, Tennessee spends all her free time teaching people about environmental pollution.

Melissa got concerned about the environment after seeing a television program about children dying of air and water pollution. She asked her mother, "Am I going to die young?" Her mother told her that if she was concerned about that, she should do something. Melissa wrote a letter to President Bush, asking him to help save the environment. When he didn't answer right away, she decided emergency measures were in order.

Melissa got a local billboard company to display her letter on a downtown billboard. It said, "Dear Mr. President. Please will you do something about pollution. I want to live till I am a 100 years old. Mr. President, if you ignore this letter we will all die of pollution." That led to a billboard in Washington, D.C. (where the President would be more likely to see it) and 250 more billboards around the country, all donated.

She also started an environmental club at school, Kids F.A.C.E. (Kids for a Clean Environment), which now has branches in 11 states and Senator Al Gore on its advisory board.

In her free time, Melissa answers some of the 1,500 letters she has received from kids and teachers who have read about her crusade or seen her on TV.

Update: Kids F.A.C.E is now the world's largest youth environmental organization. The organization is responsible for planting and distributing over one million trees, and created the world's largest environmental flag for the 25th anniversary of Earth Day. Melissa has traveled across the United States and as far as Brazil in her work for the environment. She stepped down as president of Kids F.A.C.E. in 1997 but continues to be on the board.