Santa Rosa’s Gabe Ferrick was one of five young Californians to each win $36,000 after being selected for the 2011 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award. Ferrick’s interview ran Monday and can be seen by clicking here.

Here is a brief bio on another young person to receive one of this year’s awards: Casey Robbins, a recent graduate of Mira Loma High School in Sacramento.

Casey Robbins is shipping nearly 4,000 surplus textbooks a year to Liberia.

Casey, a Carmichael resident, began her Textbooks for Liberia program after hearing a striking radio interview with Gabriel Williams, Liberia’s deputy minister for public affairs. Williams told of the urgent need to rebuild his country after a 14-year civil war had ravaged Liberia’s infrastructure. Inspired to help, Casey contacted Williams and decided to work to donate the surplus books from her school.

To transport the textbooks overseas, Casey had to overcome such shipping obstacles as distance, rising gas prices and natural disasters. She succeeded, and Textbooks for Liberia is now in its fifth year.

This spring, Casey traveled to Monrovia, Liberia to meet with students who received the textbooks and to visit the Casey Robbins International School, founded in her honor.

And this fall she is planning her largest shipment to date,  a 60,000 lb. container filled with textbooks.

High School: Mira Loma High School, Sacramento

Favorite Place: Paris

Favorite Film: Zoolander

Favorite Book: Bringing Down the House

Favorite Food: Sushi

Favorite Activity: Dance

Top College Choice: Stanford (where I will be starting this fall)

Dream Job: Astronaut