Brooke Yost, a Wohlwend Elementary School student, is among 80 young social entrepreneurs recently recognized for helping make their community and the world a better place.

Brooke, daughter of Deb and Mark Yost of Oakville, has been insulin-dependent since the age of 5 when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, or T1D, according to a news release.

She has been named a semifinalist in the 2013 search for Build-A-Bear Huggable Heroes.

Brooke, who is now 9 years old, started Team Brooke Go Fight Cure, which raises awareness and funds for JDRF — formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Inspired by her own experience with T1D, Brooke has made personal calls to all her donors, visited local companies to share her story, enlisted corporate teams and hosted fundraising days at local retailers to help raise awareness and research funds for JDRF, the release stated.

Team Brooke Go Fight Cure has — to date — raised more than $50,000 and has been honored as the top fundraising family team in the JDRF Greater Missouri and Southern Illinois Chapter, according to the release.

Build-A-Bear Workshop launched the Huggable Heroes program in 2004 as a way to recognize young people for their outstanding community-service efforts.

Huggable Heroes are young leaders, ages 8 to 18, who demonstrate strong levels of kindness, compassion and leadership to make a difference in their communities or around the world. Ten Huggable Heroes will be named this summer.

JDRF is the worldwide leader in the fight against T1D. The mission is to improve the lives of everyone affected by T1D by accelerating progress on the most promising opportunities for better treating, curing and preventing the disease.