Operation Fairy Dust helps high school girls prepare for prom night when they otherwise couldn't afford to do so.

Prom. They say you never forget the day, good or bad. The date. The hair. The makeup. The dress.

But many young girls can't afford to get all dolled up. Enter Operation Fairy Dust. Founded in 2002, this group was built by young female professionals and graduate students in New York City. It provides high school girls with makeup, accessories and prom dresses, if they can't buy them on their own.

With sister organizations around the country, these groups sustain themselves with donations and second-hand dresses. The young women who run the group wear tiaras and are as cheerful as they are kind-hearted. They can't promise a good time, but they can provide the means to have a fair shot at having one.

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Half of the proceeds from the teens' 'Polar Bear Gear' help fund a program that sends kids to the Arctic North.

This week we heard big news from Washington: Polar bears are now listed as “threatened” and have additional protection under the Endangered Species Act. But before the Department of Interior’s national call to action, a set of triplets in Maryland were taking action in their own way.

Sixteen-year-old Connor, Hayley and Emma Gilbert started Polar Bear Nation. The teens partnered with Polar Bears International last year to help fund a program that sends kids to the Arctic North. PBI's Adventure Learning Camp creates Arctic Ambassadors, or students who educate other young people on climate change and its effect on polar bears.

The triplets are busy selling their "Polar Bear Gear," with half of the proceeds going to scientific research and outreach programs at PBI. Certainly they are happy about the news this week. But, the Gilbert teens are quick with a list of facts pointing to their conclusion that a lot more has to be done for the bears.

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Alicia Mixson takes care of her brother Catlin Mixson, who was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq last year.

The Mixson family has two young heroes. Catlin Mixson, 21, is one of the nation's heroes, serving in Iraq until he was wounded. And Alicia Mixson, 26, is his hero, putting her own life on hold to take care of her brother.

Catlin was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad eight months ago. Everyone else in his Humvee died. Catlin survived, but had to have both legs amputated. Doctors wanted someone to stay at the military hospital in Texas with him. Alicia left everything she had in Florida to care for him.

They live in Army lodgings together now. She takes him to rehab, counts his pills and rolls his wheelchair. "People keep telling me that it's exceptional – but in my heart I didn't have a choice," says Alicia, a truly unsung hero.

For her selfless work, Alicia was recognized by CVS Pharmacy's "For All the Ways You Care" program.

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Kate Atwood, second from right, was 6 years old when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

When I was 11, my father died. I didn’t know anyone my age who had lost a parent. I thought that only people who were my parents’ age lost a parent.

I certainly didn’t know Kate Atwood then, but I’m happy to know her now. Atwood’s mom died from breast cancer when she was 12. Atwood saw the need for an organization to bring bereaved children together to let them know they’re not alone.

In 2003, she started Kate’s Club, a group that empowers kids after the loss of a parent or sibling. Social, recreational and emotional support programs help them cope with their loss and remember that even though they just had to grow up fast, they're still kids at heart.

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