Las Vegas teen who started anti-suicide campaign vying for spot in Energizer Hall of Fame

Kelsey Kinsel has been on MTV and CNN and had an article focu sing on her in the February/March issue of Justine magazine -- all because she wants to help others.

Now, the 17-year-old Arbor View High School student is a semifinalist for the 2011 Inductee into the Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame.

Kinsel , a Summerlin-area resident, is the one-person driving force behind Salvation City, an anti-suicide movement that seeks to help youngsters who are considering suicide.

She said she saw a need after a classmate -- "not a close friend but someone I felt a connection to," she said -- committed suicide. Later, someone with whom she'd gone to grade school took his own life.

Kinsel was learning real-world business strategies when the epiphany to help stop suicide hit.

She now is producing a compilation CD with 10 uplifting songs. Its sales -- she plans to sell it for $10 at salvationcity.net -- will help cover printing costs for informational pamphlets aimed at steering teens with depression to resources that can help them. A slogan wrist band is $2.

The CD is on track to be released this summer. One of the artists on it, singing a song he wrote, is Tim Halperin of "American Idol" fame. Kinsel's sister attends the same university as Halperin.

"Tim was at TCU (Texas Christian University), and one of my sister's friends knew him," said Kinsel. "This was before 'Idol.' "

She recently secured an endorsement from one of the stars of "Desperate Housewives," Marcia Cross.

The TV star was a little harder to locate than Halperin, Kinsel said. She went online, finding leads to managers and publicists for dozens of stars.

"Each time, I must have sent out a hundred emails, and I'd get back, like, three replies," she said.

But each reply suggested new avenues to explore, bringing her one step closer to celebrities. Kinsel's father, David, said that except for providing a ride here or there, he and his wife have not helped out. He praised his daughter for never being discouraged, never being stymied and never being caught unaware.

"Every door that opens, she's already mapped out where to go next," he said.

The success she has had so far, such as partnering with a coffee distribution company and organizing a walk last November at Centennial High School that raised $600, has come as no surprise to her teachers.

"This is a really, really driven, super-motivated child," said Sterling Peterson, a faculty member of Arbor View High School , 7500 Whispering Sands Drive. "You will see this go national, I have no doubt in my mind ... she is a force to be reckoned with."

Lydia High, the founder of Teen Entrepreneurs of Las Vegas, said Kinsel showed entrepreneurial ability, tempered with a philanthropic leaning.

"Where do I see her in 10 years? Making a difference in a community-driven way," High said.

This is not the first time Kinsel has latched onto a cause and made an impact.

When she was in fifth grade, she raised money to help save the manatees by selling tie-dye book bags. It was so successful that CNN did a story on her effort.

W hether Kinsel would be named one of the 10 finalists in the Energizer competition was up to America to determine by voting.

Energizer was scheduled to announce the 10 finalists on April 4 at energizer.com/halloffame, where voting is open through May 13.

The 2011 inductee will receive a $10,000 cash prize, plus a $5,000 donation to his favorite
charity.

Contact Summerlin and Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.