DoSomething.org, a national not-for-profit that encourages young people to help change the world, named Oak Park resident Emily Rich, 24, a 2011 9/11 Remembrance Grant winner.

The grant will help fund Operation Gratitude’s efforts to send care packages to American troops serving overseas. The grant winners, age 25 and under, are chosen based on overall impact and creativity.

Operation Gratitude annually sends 100,000 care packages filled with snacks, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation addressed to individually named U.S. service members deployed in hostile regions.

Rich began serving with the program in 2007 when her younger brother, Lance Corporal Steven Rich, joined the Marine Corps.

Rich and her family have been involved with Operation Gratitude by running letter writing campaigns, collecting stuffed animals for collection drives and volunteering regularly at the armory on package assembly days.

Steven Rich is set to deploy to Afghanistan this fall.