Downingtown resident Katherine Commale, who has raised millions of dollars for mosquito nets to help prevent malaria in Africa, received a hero’s welcome during her recent trip to Taiwan, writes Kathy Boccella for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Commale, 17, began raising money for malaria prevention when she was just five years old, after watching PBS’s Malaria: Forever Wars with her mother Lynda. Her initial effort yielded $1,500 for the United Nations Foundation to purchase mosquito nets. Since then, she has raised almost $3 million.

Her efforts inspired Taiwanese author Kuang-Tsai Hao to write a book on children who change the world. His book, Hero 365, is required reading for the country’s elementary school students.

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She was recently invited by the Maria Social Welfare Foundation to visit Taiwan with her family and deliver a HERO Talk for kids. During the visit, Commale was inundated with autograph requests.

After her 70-minute talk to 3,000 children and teachers, she met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen.

“I’ve never received so much kindness and love,” said Commale. “To see them idolizing me like that was really overwhelming and humbling.”

Read more about Katherine Commale in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.

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