Congrats to our own Brryan Jackson on receiving the Halo award last night.  Check out the article below from the STL Post Dispatch.

WEARING A HALO: Eighteen-year-old Brryan Jackson from St. Charles is one of four teens who will be featured on the first ever TeenNick HALO Awards, which will premiere next Friday at 7 p.m. local time on TeenNick, to be followed by at 8 p.m. by a presentation on Nick at Nite.

The awards show is designed to recognize and celebrate real teens who are making a difference in the world. HALO is an acronym for “Helping and Leading Others,” which is what the teens who are getting the awards are doing.

The show will feature LeBron James, Alicia Keys, Hayden Panettiere and Justin Timberlake giving out the awards in support of the teens’ philanthropic causes. Nick Cannon, who created, hosts and produces the show, surprises each teen winner with a visit and a grant for his or her organization. He also gives them scholarship funds and the opportunity to meet with a celebrity who shares a similar passion for the same cause.

Brryan is receiving the award for his creation of “Hope Is Vital,” which is a group that advocates for HIV/AIDS awareness education and outreach. Brryan was infected with the HIV virus as an infant and has been living with full-blown AIDS since he was 5. He was intentionally injected with HIV-tainted blood when he was 11 months old, while his parents were in the midst of a separation.

Brryan’s father was accused of injecting him with the tainted blood in an attempt to avoid paying child support. He was convicted of first-degree assault and received a sentence of life in prison.

Brryan also volunteers as a staff member at Camp Kindle. As a youngster, he attended the camp, which is designed for young people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Brryan is also active in Speak Out, which is Camp Kindle’s peer-to-peer speaker’s bureau. Speakers regularly visit schools around the country to educate students about what it’s like to live with HIV/AIDS in hopes of combating social stigmas and improving the lives of those living with AIDS.