Edmonton, Alta (Jun 12/06) - Silver is great, but one 18-year-old girl from Iqaluit is looking for gold.

Lindsay Sowdluapik-Lloyd has already achieved the silver level of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which is also called the Young Canadians Challenge here in Canada.

Lindsay Sowdluapik-Lloyd, 18, accompanied by her father David Lloyd, from Iqaluit was in Edmonton to receive the silver Duke of Edinburgh Award she won. She will soon complete her gold level after hiking in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. - Jessica Gray/NNSL photo

To participate, people between 14 and 25 must complete several hours of community service, demonstrate leadership qualities, and complete an expedition they design on their own.

Through her volunteer work with a crisis help line, a women's shelter, and the youth advisory panel in Nunavut, Sowdluapik-Lloyd has done that and more.

"I was already doing volunteer work," she said.

And so, Sowdluapik-Lloyd decided to put her hours of service towards the Young Canadians Challenge.

Completing the bronze and silver level by continuing to serve the community of Iqaluit, Sowdluapik-Lloyd made time to kayak in the Gulf Islands in British Columbia.

Now graduated from Lester B. Pearson College in Victoria, B.C., she has only one more thing to do before she'll have completed her gold level award.

"I leave tomorrow afternoon to go hiking in the Canadian Rocky (Mountains)," said Sowdluapik-Lloyd last Tuesday at a ceremony commemorating the new partnership between the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and Canadian North Airlines in Edmonton.

Presiding over the event were their royal highnesses the Earl and Countess of Wessex Prince Edward Antony Richard Louis and Princess Sophie Louis.

The earl presented his congratulations on behalf of the Duke of Edinburgh.

Another award recipient from Iqaluit was also recognized for reaching the gold level of the Young Canadians Challenge.

Scottie Monteith, 21, did his gold level Duke of Edinburgh award while at a boarding school in Alberta.

Offered as part of the curriculum, Monteith jumped at the chance to participate in outdoor activities.

"I went hiking and did some canoeing trips," said Monteith.

He skipped the bronze and silver levels and went right for the gold, something he achieved with flying colours.

"It's a big boost in confidence," said Monteith.

Sowdluapik-Lloyd will be attending Queens University in Kingston, Ont., next year to study arts and education.

She plans to return to her home town of Iqaluit and do more volunteering over the summer.