Fenton and Blue Springs students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nation's capital
Honors also bestowed on youth volunteers in Kansas City, Columbia, St. Louis, Warrenton, and Eldon
Alexander Kehm, 16, of Fenton and Jacob Mozer, 14, of Blue Springs today were named Missouri's top two youth volunteers for 2011 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 16th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
Alexander was nominated by Rockwood Summit High School in Fenton, and Jacob was nominated by Moreland Ridge Middle School in Blue Springs. As State Honorees, each will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America's top youth volunteers for 2011 at that time.
Alexander, a junior at Rockwood Summit High School, initiated a community-wide drive that has collected more than 25,000 pieces of new and gently used soccer equipment for underprivileged children in St. Louis and around the world. Alexander, who was encouraged by his parents to help others since he was very young, saw an ad one day for the U.S. Soccer Foundation's Passback program, which encourages organizations and individuals to donate soccer equipment for kids who cannot afford it. "I immediately wanted to help," said Alexander, a soccer player himself. "After contacting the foundation and finding out there was no one in the St. Louis area doing anything like this, I knew what I needed to do."
What he did was establish "Fenton Passback," an organization that has involved businesses, teachers, community leaders, news media, and other groups throughout the St. Louis area in an ongoing effort to collect soccer balls, jerseys, shorts, cleats, shin guards, bags, and other gear. To get the word out, Alexander created brochures and flyers, gave speeches, visited athletic equipment stores, and created a website at www.fentonpassback.com. He also garnered publicity by helping the U.S. Soccer Foundation break the world record for the longest chain of shoes, tying together 11,904 soccer cleats at a national coaches convention. Alexander so far has donated more than 25,000 pieces of equipment to a Boys & Girls Club in St. Louis; a mission for girls in East Africa; a 16-city soccer league for homeless men, women and youth; and a soccer academy that provides training to needy kids in West Africa. "I would tell others that sometimes it takes just a spark of interest in something to ignite the volunteer flame," said Alexander. "Once you start volunteering, you will discover how rewarding it can be."
Jacob, an eighth-grader at Moreland Ridge Middle School, has helped his family raise $500,000 over the past seven years by selling lemonade in stands throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area to find a cure for childhood cancers. When Jacob was 16 months old, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system. After he recovered, his family heard about a little girl named Alex who had started a lemonade stand and was calling on others to set up similar stands in her quest to raise $1 million for childhood cancer research. "We decided to help her and so we started with a small stand," said Jacob. "We were so excited that this small stand raised $5,000 in just one day that we decided to keep expanding the stand."
To start their project, Jacob and his family went to a local grocery store and asked permission to open a stand at their store. After the manager agreed, they contacted local media to publicize the stand and Jacob gave interviews to talk about his experience with cancer. The following year, they decided to expand to all of the chain's stores in the metropolitan area. They needed to recruit hundreds of volunteers to manage the stands and sponsors to help supply the lemonade. Today, more than 800 volunteers a year run 26 lemonade stands organized by Jacob and his family. Jacob also has been to Washington D.C. to lobby Congress for funds to find a cure for childhood cancers. "If a cure is found, a LOT less children will die, and then they'll be able to explore the beauty of life without the horrible experience of having cancer."
In addition, the program judges recognized six other Missouri students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:
Selchia Cain, 17, of Kansas City, a senior at Archbishop O'Hara High School, started a teen obesity awareness campaign called, "Health Hype: Super Size Your Minds…Not Your Bodies!," while serving as a volunteer chair of the Public Health Committee with the Kansas City Youth Commission. Since her term expired, Selchia has continued her mission by publishing articles in local media and providing healthy eating tips for a local teen talk show.
Niyonzima Etienne, 20, of Columbia, a senior at Rock Bridge High School, tutors refugees in English and helps them study for their driving tests. Niyonzima, who himself was a refugee in Tanzania until 2007, also serves as a translator for refugees in a local hospital and at local churches.
Hannah Green, 17, of St. Louis, a senior at Whitfield School, started a volunteer service project to make blankets and knit scarves for needy children along with senior citizens at a low-income senior housing project. Hannah, who started out as a volunteer serving meals at the Crown Center, created the "Hannah and Friends" project to involve the seniors in a social, yet worthwhile activity.
Caroline Levens, 17, of St. Louis, a senior at Parkway Central High School in Chesterfield, has raised $10,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation by leading teams and recruiting walkers for the Walk for a Cure, and by organizing fund-raisers at local schools. Caroline, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a high school freshman, is also a mentor for newly diagnosed patients and a counselor at a camp for diabetic children.
Michael Pelts, 17, of Warrenton, a senior at Warrenton High School, created "IMAGINE (Inform, Motivate, Assist, Greatness, Inspire, Nourish, Excel)" to help students select and apply for colleges. Michael, realizing that only 29 percent of students from his school go on to college, put together a comprehensive college resource center, hosted college application workshops and tours and sponsored free practice ACT exams for interested students.
Amanda Riley, 17, of Elson, a senior at School of the Osage High School in Osage, helped raise awareness and $5,000 to support suicide prevention through a series of youth-oriented rock concerts. Amanda, who worked alongside a friend on the project, booked the bands, secured the locations, handled publicity and registrations, and worked closely with community organizations including the Missouri Suicide Prevention Project.
"These award recipients have proven that young people across America are critical to the future of our neighborhoods, our nation, and our world," said John R. Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial. "Each and every one of these honorees deserve our respect and admiration, and we hope by shining a light on them, they will continue to serve as an example for others."
"The young people recognized by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards demonstrate an enormous capacity for giving and reaching out to those in need," said Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "NASSP is proud to honor these student leaders because they are wonderful examples of the high caliber of young people in our nation's schools today."
All public and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of HandsOn Network, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award this past November. More than 5,000 Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria such as personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact and personal growth.
While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees will tour the capital's landmarks, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. In addition, 10 of them – five middle level and five high school students – will be named National Honorees on May 2 by a prestigious national selection committee. These honorees will receive additional $5,000 awards, gold medallions, crystal trophies, and $5,000 grants from The Prudential Foundation for nonprofit, charitable organizations of their choice.
Serving on the national selection committee will be John Strangfeld of Prudential; Jana Frieler, president of NASSP; Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of the Points of Light Institute & Hands On Network; Marguerite Kondracke, president and CEO of the America's Promise Alliance; Donald T. Floyd Jr., president and CEO of National 4-H Council; Pamela Farr, the American Red Cross' national chair of volunteers; Elson Nash, associate director for project management at the Corporation for National and Community Service; Michael Cohen, president and CEO of Achieve, Inc.; and two 2010 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Shannon McNamara of Basking Ridge, N.J., and Benjamin Sater of Plano, Texas.
In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program will be distributing President's Volunteer Service Awards to more than 2,800 of its Local Honorees this year on behalf of President Barack Obama. The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represent the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. Since the program began in 1995, more than 95,000 young volunteers nationwide have been honored at the local, state or national level. Many prominent public figures have assisted in saluting these honorees over the years, including Jimmy Carter, Barbara Bush, Magic Johnson, John Glenn, Madeleine Albright, Rudy Giuliani, Whoopi Goldberg, Colin Powell, Peyton Manning, Laura Bush, and Condoleezza Rice. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland and India.
For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.
In existence since 1916, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the preeminent organization of and national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and aspiring school leaders from across the United States and more than 45 countries around the world. NASSP's mission is to promote excellence in school leadership. The National Honor Society ®, National Junior Honor Society ®, National Elementary Honor Society™, and National Association of Student Councils ® are all NASSP programs. For more information about NASSP, located in Reston, Va., visit www.nassp.org or call 703-860-0200.
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit http://www.news.prudential.com/
Editors: Graphics depicting the award program's logo and medallions may be downloaded from spirit.prudential.com.
Contacts:
Prudential Financial
Harold Banks
(973) 802-8974 (office)
(973)
216-4833 (cell)
harold.banks@prudential.com
