The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards
Samantha Halle, 18, of Richmond and Nyasha Sprow, 12, of Dale City today were named Virginia’s top two youth volunteers for 2010 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 15th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
Samantha was nominated by Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School in Richmond, and Nyasha was nominated by the Prince William Chapter of the American Red Cross in Manassas. 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 2010 at that time.
Samantha, a senior at Maggie Walker Governor’s School, has played a key volunteer role at a children’s bereavement camp over the past three years, after attending the camp as a daughter grieving for her father. Samantha came reluctantly to Comfort Zone Camp in Richmond following her father’s death in 2002. “Prior to camp, I bottled up my emotions, was angry, and very guarded,” she said. “But by the end of my first camp weekend, I was smiling again.” In fact, Samantha found the camp so beneficial that she could hardly wait until her 15th birthday, when she could become a junior counselor. “I knew I would be able to put a smile on a camper’s face while showing them that they’ll be okay – I’m living proof,” said Samantha.
Since then, Samantha has worked at nearly 20 camp sessions and advanced to the position of head junior counselor. In addition to helping to make the camp a fun and safe place for kids who have lost a parent or sibling, Samantha trains other volunteers, speaks frequently at recruiting and fund-raising events, and offers to stay in touch with campers after their sessions are over. During one of her speeches, she persuaded a women’s club to adopt the camp as one of its projects, resulting in a $30,000 donation. She was chosen as one of only five volunteers to help start a new Comfort Zone in California, and helped select the site of another new camp in Texas. Also, Samantha has been assisting with publications, video production, and other communications projects, including the creation of a teen resource section on the Comfort Zone website. “As it gets closer to the seven-year anniversary of my Dad’s death,” said Samantha, “I’m reminded that losing him has given me a chance to make a difference. I’m grateful.”
Nyasha, a seventh-grader at Herbert Saunders Middle School in Manassas, is a passionate advocate for organ and tissue donation. Several years before Nyasha was born, her two sisters were tragically killed and her mother made the decision to donate their organs and tissues, giving 12 strangers the gift of life and health. And, in an unfortunate twist of fate, Nyasha’s older brother suffers from renal failure and has been on dialysis for years.
So it was an easy decision for Nyasha to make organ donation her personal mission. Nyasha has become a spokesperson for the National Kidney Foundation, stressing both the importance of protecting one’s organs and the need for more organ donors. She makes presentations at elementary schools, distributes literature at health fairs and community events, and seeks interviews with news media. She also participates in fund-raising events sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation and the Washington Regional Transplant Center. Finally, Nyasha is spreading the word about organ donation as a contestant in the National American Miss pageant. “I feel that education is the key to dispelling the myths and misconceptions that prevent people from donating,” she said. “If I can answer questions that may be keeping people from being donors, then maybe I can help increase the rate of donation and thereby save a life.”
In addition, the program judges recognized six other Virginia students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:
- Ethan Burns, 17, of Fredericksburg, a senior at Mountain View High School in Stafford, spearheaded the development of the first recycling policy for his school district’s 29 schools. Ethan also created a video contest to motivate students to recycle.
- Leah Coates, 18, of Colonial Beach, a senior at Washington and Lee High School in Montross, plans, organizes, and leads a variety of volunteer activities and recruits other young people to become involved. Leah has organized a school recycling program, beach and trail cleanups, nursing home visits, a school supply drive for children in developing countries, and fund-raisers to buy more than 500 mosquito nets for children in Tanzania.
- Apurva Pande, 17, of Glen Allen, a senior at Henrico High School in Henrico, has raised more than $9,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital over the past three years by hosting an annual swim marathon. Apurva recruits sponsors and swimmers for her “Swim-For-Life” events, coordinates logistics, and manages a team of volunteers.
- Benjamin Walker, 16, of Purcellville, a junior at Loudon Valley High School, is the co-founder and president of a teen volunteer club that creates and participates in a variety of service projects in his community. In one of the club’s biggest projects to date, Benjamin and fellow volunteers organized a basketball tournament to raise awareness of underage drinking and substance abuse.
- Jane Willner, 16, of McLean, a member of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital in Washington, D.C., and a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, created an outreach program to give teens a better understanding of the needs and concerns of the deaf community. Jane conducts workshops on sign language and deaf awareness, and recorded a sign-language DVD that was donated to libraries and schools.
- Robert Wofford, 18, of Richmond, a senior at St. Christopher’s School, raised $20,000 to help feed more than 800 children in Tanzania during the country’s long dry season. Robert, who had visited Tanzania on a mission trip in June 2009, raised the money in just one month by sending letters and e-mail to friends, family members, and everyone in his school. He also set up a donation table at his church.
“People as caring and committed as these young students are critical to the future of our neighborhoods, our cities and our nation,” said John R. Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial. “By recognizing these honorees, we hope to encourage other young people — our future leaders — and all Americans to think more about the value and importance of volunteering in their communities.”
“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. Nearly 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 3 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 Strangfeld of Prudential; Steven Pophal, 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 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Shardy Camargo of Orlando, Fla., and Colin Leslie of Rye, N.Y.
In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program will distribute President’s Volunteer Service Awards to more than 2,800 of its Local Honorees this year on behalf of President 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 90,000 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 President Jimmy Carter, Barbara Bush, Magic Johnson, John Glenn, Madeleine Albright, Rudy Giuliani, Whoopi Goldberg, Colin Powell, Peyton Manning, Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and Laura Bush. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Ireland.
For information on all of this year’s Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit spirit.prudential.com.
