RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kristen Powers, 18, of Chapel Hill as well as Nathaniel Stafford, 14, of Smithfield currently were named North Carolina's top two youth volunteers for 2012 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Kristen was nominated by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA in Chapel Hill, as well as Nathaniel was nominated by Princeton High School in Princeton. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in the 17th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Kristen, a senior at Chapel Hill High School, has been a leader in developing school as well as community initiatives to protect the environment since she was in middle school. As a young girl, Kristen had to live off of food stamps as well as food pantry donations, as well as then learned she had a 50 percent chance of inheriting Huntingtons Disease from her mother. With a diverse perspective of poverty as well as an understanding that I might have a shorter life than I had hoped, I decided it was time to stop complaining about the problems around me as well as take action towards solving them, she said. In middle school, Kristen formed a Green Team club, which helped set up a recycling program as well as delivered presentations to fourth-graders about climate change. She then helped establish a second chapter at a local YMCA, as well as worked on projects such as making Halloween costumes out of recycled materials, giving presentations to elementary school kids, conducting an energy audit of the YMCA, as well as organizing tree plantings at middle schools. In high school, Kristen audited water make use of in low-income housing as part of a mayoral initiative as well as launched the Green Tiger C! ampaign. Through this campaign, Kristen as well as fellow volunteers created a garden that has produced more than 130 bags of organic produce for low-income families, installed motion-sensing light fixtures in school rooms, promoted low-flow sinks as well as toilets, reduced the make use of of plastic water bottles, sent 15 teens to a inhabitant climate change conference as well as hosted two Earth Week celebrations. I have learned that the world has never waited on Superman, said Kristin. Instead, the world waits upon ordinary people to make this planet a better place for all. Nathaniel, an eighth-grader at Princeton High School, raised $10,000 to buy mosquito bed nets for 1,000 families in Africa by hiking 100 miles in nine days, volunteering at a local restaurant as well as conducting a coin drive at his school. When Nates parents agreed to send him to a Boy Scout Jamboree on the organizations 100th anniversary, they challenged him to think of a way to celebrate the event. He decided to raise money for a charity called Nothing But Nets, which provides insecticide-treated netting in Africa to protect people there from malaria-carrying mosquitoes while they sleep. Malaria is the number-one killer of children in Africa under five years old, said Nate. I realized that the only thing preventing a child from dying from malaria was $10, as well as I knew I could help. Nate began planning a fundraising hike called Trek4Nets, explained his mission to lots of people in speeches as well as one-on-one conversations as well as asked for donations. Then, accompanied by his mother, he walked an average of 11 miles every day for nine days in a row across five counties. Later, Nate volunteered for several days at a local restaurant, which donated a percentage of the proceeds to his project. In addition, he organized a two-week coin drive at his school as well! as recruited many classmates to help him spread the word as well as collect change. Finally, last August, he reached his goal of $10,000, enough to buy 1,000 bed nets. I would encourage young people to look at their own lives, decide what they care about, what they want to create, fix or improve, as well as then come up with a plan to do it, Nate said. As State Honorees, Kristen as well as Nathaniel each will embrace $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, as well as 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 as well as the District of Columbia for several days of inhabitant recognition events. Ten of them will be named Americas top youth volunteers for 2012 at that time. Distinguished Finalists In addition, the program judges recognized six other North Carolina students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will embrace an engraved bronze medallion: Emma Astrike-Davis, 15, of Durham, N.C., a sophomore at Cary Academy in Cary, was only 11 years old when she founded Art for Hospice, a nonprofit organization that has donated more than 500 original paintings made by students to hospice centers, VA hospitals as well as nursing homes throughout North Carolina as well as neighboring states. Emma, who has raised more than $3,500 to support the program, coordinates partnerships with four area schools as well as plans to expand the program to 15 schools in 2012. Luke Hill, 17, of Elizabethtown, N.C., a member of the Bladen County 4-H as well as a senior at Ambassador Academy, has provided people in the U.S. as well as overseas with more than 30 solar-powered ovens that he created himself, as well as taught more than 1,000 other people how to make as well as make use of them through group activities! as well as 4-H workshops. Lukes environmentally-friendly ovens are intended, in part, to reduce energy bills as well as offer a safe alternative to firewood. Miriam Morgan, 14, of Shawboro, N.C., an eighth-grader at Currituck County Middle School, helped to raise $30,000 to benefit pediatric cancer research as the chair of the North Carolina Kids Walk for Kids with Cancer. Miriam started the North Carolina Walk, a sister event to the original walk that is held in New York, to honor her best friend, who struggles with neuroblastoma. Taylor Ramsey, 17, of Hudson, N.C., a senior at West Caldwell High School in Lenoir, threw a gospel benefit that raised more than $10,000 to pay for medications as well as other essential items for her baby cousin, Ethan, who suffers from tuberous sclerosis. Taylor coordinated the entire event in addition to selling bracelets, as well as has plans for additional benefits to continue to help her cousin. Parker Tilley, 14, of Winston-Salem, N.C., an eighth-grader at North Davidson Middle School in Lexington, is an active leader at his school, where he spearheaded several Extreme School Makeover workdays to take inventory of usable textbooks. Following that project, Parker initiated several eco-friendly projects including a Lights Out event as well as a Going Green campaign to improve the schools recycling program as well as purchase energy efficient appliances. Through their selfless acts of service, these award recipients have greatly improved the lives of others, said Prudential Chairman as well as CEO John Strangfeld. We hope their stories as well as their dedication inspire other young people to do the same. "We are so pleased to celebrate these student volunteers, said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. Its important to highlight them as powerful examples of how young p! eople ca n make a difference." About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public as well as private middle level as well as high schools in the country, as well as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs as well as affiliates of HandsOn Network, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. More than 5,000 Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees as well as Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact as well as personal growth. While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees one middle level as well as one high school student from each state as well as the District of Columbia will tour the capitals landmarks, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History, as well as visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. In addition, 10 of them five middle level as well as five high school students will be named National Honorees on May 7. These honorees will embrace additional $5,000 awards, gold medallions, crystal trophies as well as $5,000 grants from The Prudential Foundation for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice. Since the program began in 1995, more than 100,000 young volunteers nationwide have been honored by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards at the local, state or inhabitant level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland as well as India. In addition to granting the own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes ! Presid ents Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees on behalf of President Barack Obama. For information on all of this years Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees as well as Distinguished Finalists, visit spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit. About NASSP NASSP is the leading organization of as well as inhabitant voice for middle level as well as high school principals, assistant principals, as well as all school leaders from across the United States as well as more than 45 countries around the world. The association provides research-based professional development as well as resources, networking as well as advocacy to build the capacity of middle level as well as high school leaders to continually improve student performance. Reflecting the longstanding commitment to student leadership development as well, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society as well as National Association of Student Councils. For more information about NASSP, located in Reston, VA, visit www.nassp.org. About Prudential Financial Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU - News), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, as well as Latin America. Prudentials diverse as well as talented employees are committed to helping individual as well as institutional customers grow as well as protect their wealth through a variety of products as well as services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, as well as real estate services. In the U.S., Prudentials iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise as well as innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit http://www.news.prudential.com/. Editors: Graphics de! picting the award programs logo as well as medallions may be downloaded from spirit.prudential.com. Prudential FinancialHarold Banks, 973-802-8974 or 973-216-4833harold.banks@prudential.com Powered By iWebRSS.co.cc
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