Arkansas' Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 21st Annual National Awards Program
Hot Springs and Texarkana students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nation’s capital
Honors also bestowed on youth volunteers in Rogers, Fayetteville and Stuttgart
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Katelyn Bondhus, 18, of Hot Springs and Shelby Dunphy-Day, 12, of Texarkana today were named Arkansas' top two youth volunteers of 2016 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Katelyn was nominated by Hot Springs High School in Hot Springs, and Shelby was nominated by College Hill Middle School Academy of Design in Texarkana. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 21st year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
Katelyn, a senior at Hot Springs High School, volunteers with other young people in her church to serve the less fortunate in her community and state, including working on home improvement and maintenance projects, serving lunch to the homeless, and supporting animal welfare efforts. It began in seventh grade when Katelyn learned through her church about the Ozark Mission Project (OMP), a series of weeklong summer youth camps held at locations around Arkansas to help individuals and families in need of minor construction and yard work. When she signed up, “I was just doing it because I was told community service looked good on high school applications,” she said. “After attending one week of the program, I realized why people love to volunteer.”
For the next several years, Katelyn devoted a “very taxing” week each summer to OMP. “It is full of hard work,” she said, “building wheelchair ramps, painting the insides and outsides of houses, and doing yard work.” But she found it to be such “an amazing, life-changing experience,” she recruited all of her closest friends to participate as well. “I learned that volunteering brings joy to both volunteer and recipient of the work,” she said. As a result, Katelyn has made it a priority to get involved in other community service activities. During the summer, she and other members of her church’s youth group package and serve food to homeless people at a community crisis center. They also help with painting, cleanup and Humane Society projects during designated church service days.
Shelby, a sixth-grader at College Hill Middle School Academy of Design, planned two “six-leg” races in downtown Texarkana for dog owners and their pets to raise money for a local animal care and adoption center. When Shelby was a first-grader, the animal shelter brought some puppies and kittens to her school. “I remember asking why they were in the shelter, and what would happen to them,” said Shelby. “The answer I received was heartbreaking.” She decided that day that she wanted to help save animals’ lives. Her first step was to hold a raffle that raised $250 to buy dog food for the shelter, and she has been volunteering for the shelter ever since.
To prepare for her “Six Leg Fun Run & 5K,” Shelby researched races in other communities, mapped out routes, obtained approval and grants from the two Texarkana municipal governments, made presentations to students and community leaders, built a website, and assembled an event committee of six adults. In addition to the two races, Shelby planned a pet contest and a promotion for animal adoption as part of her event, which she hopes will become an annual affair. “Really, there’s only one reason I’m putting this race on,” said Shelby. “It isn’t to get a better grade in school, or because someone is making me do it. It is only because I want to help get the animals in the shelter adopted.”
As State Honorees, Katelyn and Shelby 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 four days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 students will be named America’s top youth volunteers of 2016.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized four other Arkansas students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.
These are Arkansas' Distinguished Finalists for 2016:
Jeffrey (Jake) Gearhart, 16, of Rogers, Ark., a junior at Shiloh Christian School, co-founded “Soles for Souls” with his friend Molly in early 2015, and held shoe drives in three area cities that collected 2,372 pairs of shoes to benefit men, women and children in need through “Mission of Hope: Haiti.” Jake, who went on a mission trip to Haiti and saw firsthand the need for shoes, plans to host shoe drives every year.
Molly Hedberg, 17, of Rogers, Ark., a junior at Bentonville High School, co-founded “Soles for Souls” with her friend Jake in January of 2015, and held shoe drives that collected 2,372 pairs of shoes to benefit men, women and children in need through “Mission of Hope: Haiti.” Molly created a Facebook page, a project logo, and brochures to promote the program, and also identified sponsors who donated boxes for shipping the shoes to Haiti.
Gable Sloan, 10, of Fayetteville, Ark., a fifth-grader at McNair Middle School, has raised more than $2,300 selling her home-baked goods in a curbside bakery service she debuted in the summer of 2015, and donated all the proceeds to a variety of local and national charities. Gable, who wanted to turn her passion for baking into a way to help others, has donated the funds to the Arkansas Children's Hospital, Feed Fayetteville, 7 Hills Homeless Shelter and The Malala Fund.
Maraye Tudor, 16, of Stuttgart, Ark., a junior at Stuttgart High School, has donated more than 300 of her homemade pillows to local foster children through an organization she calls "Pillows With A Purpose." Maraye, who made and sold 300 pillows with her logo and a Bible verse printed on them, used the $1,000 she earned to make and donate the pillows for the foster children as a message of love and hope.
“Prudential commends each of these young volunteers for using their creativity and compassion to bring positive change to their communities,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. “We hope their stories inspire others to consider how they can make a difference, too.”
“We are pleased to honor these students not only for their exemplary acts of service, but for the powerful example they’ve set for their peers,” said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. “Congratulations to each of the 2016 honorees.”
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 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 HandsOn Network affiliates, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.
While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees – one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia – will tour the capital’s landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 2, 10 of the State Honorees – five middle level and five high school students – will be named America’s top youth volunteers of 2016. These National 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.
Since the program began in 1995, more than 115,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President’s Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees on behalf of President Barack Obama.
For information on all of this year’s Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.
About NASSP
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and school leaders from across the United States and 35 countries around the world. The association connects and engages school leaders through advocacy, research, education, and student programs. NASSP advocates on behalf of all school leaders to ensure the success of each student and strengthens school leadership practices through the design and delivery of high quality professional learning experiences. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and 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), 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 and investment management. 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 www.news.prudential.com.
Editors: For full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions, click here: http://bit.ly/Xi4oFW
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160209005055/en/
Prudential Financial
Harold Banks, (973) 802-8974 or (973) 216-4833
[email protected]
Source: Prudential Financial, Inc.