WASHINGTON, May 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kansas' top two youth volunteers of 2019, Hunter Hotaling, 18, of Lansing and Riley Padget-Cook, 11, of Minneapolis, were honored in the nation's capital last night for their outstanding volunteer service during the 24th annual presentation of The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Hunter and Riley – along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – received a $1,000 award and personal congratulations from award-winning actress Viola Davis at an award ceremony and gala dinner reception held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), named Hunter and Riley Kansas' top high school and middle level youth volunteers in February. In addition to their cash awards, they each received an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip with a parent to Washington, D.C., for four days of recognition events.

Hunter, a senior at Lansing High School, mobilized nine of the schools he's attended over the years to collect and contribute clothing, supplies and money for students and staff at his former elementary school, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area in 2017. The son of two military veterans, Hunter has had to change schools frequently as his family moved from place to place, but he always had particularly fond memories of his first school, Franz Elementary in Katy, Texas. So when he learned that the school sustained significant damage during Hurricane Harvey, and that students and teachers there lost homes and belongings, Hunter sprang into action.

Hunter found volunteers to sponsor individual classrooms at Franz Elementary and determine their needs, then contacted the principal at each of his former schools — plus more than 40 organizations and individuals around the world — to ask for help in collecting new clothes, school supplies and monetary donations for Franz Elementary. Within a month, Hunter was able to deliver thousands of dollars in contributions to the little school in Katy. In addition, Hunter has spearheaded numerous drives to collect cereal, diapers, hygiene products, clothing and other essentials for a variety of charities, and last winter recruited 20 classmates to give free holiday manicures to residents of a local retirement home. "Because I have the unique privilege of being able to help others in need simply because I can, I feel it is my duty to create these projects in my community," he said.

Riley, a member of Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland and a fifth-grader at Bennington Elementary School, started a business selling containers of a gooey toy substance known as "slime" to raise money for disaster relief, cancer awareness, hospital wagons and several other causes. When her grandfather traveled to Florida in 2017 to help restore electricity after Hurricane Irma, Riley became aware of the many needs of families affected by the storm. "I wanted to help," she said, "so I came up with my slime business and used the money earned to donate for disaster relief."

With encouragement and help from her grandmother, Riley shopped for supplies and began making slime. After a lot of trial and error and feedback from customers, she improved her product, designed a container label and started marketing through promotional videos and her grandma's Facebook page. It quickly became so popular that Riley invited her best friend to join the business, which they called the "R&J Slime Company." They sought permission to sell their slime at school events, and broadened their product line to include a variety of colors, flavors and sizes. Since September 2017, Riley's business generated nearly $1,700. Riley sent two-thirds to disaster victims in Florida and used the rest for a variety of good causes, including promoting awareness of childhood cancer, buying three collapsible wagons for cancer patients, assisting a single mother with four children, contributing to her school's eighth-grade class trip to Washington, D.C., and supporting a Girl Scout troop in Wisconsin that lost three members and a volunteer in a hit-and-run accident.

"We're impressed and inspired by the way these honorees have identified problems facing their communities and stepped up to the challenge to make a difference," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "It's a privilege to celebrate their leadership and compassion, and we look forward to seeing the great things they accomplish in the future."

"These students have not only done important work in support of people in need – they've also shown their peers that young people can, and do, create meaningful change," said Christine Handy, president of NASSP. "We commend each of these young volunteers for all they've contributed to their communities."

Youth volunteers in grades 5-12 were invited to apply for 2019 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of Points of Light's HandsOn Network. More than 29,000 middle level and high school students nationwide participated in this year's program.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program was created in 1995 to identify and recognize young people for outstanding volunteer service – and, in so doing, inspire others to volunteer, too. In the past 24 years, the program has honored more than 125,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

For more information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year's honorees, 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 principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. 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 Student Council. Learn more at 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 pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions, visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media.

For B-roll of Kansas' honorees at the 2019 national recognition events, contact Prudential's Harold Banks at (973) 216-4833 or [email protected].

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SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.