Two Tennessee Youth Honored for Volunteerism at National Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C

Business Wire, May 7, 2007

Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning Pays Tribute to Young Heroes as part of Four-Day Recognition Events

WASHINGTON -- Two Tennessee students, Taylor Cox, 16, of Brentwood and Miles Karro, 14, of Nashville were honored in the nation's capital last night for their outstanding volunteer work during the presentation of The 2007 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. The two young people - along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country - received $1,000 awards as well as personal congratulations from Indianapolis Colts quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning at the 12th annual award ceremony and gala dinner reception, held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Taylor and Miles were named the top high school and middle level youth volunteers in Tennessee last February. In addition to their cash awards, they received engraved silver medallions and an all-expense-paid trip with their parents to Washington, D.C., for this week's recognition events.

Conducted in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created 12 years ago by Prudential Financial, Inc. to encourage youth volunteerism and to identify and reward young role models. Since then, the program has honored more than 75,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

"Taylor and Miles have demonstrated a level of compassion, dedication and achievement that is truly exceptional," said Arthur F. Ryan, Chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We are proud to give them the recognition they so richly deserve, and hope that their example will inspire other young people to become actively involved in their own communities."

Taylor, a sophomore at Ensworth High School in Nashville, works year-round to educate the public about juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and raise money for the Arthritis Foundation. Taylor discovered she had JRA when she was 13. "Most people, including myself, thought arthritis was just an old person's disease," she said. Even though nearly 300,000 kids in the U.S. have juvenile arthritis, "I found JRA is a mystery to kids, adults, and even doctors," she said, adding that there is a shortage of pediatric rheumatologists and a need for better medication.

To address this situation, Taylor has delivered speeches to more than 3,500 people at school assemblies, student council and scout meetings, community service organizations and corporate staff meetings. She urges schools to hold Halloween or Valentine's Day fund-raisers for JRA, giving them instructions on how to run the event and providing candy or flowers for them to sell. Seven schools have participated in Taylor's fund-raising program since its inception a year and a half ago, and nearly $17,000 has been collected for the Arthritis Foundation. Taylor also solicits donations from corporate sponsors, leads a team in an annual walkathon, and meets with government officials to make sure they know about juvenile arthritis. "People need to realize JRA does not just affect the person with arthritis, but it also affects family and friends and diminishes so many dreams," said Taylor.

Miles, an eighth-grader at Harding Academy, helped his mother start a program in Nashville that collects flowers after they've been used in weddings, funerals and other events, and delivers them to hospice patients, nursing homes, service agencies, and homeless shelters. Miles and his family spent many hours volunteering for a similar program when they lived in Birmingham, Ala., and wanted to continue after moving to Nashville. First they had to prepare a headquarters, so Miles helped refurbished an old barn on their property. Then he and his mother found a local hospice organization that wanted flowers. "They agreed that fresh flowers would provide a bright spot not only for their patients, but also for patients' family members, visitors and caregivers," said Miles.

Miles also helped design an informational brochure, and began contacting event planners, florists, gardeners and others to let them know about the program, called "Perenity." In addition, he spearheaded an effort to collect vases for the flowers they deliver. Perenity now provides flowers to numerous care homes and service organizations, and has more than 25 volunteers. Miles keeps busy by picking up flowers, reorganizing large arrangements into smaller bouquets, loading delivery vehicles, delivering the flowers and visiting with recipients. "People sometimes worry about volunteering because they think that they do not have enough time or the right skills," Miles said. "The reality is, it is simple to bring a bright spot to someone else, and the person who benefits the most is often the volunteer."

Applications for the 2007 awards program were submitted last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Volunteer Centers affiliated with the Points of Light Foundation. The top middle level and high school applicants in each state and the District of Columbia were announced in February. These 102 State Honorees are in Washington this week with their parents for four days of special recognition events.