Minnesota's Shanna Decker of Plainview Named One of America's Top Ten Youth Volunteers

Business Wire, May 5, 2008

State's Gabrielle Thompson Also Honored During Four-Day Celebration, With Tribute From Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York

WASHINGTON -- Shanna Decker, 17, of Plainview was named one of America's top ten youth volunteers for 2008 in a ceremony today at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, receiving a national Prudential Spirit of Community Award for her outstanding volunteer community service. Selected from a field of close to 20,000 applicants across the country, she received a personal award of $5,000, an engraved gold medallion, a crystal trophy for her school, and a $5,000 grant from The Prudential Foundation for a nonprofit charitable organization of her choice.

Also honored in Washington was Gabrielle Thompson, 13, of Buffalo. She and Shanna were named Minnesota's top youth volunteers in February, and were recognized last night at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, along with the top two youth volunteers of every other state and the District of Columbia. At that event, the Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees for 2008 were presented with $1,000 awards, and congratulated by Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. The honorees also 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 13 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 80,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

"Shanna and Gabrielle are inspiring examples of young Americans who care deeply about the needs of others and who have taken the initiative to help meet those needs," said Prudential Chairman Arthur F. Ryan. "By honoring them, we hope not only to give them the recognition they so richly deserve, but also to inspire others to follow their example."

Shanna, a senior at Plainview-Elgin-Millville High School, has made more than 600 visits to young cancer patients over the past nine years to give them hope and inspire them with her own cancer experience. When she was 7 years old, Shanna had her leg amputated and underwent a year of aggressive chemotherapy for bone cancer. "During this time, I made the decision to take a tragic situation in my life and somehow turn it into a positive experience," she said. "Because I knew how hard it was to travel this lonely road alone, I was determined to make a difference in the lives of others."

She asked her doctors if they could put her in touch with other young cancer patients, so that she could visit them. Since then, Shanna has devoted more than 300 hours a year to providing hope and support to children from around the world. "When a cancer survivor walks into the room, patients have a renewed sense of hope, their fears subside, smiles form, and a life-long bond is established," she explained. During her visits, Shanna delivers "Hearts of Hope" boxes containing gifts and inspirational materials, along with a personal message and picture. She also shares her story as a guest speaker at numerous events, and has participated in fund-raising activities that have generated more than $120,000 to better the lives of those less fortunate.

Gabrielle, a seventh-grader at Buffalo Community Middle School, raised $5,000 for cancer research by selling luminaries at her school, and has written a book about coping with childhood cancer. "How did I become involved?" asked Gabrielle. "Cancer involved me." When she was 4 years old, doctors operated to remove a malignant tumor from her abdomen. After she recovered, she said, "I wanted to do all that I could to help raise awareness of cancer."

So she devised a plan to sell luminaries at her school to honor cancer patients, to raise money for research, and to draw attention to Buffalo's Relay for Life fund-raising event. She also began writing the "ABCs of Childhood Cancer," which takes readers through the alphabet to explain the various experiences a cancer patient can expect, such as "crying" for the letter C. "The most memorable part of this has been seeing the smiles and glimmer in the eyes of cancer patients when they tell me I have given them hope to keep going, or the look on parents' faces when they say they have more hope that their child will make it."

Applications for the 2008 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 & Hands On Network. 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.

Ten of the 102 were named America's top ten youth volunteers for 2008 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters today. These National Honorees received additional $5,000 awards, gold medallions, crystal trophies for the schools that nominated them, and $5,000 grants from The Prudential Foundation for charities of their choice. [The ceremony can be viewed at www.prudential.com/spirit.]