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

Business Wire, May 5, 2008

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Pays Tribute to Young Heroes as Part of Four-Day Recognition Events

WASHINGTON -- Two Nebraska students, Shane Williams, 18, of North Platte and Kennedy Healy, 13, of Omaha were honored in the nation's capital last night for their outstanding volunteer work during the presentation of The 2008 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 Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, at the 13th annual award ceremony and gala dinner reception, held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Shane and Kennedy were named the top high school and middle level youth volunteers in Nebraska 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 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.

"Shane and Kennedy 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."

Shane, a senior at North Platte High School, has volunteered to work on the state's annual NEBRASKAland Days (NLD) celebration since he was 10, and has led his high school class in collecting canned goods for an annual food drive over the past four years. Shane began volunteering by working with his mother on projects she coordinates as an NLD board member. As he grew older, he took on more and larger tasks, including painting a pavilion and grandstand, building a storage shed, coordinating cleanup days, organizing data in the office, ushering at a rodeo event, and serving as a talent show emcee. In his biggest project, he coordinated the complete remodeling of NLD's offices, raising money for the project, recruiting and organizing volunteer help, and working on all aspects of the renovation.

Shane assumed the leadership of his class' efforts in North Platte High's annual food drive when he was a freshman, and has collected more than $6,000 in donations each year. In addition to soliciting donations, he recruits other volunteers; arranges for storage space; and helps transport, sort and deliver the canned food. "To volunteer, you have to get out of your comfort zone and have a positive work attitude," Shane said. "I would encourage other young people to get their feet wet in volunteering. It has many payoffs that one can never imagine."

Kennedy, an eighth-grader at Gretna Middle School in Gretna, formed the "Help MDA Hope Club," a five-member youth group that raises money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and provides weekly assistance at a local MDA office. Kennedy, who has spinal muscular atrophy, started supporting MDA soon after she began receiving services from the association. "I felt that it was a must to help," she said. Despite being in a wheelchair, Kennedy has been able to lead her club in organizing three carnivals, two bake sales, and a teen dance. For each event, they created and distributed flyers, solicited donations of raffle prizes and other necessary items from local businesses and individuals, recruited additional help, and handled the set-up and cleanup. So far, the club's efforts have yielded more than $6,500 for MDA. Kennedy and her fellow club members also spend four hours a week at the local MDA office stuffing envelopes, filing and helping out in other ways. In addition, Kennedy gives speeches for MDA and appears in its telethons. "From my experiences I learned that it never hurts to ask and you will never know unless you try," she said.

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.]