Two California 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 California students, Amy Holiday, 17, of Granite Bay and Cristina Bequer, 12, of Blythe 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.

Amy and Cristina were named the top high school and middle level youth volunteers in California 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.

"Amy and Cristina 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."

Amy, a senior at Granite Bay High School, organized book drives at five local schools and collected more than 10,000 books to create a lending library at a home for abused and neglected children. While working on previous projects at the Sacramento Children's Home, Amy noticed that the facility had no place for its young residents to find and enjoy books. "I know how comforting books are," Amy said. "To provide a library of books to children who had been neglected their whole lives seemed like a remedy for that isolation and loneliness."

After speaking with the principal of the shelter's school, Amy persuaded administrators at five local schools to let her conduct a two-month book collection campaign. She delivered speeches at school assemblies, distributed flyers and donation boxes to each school, and picked up donated books twice a week. Then, with hundreds of boxes in her garage, Amy spent weeks sorting the books, placing labels in each one, cataloguing them into a database, and finally placing them on newly built shelves. She also obtained donations of library furniture and supplies from local businesses. The new library, Amy said, "will benefit every one of the 1,800 kids who are admitted (to the home) yearly, and for most of those young people, it will be their first exposure to reading." The young residents also will benefit from "Page Turners," a program Amy launched with surplus book donations, which allows the children to choose three favorite books to take with them when they move to foster homes.

Cristina, a seventh-grader at Blythe Middle School, organized a community campaign that collected more than a thousand handmade greeting cards expressing support and gratitude to American servicemen and women. When Cristina saw a television ad about a national campaign to collect thank-you cards and letters for U.S. soldiers, she decided to get involved. "I felt this was important because no one in our city was heading this campaign, and I wanted our soldiers to know that the city of Blythe supports them and we thank them for protecting our country," she said.

Cristina announced her campaign at a 4-H meeting; gave speeches about it at local schools, city events and her church; and arranged for a local newspaper and cable television company to publicize her efforts. She then distributed collection boxes to schools, and set up tables at a variety of community venues where people could sign pre-made cards and posters for the troops. Cristina ended up with 1,100 cards and letters to contribute to the national A Million Thanks campaign. "We were able to tell our soldiers how much they are appreciated," she said. "Everyone loves getting mail, especially when it is a card telling you what you're doing is important and that the people of the United States support you."

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.]