MONTGOMERY, Ala., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lindsey Wood, 17, of Thorsby and Brooke
Bennett, 12, of Montgomery
today were named Alabama's top two
youth volunteers of 2020 by The Prudential Spirit of Community
Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding
acts of volunteerism. As State Honorees, Lindsey and
Brooke each will receive $1,000,
an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip in early
May to Washington, D.C., where
they will join the top two honorees from each of the other states
and the District of Columbia for four days of national
recognition events. During the trip, 10 students will be
named America's top youth volunteers of 2020.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its
25th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in
partnership with the National Association of Secondary School
Principals (NASSP).
These are Alabama's top youth
volunteers of 2020:
High School State Honoree: Lindsey Wood
Nominated by Thorsby
High School
Lindsey, a junior at Thorsby High School, has made and sold more
than 10,000 hair bows over the past seven years to provide more
than $7,000 worth of essential items
for children entering the foster care system. Lindsey was inspired
to create her "Bows That Bless" initiative by her best friend, who
was adopted after being in foster care. From conversations with her
friend and her adoptive mother, Lindsey said she learned that "when
children enter foster care, they usually have nothing more than the
clothes on their backs." Coincidentally, at about the same time,
Lindsey learned how to sew hair bows and realized that she could
help foster kids by selling her handmade creations.
She sells each bow, which takes about five minutes to make, at
schools, festivals and boutiques. She also hosts bow-making parties
to encourage other students to raise money for local foster
parents, and organizes breakfasts for National Foster Care Month
and National Adoption Month. With the money she raises, Lindsey
fills backpacks or diaper bags with items such as clothing,
pajamas, bottles, blankets and stuffed animals, and donates them to
agencies that place children with foster parents. "This makes the
process of entering foster care more comforting and smoother for
the children," said Lindsey. In addition, she helps organize
countywide clothing drives for a children's home, speaks at schools
to advocate on behalf of foster children, and volunteers at a
foster care camp each year.
Middle Level State Honoree: Brooke Bennett
Nominated by Saint
James School
Brooke, a seventh-grader at Saint James School, has worked with
her twin, Breanna, to assemble and distribute approximately 200
bags of feminine hygiene products and toiletries every month to
girls who otherwise might have to miss school during their periods
because they can't afford personal care products. Their mother used
to work at a school in a low-income area, and often brought
personal care items because many girls there couldn't buy their
own. "I thought that girls at other schools must be having the same
problem," said Brooke. From research, she learned that "period
poverty" keeps 20 percent of girls out of school during their
monthly cycle because they don't have the proper protection.
"People often think this is a problem that affects only poor girls
in Africa, Asia and South
America," said Brooke. "However, girls right here in
Alabama and throughout
the United States suffer,
too."
So Brooke persuaded her sister to help her address this need.
Last July, on their 12th birthday, they asked for donations instead
of gifts, and convinced friends to do the same. After recruiting a
group of student and adult volunteers and filing for nonprofit
status, the sisters began collecting monetary and product donations
through Facebook, a GoFundMe page and media interviews. Every
month, the sisters assemble kits that include sanitary napkins,
tampons, wet wipes, lotion, deodorant and other toiletries, which
are then distributed to girls in need. An important component of
their project is education, so they also include information from
the Alabama Department of Health about menstrual health and how to
prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted
diseases.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized four other Alabama
students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community
service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze
medallion.
These are Alabama's
Distinguished Finalists for 2020:
Anna Lee, 17, of Saraland, Alabama, a senior at
UMS-Wright Preparatory School, partnered with a friend on a service
project to benefit local teens experiencing housing instability;
together, they collected and donated more than $1,500 in gift cards, as well as basic toiletries
and linens. Anna spread awareness of her project by speaking at a
school assembly, creating flyers and promoting a social media and
email campaign.
Chayce Pyfrom, 17, of
Huntsville, Alabama, a senior
at Oakwood Adventist Academy, regularly volunteers his time to
Free2Teach, an organization that has given free school supplies to
more than 3,800 teachers in three local school districts; he helps
sort and organize donations, complete inventories and has recruited
his brother to start volunteering as well. Chayce was inspired to
start this activity by his grandmother, who regularly contributes
her time to charitable initiatives.
Anushka Sikdar, 17, of
Mobile, Alabama, a junior
at Alabama School of Mathematics &
Science, founded "Light The Way," through which she has
donated more than 500 homemade pillows to children with cancer;
along with sewing the pillows, she has held pillow-making events
and fabric drives, and auctioned off pillows to raise money for the
Mitchell Cancer Institute. Anushka was inspired to start this
initiative after her brother died from acute lymphocytic
leukemia.
Anna Wilkes, 18, of
Pelham, Alabama, a senior at
Pelham High School, helped create a community service project,
"Kits For Kids," that provided backpacks filled with clothes, toys
and hygiene products to children in the foster care system; her
efforts included running a fundraising campaign and organizing a
toy and clothing drive. Anna and her service group ultimately
raised more than $2,400, which they
used to buy additional materials and donate to a foster care
agency.
"In our 25th year of honoring young volunteers,
we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to
address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential
Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and
their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider
how they can make a difference, too."
"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable
things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer
service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning
with real-world challenges," said JoAnn
Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP.
"Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees – it's an honor
to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."
About The Prudential Spirit of Community
Awards
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents
the United States' largest youth
recognition program based solely on volunteer service. All public
and private middle level and high schools in the country, as well
as all Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red
Cross chapters, YMCAs and Points of Light Global Network members,
were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential
Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed
by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and
Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal
initiative, effort, impact and personal growth.
While in Washington, D.C., the
102 State Honorees – one middle level and one high school
student from each state and the District
of Columbia – will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top
youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala
awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural
History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol
Hill. On May 4, 10 of the State
Honorees – five middle level and five high school students – will
be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National
Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal
trophies and $5,000 grants from
Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their
choice.
Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 young
volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national
level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China
and Brazil. In addition to
granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards
program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to
qualifying Local Honorees.
For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of
Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, 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.
For Spirit of Community Awards
program logo and medallion
graphics, please visit
https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media
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SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.