SACRAMENTO, Calif.,
Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --
Hollis Belger, 15, of Larkspur and Michaela
Auyeung, 13, of Los Gatos
today were named California'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, Hollis and
Michaela 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 California's top
youth volunteers of 2020:
High School State Honoree: Hollis Belger
Nominated by Redwood
High School
Hollis, a sophomore at Redwood High School, has raised more than
$400,000 for St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital over the past six years through a multifaceted
fundraising campaign that revolves around soccer-ball juggling.
When Hollis was 8 years old, she started playing competitive soccer
and discovered she was pretty good at juggling the ball with her
feet. When she was able to juggle the ball 100 times in a row, her
mother suggested she spend the summer juggling to raise money for a
cause. "She told me about St. Jude and the compassionate and
lifesaving care provided to patients and their families, all free
of charge," said Hollis.
Hollis started using her juggling to solicit pledges and
donations from friends and family members, wrote blogs that her
mother posted online, arranged media interviews, and told everyone
she met about childhood cancer and St. Jude. She raised
$35,000 that first summer. Six years
later, Hollis is still raising money as well as awareness. She
sends emails to donors, creates online newsletters, gives juggling
clinics and private lessons, and attends St. Jude special events.
She also works with corporate sponsors, sells customized soccer
balls at soccer games, juggles at charity golf tournaments, and
speaks to school groups around the country to inspire other young
volunteers. One of her favorite activities is meeting young St.
Jude patients and their families. "That always inspires me to keep
going," said Hollis. "Nothing is more important than saving the
life of a child, and nothing is more rewarding than helping doctors
do that."
Middle Level State Honoree: Michaela Auyeung
Nominated by
Raymond J. Fisher Middle School
Michaela, an eighth-grader at Raymond J. Fisher Middle School,
conducts free art classes and other activities to help young people
place less importance on social media. She started working on this
after seeing how social media was making her friends unhappy and
harming their self-esteem. "Much of their happiness was based on
how many likes, follows or comments they got," she said. "They look
to social media for approval and attention," and if they don't get
it, "they are miserable and depressed." This can be a particular
challenge for children in need who lack supervision or affordable
after-school opportunities, said Michaela. What was needed, she
felt, was a program that "helps youth celebrate their uniqueness
and true identities both online and offline."
Michaela began by hosting coloring parties using stories that
she wrote and coloring pages that she illustrated. She then started
conducting after-school art and mentoring programs and giving
motivational speeches at schools. She also produced two
inspirational coloring storybooks and distributed more than 2,000
copies both locally and internationally. In addition, Michaela has
collaborated with several organizations to spread awareness of the
effects of social media on young people's mental health. She
estimates that her efforts have impacted more than 2,000 children
and teens so far, helping them to focus on off-screen activities,
providing them with alternative outlets for creative expression,
and encouraging them to be genuine and take pride in who they
really are.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized 10 other California
students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community
service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze
medallion.
These are California's
Distinguished Finalists for 2020:
Tanvi Barman, 17, of
Fremont, California, a
senior at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley, started and runs "No
Birthday Left Behind," a nonprofit that throws birthday parties for children experiencing housing
insecurity; her efforts include securing grants, fundraising,
establishing partnerships with local businesses, recruiting and
training volunteers and organizing each birthday party. No Birthday
Left Behind has raised more than $35,000 and hosted nearly 50 birthday
parties.
Ishaan Brar, 17, of
Bakersfield, California, a
junior at Stockdale High School, founded "Healthy Community," which
has hosted 11 free medical clinics for underserved populations; his
efforts include recruiting volunteers and medical professionals,
securing equipment and supplies, promoting his cause, and
moderating "ask-a-doctor" and speaking sessions at each clinic.
Healthy Community, which holds a clinic one Saturday every month in
a different location, has benefitted more than 500 people.
Zaid Fattah, 16, of
Danville, California, a junior
at Monte Vista High School, created and runs "More Than Magic,"
through which he held a four-week magic camp for refugee youth; the
organization also offers free English-language tutoring and has
donated more than 1,000 pounds of school supplies to refugees in
Oakland and in Istanbul, Turkey. Through his organization,
which includes nearly 30 volunteers, Zaid hopes to empower refugees
while sharing his passion for magic.
Christian Gebhardt, 18, of
Carmel, California, a senior
at Carmel High School, started "GoodWorks," through which he makes
and sells woodworking projects, donating the proceeds to a partner
organization that provides free meals to people experiencing
homelessness. Christian's efforts include spreading awareness of
housing insecurity in his community, securing donated materials for
his projects and fulfilling orders; he has been able to donate more
than $12,500 so far.
Bela Gowda, 13, of
Rancho Santa Fe, California,
an eighth-grader at The Bishop's School, has collected and donated
2,000 books and $1,300 to The African
Library Project, helping establish libraries in Ghana and Uganda; her efforts include fundraising by
selling cookies and lemonade and soliciting book donations from
community members, used book stores and her local library. Bela
also recruited her family to help her count, organize and package
book donations.
Ishan Goyal, 15, of
San Jose, California, a
sophomore at Lynbrook High School, runs "Essentials For Homeless,"
a nonprofit dedicated to collecting and donating toiletry items to
homeless shelters; along with running toiletry drives in his own
community, he has helped establish more than 30 chapters of his
organization across seven states and four countries. Ishan has
personally collected more than 10,000 hygiene items, including more
than 2,000 pounds of towels, bedsheets and blankets.
Jason Lin, 17, of Los Altos, California, a junior at The
Harker School, organized two fundraising concerts featuring teenage
musicians to raise more than $70,000
for the Tahirih Justice Center, a national organization that
provides free legal and social services for asylum seekers fleeing
gender-based violence. Jason's efforts included recruiting
volunteers and musicians, handling event logistics, promoting his
event and spreading awareness of his cause.
Milan Narula, 16, of
Irvine, California, a junior
at University High School, co-founded "Code Open Sesame," an
organization that has offered coding workshops and individual
tutoring sessions to children living in nine homeless and domestic
violence shelters; her efforts include securing grants, recruiting
and training volunteer instructors and teaching courses. Code Open
Sesame has secured more than $24,000
in funding and includes more than 120 high school and college-level
volunteers.
Isabella Paoletti-Tejeda, 18,
of Yorba Linda, California, a
senior at Rosary Academy, started "Read a Story, Change a Life," a
literacy intervention program that offers storytelling and writing
workshops to children from underserved communities; her efforts
include securing more than $40,000 in
grants and donations, creating training and instructional materials
and spreading awareness of her cause. Isabella's initiative
includes more than 120 volunteers and has benefitted more than
2,000 children.
Nesha Subramaniam, 16, of
Apple Valley, California, a
senior at Apple Valley High School, developed a low-cost method of
reducing water contamination caused by dairy cows in her community;
to do so, she attended water conservation fairs, collaborated with
local dairy farmers, secured funding and conducted experiments with
her mentor, a water resource control engineer. Nesha also travelled
to Ethiopia to help dairy farmers
reduce their own water contamination.
"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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