BOSTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kylee McCumber,
18, of Leominster and Jenna Khayal, 13, of North Andover today were named Massachusetts' 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, Kylee and Jenna 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 Massachusetts' top
youth volunteers of 2020:
High School State Honoree: Kylee McCumber
Nominated by The
Winchendon School
Kylee, a senior at The Winchendon School, provides weekend meal
kits for nearly 500 children in her town and in four nearby towns
who otherwise might go hungry when school is not in session, a
situation that Kylee herself has experienced. When she was 10, she
noticed one morning several children eating breakfast at school,
and asked her grandmother why they didn't eat at home. Her
grandmother told her they were food insecure. Kylee had never told
anyone that she, too, had also once gone hungry. "When I was
younger, my mother had a drug addiction and she often fed that
instead of feeding me," Kylee said. Determined to help other kids
experiencing food insecurity, Kylee and her grandmother founded
"Kylee's Kare Kits for Kidz," a nonprofit organization dedicated to
feeding children who might not get enough to eat on weekends, when
they're not getting meals at school.
Initially, Kylee held two yard sales to raise money to provide
food for eight children. She and her grandma installed shelves in
their basement to store food, shopped for groceries, packed the
kits and delivered them to the school every Friday. But each week,
the number of children in need grew, so they recruited volunteers
to help and stepped up their fundraising efforts to include online
appeals, food drives, "fill-a-truck" events and corporate
sponsorships. Today, Kylee's program feeds children in need at all
of her district's nine schools, as well as at schools in four
surrounding towns. "My goal is to ensure that no child goes to bed
hungry," she said. She also has conducted collection drives to
provide kids with new backpacks stuffed with school supplies, and
with holiday gifts at Christmastime.
Middle Level State Honoree: Jenna Khayal
Nominated by The
Islamic Academy for Peace
Jenna, an eighth-grader at The Islamic Academy for Peace, raised
money to sponsor three orphans in the Middle East and collected clothing donations
that benefitted nearly a thousand people in Syria. As an officer of her student council,
Jenna believes she should lead by example. "Student council
motivated me to do my volunteer work," Jenna said. "Not everybody
gets to live in heated homes with clean water and plenty of food.
There are so many people who are struggling to obtain the most
basic needs that we forget to even acknowledge what we have as a
great privilege."
Wanting to sponsor a child in need in Syria, Jenna began raising money by soliciting
donations from fellow students, conducting bake sales at her
school, asking parents to contribute, and organizing a "jeans day"
at school where, for a $2 donation,
students could exchange their school uniforms for informal
clothing. After she had raised enough to fulfill her original goal
of sponsoring one child through a humanitarian relief organization,
"I felt like it wasn't enough," she said. So she redoubled her
efforts. So far, Jenna has been able to support two Syrian girls
and a Yemeni boy. She also worked with the relief agency to collect
clothing including jackets and shoes for people in war-ravaged
Syria. She said she would like to
sponsor even more children in the future and, as the current
president of the student council, wants to explore more ways that
she and her fellow students can help make the world a better
place.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized six other Massachusetts
students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community
service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze
medallion.
These are Massachusetts'
Distinguished Finalists for 2020:
Ethan Chandler, 17, of
Fitchburg, Massachusetts, a
senior at Fitchburg High School, founded and runs "Karate For
Kids," a nonprofit that gives free karate lessons to students in
need in his community; his organization has raised more than
$7,000 by holding fundraisers and has
awarded three scholarships to participants. Through Karate For
Kids, Ethan also donated to a local Thanksgiving food drive and
helped deliver holiday food baskets to families in his
community.
Zev Dickstein, 17, of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, a
senior at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, developed a mobile
app, "Turnout," to help young people become more civically active
in their communities; the app includes news, information about
upcoming political events, and resources to help users contact
legislators and write press releases. Zev has raised more than
$60,000 for his initiative and runs a
team that includes 15 other young people.
Carson Domey, 15, of
Bellingham, Massachusetts, a
sophomore at Saint John's High School, regularly volunteers his
time to benefit Crohn's disease research; along with speaking at
events about his experience with Crohn's, he has helped raise more
than $150,000 by leading a team at
Boston Children's Hospital's Walk for Kids. Also an advocate for
suicide prevention, Carson campaigned to have the suicide hotline
number printed on student IDs at his school, and is working to
implement this initiative at schools across the U.S.
Anthony Nardelli, 17, of
Brockton, Massachusetts, a
senior at Cardinal Spellman High
School, serves as an alumni mentor for Project 351, a
nonprofit youth leadership organization; he helps pack thousands of
care packages for troops serving overseas and has participated in
an annual spring clothing drive for the past five years. Anthony
has also completed service trips to Jamaica, where he volunteered in an orphanage,
and to West Virginia, where he
helped complete home repairs in underserved communities.
Emma Radford, 18, of
South Yarmouth, Massachusetts,
a senior at Barnstable High School, is a participating member and
secretary of the Best Buddies program at her school, which "buddies
up" students with and without special needs; she has secured food
donations from local businesses for meetings, helps match pairs of
students and plans activities for the club. Emma was inspired to
join Best Buddies by a cousin who has autism.
Bipasha Ray, 16, of
Andover, Massachusetts, a
junior at Andover High School, helped establish "Healthy Heart
Initiative," which promotes cardiovascular health awareness in
underserved communities; she has travelled to more than 50 schools
to reach thousands of students, helps plan fundraisers, and has
designed informational brochures, booklets and a website. Healthy
Heart Initiative also provides echocardiograms to participants
whose survey answers indicate high risk for cardiovascular
disease.
"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
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/massachusetts-top-youth-volunteers-of-2020-selected-by-national-program-300996020.html
SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.