OKLAHOMA CITY, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allie Beach, 18, of Tulsa and Justin
Evers, 12, of Oklahoma City
today were named Oklahoma'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, Allie and
Justin 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 Oklahoma's top youth
volunteers of 2020:
High School State Honoree: Allie Beach
Nominated by Victory
Christian School
Allie, a senior at Victory Christian School, helped her church
create a ranch for children from low-income families and foster
homes, after co-directing an annual summer camp for the past 11
years and helping to start a youth-run philanthropic pizza
business. When Allie was 7, her church wanted to start a
summer-long camp for children in need, but couldn't find an adult
to serve as director. Allie quickly volunteered, and since then,
she and a partner have led a 10-week camp that serves more than 100
kids each summer. In 2017, Allie worked with her church's nonprofit
to establish a "pizza factory" to serve the homeless and teach kids
life and business skills.
Recognizing that these youth could also benefit from a ranch
experience, Allie and her team studied the operation of horse
ranches in several states, raised funds through grants and
fundraisers, found a five-acre property to rent, and recruited more
than 120 volunteers from local high schools, colleges and churches.
Then they built fences, prepared animal pens and began acquiring
more than 100 rescue animals, including horses, sheep, goats, pigs
and chickens. Now, nearly 200 young people a year spend time at the
ranch, caring for the animals, doing chores and learning new
skills. "The kids love the animals, and surprisingly love the ranch
responsibilities," said Allie. "It is big-time, stress-relieving,
confidence-building therapy they need." Allie and her church's
YouthWorks nonprofit are now looking to buy a ranch so that they
can continue to offer this experience to kids in need for years to
come, she said.
Middle Level State Honoree: Justin Evers
Nominated by Classen
Middle School of Advanced Studies
Justin, a sixth-grader at Classen Middle School of Advanced
Studies, is an energetic advocate for children in Oklahoma, particularly those who are dealing
with hunger, abuse or are in need of foster care. Growing up in a
family that opened its home to foster children, Justin has had a
close-up view of the problems that many young people face. "I've
seen too many kids affected by the atrocities of hunger, abuse and
poverty," he said. "I've felt their sadness and pain and longing
for a family that cares." He decided that if he could share his
experiences, he could make people in his state understand the
importance of improving the lives of children in need.
When Justin learned that a pair of social services
organizations, Sunbeam Family Services and the Oklahoma Institute
for Child Advocacy, were looking for a "Kid Governor" to help
publicize these same issues, he jumped at the chance. He dug up
statistics on child welfare in Oklahoma, made an application video, explained
his interest in a panel interview, and was ultimately selected for
the position. He then starred in four advocacy videos discussing
education, hunger and foster care on social media; gave interviews
to newspapers, magazines and TV stations; spoke at school and
fundraising events; and lobbied government officials to prioritize
children's issues. Since his term ended, Justin has continued to
work on behalf of kids in need. He has planned, organized and led
activities at two week-long summer camps, packed food for the
hungry, sorted clothes for the homeless, collected gift cards for
foster children and wrapped Christmas presents for girls living in
public housing.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized four other Oklahoma
students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community
service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze
medallion.
These are Oklahoma's
Distinguished Finalists for 2020:
Delaney Barghols, 18, of
Edmond, Oklahoma, a senior at
Crossings Christian School, hosted TEDxYouth@OKC, which featured 19
teen speakers who shared their stories about mental illness; her
efforts included applying for a license, securing an event space,
recruiting volunteers and speakers, and building an informational
website. Inspired by her own experience with anxiety and anorexia,
and the prevalence of youth mental illness, Delaney organized the
event to help lift the stigma around the topic.
Autumn Hudgins, 18, of
Midwest City, Oklahoma, a
senior at Choctaw High School, created "Serving with HeART," and
regularly volunteers her time to art-related initiatives; she
produces an arts and crafts segment on a show that's broadcast in a
children's hospital, organized several art supply drives in her
community and serves as a co-chair for the OKC Arts Festival.
Autumn also designed and printed more than 400 illustrated cards
for hospital patients and children experiencing homelessness.
Jordan Mason, 18, of
Dill City, Oklahoma, a member
of Washita County 4-H and a senior
at Burns Flat-Dill City High School, created and runs "Loving
Hearts and Helping Hands," raising more than $13,000 by selling hair bows, toys, bath bombs
and candy bars in her local community; her project has benefited
tornado victims, people with cancer and other families in need.
Jordan has also volunteered her time making bibs for nursing homes
and dog toys for her local animal shelter.
Jentri Rayburn, 18, of
Ardmore, Oklahoma, a member of
Carter County 4-H and a senior at
Plainview High School, runs an annual "Socktober" event, collecting
socks in her community to benefit several local organizations; this
past year, she collected and donated more than 3,200 pairs.
Jentri's efforts for each drive include promoting the event,
distributing drive boxes to local schools, churches and businesses,
sorting socks and delivering the donations.
"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.