Two West Virginia Youth Honored for Volunteerism at National Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

West Virginia's top two youth volunteers of 2015, Thad Taylor, 17, of Huntington and Emilee Ellison, 12, of Parkersburg, were honored in the nation's capital last night for their outstanding volunteer service during the 20^th annual presentation of The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Thad and Emilee – along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – each received $1,000 awards and personal congratulations from "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts at an award ceremony and gala dinner reception held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), named Thad and Emilee West Virginia's top high school and middle level youth volunteers in February. In addition to their cash awards, they each received an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip with a parent to Washington, D.C., for four days of recognition events.

Thad, a junior at Huntington High School, designed and installed a 54-foot-long tile mural at the entrance to a new children's hospital in Huntington, so that scared children arriving at the facility would be greeted with a bright and cheerful river scene instead of just a gray concrete wall. Thad has participated in volunteer activities for most of his life, but wanted to find a project "that was going to have a big impact in my community," he said, and one he could "come back to in 20 years and show my children." He knew a new children's hospital was being built, and figured a colorful mural at the entrance would be an ideal undertaking.

Starting almost three years ago, Thad convened more than 10 meetings with hospital officials and various professionals to come up with a plan. Then he created and constructed a blue-and-green mural design depicting a river flowing through grass, raised nearly $3,500, bought nearly 16,000 one-inch glass tiles and other supplies, and found a tile contractor willing to donate his time. Thad assisted the contractor with installing his mural, and recruited other volunteers to assist with other parts of the project, which Thad calls "Tiles for Smiles." Said Thad: "Sick children arriving at the hospital for painful tests, frightening treatments or intimidating surgeries will now see a wall that is bright, glittering, uplifting and happy, hopefully distracting their uneasiness and calming their fears, because it is dazzling."

Emilee, a member of the Wood County 4-H in Parkersburg and a sixth-grader at Williamstown Elementary School, launched a project called "Operation: Spread the Love" to perform random acts of kindness to others in her community, and encourage the beneficiaries of her kindness to do the same. "My family has always viewed Valentine's Day as a golden opportunity to show love to our friends and family," said Emilee. "After finding out that Valentine's week was also Random Acts of Kindness week, I decided to take things a step further and come up with small projects that could put smiles on the faces of others."

She tried out her idea on her 4-H club by having members write compliments to each other on cut-out hearts, and spoke to them about ways they could spread random acts of kindness to others. She gave a similar talk to her fifth-grade class. Next, Emilee gathered some friends to begin her own acts of kindness. One weekend, they spent over 14 hours packaging homemade crafts and goodies into hundreds of baggies, and then distributed them both to acquaintances and to strangers. One of Emilee's favorite "acts" is using colored chalk to decorate driveways, sidewalks and concrete walls with rainbows, hearts, smiling faces, and inspirational words and sentiments at the homes of friends or anyone she knows who "could use a smile," she said.

"As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, we are delighted to recognize the 2015 honorees for their exemplary volunteer service," said John Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "These young people have demonstrated leadership, compassion and perseverance, and we look forward to seeing all they accomplish in the future."

"These honorees represent the best of what America's youth have to offer," said G.A. Buie, president of NASSP. "They have set a powerful example for their peers by proving that one young person really can make a difference, and it is a privilege to shine a spotlight on their good works."

Youth volunteers in grades 5-12 were invited to apply for 2015 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of the HandsOn Network. More than 33,000 middle level and high school students nationwide participated in this year's program.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program was created in 1995 to identify and recognize young people for outstanding volunteer service – and, in so doing, inspire others to volunteer, too. In the past 20 years, the program has honored more than 100,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

For more information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year's honorees, 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 middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and school leaders from across the United States and 35 countries around the world. The association connects and engages school leaders through advocacy, research, education, and student programs. NASSP advocates on behalf of all school leaders to ensure the success of each student and strengthens school leadership practices through the design and delivery of high-quality professional learning experiences. 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 Association of Student Councils. For more information about NASSP, located in Reston, VA, visit www.nassp.org.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. 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.

Editors: For full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions, click here: http://bit.ly/Xi4oFW.

For B-roll of West Virginia's honorees at the 2015 national recognition events, contact Prudential's Harold Banks at (973) 216-4833 or harold.banks@prudential.com.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150504006238/en/