Washington's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 15th Annual National Awards Program

OLYMPIA, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Megan Johnson, 18, of Federal Way and Tucker Alexander, 11, of Bremerton today were named Washington's top two youth volunteers for 2010 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 15th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Megan was nominated by Highline CHOICE Academy in Burien, and Tucker was nominated by the Kitsap Family YMCA in Bremerton. As State Honorees, 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 several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America’s top youth volunteers for 2010 at that time.

Megan, a senior at Highline CHOICE Academy, initiated several programs over the past eight years that raise money to provide homeless people, hospitalized children, and drug-addicted babies with things that make their lives a little easier. Megan, who has had 26 surgeries to correct a facial disorder, knows the pain of being unaccepted. “I was harassed in school,” she said. “The kids made me feel worthless and I was so lonely. So when I saw a video about street people, I could feel their loneliness too.”

Determined to show the homeless that somebody cared, Megan began making blankets and soliciting donations to buy them personal items. Then, in the following years, she started making blankets for infants born of drug-addicted mothers, and collecting DVDs for five children’s hospitals. She also has raised money to help four families get off the streets and into their own homes, and to make a large contribution to Shriners Hospitals, which asked her to become a national patient ambassador. To support her projects, Megan sells hot cider at Christmastime; writes and illustrates children’s books; sends letters to corporations; and sells homemade necklaces, ink pens, and silicone wristbands. In addition, her projects have received support from schools, churches, community organizations, a network of 50 individual volunteers, and inmates at a local prison (who knit caps for her to give to the homeless). “My dream is for others to see that even if you are different, you can make a huge difference,” said Megan.

Tucker, a sixth-grader at Mountain View Middle School, has raised thousands of dollars for a local food bank over the past seven years by making and selling fresh baked breads and vegetables from her garden at her annual “yard festival.” When Tucker was just 5 years old, her mother took her to the food bank, Bremerton Foodline. “She wanted me to see that there were people that needed our help,” said Tucker, who immediately felt the desire to pitch in. She initially wanted to donate vegetables from her family’s garden, but then decided to “use the food to make something we could sell and give the food bank the money.”

That’s how Tucker’s annual yard festival began. She works in her yard all summer tending her garden and promoting her festival to neighbors, friends, and other community members. Then, every August, she picks vegetables, herbs, and flowers to sell, and spends hours with her mother in the kitchen baking zucchini bread. Last summer, Tucker’s festival brought in $1,500 for Bremerton Foodline. Tucker also volunteers with her entire Camp Fire group at the food bank twice a month. “The thing I learned the most is that some hard work and planning can make big things happen,” said Tucker. “I get a great feeling from doing something for other people.”

In addition, the program judges recognized six other Washington students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Cheri Anda-Barnes, 18, of Chehalis, a senior at Centralia High School in Centralia, has spent the past five summers volunteering for The Salvation Army. In addition to stocking shelves and distributing food boxes at the organization’s local food bank, Cherie also collects community donations as a bell-ringer at Christmas, assists with the holiday gift distribution, and has collected toiletry items for the needy.

Kira Clark, 18, of North Bend, a home-schooled eleventh-grader, has packed nearly 500 gift boxes for children in less-developed countries through Operation Christmas Child. She also co-founded a student-led service organization that sends mosquito nets overseas and raises awareness about the deadly effects of malaria in underdeveloped countries. In addition, Kira has volunteered on a medical mission in Samoa, and organizes groups of teens to help clean a local homeless shelter.

Natalie Kelly, 16, of Renton, a sophomore at Kentridge High School in Kent, provided the special education departments of two school districts with materials to help their non-verbal and verbally limited students improve their ability to communicate. Natalie created binders filled with communication pictures for the students, and designed a language bingo game.

Jessica Markowitz, 14, of Seattle, a freshman at Garfield High School, created and chairs a 35-member student group that has raised more than $40,000 to enable young girls in Rwanda to get an education. Jessica, inspired by her uncle’s story of rescue from the concentration camp at Auschwitz, has used the funds to pay for school fees, uniforms, books, and other supplies for 22 Rwandan girls. She hopes to build a school library for them in the future.

Kathleen McCambridge, 17, of Seattle, a senior at Holy Names Academy, organized a “Ronald McDonald House Birthday Club.” Kathleen and her sister throw monthly birthday parties with games, cupcakes, and simple gifts for children undergoing medical treatment and their siblings staying at a local Ronald McDonald House.

Wai Poon, 17, of Mountlake Terrace, a senior at Edmonds-Woodway High School in Edmonds, teaches English to Chinese and other Asian immigrants at the Chinese Information Center in Kent. Wai says he benefited greatly from English classes when he immigrated five years ago and wanted to give back to others who need help adjusting to life in the United States.

“People as caring and committed as these young students are critical to the future of our neighborhoods, our cities and our nation,” said John R. Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial. “By recognizing these honorees, we hope to encourage other young people – our future leaders – and all Americans to think more about the value and importance of volunteering in their communities.”

“The young people recognized by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards demonstrate an enormous capacity for giving and reaching out to those in need,” said Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. “NASSP is proud to honor these student leaders because they are wonderful examples of the high caliber of young people in our nation’s schools today.”

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 affiliates of HandsOn Network, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award this past November. Nearly 5,000 Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria such as personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees will tour the capital’s landmarks, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. In addition, 10 of them – five middle level and five high school students – will be named National Honorees on May 3 by a prestigious national selection committee. These honorees will receive additional $5,000 awards, gold medallions, crystal trophies, and $5,000 grants from The Prudential Foundation for nonprofit, charitable organizations of their choice.

Serving on the national selection committee will be Strangfeld of Prudential; Steven Pophal, president of NASSP; Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of the Points of Light Institute & Hands On Network; Marguerite Kondracke, president and CEO of the America’s Promise Alliance; Donald T. Floyd Jr., president and CEO of National 4-H Council; Pamela Farr, the American Red Cross’ national chair of volunteers; Elson Nash, associate director for project management at the Corporation for National and Community Service; Michael Cohen, president and CEO of Achieve, Inc.; and two 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Shardy Camargo of Orlando, Fla., and Colin Leslie of Rye, N.Y.

In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program will distribute President’s Volunteer Service Awards to more than 2,800 of its Local Honorees this year on behalf of President Obama. The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represent the United States’ largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. Since the program began in 1995, more than 90,000 young volunteers nationwide have been honored at the local, state or national level. Many prominent public figures have assisted in saluting these honorees over the years, including President Jimmy Carter, Barbara Bush, Magic Johnson, John Glenn, Madeleine Albright, Rudy Giuliani, Whoopi Goldberg, Colin Powell, Peyton Manning, Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and Laura Bush. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Ireland.

For information on all of this year’s Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit spirit.prudential.com.

In existence since 1916, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the preeminent organization of and national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and aspiring school leaders from across the United States and more than 45 countries around the world. NASSP’s mission is to promote excellence in school leadership. The National Honor Society ®, National Junior Honor Society ®, National Elementary Honor Society™, and National Association of Student Councils ® are all NASSP programs. For more information about NASSP, located in Reston, Va., visit www.principals.org or call 703-860-0200.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) is a financial services leader with operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Leveraging its heritage of life insurance and asset management expertise, Prudential is focused on helping approximately 50 million individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth. In the United States, the company’s Rock symbol is an icon of strength, stability, expertise and innovation that has stood the test of time. Prudential's businesses offer a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.

Editors: Graphics depicting the award program’s logo and medallions may be downloaded from spirit.prudential.com.