[February 05, 2013]

Washington's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 18th Annual National Awards Program

Adam Griffis, 17, of Vancouver and Jessica Chin, 12, of Seattle today were named Washington's top two youth volunteers of 2013 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Adam was nominated by American Red Cross Southwest Washington Region in Vancouver, and Jessica was nominated by Seattle Country Day School in Seattle. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 18th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Adam, a senior at Union High School, oversees all American Red Cross youth activities in southwest Washington as president of the region's Red Cross youth council. His involvement with the Red Cross began four years ago when he volunteered to help with a blood drive at his school. "I realized that students were running the show and making a difference," said Adam. Inspired by that experience, Adam decided he wanted to help all of the schools in the area find a way to conduct their own blood drives. After being elected a member of the regional youth council, he took on the role of chief blood drive organizer. Then, he started a Red Cross club at his school.

Over the years, as he worked on projects ranging from fundraising for disaster relief to teaching CPR and first aid to members of his community, "I learned more and more about the Red Cross, and became more and more intrigued," said Adam. His dedication to the organization ultimately led to his election as president of the youth council. In that position, Adam spends an average of 10 hours a week planning events, interacting with school representatives, managing a website, delegating tasks to other volunteers, processing paperwork and overseeing all aspects of the region's youth program. It's a lot of work, said Adam, but is highly rewarding. "The great feeling of helping others is worth ten-fold the amount of effort you put in," he said.

Jessica, a seventh-grader at Seattle Country Day School, has worked for several years with her family at a facility that provides free children's clothing and supplies to homeless families. She also raises money and takes care of dogs and cats for the local Humane Society. Jessica began volunteering at Baby Boutique after she and her mother dropped off some donations and noticed people of different ages helping out. "This inspired us to give it a try," said Jessica. Ever since, Jessica has been working at the boutique whenever she can, sorting and hanging clothing and helping families find things they need. She also organized a hot chocolate sale at her school to raise money for the facility.

To support her local Humane Society chapter, Jessica has donated more than $600 by participating in two fundraising walks and persuading family members to walk with her. She also has cared for many cats and dogs in her home while they await adoptions. In addition, Jessica has packed back-to-school backpacks for the YWCA to distribute to children in need, and volunteered for a land trust while on vacation with her family in Hawaii, potting and watering plants and weeding out invasive vegetation. "I try to volunteer or participate in giving back to the community every month, either through my school or on my own," said Jessica.

As State Honorees, Adam and Jessica 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 2013.

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized six other Washington students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Washington's Distinguished Finalists for 2013:

Jessica Alvarez, 19, of Bellingham, Wash., a senior at Squalicum High School, was selected as one of six studentsin the northwest United States and Canada to participate in the Student Conservation Association summer program, which involved nearly 200 hours of community service learning about climate change. As a result, she and a friend founded the "Youth Environmental Studies Club" at her district's middle school to teach seventh-graders about a variety of environmental issues.

Amanda Beebe, 18, of Ocean Shores, Wash., a senior at Hoquiam High School, has raised more than $10,000 to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation since she was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was seven years old. Amanda, who raises the money by coordinating a team to walk in the organization's charity walk each year, also volunteers as a counselor at a camp for children with diabetes.

Melissa Blue, 18, of Renton, Wash., a senior at Liberty Senior High School, spent two years while at the American International School in Israel volunteering to conduct research into environmental hazards to encourage farmers to reduce the use of pesticides. Melissa, a volunteer with the Global Awareness Initiative and Action group at her school, worked with five other schools across Israel, and was named the student director of the program in her junior year.

Caleb Dawson, 19, of Federal Way, Wash., a senior at Federal Way High School, worked with two of his friends to helped to collect nearly 8,000 pounds of food with their "253 Scares Hunger" event coordinated with the national Free the Children's We Scare Hunger Halloween food drive. Caleb, who has collected food instead of candy at Halloween for years, helped to rally 400 young people from 18 different schools to fill a truck with food collected door-to-door.

Anastasia Pallis, 18, of Renton, Wash., a senior at Aviation High School, has been volunteering with Special Olympics for the past seven years. Anastasia, who first began helping out at athlete functions, has since become a basketball, soccer and baseball coach and is in the process of coordinating a charity walk to raise money to support the organization.

Svetlana Sergojan, 18, of Olympia, Wash., a senior at Capital High School, has been an active member of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, for which she, as chief petty officer, helps to organize and participate in patriotic community events including parades, color guards and honor guards for funerals. Svetlana, whose grandmother survived a concentration camp during the Holocaust, said she is grateful for her liberty in this country and has also created "Patriot (News - Alert) Partners" to arrange visits of friendship and companionship to local veterans from young volunteers.

"Prudential is proud to honor these students for making meaningful contributions to their communities," said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. "We hope that shining a spotlight on their initiative, creativity and compassion inspires others to consider how they, too, can make a difference."

"Through their volunteer service, each of these young people has made his or her mark on at least one person, school or community," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "When you consider the collective impact of each of these individual acts, it's clear that young people can be a major force for good."

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 HandsOn Network affiliates, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. Nearly 5,000 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 6, 10 of the State Honorees - five middle level and five high school students - will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2013. These National 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.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 100,000 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 and India. 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 on behalf of President Barack Obama.

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

NASSP (National Association of Secondary School Principals) is the leading organization of and national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and all school leaders from across the United States and more than 36 countries around the world. The association provides research-based professional development and resources, networking, and advocacy to build the capacity of middle level and high school leaders to continually improve student performance. Reflecting its longstanding commitment to student leadership development as well, 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. (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 http://www.news.prudential.com/.

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

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