[February 09, 2016]

Alabama's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 21st Annual National Awards Program

Madison Haney, 17, of Killen and Ciara Laird, 10, of Troy today were named Alabama's top two youth volunteers of 2016 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Madison was nominated by Florence High School in Florence, and Ciara was nominated by New Life Christian Academy in Troy. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 21st year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Madison, a senior at Florence High School, collected backpacks for a local foundation to fill with food on Fridays and send home with students who get free lunch at school, but have little to eat at home over the weekend. While Madison was eating breakfast at a weekend band practice, a classmate approached her and asked if she had any extra food. When questioned, the girl said she hadn't eaten since lunch the previous day. "She said she received free lunch at school but her family didn't have money to buy food at home," said Madison. "This broke my heart." Upon further investigation, Madison discovered that many students at her school go to bed hungry. She was determined to help.

Madison contacted a local foundation that serves at-risk children and learned that it needed backpacks for a weekend food program benefiting more than 300 at-risk children in the area. She asked her friends to donate their gently used backpacks, then posted details about her project on social media and placed donation boxes around her school. She also made fliers and began handing them out to parents at other schools in her district. It wasn't long before local businesses began supporting her efforts by donating both backpacks and school supplies. After Madison collected all of the donated backpacks, she brought them home, and with help from her mother, cleaned and repaired them before delivering them to the foundation.

Ciara, a fifth-grader at New Life Christian Academy, began a food drive to feed the hungry in her community after witnessing someone eating out of a dumpster outside a restaurant. After that disturbing experience, Ciara placed a small box inside her school classroom to collect canned food for the Salvation Army. That effort has now become a continuous food drive, and Ciara, as president of her school's honor society, is actively encouraging all students to work together to feed the hungry. "These food drives provide an opportunity to inform, encourage and involve all participants in understanding and addressing hunger issues in our community," she said.

Ciara also has filled shoeboxes with Christmas gifts for children in need, made care packages for families affected by local storms, and volunteered at a local nursing home and sang Christmas songs to the residents of the home. She also assisted at a local community garden that is connected to an afterschool center.

As State Honorees, Madison and Ciara 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 2016.

Distinguished Finalists

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

These are Alabama's Distinguished Finalists for 2016:

Sydney Culverhouse, 14, of Opp, Ala., a freshman at Opp High School, has raised more than $25,000 over the past five years designing and selling T-shirts to support numerous causes, including Birmingham Children's Hospital, the Children's Miracle Netork and the Colon Cancer Coalition. Sydney, who began "T-Shirts for a Cause" as a clothing drive to provide clean shirts for the victims of the 2011 Alabama tornadoes, plans to continue designing and selling fundraising T-shirts well into the future.

Amerie Gramelspacher, 18, of Thomasville, Ala., a senior at Thomasville High School, partnered with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to assist her with a suicide awareness project that included a 5K, presentations to encourage teacher training, suicide hotline signage at her school, and literature and resources at her school's counseling office. Amerie, who lost an aunt to suicide, recruited her National Honor Society chapter to help with the 5K, which raised $1,600 that went toward the purchase of a suicide prevention curriculum that is now being taught quarterly at her school.

Israel Mason, 13, of Bessemer, Ala., an eighth-grader at John Herbert Phillips Academy, has been actively volunteering at the Foundry Dental Clinic for the past three years, helping to check in patients and schedule appointments. Israel also volunteers at the Foundry Outreach Center, where she helps to serve meals, distribute food and assist with other tasks.

Caitlyn McTier, 16, of Sylacauga, Ala., a junior at Sylacauga High School, began a hunger prevention program called "Caitlyn's Cubby," partnering with Alabama Childhood Food Solutions to provide students with backpacks filled with food for the weekends. Caitlyn, who has raised $5,000 to purchase the string backpacks for the program, is also raising awareness about the hunger problem both in Alabama and throughout America.

"Prudential commends each of these young volunteers for using their creativity and compassion to bring positive change to their communities," said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. "We hope their stories inspire others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"We are pleased to honor these students not only for their exemplary acts of service, but for the powerful example they've set for their peers," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2016 honorees."

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. 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 2, 10 of the State Honorees - five middle level and five high school students - will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2016. 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 115,000 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 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

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. (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.

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

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160209005053/en/

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