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Arizona's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 21st Annual National Awards ProgramDustyn Phillips, 17, of Queen Creek and Hope Weng, 13, of Tempe today were named Arizona'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. Dustyn was nominated by Basha High School in Chandler, and Hope was nominated by Tempe Preparatory Academy in Tempe. 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). Dustyn, a senior at Basha High School, began conducting a wide variety of volunteer projects 11 years ago to benefit kids and families both in the U.S. and overseas. A TV commercial for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital that Dustyn saw as a child made a lasting impression. "I was overtaken by a yearning to help," he said. He began fundraising for the Memphis hospital, and then used his birthday parties to collect toys and money both for St. Jude's and for an orphanage in Kenya. Dustyn's volunteer activities, which he calls "Dustyn's Kids Helping Kids" (or "DKHK"), expanded significantly three years ago when he formed a chapter at his high school. All together, more than 200 young people in three states now participate in projects organized by Dustyn and fellow students. They have collected backpacks and school supplies for immigrant boys, promoted literacy through book drives, volunteered at Special Olympics events, donated soccer uniforms to kids in Brazil, and raised money to provide low-income families with gifts and essential items at Christmastime. "I hope that later in life I am able to share this love for helping others, as well as the humility and wisdom I have gained," said Dustyn. Hope, an eighth-grader at Tempe Preparatory Academy, delivered 100 care packages containing cookies, thank-you cards and a self-penned essay to residents of a veterans home to honor their service. Hope said she never recognized the importance of American veterans until she was assigned to write an essay on the subject and then met a vet at a local VFW post. Afterwards, she said, "I felt that I needed to do something to honor our heroes." Hope started by creating a budget to buy enough Girl Scout cookies and thank-you cards for 100 care packages. Then she set about gathering the necessary funds by selling cookies herself, hosting a garage sale, winning a writing contest, saving her Chinese New Year gift money, and soliciting donations. She asked individuals of all ages to fill her thank-you cards with messages of gratitude to emphasize to the recipients that "all of our servicemen and women's hard work and sacrifices are valued and remembered," she said. When she delivered her packages to the Arizona State Veterans Home, Hope brought along a group of friends who had helped her with her project, all dressed as "Minions." "The visit was a huge success for everyone," said Hope. As State Honorees, Dustyn and Hope 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 six other Arizona students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion. These are Arizona's Distinguished Finalists for 2016: Phillip Glascock, 16, of Paradise Valley, Ariz., a sophomore at Phoenix Country Day School, founded a service club at his school called "Involve Now," for which he and the club members organize numerous projects to benefit homeless children from a local school. Phillip, who previously supported the children with book and sports equipment drives, has recently raised $3,000 to provide bottled water for the school and to plant six large vegetable gardens.
Kikey Pena, 17, of Bisbee, Ariz., a senior at Bisbee High School, has spent the past three years mentoring and tutoring children from pre-school through fourth grade at Naco Elementary School. Kikey, who wanted to help children who struggle as she once did with understanding the English language, often also acts as an interpreter, and assists with art activities and with other tasks as needed. Lourdes Gomez, 17, of Tucson, Ariz., a junior at Desert View High School, served her church for eight years as an altar server. In addition, Lourdes became a leader who helped to train and prepare other youth for their jobs as altar servers. Ariana Schneider, 18, of Flagstaff, Ariz., a senior at Northland Preparatory Academy, led a composting awareness campaign, and helped to develop, build and secure funding for a functional composting water catchment system for the Flagstaff Federated Church and the local Head Start program. Ariana led town hall meetings, wrote articles, applied for grants and secured a team to build the system, and is confident her efforts will encourage others in the community to compost as well. Allison Westra, 18, of Phoenix, Ariz., a senior at Xavier College Preparatory, founded "Gators Giving Back" in 2013, a school-based service program that has provided more than 500 textbooks to students at the school attending on scholarship. Allison, who is the president of the club, recruits members, meets with faculty, and organizes textbook drives, which have helped to offset $25,000 of scholarship funds originally needed to provide the books to those students. "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/20160209005061/en/ |
