WASHINGTON - (Business Wire) Two Wisconsin students, Jasmin Weger, 17, of Lancaster and Jordyn Schara, 14, of North Freedom, were honored in the nation’s capital last night for their outstanding volunteer work during the presentation of The 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. The two young people – along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – received $1,000 awards as well as personal congratulations from former First Lady Laura Bush at the 14th annual award ceremony and gala dinner reception, held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Jasmin and Jordyn were named the top high school and middle level youth volunteers in Wisconsin last February. In addition to their cash awards, they received engraved silver medallions and an all-expense-paid trip with their parents to Washington, D.C., for this week’s recognition events.
“The young people receiving these awards genuinely care about making a difference in the lives of others and have accomplished so much – in their own communities and around the world,” said Mrs. Bush, who delivered the keynote address at last night’s ceremony. “I thank and congratulate them for their outstanding volunteer work. Students with this kind of commitment and leadership ability are essential to the future of our nation.”
Jasmin, a junior at Lancaster High School, raised more than $7,600 to purchase seven “Jaws of Life” suits for the Lancaster Volunteer Fire Department by organizing three community fund-raising events and obtaining a matching grant. Jasmin has helped with her family’s community service projects for many years, but “I wanted to work on a project that I could initiate and follow through until completion,” she said. While researching possibilities on the Internet, she discovered a grant available from Alliant Energy that would match locally raised funds for a community safety project. She decided, after discussing the subject with her town’s fire chief, that she would apply for the grant and then raise money to buy special suits that are needed when rescue workers use “Jaws of Life” equipment to pry open vehicles to free accident victims.
Jasmin first planned and coordinated a citywide garage sale. She advertised the sale on the radio, in the newspaper and in church announcements; collected donated items at her home; and recruited firemen and fellow high school students to sort, price, label, and sell the items over two days at the local firehouse. She then scheduled a carwash, asking a local Boy Scout troop to help her wash cars for seven hours in exchange for donations. Finally, Jasmin organized the food concession for a district swim meet. She planned the menu, bought the groceries, prepared food and snacks, and recruited volunteers from a local 4-H group. In total, Jasmin’s “Lancaster Hometown Challenge” raised more than $4,000, which, when combined with the Alliant grant, was enough to provide the fire department with seven new desperately needed “Jaws of Life” suits.
Jordyn, an eighth-grader at Webb Middle School in Reedsburg, helped create and manage a project that collected more than 1,800 pounds of reading materials for men and women from her area serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although Jordyn has no family members in the military, she says she was moved by “heart-wrenching” stories in the news about soldiers and their families. “These troops give so much, sometimes even their lives, and what are we doing for them?” she asked. Concerned that people were beginning to forget about servicemen and women overseas, Jordyn and her brother decided to start sending them reading materials, “so they would know that they were in our thoughts and that we cared about them,” she said.
They designed camouflage-colored collection bins and placed them around their town to solicit donations of books, magazines, local newspapers, and books on CD or tape. The response was underwhelming until local newspapers published stories on the effort, and then contributions flooded in! Jordyn and her brother spent every night sorting and packing the donations into more than 100 boxes, along with candy, games, playing cards, and personal letters. When they discovered it would cost $900 to ship them, they started earning money by babysitting and bagging groceries, but soon more newspaper stories triggered a wave of monetary contributions from the community, and the boxes were on their way to Asia. “There are no words to express the personal rewards that a person receives when they have helped someone else,” said Jordyn.
“Jasmin and Jordyn are inspiring examples of young Americans who care deeply about the needs of others and who have taken the initiative to help meet those needs,” said John R. Strangfeld, Chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. “By honoring them, we hope not only to give them the recognition they so richly deserve, but also to inspire others to follow their example.”
Nearly 20,000 young people submitted applications for the 2009 awards program last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of the Points of Light Institute’s HandsOn Network. The top middle level and high school applicants in each state were selected in February, and were flown to Washington this week with their parents for four days of special recognition events.
Conducted in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created 14 years ago by Prudential Financial, Inc. to encourage youth volunteerism and to identify and reward young role models. Since then, the program has honored nearly 90,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.
“The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is a fabulous partnership between NASSP and Prudential, allowing us to recognize the outstanding young people in our schools and communities,” said NASSP President Larry Bradley. “This year’s honorees exemplify the true spirit of helping others and by doing so they give America and the world a promising future, a future filled with compassion and hope.”
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards are supported by the American Association of School Administrators, the National Middle School Association, the National School Boards Association, the Council of the Great City Schools, Girl Scouts of the USA, National 4-H Council, the American Red Cross, YMCA of the USA, the Points of Light Institute, and other national education and service organizations.
More information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year’s honorees can be found at http://spirit.prudential.com or www.principals.org/prudential.
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. The company’s well-known 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, visit www.news.prudential.com.
[Editors: full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions are available at http://spirit.prudential.com.]
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