South Dakota's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected In 16th Annual National Awards Program

PIERRE, S.D.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mariah Nelson, 17, of Mitchell and Kiera Leddy, 13, of Stockholm today were named South Dakota's top two youth volunteers for 2011 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 16th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

“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.”

Mariah was nominated by Mitchell Christian School in Mitchell, and Kiera was nominated by Milbank High School in Milbank. 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 2011 at that time.

Mariah, a senior at Mitchell Christian School, organizes and leads weekly service projects in her community through "Students of Service" (SOS), an organization she founded three years ago. Passionate about volunteering since working at a local library when she was in third grade, Mariah was concerned that many teens in her community were not interested in serving others. “I thought that maybe they just don’t know where to look, and that I could set up the projects for them, and then they would participate,” said Mariah. She approached her youth pastor with the idea of getting church youth involved, and he applauded the idea.

The biggest challenge, Mariah said, was finding enough projects to occupy up to 10 groups of volunteers during the time they meet at church in their youth groups. She looked through the phone book, searched the Internet, read newspapers, and made phone calls to organizations to see who needed help with a project. Then she would decide which team to assign to the task. “I found out the boys would rather do woodworking or outdoor projects. The girls wanted to do projects where they were able to socialize,” Mariah said. Since her organization began, some of the tasks youth volunteers have accomplished include making more than 700 backpacks for children in Haiti, packing food and Christmas boxes for the needy, helping widows with yard work, organizing a food pantry and cleaning a Salvation Army facility. Charitable organizations that need a task accomplished are now calling Mariah for her help. "I have showed over 75 students how to take an idea and make it a reality,” said Mariah. “This program has helped them to have empathy in some areas where it did not exist before.”

Kiera, an eighth-grader at Milbank Middle School, has helped feed the hungry in her area through her church, 4-H club, and community activities. Kiera was inspired to help after her church group served a meal to needy families at a soup kitchen in Sioux Falls. “There were a lot of men and women, but also a lot of kids,” said Kiera. “When the door closed that night, we had served a total of 360 people. I then started to wonder if they all had beds to sleep in, enough food to eat, and did all the kids go to school.” Kiera returned determined to help the hungry in her town of 150 residents and its environs.

She contacted the chairperson of an annual community food drive and suggested that the drive be expanded into rural areas beyond the county seat. She then called on businesses in rural communities and got permission to set donation boxes on their properties, which resulted in 86 pounds of food being collected. After the earthquake in Haiti, Kiera helped organize and promote a food packaging event for Kids Against Hunger. She promoted the event at her school, church and at nine

4-H clubs, and recruited volunteers who bagged 3,456 meals to be sent to feed the hungry in Haiti. As community service officer for her 4-H club, she helped plan and coordinate monthly service activities, such as collecting donations for a food pantry, filling backpacks with food for schoolchildren, and making baked goods and fruit baskets for the elderly. “I know that my involvement serves as a role model for other kids,” Kiera said. “I want them to recognize that there is no better way to help you feel good than by helping others.”

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

Kayla Pochop, 17, of Pierre, a senior at Theodore F Riggs High School in Pierre, organized a community-wide activity, called "Christmas Wishes," which is sponsored through her school senate. Through Christmas Wishes, Kayla collects food for the local food pantry, blankets and other domestic items for a domestic violence center, and books and other items to fill “goody bags” for soldiers serving in Iraq.

Sarah Szymonski, 17, of Vermillion, a senior at Vermillion High School, is an avid volunteer who has participated in 30 different community volunteer projects from South Dakota to the Gulf Coast. Sarah, who has traveled to New Orleans to read to young victims of Hurricane Katrina, has also collected books and food for Native Americans in South Dakota, tutored special education teens and kindergartners, and organized the “Vermillion City-Wide Clean-Up."

“These award recipients have proven that young people across America are critical to the future of our neighborhoods, our nation, and our world,” said John R. Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial. “Each and every one of these honorees deserve our respect and admiration, and we hope by shining a light on them, they will continue to serve as an example for others.”

“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. More than 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 2 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 John Strangfeld of Prudential; Jana Frieler, 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 2010 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Shannon McNamara of Basking Ridge, N.J., and Benjamin Sater of Plano, Texas.

In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program will be distributing President’s Volunteer Service Awards to more than 2,800 of its Local Honorees this year on behalf of President Barack 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 95,000 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 Jimmy Carter, Barbara Bush, Magic Johnson, John Glenn, Madeleine Albright, Rudy Giuliani, Whoopi Goldberg, Colin Powell, Peyton Manning, Laura Bush, and Condoleezza Rice. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland and India.

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

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.nassp.org or call 703-860-0200.

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