Two Maine Youth Honored for Volunteerism at National Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two Maine students, Ian Pelletier, 18, of Deer Isle and Charlotte Eisenberg, 13, of Peaks Island, were honored in the nation’s capital last night for their outstanding volunteer work during the presentation of The 2011 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 Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon at the 16^th annual award ceremony and gala dinner reception, held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

“One of the most memorable parts of this project was looking out of the upstairs window and realizing that this building was standing because of the work I had initiated”

Ian and Charlotte were named the top high school and middle level youth volunteers in Maine 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 Prudential Spirit of Community honorees have seen problems in their communities and around the world and have taken action,” said Ms. Sarandon. “Their compassion to help others should give us all a lot of hope for the future.”

Ian, a senior at Deer Isle-Stonington High School, raised $30,000 to construct a storage building for a local elementary school and performing arts center. When Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School and Reach Performing Arts Center were built in 2000, “there was little thought or funds put into storage,” explained Ian. “The maintenance department had to store equipment like ladders, snowblowers and tools in a dilapidated shed.” In addition, the sets and props for the arts center were kept in community members’ garages and barns, making them difficult to access. Ian, who had enjoyed working at the center as an actor and lighting technician, decided to address the need for storage. “At first I thought the project was too big, but once I started, I never had regrets,” he said.

After getting approval from school, arts center, and city officials, Ian recruited an architect to design plans for a 24’ by 36’ two-story building. He then solicited bids from local contractors and building suppliers and began to raise funds. Ian sent a letter to more than 1,000 potential contributors, attracted attention from a local newspaper, and displayed a model of his proposed building at arts center performances. After donations started coming in, Ian recruited volunteers and hired contractors. At times, fund-raising slowed to a trickle and Ian had to renew his appeal for help. In the end, his perseverance paid off. Nineteen months after he had started, with the help of 345 donors and 70 volunteers, Ian’s building was finished. “One of the most memorable parts of this project was looking out of the upstairs window and realizing that this building was standing because of the work I had initiated,” said Ian. “The building felt so strong and sturdy, I knew it would still be standing after I die.”

Charlotte, an eighth-grader at King Middle School in Portland, helped create and now leads an environmental club at her school that encourages composting and “green” living. Involved in her community since she was a little girl, Charlotte has given tours at a Civil War history museum, collected hats and mittens for a family shelter, and worked as a phone canvasser for a presidential campaign. But it was while working last year on a school project with friends dealing with the harmful effects of styrofoam that Charlotte decided to focus her efforts on the environment. “We were outraged at the statistics we were finding,” she said. “When I read things like styrofoam takes one million years to decompose or plastic water bottles are made with chemicals that cause cancer, it motivates me to take action.” Realizing that more can be accomplished with more people, Charlotte and her friends formed the “Green Team.” Their first project was to secure a grant to purchase compost bins for their school’s classrooms. Now, students can put snack waste such as banana peels and apple cores into the bins, which are filled with worms. Charlotte and her club placed larger bins outside the cafeteria, and every day a club member empties cafeteria waste into them. The compost is then used to enrich the soil in the school’s organic garden, which is weeded by club members. To promote other healthy environmental habits, Green Team members used recycled paper to make bookmarks and posters with facts about global warming, and made presentations to sixth-grade classrooms. The group is also working on a video to help classmates understand the importance of composting.

“Ian and Charlotte represent young Americans who have a strong sense of community and who are dedicated to improving our neighborhoods, our nation and our world,” said John R. Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. “With great anticipation, we look forward to their future achievements as they continue to spread the spirit of community.”

More than 29,000 young people participated in the 2011 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 16 years ago by Prudential Financial to encourage youth volunteerism and to identify and reward young role models.

“The young women and men in America’s schools are nothing short of amazing, and nowhere is this more evident than amongst this year’s award recipients,” said NASSP President Jana Frieler. “They possess a keen intellect, servant hearts, capable leadership skills, and are filled with energy and ambition. NASSP and Prudential are honored to recognize them.”

More information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year’s honorees can be found at http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

NASSP 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 45 countries around the world. NASSP 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.

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, investment management, and real estate services. 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: full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions are available at spirit.prudential.com.]

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