Mississippi's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 17th Annual National Awards Program

JACKSON, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Torie Makel Hutchins, 17, of Saltillo and Kailey Ready, 14, of Stringer today were named Mississippi's top two youth volunteers for 2012 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Torie was nominated by Saltillo High School in Saltillo, and Kailey was nominated by Stringer Attendance Center in Stringer. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 17th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

“Through their selfless acts of service, these award recipients have greatly improved the lives of others”

Torie, a senior at Saltillo High School, advocates and raises money for Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn., where she was once a patient. “Le Bonheur has helped me with two illnesses at two different times in my life,” said Torie. “I now feel that the illnesses I experienced were a blessing because God led me to this wonderful place that revolves around helping sick and injured children.”

Since the sixth grade, Torie has volunteered countless hours supporting the hospital by interacting with patients, participating in fundraising events, giving speeches, licking envelopes for mailings and selling hospital-branded items, along with a variety of other activities. She also created her own fundraiser in 2009 called “Lift Off 4 Le Bonheur,” which is now held every year at the hospital. For this event, Torie solicits donations, sponsors a balloon lift-off, and designs and sells event T-shirts. “I feel there is no better accomplishment than to give help, hope, and love to the lives of others,” said Torie. “One day, I plan to join the Le Bonheur staff as a nurse anesthetist, so even then I will be contributing back to an amazing cause.”

Kailey, an eighth-grader at Stringer Attendance Center, has collected more than 200 hats for sick children undergoing chemotherapy treatment at a local hospital through a project she calls “Kailey’s Cute Caps for Chemo Kids.” Kailey’s little sister has a serious blood and liver disease. Over the years, Kailey has spent hundreds of hours at the hospital watching her sister and others receive treatments that cause their hair to fall out. Kailey said that a woman came into the center one day to hand out caps to the young patients. “All the children’s faces lit up with joy at the thought of a new hat to cover their bare heads, but there weren’t enough hats to go around,” she said. “My heart lit on fire to help.”

Kailey began appealing to students at her school and to people in the community for hat donations, but at first received just a few hats. She then resolved to get the word out to more people by making presentations at several locations and explaining why hats are important to kids undergoing chemotherapy. Eventually, the hats came flowing in. When she took the hats to the hospital and passed them out, “the look on the children’s faces warmed my heart,” said Kailey. “How great it felt to know that I had helped bring a little joy to these children! There were no words to describe the happiness I felt in my heart.” She hopes to collect an increasing number of “cute caps” each year.

As State Honorees, Torie and Kailey 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 2012 at that time.

Distinguished Finalists

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

Ashton Biggs, 17, of Clinton, Miss., a senior at Central Hinds Academy in Raymond, is a skilled golfer who has donated her time to teach golf lessons to those who could not afford them, and to raise money through various golf tournaments. In addition, Ashton is active in the National Honor Society and helps with its service projects including raising funds for the Wounded Warrior Project, the Alzheimer’s Walk and Cans for the Needy.

Christina Marie Lawrence, 17, of Brandon, Miss., a senior at St. Joseph Catholic School in Madison, raised more than $10,000 with her “Dance Marathon” and donated the funds to the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children in Jackson. Christina Marie, whose dance event was one of many across the country benefitting Children’s Miracle Network hospitals, organized the event with 100 dancers who danced on their feet for eight hours straight in an effort to empathize with a sick child who struggles daily with pain.

Kelly Liles, 18, of Hattiesburg, Miss., a senior at Oak Grove High School, founded “Dresses of Hope,” an organization that provides formal dresses, shoes and jewelry to students who cannot afford to purchase their own dresses for school proms and formal functions. Since Kelly started the project in 2010, she has collected nearly 150 dresses and has hosted several “boutique days” when young ladies in need can select the dress of their dreams.

Thomas Patten, 16, of Poplarville, Miss., a junior at Poplarville High School, has collected more than 220 pieces of luggage to support foster children through his annual drive, “Luggage for Little Ones.” Thomas, who began his program so that foster children wouldn’t have to move their belongings in trash bags, recruited a group of volunteers, posted flyers and placed collection bins at stores throughout town.

“Through their selfless acts of service, these award recipients have greatly improved the lives of others,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. “We hope their stories and their dedication inspire other young people to do the same.”

"We are so pleased to celebrate these student volunteers,” said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. “It’s important to highlight them as powerful examples of how young people can make a difference."

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 affiliates of HandsOn Network, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. More than 5,000 Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, creativity, 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, 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 7. 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.

Since the program began in 1995, more than 100,000 young volunteers nationwide have been honored by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards at the local, state or national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland and India. 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 spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.

About NASSP

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. The association 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.

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