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

BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mary-Brent Brown, 16, of Covington and Anne Hope Noel, 12, of Mandeville today were named Louisiana'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. Mary-Brent was nominated by St. Scholastica Academy in Covington, and Anne was nominated by Our Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic School in Mandeville. 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).

“We hope their stories and their dedication inspire other young people to do the same.”

Mary-Brent, a junior at St. Scholastica Academy, developed two annual fundraising projects and related educational workshops that provide young people with the tools and opportunities to raise money for charity. “In my community, adults ran the fundraisers, so kids lacked an opportunity to prove themselves,” said Mary-Brent. She and her younger sister thought that if they could give young people the chance to raise funds on their own, they could “encourage girls to have a better sense of self, teach boys and girls the skills they need to attain entrepreneurial success, and help other nonprofits succeed through significant donations of kid-raised sums,” Mary-Brent explained.

The two sisters first planned a fashion show along with a pre-show workshop designed to boost the self-confidence of the girls involved and counter negative peer pressure, as well as to raise money for pediatric leukemia patients. Then they formed the “Lemonade Brigade,” where they organize business workshops for kids and also provide them with supplies to run summer lemonade stands. Mary-Brent lines up speakers for the workshops, secures underwriting, gives speeches to create awareness, oversees an annual budget of more than $30,000 and investigates charities. More than 350 kids have participated in the Brown sisters’ program, called “Kids Wanna Help,” which has raised more than $95,000 for 34 charities.

Anne, a seventh-grader at Our Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic School, started an annual collection drive called “Warm Hearts,” which in the past four years has provided more than 1,000 cold-weather items to homeless shelters and service organizations in her community. She also formed a team that has participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life for several years, helping to raise almost $10,000 for cancer research in honor of a friend who died of the disease. Anne’s volunteer career started when she was 5 after her younger brother was diagnosed with hemophilia. She noticed what pleasure young patients got from stickers and special band-aids, so she started a penny drive to raise money to purchase these items. “It was such an amazing feeling to help someone else, and I was hooked!” Anne said.

After an unusually cold autumn a few years ago, Anne contacted a local organization to see what she could do to help homeless people stay warm. She decided to collect blankets, coats, scarves, mittens and other things the homeless can use to bundle up against the winter chill. Then she asked friends and community members to donate items and to help. “I have learned that so many times, a lot of people really want to help; they just don’t know how to get started,” said Anne. Her collection drive is now an annual event at several schools in her community, and when classmates want to know about service projects, they come to Anne. “The glow and warmth that I feel when I finish a program and get that ‘Thank You’ carries me for months,” Anne said.

As State Honorees, Mary-Brent and Anne 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 Louisiana students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Justin Magrath, 17, of Mandeville, La., a junior at Fontainebleau High School, has created and implemented many outdoor service projects that he collectively refers to as “Green Mandeville.” Justin raised more than $1,400 to build 10 purple martin bird houses, planted more than 2,000 trees at the State Park and a local church, collected pull-tabs to support Ronald McDonald House and conducted trail clean-ups around Mandeville.

John Murphy, 17, of Covington, La., a senior at St. Paul’s School, created and presides over his school’s environmental club, which after three years has grown into an active group with more than 45 members and a very successful recycling program that has expanded beyond the school to the local community. John and his volunteers recycle more than 100 pounds of plastic each week, along with electronics and paper, while John also maintains a 240-square-foot community garden that donates its harvest to the local food bank.

Camille Tharpe, 14, of Shreveport, La., an eighth-grader at Caddo Middle Magnet School, founded Louisiana’s first Curvy Girls support group, a local chapter of the national support group that helps girls diagnosed with scoliosis. Camille, who was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was in the fourth grade, secured approval from the national organization, promoted the group through media interviews and flyers, and secured doctors and nurses as speakers for her monthly meetings about coping with the scoliosis.

Cameron Windham, 17, of Jena, La., a senior at Jena High School, is a passionate volunteer for his school and community, and serves as president of his school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club. Under Cameron’s leadership, FBLA membership quintupled, members routinely volunteered at community events, and the club developed a yearly “Most Beautiful Pageant” fundraiser that has become a beloved school activity.

“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.