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

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nicholas Cobb, 15, of Allen and Leah Prager, 13, of Dallas today were named Texas' top two youth volunteers for 2012 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Nicholas was nominated by Allen High School in Allen, and Leah was nominated by Frankford Middle School in Dallas. 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).

“I thought about it and decided to restart the idea as a way to have fun, while helping my friend.”

Nicholas, a sophomore at Allen High School, has been volunteering to help the homeless for more than 10 years, and most recently formed a nonprofit organization that has raised more than $20,000 to buy coats for 385 homeless families in his community. “When I was 4, I saw a family living under a bridge and wondered why they were there,” said Nicholas. “My parents explained that they were homeless, and I just couldn’t understand how that could be.” Since then, Nicholas has been working to make life easier for people who have fallen on hard times. “I have researched homelessness and know that it could happen to anyone,” he said.

Nicholas began with small projects such as collecting toiletries and organizing a community supply drive. He then decided that he wanted to do something that would have more long-term effects, such as helping people stay warm. He did all the research and filed the paperwork for his organization and then built a website. Nicholas solicited donations, assembled a team of volunteers and organized fundraisers such as email campaigns, car washes, penny drives and a golf tournament. He also applied for grants, won cash awards, obtained matching funds from companies, and persuaded a national coat chain to let him buy coats at a discount. Nicholas now is focusing on providing suits for the homeless to wear to job interviews, as well as book stipends for homeless students going off to college. Of his efforts, Nicholas said. “There is so much need in the world. You can’t really feel bad or sad about anything when you are doing something to help someone else.”

Leah, an eighth-grader at Frankford Middle School, has organized a backyard carnival for the past seven years that has raised more than $115,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and a local food bank. When Leah was only 5, a friend was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a crippling and eventually fatal disease. “I asked my Mom what I could do to help, and she told me about backyard carnivals when she was a child that raised money for MDA,” said Leah. “I thought about it and decided to restart the idea as a way to have fun, while helping my friend.”

Every year from December until April, Leah plans, organizes and raises funds for her backyard event. She meets with volunteers, plans games and activities, arranges for entertainment and coordinates fundraising with adult volunteers. She solicits donations from local businesses for a silent auction at the carnival. On the day of the event, Leah and her volunteers transform her backyard into a carnival with game booths, food stands, a “bounce house,” and entertainers such as clowns and a magician. “The most memorable part is going to deliver the money raised to MDA and the food bank,” said Leah. “I get to see firsthand the people that my carnival helps.”

As State Honorees, Nicholas and Leah 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 ten other Texas students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Zoe Albert, 17, of Allen, Texas, a junior at Allen High School, was just 12 years old when she founded “Faux Paws,” a project where she makes and sells faux fur flip-flops and donates the proceeds to animal advocacy groups. Zoe, who has raised more than $16,000, also partnered with a local daycare center for homeless children to provide 114 pairs of Faux Paws for its young residents.

Amy Chyao, 17, of Richardson, Texas, a senior at Plano East Senior High School, created “Spell Success,” a nonprofit organization that provides spelling instruction through monthly spelling sessions, summer camps, spelling bees and an educational website. Amy, once a national spelling bee contender, spent hundreds of hours developing the curriculum, raised more than $2,000 to support the program, recruited volunteers and reached more than 200 students with her project.

Carolina Destarac, 18, of Tyler, Texas, a senior at Bishop T.K. Gorman Regional Catholic School, raised $40,000 selling her homemade cakes through her project, “Eat 2 Save.” Carolina used the profits from her cake sales to pay for chemotherapy treatments for Rosita, a young Guatemalan girl suffering from cancer, who she later met on a trip to Guatemala.

Ashley Easterly, 16, of Friendswood, Texas, a senior at Friendswood High School, founded “Suitcase 4 Soldiers,” an organization that sends suitcases full of snacks, games and the comforts of home to soldiers serving overseas. Ashley’s first suitcase went to her father serving in Iraq, and since then she has raised more than $5,000 in grants and donations to support the program.

Hayleigh Hutyra, 12, of Justin, Texas, a seventh-grader at Gene Pike Middle School, raised more than $2,000 to provide over 200 backpacks filled with school supplies to needy children through her “Baking for Backpacks” project. Hayleigh, whose project began when she volunteered to help fill backpacks for the 4-H, has been baking and packing backpacks for three years.

Andrew Li, 18, of Plano, Texas, a senior at Plano West Senior High School, founded “The Extra Step,” a peer tutoring organization that matches 23 high school tutors with children who cannot afford private tutoring. Andrew, who began the organization four years ago, offered free tutoring assistance for children, and made sure to give the students the same tutor every week for consistency and success.

Emily Lites, 13, of Roanoke, Texas, a seventh-grader at John M. Tidwell Middle School, is the founder of “Emily’s Smile Boxes,” for which she has raised $40,000 and distributed more than 4,000 boxes filled with toys and games to hospitals across the country for pediatric patients and their siblings. Emily, who spent hours in the hospital when her infant brother suffered a stroke, has encouraged groups all over to host box-making parties and has just branched out to Canada.

Cole Pitts, 17, of Alvin, Texas, a senior at Alvin High School, volunteers as a dive buddy with Dive Pirates, a nonprofit organization that enables injured Iraqi war veterans to scuba dive with trained partners. Cole, whose aunt founded “Dive Pirates,” has helped to raise $100,000 to support the program.

Haley Whatley, 17, of North Richland Hills, Texas, a junior at Birdville High School, has collected more than 23,000 stuffed bears and bunnies to give to pediatric patients at Cook Children’s Medical Center. Haley, who was only 5 years old when she started her project, has raised more than $5,000 to support the program through sponsorships and fundraising events, and has trained more than 50 young people to lead campaigns at their schools.

Fengwei Xu, 17, of San Antonio, Texas, a senior at Health Careers High School, founded “On the Rise Movement” to raise awareness and much-needed funds to support schools in the impoverished country of Burma. Fengwei recruited others to join her efforts, and has hosted concerts, garage sales and various fundraisers to provide a year’s worth of school supplies and teacher subsidies to fifteen target schools in Burma.

“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.