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

BOISE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ariane Drake, 18, of Pocatello and Emily Kladar, 12, of Hayden Lake today were named Idaho'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. Ariane was nominated by Century High School in Pocatello, and Emily was nominated by Canfield Middle School in Coeur d'Alene. 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.”

Ariane, a senior at Century High School, founded a nonprofit organization called “Hands4Uganda” that has raised nearly $30,000 to buy land and construct a new building for a school in Uganda and to pay for students’ tuition fees. During a mission trip to Uganda in the summer of 2010, Ariane delivered 150 pairs of shoes she had collected for a small school called Rock of Ages. Upon arrival, she learned that “most of the students were in a situation where their parents were deceased, had abandoned them, were single, or were prostitutes,” she said. “Because of this, many of the children were attending the school without paying fees, and the school was in financial trouble.” Ariane returned home determined to help the school and its students. With assistance from her parents and others, she formed a nonprofit charity and began raising money by organizing two benefit concerts, a hot dog-eating contest, and a Christmas craft fair. Her team then set up tables at local churches to solicit sponsorships of individual children at Rock of Ages. With these gifts and other donations, Ariane was able to build two new classrooms for the school. The school’s enrollment doubled and tuition expenses are covered for nearly half of its 120 students. Ariane journeyed back to Uganda last summer. “Nothing compares to seeing the students and their smiling faces inside their classrooms and knowing that I played a large part in making that possible,” she said.

Emily, a sixth-grader at Canfield Middle School, created a nonprofit charity with her sister that has raised more than $60,000 to benefit the families of children needing heart surgery. While visiting a rural medical clinic in Mexico in 2008, Emily and her sister saw pictures of kids who would die without heart operations. “We felt if we didn’t help them, no one else would,” said Emily. She suggested selling dish towels and designed a logo to print on them, reading “Kids Helping Kids Fix Broken Hearts.” In six months, the Kladar sisters raised $15,000 from their towel sales, which provided 13 children at the clinic in Mexico with life-saving cardiac surgeries. Then, “we realized that there are many people in the U.S. that could use our help, as well,” said Emily.

They recruited students and teachers at their school to help fold dishtowels and attach cards, and got additional assistance from community groups and employees of a local Kohl’s store. They sell their towels and make presentations at civic clubs, churches, hospital fundraisers and other community events around the country. Hospitals in Washington, Texas and Missouri are now working with Emily and her sister to identify financially-burdened families who have children needing heart operations away from their hometowns. Funds are then provided to pay for transportation, lodging, food and medical expenses not covered by insurance. To date, Emily’s charity has sold more than 6,000 dish towels, yielding over $60,000 to help fix broken hearts.

As State Honorees, Ariane and Emily 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 two other Idaho students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Kyle Ashby, 16, of Boise, Idaho, a sophomore at Bishop Kelly High School, founded “Friends Through Books” in 2009 with her sister with the original intention of stocking a library for an impoverished elementary school on the island of Carriacou. Since then, she has donated more than 15,000 books to several impoverished schools, collected and donated school supplies and raised more than $20,000 to help support the building of a septic system for the school and pay for eye surgery for a young boy with crossed eyes.

Emily Carroll, 16, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, a junior at Post Falls High School, opened the North Idaho Clothing Exchange (NICE) in 2009 to provide new and gently used clothing to children who are needy, homeless, or in foster care. Emily solicited donations from the community, secured more than $30,000 of new clothing, worked with local organizations to secure a storefront and manages the entire process.

“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.