COLUMBIA, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Devin Srivastava, 17, of Spartanburg and Jackson Silverman, 10, of Charleston today were named South Carolina's top two youth volunteers of 2016 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Devin was nominated by Spartanburg Day School in Spartanburg, and Jackson was nominated by Advanced Studies-Haut Gap Middle School in Johns Island. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 21st year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
Devin, a junior at Spartanburg Day School, founded a nonprofit organization promoting an innovative technology that can enable cancer patients to retain their hair during chemotherapy. When Devin’s aunt was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, “she was more terrified about losing her hair than chemotherapy,” said Devin. After intense research, his aunt learned about “cold cap therapy,” a little-known technique in which breast cancer patients wear a specialized frozen cap before, during and after chemotherapy to keep their hair from falling out. Devin discovered that most cancer patients – and even many doctors – are unaware of the technology, but that saving their hair can have a dramatic impact on the success of their treatment and sense of well-being.
Seeing an opportunity to make an impact, Devin spent months working to set up a nonprofit he calls “chemoHAIRapy,” and then built a website to start spreading the word about cold cap therapy. But he wanted to do more than that; he wanted to actually purchase cold caps for his local hospital. So he organized a charity golf tournament last summer. He secured a course for the tourney, worked with graphic designers to design a logo, sought publicity from local media, recruited golfers, and solicited prizes and sponsorships from local businesses. The $9,000 he raised is being used to print brochures about cold cap therapy and to buy an initial set of cold caps for the hospital. “My ultimate goal is to have chemoHAIRapy become well-known in my community and throughout South Carolina so that more families can go through the chemotherapy process with their dignity intact,” said Devin.
Jackson, a fifth-grader at Advanced Studies-Haut Gap Middle School, persuaded a local food bank to let him start a youth volunteer program there in 2013 that has by now packed more than 14,000 weekend lunch bags for kids in need. “One in four kids go hungry in my community, but kids can’t change their lives all by themselves,” said Jackson. “That is why I wanted to help them.” He remembered how fun it was to pack bags of food for the hungry at his church when he was a little boy, and knew his local food bank prepared meal bags for kids who got free lunches at school, but had little to eat on weekends. But when he offered to help, he was told the food bank didn’t accept volunteers of his age.
Jackson started his own nonprofit organization called “I Heart Hungry Kids” and, after a little persuasion, got the food bank to agree to a kid volunteer program. He invited his friends to get involved, talked to a newspaper reporter, built a website and Facebook page, and designed a T-shirt to raise money. At Jackson’s first food bank “packing party,” 25 youngsters packed 150 bags of food. Now, 175 kids are packing 1,500 bags a month. “It makes me feel incredible that all these kids want to work together to make other kids’ lives better,” said Jackson, who also has spoken to more than 2,000 people at schools, churches and clubs about the problem of childhood hunger.
As State Honorees, Devin and Jackson 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 four days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 students will be named America’s top youth volunteers of 2016.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized four other South Carolina students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.
These are South Carolina's Distinguished Finalists for 2016:
Caitlyn Banks, 11, of Estill, S.C., a fifth-grader at Patrick Henry Academy, has hosted a coat drive two years in a row that has collected more than 1,000 coats to benefit families who are homeless and in need throughout South Carolina and Georgia. Caitlyn, who runs her coat drives through the national One Warm Coat Foundation, created posters, set up donation boxes at schools and local businesses, washed and inspected the coats, and delivered them to the Macon Rescue Mission and Springroad Missions during Thanksgiving week with the help of her mother and father.
Meredith Butenhoff, 18, of Greer, S.C., a senior at Eastside High School, founded “Made by Mer,” an organization for which she designs websites in exchange for charitable donations -- an effort that, since January 2015, has raised $3,000 to support both Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services and Global Genes, an organization working to assist people with chronic illness. Meredith, who has two chronic illnesses and is unable to support charities in physical ways, also created “Mer Hearts,” an educational and advocacy program that has sponsored pediatric pain seminars for patients and their families.
Olivia McConnell, 10, of New Zion, S.C., a fifth-grader at The Carolina Academy, founded “Liv’s Lemonade Stand” when she was 5 years old, and since then has raised more than $24,000 selling lemonade and cupcakes to support the March of Dimes. Olivia, who was named the March of Dimes National Youth Volunteer in 2015, has recruited volunteers to help, has branched out to sell T-shirts as well, and speaks to local organizations, schools and churches on the importance of helping prevent premature births.
Michael Templeton, 17, of Irmo, S.C., a junior at Dutch Fork High School, co-founded a charity with his sister called “K 4 Kids,” for which they have collected and distributed 60,000 recyclable school supplies for teachers and schools in impoverished districts. In addition, Michael has been his school’s mascot for three years and, following the stabbing death of a student after a school game, donned the fallen student’s jersey for all the school to sign in an effort to manage students’ grief.
“Prudential commends each of these young volunteers for using their creativity and compassion to bring positive change to their communities,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. “We hope their stories inspire others to consider how they can make a difference, too.”
“We are pleased to honor these students not only for their exemplary acts of service, but for the powerful example they’ve set for their peers,” said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. “Congratulations to each of the 2016 honorees.”
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 HandsOn Network affiliates, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, 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, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On May 2, 10 of the State Honorees – five middle level and five high school students – will be named America’s top youth volunteers of 2016. These National 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 115,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China and Brazil. 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 http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.
About NASSP
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and school leaders from across the United States and 35 countries around the world. The association connects and engages school leaders through advocacy, research, education, and student programs. NASSP advocates on behalf of all school leaders to ensure the success of each student and strengthens school leadership practices through the design and delivery of high quality professional learning experiences. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, 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 and investment management. 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 www.news.prudential.com.
Editors: For full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions, click here: http://bit.ly/Xi4oFW
