Published: February 09, 2010
Mississippi's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 15th Annual National Awards Program
Gabrielle Barrientos, 18, of Biloxi and Noah Robertson, 14, of Iuka
today were named Mississippi's top two youth volunteers for 2010 by The
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring
young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program,
now in its 15th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in
partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals
(NASSP).
Gabrielle was nominated by Kolbe Academy in Napa, Calif., and Noah was
nominated by Iuka Middle School in Iuka. As State Honorees, 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 2010 at that time.
Gabrielle, a senior at Kolbe Academy, co-founded a nonprofit
organization that raised more than $20,000 to provide musical
instruments and instruction to impoverished children in Saltillo,
Mexico. When Gabrielle and her sister traveled to Saltillo on a mission
trip, they were stunned by the poverty and street violence they
witnessed. "I never fully understood what true poverty was until my
initial trip to the San Miguel Mission," Gabrielle said. "I knew that
there had to be a way to influence the lives of local children for the
better and to keep them off the streets."
Upon returning to Mississippi, Gabrielle and her sister immediately
began working on a plan to introduce the poor children of Saltillo to
classical music. They assembled an adult advisory board and a teen
fund-raising board, and began raising money. They sold balloon animals
and painted faces at local festivals, performed at a fund-raising
dinner, held a silent auction, asked local organizations for donations,
and applied for a grant. After a year of effort, the Barrientos sisters
and 12 other volunteers traveled back to the San Miguel Mission to
deliver musical instruments and equipment and to hire a permanent
instructor to teach 10 local children how to play the violin. They also
entertained 280 other children by performing bilingual puppet plays and
taught them how to make their own puppets. Gabrielle says her
organization, Strings with Wings Inc., hopes to begin providing musical
instruction to foster children on Mississippi's Gulf Coast this year.
"You don't have to create an organization to make an impact," said
Gabrielle. "All you have to do is care and take action."
Noah, an eighth-grader at Iuka Middle School, designed and
implemented an anti-bullying campaign that culminated in a rally
attended by the entire student body at his school. "My best friend is
autistic and I continually see people treating him in a bullying
manner," said Noah. He has seen many other students at his school suffer
at the hands of bullies, too, and has even been bullied himself. "I felt
I needed to do something to help everyone in my school understand that
bullying causes long-term damage, and we need to stand up for one
another."
With support from school officials, Noah began researching all aspects
of bullying, and then developed a brochure explaining different types of
bullying, the signs of bullying, and ways to prevent it. To get it
printed, he persuaded a local organization to provide funding. Next,
Noah created four performance skits and an audio/video slideshow about
bullying, which he presented at a schoolwide rally. Afterwards, each
student was asked to sign a "no-bullying" contract that Noah designed,
and three drop-boxes that he built were placed around the school so
students can anonymously report incidents of bullying. His campaign
struck such a chord that his school plans to continue it from year to
year, and other schools in the district have expressed interest in using
it.
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:
Wil'Darius Dampier, 14, of Mount Olive, a freshman at Mount Olive
Attendance Center, is playing a key role in a "Going Green" initiative
at his Boys & Girls Club. He has led shoe and coat collection drives;
promoted the recycling of bottles, cans, and paper goods; and
coordinated a cell phone and ink cartridge recycling fund-raiser.
Barbara McMillin, 17, of Louisville, a senior at Winston Academy, has
volunteered approximately 500 hours for the Sta-Home Health & Hospice
program in her community. Along with her mother, Barbara visits patients
in their homes or at local nursing facilities, spreading encouragement
and cheer while also delivering small treats and handmade cards.
Anna-Claire White, 18, of Hattiesburg, a senior at Presbyterian
Christian School, is the current captain of Forrest General Hospital's
150-member Spirit Girls squad, a group dedicated to serving the
community while fostering self-esteem and promoting volunteerism. As a
Spirit Girl, Anna-Claire volunteers with a different community
organization every month. She also mentors a young boy in a local Big
Brothers Big Sisters program.
Emily White, 17, of Fulton, a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High
School, has spent four weeks over the past two years volunteering in the
Philippines on an annual church mission trip. While there, she taught
moral and spiritual values to schoolchildren and adults, and distributed
donated medical supplies, Bibles, and children's clothing.
"People as caring and committed as these young students are critical to
the future of our neighborhoods, our cities and our nation," said John
R. Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial. "By recognizing
these honorees, we hope to encourage other young people - our future
leaders - and all Americans to think more about the value and importance
of volunteering in their communities."
"The young people recognized by the Prudential Spirit of Community
Awards demonstrate an enormous capacity for giving and reaching out to
those in need," said Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the
National Association of Secondary School Principals. "NASSP is proud to
honor these student leaders because they are wonderful examples of the
high caliber of young people in our nation's schools today."
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 this past November. Nearly 5,000 Local Honorees were then reviewed
by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and
Distinguished Finalists based on criteria such as personal initiative,
creativity, effort, impact and personal growth.
While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees 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 3 by a prestigious national selection committee. 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.
Serving on the national selection committee will be Strangfeld of
Prudential; Steven Pophal, president of NASSP; Michelle Nunn, president
and CEO of the Points of Light Institute & Hands On Network; Marguerite
Kondracke, president and CEO of the America's Promise Alliance; Donald
T. Floyd Jr., president and CEO of National 4-H Council; Pamela Farr,
the American Red Cross' national chair of volunteers; Elson Nash,
associate director for project management at the Corporation for
National and Community Service; Michael Cohen, president and CEO of
Achieve, Inc.; and two 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community National
Honorees: Shardy Camargo of Orlando, Fla., and Colin Leslie of Rye, N.Y.
In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of
Community Awards program will distribute President's Volunteer Service
Awards to more than 2,800 of its Local Honorees this year on behalf of
President Obama. The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes
Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their
time to serve their communities and their country.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represent the United States'
largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service.
Since the program began in 1995, more than 90,000 young volunteers
nationwide have been honored at the local, state or national level. Many
prominent public figures have assisted in saluting these honorees over
the years, including President Jimmy Carter, Barbara Bush, Magic
Johnson, John Glenn, Madeleine Albright, Rudy Giuliani, Whoopi Goldberg,
Colin Powell, Peyton Manning, Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and Laura
Bush. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan,
South Korea, Taiwan and Ireland.
For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community
State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit spirit.prudential.com.
In existence since 1916, the National Association of Secondary School
Principals (NASSP) is the preeminent organization of and national voice
for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and
aspiring school leaders from across the United States and more than 45
countries around the world. NASSP's mission is to promote excellence in
school leadership. The National Honor Society , National Junior Honor
Society , National Elementary Honor Society , and National Association
of Student Councils are all NASSP programs. For more information about
NASSP, located in Reston, Va., visit www.principals.org
or call 703-860-0200.
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) is a financial services leader
with operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
Leveraging its heritage of life insurance and asset management
expertise, Prudential is focused on helping approximately 50 million
individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth. In
the United States, the company's Rock symbol is an icon of strength,
stability, expertise and innovation that has stood the test of time.
Prudential's businesses offer a variety of products and services,
including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual
funds, investment management, and real estate services. For more
information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.
Editors: Graphics depicting the award program's logo and medallions
may be downloaded from spirit.prudential.com.
Prudential
Harold Banks
973-802-8974 (office)
973-216-4833
(cell)
harold.banks@prudential.com
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