Jessica Bird, 18, of Atherton and Claudia Moysset, 13, of Los Angeles
today were named California's top two youth volunteers of 2014 by The
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring
young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Jessica was nominated
by Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton, and Claudia was nominated by
Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. The Prudential Spirit of
Community Awards, now in its 19th year, is conducted by Prudential
Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary
School Principals (NASSP).
Jessica, a senior at Sacred Heart Preparatory, is a dedicated advocate
for young sex-trafficking victims around the world, and last year led a
team to Costa Rica to provide girls at a safe house with the means to
earn a living so that they would not have to return to prostitution.
Jessica had visited the safe house for young prostitutes during a church
trip to Costa Rica and became friends with Eva, a young girl whose
father began prostituting her when she was 12 years old. After returning
home, Jessica invited Eva to her home and hosted a fundraiser that
collected $29,000 for the safe house. “But only two weeks later, Eva
called me high on drugs,” said Jessica. “She was back into a life of
prostitution.” It was then that Jessica realized that the problem of sex
trafficking could not be solved by money alone.
Jessica set out to educate herself about the global issue of child
prostitution, and then started educating others, including her school
community and Girl Scout troop. As a youth delegate to the 57th session
of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, she helped
facilitate an all-youth tribunal and addressed U.N. Assembly members on
the issue. Then, when her church cancelled its annual service trip to
the Costa Rican safe house, Jessica recruited five friends and three
adults to make the trip on their own. While there, her team built a
chicken coop, refurbished a greenhouse, and created a job training
program so that the six girls at the safe house would not have to fall
back into prostitution. The girls also were taught how to cook healthy
meals, sell produce at a farmers’ market, manage money, and exercise
leadership and responsibility skills. “These are the skills they need to
know for a life beyond prostitution, skills that my friend, Eva, did not
possess,” said Jessica.
Claudia, a seventh-grader at Harvard-Westlake School, has donated 30,000
books to nearly 300 organizations in 20 states through her nonprofit,
the “Bookworm Foundation.” Books have always been her passion. One night
at the dinner table when she was 6, her mother mentioned that many
children do not have access to books and would never develop a love of
reading. Claudia was surprised. “I asked my parents if I could donate
some of my personal books to children who did not have any,” she said.
With the help of her parents, she packed 100 of her books into a box and
donated them to a center that provides early education for at-risk
children. She also volunteered to talk to kids about why reading is more
fun than watching TV or playing video games.
Claudia felt so good about her donation that she knew she had to do
more. She started asking family and friends to donate their used books,
and then requested that instead of gifts at birthdays and holidays, her
family and friends give her cash to buy new books. After her parents
helped her start the “Bookworm Foundation,” Claudia started writing
letters to solicit donations of both money and books. Over the past
seven years, Claudia has collected, packed and hand-delivered books to
elementary schools, children’s hospitals, preschools, and shelters for
homeless and abused children, and has read books to children in many of
these places. “I feel so proud that my work has touched so many lives,”
she said. “Many librarians have told me there is no money available to
buy even used books. I want to eliminate this horrible situation.”
As State Honorees, Jessica and Claudia 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 2014.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized ten other California students as
Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service
activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.
These are California's Distinguished Finalists for 2014:
Miguel Aldrete, 13, of Chula Vista, Calif., an eighth-grader at
Rancho Del Rey Middle School, began a project to help combat
deforestation by funding the planting of 13,000 trees in seven
countries. Miguel has published several books and used the proceeds to
fund the planting project, as well as an organic garden at his
elementary school and other projects, through his nonprofit
organization, “Kids 4 Our World.”
Lulu Cerone, 14, of Encino, Calif., a freshman at The Archer
School for Girls, founded “LemonAID Warriors” to encourage young people
to become philanthropists, then took the program national in 2013 with a
“Philanthro Party” contest held in partnership with the toy company
Mattel. In addition to her own philanthropy, which involved raising
$65,000 to provide clean water in villages in Africa, Lulu co-produces
and co-hosts a radio show and a popular YouTube channel featuring the
work of young “warriors” across the country.
Jonas Corona, 10, of Long Beach, Calif., a fifth-grader at The
New City School, founded “Love in the Mirror,” a nonprofit organization
that has provided food, clothing and other assistance to more than
20,000 homeless people. Jonas, who has been helping the homeless since
he was 4 years old, founded the organization to prove that even young
people can make a big difference.
Liam Hession, 18, of Redwood City, Calif., a senior at Junipero
Serra High School, has coordinated various fundraising projects to raise
more than $15,000 to fund the installation of nine water bottle
refilling units at his school. Liam, who is the president of both the
junior class and the Green Club, spent the past year working on his
“Plastic Pollution Solution” after taking a surfing trip to Nicaragua
and seeing how plastic waste destroyed that country’s pristine beaches.
Divya Manthena, 16, of Moorpark, Calif., a junior at La Reina
High School, has raised more than $40,000 for charity over the past four
years by hosting three golf tournaments. Divya, an avid golfer, chose to
combine her passion for the sport and her desire to help others by
coordinating these events to help organizations including the American
Red Cross, Special Olympics and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Max Mazur, 18, of Santa Rosa, Calif., a senior at Cardinal Newman
High School, co-founded “Operation GOALS,” a charitable organization
that helps teens in foster care by paying for educational electronic
devices, hearing aids, calculators and study skills classes. Max created
a website, partnered with community organizations, and developed a
cartridge recycling program that has helped raise more than $15,000 to
support the program.
Grace O'Brien, 16, of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., a junior at
Tesoro High School, founded “Ears for Years” in 2012 to provide
solar-powered hearing aids to children in developing countries who are
deaf or hard of hearing. Grace, who was inspired to start the nonprofit
organization after working at a theater program for deaf children, used
money from her own personal savings and from fundraising events through
her school’s Ears for Years Club to provide 40 hearing aids for children
in need.
Daniel Rosenthal, 17, of Santa Rosa, Calif., a junior at Maria
Carrillo High School, created “MAGIC IS MEDICINE,” a program that
arranges for volunteer magicians to perform at hospitals, hospices,
homeless shelters and other facilities. Daniel, a professional magician,
schedules other professional magicians from across the country to
perform magic shows to brighten the lives of people with illnesses and
disabilities.
Preetam Soundararajan, 17, of San Diego, Calif., a senior at
Francis Parker School, founded an online tutoring program, “Education
Beyond the Classroom,” that matches high school tutors with K-12
students anywhere in the world. Preetam, who started tutoring with his
brother in 2009, wanted to provide these needed services without the
added time and expense of travel to tutoring sessions.
Kiran Sridhar, 16, of Woodside, Calif., a junior at
Lick-Wilmerding High School, founded “Waste No Food,” a Web-based
charity that matches organizations and restaurants that have unused food
with organizations that feed the hungry. Kiran, the organization’s
executive director, has helped to provide more than 60,000 meals to
children, seniors and families in need by securing more than 42 food
donors and ensuring that perfectly good food does not go to waste.
“We applaud each of these young people for their exemplary volunteer
service,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. “They use
their time and talents to make a meaningful difference in their
communities, and we hope their example inspires others to do the same.”
“By going above and beyond in their volunteer service, these students
have brought positive change to communities across the country,” said
JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. “Congratulations to each
and every one of them on this well-deserved honor.”
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 5, 10 of the State Honorees –
five middle level and five high school students – will be named
America’s top youth volunteers of 2014. 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 100,000 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 and China. 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 national voice for middle level and high
school principals, assistant principals, and all school leaders from
across the United States and more than 36 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
Copyright Business Wire 2014