Michelle Dreimann, 16, of Stratton Mountain and Richard Diemer, 13, of
Burlington today were named Vermont'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. Michelle was
nominated by Stratton Mountain School in Stratton Mountain, and Richard
was nominated by Mater Christi School in Burlington. 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).
Michelle, a junior at Stratton Mountain School, has helped raise more
than $150,000 over the past seven years for a foundation that provides
scholarships and medical care to families of employees of the Hualalai
Resort in Hawaii. Michelle also promoted recycling at the resort and
brought curbside recycling service to residents. For many years,
Michelle and her family have spent vacations at Hualalai, where they own
a home. “Seeing the same employees every year, they became part of my
family, or ‘Ohana’ as they say in Hawaiian,” said Michelle. “At the age
of 10, I realized that it was time to start giving back to the employees
by making a donation to the Ohana Foundation.”
Since she didn’t have much money to donate, Michelle began conducting
annual golf cart washes to raise money, with help from her sister and
friends. Then she sold reusable grocery bags, water bottles, coffee
mugs, stickers and T-shirts – all sporting a recycling logo she’d
designed – and donated the profits to the Ohana Foundation. She also
negotiated a low rate with a recycling company to provide curbside
service at the resort, and arranged for the five-cent redeemable deposit
on beverage containers to be donated to the foundation. Most recently,
Michelle has worked with her sister and other young volunteers to host
an annual dance event for resort homeowners and employees as an
additional way to support the foundation.“The Hualalai community has
become my second family and I am grateful for the chance to give back,”
said Michelle.
Richard, a seventh-grader at Mater Christi School, developed a plan to
facilitate the use of reusable water bottles at his school and install a
sorting station for recyclables in his cafeteria. Richard’s school
prohibits the use of disposable water bottles, yet filling reusable
water bottles from the school cafeteria’s existing water fountains is
difficult, said Richard. And, though the school does its best with its
existing budget, the only recycling resource it's been able to provide
in the school cafeteria is a “landfill bin,” he said. So Richard, with
support from his mother, decided to “take the bull by the horns” and
come up with a plan to address the water bottle problem and encourage
more thorough recycling in the cafeteria.
Richard researched possible solutions and applied for a community waste
reduction grant from the county’s solid waste district. He then met with
an official from the district, who assessed the school’s recycling
needs. Richard plans to use the grant money to purchase two water bottle
refilling stations, a drinking station and a waste sorting station for
the cafeteria that allows students to separate recyclables,
compostables, liquids and landfill items. He’s also working on signs
that will make it clear where to place various waste items after lunch.
“Thousands of milk cartons and other recyclables and compost will be
saved from over-filled landfills” as a result of his project, said
Richard.
As State Honorees, Michelle and Richard 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 two other Vermont students as
Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service
activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.
These are Vermont's Distinguished Finalists for 2014:
Sonia Howlett, 17, of Cornwall, Vt., a senior at Middlebury Union
High School, participates in a number of service projects, including
helping at the public library, serving in student government and
volunteering with her local 4-H club. Sonia also started and leads a
French club for elementary students.
Moriah Post-Kinney, 17, of South Royalton, Vt., a senior at South
Royalton School, is a volunteer home visitor for Good Beginnings of
Central Vermont, an organization that does home visits to provide
assistance to families with newborns. Moriah also helps to promote the
organization, recruit volunteers, plan and organize meetings and write
grants on its behalf.
“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