AUGUSTA, Maine, Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kathleen Waeldner, 18, of Yarmouth and Bella Rossborough, 11, of Kennebunk today were named Maine's top two youth volunteers of 2017 by The
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. As State
Honorees, Kathleen and Bella 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 2017.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 22nd year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in
partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
These are Maine's top youth volunteers of 2017:
High School State Honoree: Kathleen Waeldner
Nominated by Yarmouth High School in Yarmouth
Kathleen, a senior at Yarmouth High School, worked with a local community services agency and a nonprofit organization to
develop and then expand a summer meal program for at-risk children in her town. Kathleen was horrified when she saw video clips
from a documentary about hungry children in America. "Learning about the problem of pervasive hunger in my own country was like a
physical slap in the face," she said. As she left the auditorium in tears, her thoughts quickly shifted from "How can this
happen?" to "I am going to help solve this!"
Kathleen was soon packing weekend food bags for a program that feeds students from low-income families on days when they do
not receive subsidized school lunches. She wondered, though, how the kids managed during the summer, and was happy to discover
that a summer lunch program was about to start in her town. She quickly signed on to help launch the new program and began
recruiting other teens to serve meals. The program was scheduled to end three weeks before the end of summer, but Kathleen and
another student worked to extend it. The following year, Kathleen became co-coordinator of the program and helped expand it to
include both breakfast and lunch, as well as activities such as playing games, going on field trips and making friendship
bracelets.
Middle Level State Honoree: Bella Rossborough
Nominated by Sea Road School in Kennebunk
Bella, a sixth-grader at Middle School of the Kennebunks, educated her community about the harm that plastic bags do to oceans
and sea life, and spearheaded the passage of a town ordinance banning the bags. "I read an article about how bad plastic bags are
for the environment and wildlife," said Bella. "I wanted to protect the land and animals in my town, so I decided to see if I
could make it so people used less plastic bags."
After writing a letter to the town manager, Bella addressed the Board of Selectmen and began working with the Kennebunk Energy
Efficiency Committee on ways to reduce the use of plastic bags. Bella, along with committee members, a friend, and her mother and
teacher, handed out information and reusable bags at town events, talked about the issue during radio and newspaper interviews,
and visited local retailers to urge them to stop using plastic bags. But their biggest achievement was persuading the Board of
Selectmen to put a proposed ban on single-use plastic bags up for a vote last summer. The measure passed easily. "I'm really
happy that people in our town agreed that plastic bags are harmful and that there are better options," said Bella.
Distinguished Finalists
The program judges also recognized two other Maine students as Distinguished Finalists for
their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.
These are Maine's Distinguished Finalists for 2017:
Kate Newman, 17, of Ludlow, Maine, a member of
Aroostook County 4-H and a senior at Houlton High School, created a community meal program in
2013 that has provided hot, nutritious dinners free of charge to hundreds of people in need, some who have to choose between heat
and groceries during Maine's bitterly cold winters. Kate had volunteered at another community
meal program that shut down unexpectedly, and worked to fill the gap by mobilizing her 4-H club, securing a location, planning
meals and soliciting food donations.
Max Pushaw, 18, of Hope, Maine, a senior at Camden
Hills Regional High School, is the founder and president of "Camden for Community," a school
club that has raised awareness about hunger in the local community while volunteering and raising money to help feed the hungry.
After learning that hunger affected even his affluent community, Max worked with his friends to gain school board approval to
start the club, which has grown to be his school's largest with about 80 members.
"Prudential is honored to recognize these young volunteers for their exemplary service," said Prudential Chairman and CEO
John Strangfeld. "We hope that their stories inspire others to consider how they, too, can
volunteer their time and talents to improve their communities."
"These service-minded young people have brought meaningful change to communities at home and abroad, and it's a privilege to
celebrate their work," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to an
exceptional group of middle level and high school students."
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 8, 10 of the State
Honorees – five middle level and five high school students – will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2017. 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.
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.
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.
For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media
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