Two New Mexico Youth Honored for Volunteerism at National Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Two New Mexico students, Melissa Redman, 16, of Silver City and Jennifer Sanchez, 14, of La Luz, were honored in the nation’s capital last night for their outstanding volunteer work during the presentation of The 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. The two young people – along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – received $1,000 awards as well as personal congratulations from former First Lady Laura Bush at the 14^th annual award ceremony and gala dinner reception, held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Melissa and Jennifer were named the top high school and middle level youth volunteers in New Mexico last February. In addition to their cash awards, they received engraved silver medallions and an all-expense-paid trip with their parents to Washington, D.C., for this week’s recognition events.

"The young people receiving these awards genuinely care about making a difference in the lives of others and have accomplished so much – in their own communities and around the world,” said Mrs. Bush, who delivered the keynote address at last night’s ceremony. "I thank and congratulate them for their outstanding volunteer work. Students with this kind of commitment and leadership ability are essential to the future of our nation.”

Melissa, a junior at Silver High School, has served for the past eight years as captain of a fund-raising team participating in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life walkathon in her county. Melissa, who has seen cancer attack both family members and friends, signed up to captain a Relay for Life team when she was in the third grade. "I thought the event sounded like something I would enjoy,” she said. "I instantly fell in love with the volunteer work it provides.”

Each year, Melissa starts working on her team six months before the relay, recruiting team members, coordinating meetings, and developing fund-raising ideas. As president of her school’s Key Club, she has reached out to involve students from other clubs at her school and from other parts of her state. In recognition of her leadership, she was asked to chair the walkathon’s youth involvement committee last year, and will be co-chair of entertainment in 2009 as well. Melissa also donated 14 inches of her own hair to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients. She says the most memorable part of her volunteer experience is the survivor’s dinner that is held every year after the relay. "Talking to the survivors and hearing their stories made me realize I truly was making a difference in their lives,” Melissa said.

Jennifer, an eighth-grader at Chaparral Middle School in Alamogordo, organized a class competition at her school that collected nearly 125,000 soda-can "pop tabs” over the past two years to benefit the Ronald McDonald House of New Mexico. "I saw a big canister of pop tabs in our local McDonald’s and found out about where the money goes and who benefits from it,” said Jennifer. "I decided this was definitely something I could do.”

With her principal’s approval, Jennifer decorated paper bags as collection bins for each classroom, and recruited several classmates to help her pick up the donated tabs during the week-long campaign. As an incentive, she persuaded the local McDonald’s to provide free meal coupons for the class that contributed the most tabs. Jennifer collected nearly 50 pounds of pop tabs the first year, and 48 pounds the second. The money received from recycling the tabs goes directly into the Ronald McDonald House, which provides families of injured, sick and terminally ill children a home while their children receive treatment. "I believe my project made people stop and think that doing simple little things can help other people in big ways,” Jennifer said.

"Melissa and Jennifer are inspiring examples of young Americans who care deeply about the needs of others and who have taken the initiative to help meet those needs,” said John R. Strangfeld, Chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "By honoring them, we hope not only to give them the recognition they so richly deserve, but also to inspire others to follow their example.”

Nearly 20,000 young people submitted applications for the 2009 awards program last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of the Points of Light Institute’s HandsOn Network. The top middle level and high school applicants in each state were selected in February, and were flown to Washington this week with their parents for four days of special recognition events.

Conducted in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created 14 years ago by Prudential Financial, Inc. to encourage youth volunteerism and to identify and reward young role models. Since then, the program has honored nearly 90,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

"The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is a fabulous partnership between NASSP and Prudential, allowing us to recognize the outstanding young people in our schools and communities,” said NASSP President Larry Bradley. "This year’s honorees exemplify the true spirit of helping others and by doing so they give America and the world a promising future, a future filled with compassion and hope.”

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards are supported by the American Association of School Administrators, the National Middle School Association, the National School Boards Association, the Council of the Great City Schools, Girl Scouts of the USA, National 4-H Council, the American Red Cross, YMCA of the USA, the Points of Light Institute, and other national education and service organizations.

More information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year’s honorees can be found at http://spirit.prudential.com or www.principals.org/prudential.

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. The company’s well-known 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, visit www.news.prudential.com.

[Editors: full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions are available at http://spirit.prudential.com.]

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