America's Top Ten Youth Volunteers Named in 12th Annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

For their extraordinary efforts in serving others through volunteerism, ten middle and high school students from across the country were named America’s top ten youth volunteers for 2007 today in a ceremony at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters, capping the 12th year of The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Ranging in age from 13 to 18, the ten National Honorees received personal awards of $5,000, engraved Gold medallions, crystal trophies for the schools or organizations that nominated them, and $5,000 grants from The Prudential Foundation for charities of their choice. Two of the National Honorees raised huge amounts of money to combat diabetes and neurological diseases, while two others conducted ambitious fund-raising campaigns to benefit orphans in Africa and China. Other National Honorees’ projects included starting a soccer league for special-needs children, developing a way to remove a controversial chemical from drinking water, making cement markers for the graves of veterans, writing advice booklets for foster kids, and installing a handicapped-accessible fishing dock at a local lake. Another National Honoree raised money to buy bulletproof vests for police dogs after leading an effort to overturn a law that had prohibited such activity. The ceremony was part of a four-day celebration that brought the top two youth volunteers from each state and the District of Columbia to Washington with their parents to be recognized for their outstanding acts of community service. All 102 were personally congratulated by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, MVP of Super Bowl XLI in February, at a gala dinner reception last night at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The ten National Honorees named today were selected on the basis of their personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact and personal growth. They are: Taylor Bell, 18, of Little Rock, Ark., a junior at Pulaski Academy, who created Little Rock’s first organized soccer league for special-needs children, engaging more than 100 kids who otherwise would have very limited opportunities to play team sports. Kendall Ciesemier, 14, of Wheaton, Ill., an eighth-grader at Franklin Middle School, who formed a nonprofit organization that has raised $80,000 since 2004 through Web site donations and T-shirt sales to benefit AIDS orphans in Africa. Kelly Davis, 18, of West Bath, Maine, a senior at Morse High School in Bath, who spearheaded the enactment of a state law allowing third-party nonprofit organizations to raise money for the police, and then raised more than $40,000 to purchase a bulletproof vest for every working police dog in Maine. Anna DeSanctis, 13, of Houston, Texas, an eighth-grader at Holy Spirit Episcopal School, who raised more than $22,000 to create libraries at four orphanages in the region of China where she was born. Bryce Pfeiffer, 14, of Raton, N.M., a member of the Colfax County 4-H and a home-schooled seventh-grader, who led a project to purchase and install a handicapped-accessible fishing dock on a lake at a local state park. Robert Rasmussen, 14, of Hutchinson, Minn., a seventh-grader at Hutchinson Middle School, who made more than 600 cement markers to place at the graves of all U.S. veterans in a local cemetery, providing a permanent memorial to their sacrifice. Mollie Singer, 18, of Las Vegas, Nev., a senior at Nevada State High School in Henderson, who has helped raise public support and more than $100,000 for diabetes research since she was diagnosed with the disease at age 4. Jourdan Urbach, 15, of Roslyn Heights, N.Y., a home-schooled sophomore and a student at the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division in New York City, who has used his reputation and acclaimed abilities as a violinist to raise more than $1.3 million for national charities focused on neurological illnesses. Kelydra Welcker, 18, of Parkersburg, W.Va., a senior at Parkersburg South High School, who invented a way to purify drinking water in her community by developing a test for the presence of a controversial industrial compound, and then creating a method for removing the chemical from water. Heather Wilder, 13, of Las Vegas, Nev., a seventh-grader at Ernest Becker Middle School, who has written a series of 10 booklets to help foster children understand and cope with their situations, based on her own experiences as a foster child. "These outstanding young role models have demonstrated a level of compassion, dedication and achievement that is truly exceptional,” said Arthur F. Ryan, Chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We are proud to give them the recognition they so richly deserve, and hope that their example will inspire other young people to become actively involved in their own communities.” Conducted in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created 12 years ago by Prudential Financial, Inc. to encourage youth volunteerism and to identify and reward young role models. Since then, the program has honored more than 75,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level. Applications for the 2007 awards program were submitted last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Volunteer Centers affiliated with the Points of Light Foundation. The top middle level and high school applicants in each state were announced in February; each received a $1,000 prize and an engraved silver medallion. NASSP President Joe Militello said: "Every year, the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program brings out some of the best and brightest youth in the country. This year is no exception as we take another welcomed opportunity to honor these young people for displaying great character and leadership as they try to effect positive changes in their communities, this nation and the world.” Also honored on Sunday night were eight top youth volunteers from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Ireland who won Prudential Spirit of Community Awards in their countries in recent months. They were congratulated by Ryan and presented with special commemorative trophies. The national selection committee that chose the ten National Honorees was co-chaired by U.S. Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Arthur Ryan of Prudential. Also serving on the committee were actor Richard Dreyfuss; Alma Powell, Chair of America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth; Robert Goodwin, former President and CEO of the Points of Light Foundation; Amy B. Cohen, Director of Learn and Serve America at the Corporation for National and Community Service; Kathy Cloninger, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA; Donald T. Floyd Jr., President and CEO of National 4-H Council; Michael Cohen, President and CEO of Achieve, Inc.; Kathryn Forbes, National Chair of Volunteers, American Red Cross; Joe Militello of NASSP; and two 2006 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Geneva Johnson of the Bronx, N.Y., a student at Binghamton University, and Ajay Mangal of Pascagoula, Miss., a student at Columbia University. In addition to the organizations above, 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, the National School Public Relations Association and many other national youth and service organizations. More information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year’s honorees can be found at www.prudential.com/spirit or www.principals.org/prudential. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represent the United States’ largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. The program is part of a broad youth-service initiative by Prudential that includes a youth leadership training program administered by the Points of Light Foundation; a free booklet of volunteer ideas for young people offered through the Federal Citizen Information Center; and a Web site featuring profiles of outstanding youth volunteers, volunteer tips and project ideas for students, an electronic newspaper on youth volunteerism, and more (www.prudential.com/spirit). The National Association of Secondary School Principals – the preeminent organization and the national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals and aspiring school leaders – provides its members with the professional resources to serve as visionary leaders. NASSP promotes the intellectual growth, academic achievement, character development, leadership development, and physical well-being of youth through its programs and student leadership services. NASSP sponsors the National Honor Society™, the National Junior Honor Society™ and the National Association of Student Councils™. For more information on NASSP, NHS, NJHS or NASC, visit www.principals.org. Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with approximately $616 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2006, has 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 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, asset management, and real estate services. For more information, please visit www.prudential.com. [Editors: full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions are available at www.prudential.com/spirit. Digital photos of the National Honorees are available by calling the contacts listed at the top of this release.]