Florida's Savannah Walters of Odessa Named One of America's Top Ten Youth Volunteers; State's Rebecca Farber of Miami Also Honored During Four-Day Celebration, With Tributes From Actor Ted Danson and Olympic Champion Joey Cheek.

WASHINGTON -- Savannah Walters, 13, of Odessa was named one of America's top ten youth volunteers for 2006 in a ceremony today at the International Trade Center, receiving a national Prudential Spirit of Community Award for her outstanding volunteer community service. Selected from a field of close to 20,000 applicants across the country, she received a personal award of $5,000, an engraved gold medallion, a crystal trophy for her school, and a $5,000 grant from The Prudential Foundation for a nonprofit charitable organization of her choice.

Also honored in Washington was Rebecca Farber, 18, of Miami. She and Savannah were named Florida's top youth volunteers in February, and were recognized last night at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, along with the top two youth volunteers of every other state and the District of Columbia. At that event, all 102 Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees for 2006 were presented with $1,000 awards and congratulated by actor Ted Danson and Olympic speedskating champion Joey Cheek. The honorees also received engraved silver medallions and an all-expense-paid trip with their parents to Washington, D.C., for this week's recognition events.

Conducted in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created 11 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 70,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

"Savannah and Rebecca exemplify the spirit of community that is so important to the future of our neighborhoods, our towns and our nation," said Arthur F. Ryan, chairman and CEO of Prudential. "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."

Savannah, a seventh-grader at Independent Day School in Tampa, is waging an extensive multi-state campaign called "Pump 'Em Up" to conserve energy resources and reduce pollution by encouraging drivers to keep their tires properly inflated and thereby burn less gasoline. "People don't know that Americans waste four million gallons of gas a day by not properly inflating their tires," said Savannah. She didn't know either, until she spoke with photographer Lenny Kohm, who shared her concern about the possibility of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Kohm encouraged Savannah to get the word out about tire inflation, so she and her Brownie Troop distributed flyers to commuters, along with free tire gauges donated by Sears and Goodyear.

Since then, Savannah has held many more awareness events in her area, distributing thousands of informational flyers, balloons and tire gauges. In addition, she has recruited friends and other volunteers to put on similar events in more than a dozen other states, and created a Web site (www.pumpemup.org) for people anywhere who want to join her campaign. Savannah also has taken her message to Washington, D.C., where she has lobbied Congressmen and spoken at rallies. "Even if people don't care about the Arctic Refuge, wasting gas pollutes our air and adds to global warming," she said. "This affects all of us and so it is very important to get the word out that there is a simple little thing that would make a HUGE difference - pump 'em up!"

Rebecca, a senior at Miami Palmetto Senior High School in Pinecrest, initiated a statewide PTA-sponsored relief and education effort after four devastating hurricanes ripped through Florida in 2004. When Rebecca, who lost her home to Hurricane Andrew when she was four years old, watched the reports of the 2004 storms, "I remembered the pain, fright, confusion and anger I felt as a Hurricane Andrew survivor," she said. But this time, as the only student on the Florida PTA State Board of Directors, Rebecca was in a position to take action.

She first wrote an article for the state PTA's monthly bulletin, offering information and guidelines on hurricane preparedness. She then produced "Hurricanes Happen," a colorful children's brochure that explains how kids can prepare a hurricane kit and cope with a disaster, which was distributed throughout the state. Even more importantly, Rebecca mobilized PTAs throughout the state to provide donations and support to schools, community agencies and individuals affected by the hurricanes. "PTA donors and private businesses stepped up to the plate and worked feverishly to improve the lives of strangers," said Rebecca. "These true acts of selfless goodness and generosity will always inspire me."

Applications for the 2006 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 and the District of Columbia were announced in February. These 102 State Honorees are in Washington this week with their parents for four days of special recognition events.

Ten of the 102 were named America's top ten youth volunteers for 2006 at the International Trade Center today. These National Honorees received additional $5,000 awards, 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.

In addition to Savannah, the National Honorees are:

Evan Alicuben, 17, of Hilo, Hawaii, who spearheaded a project that placed "personal emergency dialers" in the homes of nearly 50 senior citizens in his community, to enable them to call for help quickly and easily in case of emergency.

Ellie Ambrose, 12, of Nashville, Tenn., who organized an annual carnival and a five-kilometer running race called "Ellie's Run for Africa," which together have raised more than $40,000 over the past two years for sick and disadvantaged children in Africa.

Hillary Hughes, 11, of Bedford, N.H., who started a nonprofit foundation that has collected more than $11,000 worth of personal-care products and other items to distribute to needy kids in her community, poor families in Chile, tsunami victims in Asia, and hurricane victims on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Geneva Johnson, 17, of the Bronx, N.Y., the founder and executive director of a successful youth-run organization that seeks to build pride and self-esteem among young people in the inner-city through a wide variety of service projects.

Alexander Lin, 12, of Westerly, R.I., who led a student community service group in a multifaceted project to reduce the adverse environmental impact of discarded consumer electronics - or "e-waste" - through recycling, public education and legislation.

Michelle Loke, 13, of Hartland, Wis., who conducted scientific tests to check for lead content in children's toys and jewelry, and then launched a campaign to remove lead-tainted toys from stores and ban the use of lead in these items.

Ajay Mangal, 18, of Pascagoula, Miss., who lost nearly all of his possessions when Hurricane Katrina flooded his coastal city, yet devoted himself to distributing emergency supplies to other victims immediately after the storm, and helped many families clean out their homes in the following weeks and months.

Kevin Peyton, 18, of Sac City, Iowa, who rallied residents throughout his rural county to help him make colorful wooden "barn quilts" and mount them on historic barns and other buildings, in an effort to boost the local economy by attracting more tourists.

Nicholas Schwaderer, 17, of Superior, Mont., who built and now operates a low-power FM radio station at his school that has become an important source of news and entertainment for a small, mountainous community in western Montana.

The National Honorees were chosen by a national selection committee that was co-chaired by U.S. Senators Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, and by 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, 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; Ken Gladish, National Executive Director of YMCA of the USA; David Vodila, President of NASSP; and two 2005 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Devin Cohen of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., and Lindsey Williams of St. Joseph, Mo.

NASSP President David Vodila said, "The young people honored this year with the Prudential Spirit of Community Award exemplify the best America offers to the world. Their actions bring unity and purpose to their communities and across our great nation. Through their leadership, service and compassion, these young people bring us all closer together."

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.

NASSP - celebrating 90 years of excellence in school leadership - is the preeminent organization and the national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals and aspiring school leaders. NASSP 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 administers the National Honor Society(TM), National Junior Honor Society(TM), and National Association of Student Councils(TM).

Prudential Financial companies serve individual and institutional customers worldwide and include The Prudential Insurance Company of America, one of the largest life insurance companies in the United States. These companies offer a variety of products and services, including life insurance, mutual funds, annuities, pension and retirement-related services and administration, asset management, securities brokerage, banking and trust services, real estate brokerage franchises and relocation services. For more information, 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.)

(Television producers: customized b-roll footage of the Florida honorees receiving their awards will be transmitted via satellite on Monday, May 8, from 2:30 to 2:40 p.m. EDT on C-Band, AMC 3, Transponder 19, Downlink 4080 Mhz H, Audio 6.2/6.8. For more information, call Faith Armonaitis or Lauren Cardinale at 800-325-8677.)