Maine's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected In 12th Annual National Awards Program.

West Bath and Winterport students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nation's capital

Honors also bestowed on other top youth volunteers in Maine

AUGUSTA, Maine -- Kelly Davis, 17, of West Bath and Stephanie Dunton, 13, of Winterport today were named Maine's top two youth volunteers for 2007 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 12th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Kelly was nominated by Morse High School in Bath, and Stephanie was nominated by Samuel L. Wagner Middle School in Winterport. As State Honorees, 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 - one middle level and one high school youth - from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America's top youth volunteers for 2007 at that time.

Kelly, a senior at Morse High School, 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. Six years ago, Kelly wanted to do something for her community, and, being an animal lover, she decided to help protect police dogs. "Police dogs do not choose their dangerous lives and deserve the same protection as their human partners," she said. But after Kelly started an organization called MeVAD (for Maine Vest-a-Dog) and began collecting donations, Maine's attorney general came to her home to tell her she was violating state law and had to stop.

Kelly contacted State Senator Mary Small, who helped her draft language for a new law. Kelly then wrote letters to legislators and encouraged others to do the same, testified at a Statehouse hearing, traveled frequently to Augusta to lobby lawmakers, and finally attended the signing ceremony in the Governor's office after the bill was passed. Kelly now spends her time soliciting donations, organizing volunteers, speaking at schools and community events, and maintaining a Web site. So far, she has raised enough money to purchase 54 bulletproof vests, one for every active police K-9 in Maine. Since new dogs are trained every spring, Kelly says she will continue to buy dog vests. "Sometimes kids can do things better than adults," Kelly said. "I encourage everyone to follow their passions and stand up for what they think is right."

Stephanie, a seventh-grader at Samuel L. Wagner Middle School, conducts a monthly collection drive called the "Food Shuttle" that has collected more than 1,000 pounds of donated food items for a local pantry. Stephanie was inspired to find a community service project after seeing the satisfaction her older sister received from volunteering. Stephanie wanted to volunteer at a food pantry, but since she was in school during the pantry's hours of operation, she decided to undertake a food drive instead. At first, "I was going to do just one food drive but then decided that a monthly food drive would be better," she said.

After speaking to the director of the pantry, Stephanie wrote letters to friends and family members asking them to participate. With her parents' help, Stephanie picks up donations at people's homes, weighs and packs the items in plastic tubs, and then takes them to the food pantry and stocks its shelves. She also distributes a monthly "Food Shuttle News" to report each month's collection total, detail specific needs, announce monthly collection dates, and thank the participants. "It is so sad that some people have so little that one can of baked beans or one jar of spaghetti sauce will make their lives a little easier," said Stephanie. "I only hope that my seven hours each month will help make their lives happier ones."

In addition, the program judges recognized two other Maine students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Meghan Brewer, 17, of Boothbay Harbor, a member of the Boothbay Region YMCA and a senior at Boothbay Region High School, helped plan and facilitate a youth and adult "summit" to discuss needs and projects in her community. With support from school and YMCA officials, Meghan and other youth leaders planned the summit, led group sessions to brainstorm about community improvement projects, and worked with others to implement the ideas.

Katherine Curley, 18, of Portland, a senior at Deering High School, is a board member of a youth philanthropy and advocacy group that awards $1,500 grants to young people in Portland who undertake innovative projects to benefit their community. As a member of the YOUTHINK board for the past three years, Katherine has facilitated meetings, organized events, written press releases, applied for grants, made presentations at local and national conferences, and led an extensive recruitment campaign for new board members.

"People as caring and committed as these young students are critical to the future of our neighborhoods, our cities and our nation," said Arthur Ryan, chairman and CEO of Prudential. "By recognizing these honorees, we hope to encourage other young people - our future leaders - and all Americans to think more about the value and importance of volunteering in their communities."

"NASSP is pleased to once again join Prudential in recognizing these young people for their amazing accomplishments," remarked Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "This year's honorees are proof that the youth of today are conscientious and capable of performing selfless acts of kindness in their local communities, on a national scale and at the global level."

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 Volunteer Centers, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award this past November. More than 7,500 Local Honorees were then reviewed by state-level judges, who selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria such as personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact and personal growth.

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees will tour the capital's landmarks, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. In addition, 10 of them - five middle level and five high school students - will be named National Honorees on May 7 by a prestigious national selection committee. These 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.

Serving on the national selection committee will be U.S. Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota; Arthur Ryan of Prudential; 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; Michael Cohen, president and CEO of Achieve, Inc.; Kathryn Forbes, national chair of volunteers, American Red Cross; Joe Militello, president of NASSP; and two 2006 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Ajay Mangal of Pascagoula, Miss., and Geneva Johnson of the Bronx, N.Y.

In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program will be distributing President's Volunteer Service Awards to more than 4,150 of its Local Honorees this year on behalf of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country.

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 Spirit of Community Awards program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, and is being introduced this year in Ireland.

For information on all of this year's Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit www.prudential.com/spirit or www.principals.org/prudential.

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[TM], the National Junior Honor Society[TM] and the National Association of Student Councils[TM]. For more information on NASSP, NHS, NJHS or NASC, visit www.principals.org.

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 U.S. 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.