Mississippi's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 12th Annual National Awards Program.

Starkville and Jackson students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nation's capital

Honors also bestowed on other top youth volunteers in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. -- Claire Crawford, 16, of Starkville and Ebony Archie, 13, of Jackson today were named Mississippi'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).

Claire was nominated by Starkville High School in Starkville, and Ebony was nominated by the Girl Scout Council of Middle Mississippi in Jackson. 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.

Claire, a sophomore at Starkville High School, has raised money to provide stuffed teddy bears with cleft lips to nearly 700 children undergoing cleft palate surgery, and campaigns actively to raise awareness about the congenital condition. Claire, who was born with a cleft lip and palate, learned about specially made teddy bears with stitches above their lips available from the Cleft Palate Foundation, and she ordered one. "I felt that I could relate to the bears and remembered having stuffed animals that brought me comfort in surgery," she said. "I wanted to provide the same comfort for other cleft children."

Claire sent letters to businesses, civic clubs and individuals, telling her story and asking for donations to buy a bunch of the $10 bears. She initially hoped to raise enough money to purchase 24 bears, but ended up with 10 times that amount. Then she began delivering speeches and Power-Point presentations to doctors, businesses and state and national conferences to spread the word about cleft children, treatments and her teddy bears, which she dubbed "Claire's Bears." So far, she has raised nearly $7,000 to purchase more than 675 bears from the Cleft Palate Foundation, which uses the money for cleft research. She distributes them to doctors and hospitals that treat cleft children, and directly to affected families. "Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is that to help others is to help myself, which is a life-changing experience," said Claire.

Ebony, an eighth-grader at St. Andrews Episcopal School in Ridgeland, volunteered as a tutor with her church's after-school program. Ebony began tutoring at her church while it was serving as a shelter for victims of Hurricane Katrina. "This energized my interest," she said, "and when that group moved on I decided to continue with the younger students in the church's after-school program." Many students in her school district still can't read by the time they reach third grade, and don't have family members at home who can help them with their homework, explained Ebony.

Every day from October through May, Ebony went to the church after school to help children in kindergarten through fifth grade with their homework assignments, often researching topics in advance. Ebony also assisted the kids in a computer lab, teaching them educational computer games. Many of her pupils' grades began to improve after only a couple of weeks of tutoring, "and their attitudes toward their homework really improved," said Ebony. A couple of them have even begun volunteering as tutors, themselves. "Volunteering is a way of life for me," said Ebony. "You don't have to be an adult to change a community."

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

Candace Duke, 17, of Florence, a senior at Florence High School, started an adult mentoring program for underprivileged children who want to play community sports. Candace's program, called "Duke It Out for Athletic Assistance," recruited adults to encourage and cheer for young athletes, solicited sponsorships to pay for registration fees, and collected used sports equipment for kids who needed it.

Abigail Hardin, 16, of Clinton, a junior at Jackson Academy in Jackson, wrote a book about her experiences growing up with a port-wine birthmark on her face, and has used it to teach hundreds of elementary school children how to be kind to those who are different. To reach even more children, Abigail hopes to publish her book, "Look At Me, I Am Just Like You."

Eden Johnston, 16, of Mount Olive, a junior at Simpson County Academy in Mendenhall, sews bibs for elderly veterans at the State Veterans Home in Collins to help them maintain a sense of dignity, and also produces weighted lap pads to help very active young children sit still during speech therapy. After designing her products and researching the production process, Eden solicited donations of materials, held a fund-raising yard sale, recruited volunteers to help, and got to work making her bibs and lap pads.

Richard Kennard, 16, of Starkville, a sophomore at Starkville High School, has been soliciting donations of books, snack foods and cleaning materials for several years for a Ronald McDonald House in Memphis. Richard also visits the house regularly not only to deliver the donations, but also to cook meals for the families staying there and to "hang out" with the kids who are undergoing medical treatment.

"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.