Nevada's Top Youth Volunteers Of 2018 Selected By National Program

CARSON CITY, Nev., Feb. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Samantha Schuetze, 16, of Las Vegas and Samantha Hook, 12, of North Las Vegas today were named Nevada's top two youth volunteers of 2018 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. As State Honorees, Samantha and Samantha each will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip in late April to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for four days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 students will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2018.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 23^rd year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Nevada's top youth volunteers of 2018:

High School State Honoree: Samantha Schuetze 
Nominated by Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas

Samantha, a junior at Faith Lutheran Middle School and High School, formed a nonprofit organization that has provided more than 600 "hand off kits" containing food and personal hygiene items for homeless youth and women in southern Nevada. When Samantha served a Thanksgiving meal with her mother at a local homeless shelter in sixth grade, "I became aware, probably for the first time, that other kids were not as lucky as I was," she said. Subsequent visits to the shelter prompted Samantha to do some research on homelessness, which indicated that "Las Vegas has the fifth highest adult and the highest teen homeless population in the United States," according to Samantha.

She enlisted the help of her church youth group, a local foundation and her neighbors to assemble 300 "kits" containing things like water, protein bars, cookies, candy, toothbrushes and toothpaste, hats, socks, lip balm and hand sanitizer, and delivered them to a local shelter for women and children. After discovering that "seeing people smile because of your actions is one of the best feelings in the world," Samantha was eager to do more. So she established a nonprofit organization called "Helpful Hand Off Kits" and began reaching out to business, church and school leaders for help in collecting donations for the homeless. Those efforts, plus a GoFundMe account, have enabled Samantha to raise $3,000 and provide hundreds of additional kits to the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.     

Middle Level State Honoree: Samantha Hook 
Nominated by Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas

Samantha, a sixth-grader at Somerset Academy, collected small toys and other fun items to fill 200 zip-lock bags and delivered them to a residential facility where families stay while their loved ones are being treated at the local VA hospital. "Before, Fisher House did not have anything for children to play with, so the kids were often bored or sad about their hospitalized family member," said Samantha, whose father is a disabled veteran.

Accompanied by her best friend, Samantha visited Fisher House to determine exactly what kind of gifts would be best for the young people who stay there. Then they began soliciting donations from Girl Scout troops, the American Legion Auxiliary and the military community at Nellis Air Force Base. Once they had enough items, they packaged them all in zip-lock bags and delivered them to the manager of Fisher House, who was "very excited and pleased," said Samantha. Included in the bags were things like dolls, toy cars, coloring books, crayons, jewelry, footballs and baby toys, plus blank cards that the recipients could use to write a letter or draw a picture for their hospitalized family member. "The project was incredibly important to me because I made other little kids happy," said Samantha. 

Distinguished Finalists

The program judges also recognized four other Nevada students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion.

These are Nevada's Distinguished Finalists for 2018:

Karissa Grotjohn, 17, of Las Vegas, Nev., a senior at Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academy, conducted extensive research on successful educational systems around the world, and is now working with her principal on an initiative to gather feedback from students and consider new best practices at school. Karissa was motivated learn about leading approaches to teaching and demonstrate how new practices could benefit schools in Las Vegas and Nevada.

Timothy Novak, 17, of Reno, Nev., a junior at Davidson Academy, conducted a series of one-hour sessions and weeklong camps for kids at a local Boys & Girls Club to inspire a love of STEM through interactive robot programming activities. Timothy estimates that he reached more than 70 students in kindergarten through third grade with his project, which generated so much enthusiasm that the Boys & Girls Club developed a competitive robotics team to continue their learning.

Brittany Remark, 17, of Las Vegas, Nev., a senior at Bishop Gorman High School, co-founded a charity that has collected thousands of items of formal and professional clothing and accessories since 2009, helping to ensure that local teens in need have the appropriate clothing for dances, job interviews and other dressy events. Brittany decided to grow the "Twice as Nice" clothing drive once she reached high school, securing nonprofit status and establishing a web presence; she also took the lead on expanding its reach to include professional attire.

Sedona Thomas, 18, of Logandale, Nev., a senior at Moapa Valley High School, created a local program that distributes kits with decals and medical information sheets for people to keep in their homes and cars, providing potentially life-saving information to first responders in a rural community 65 miles from the nearest trauma center. Sedona secured funding for kit materials from her local fire district, and persuaded three fire stations and a community center to serve as "Yellow Dot kit" distribution centers.

"Prudential is proud to recognize these remarkable young people for using their energy, creativity and compassion to bring meaningful change to their communities," said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld. "We hope their stories inspire others to consider how they can do the same."

"These middle level and high school students have not only improved the lives of the people and communities they've served – they also set an important example for their peers," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "These honorees prove that you're never too young to make a difference."

About The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards represents the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service. 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 affiliates of Points of Light's HandsOn Network, were eligible to select a student or member for a local Prudential Spirit of Community Award. These Local Honorees were then reviewed by an independent judging panel, which selected State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists based on criteria including personal initiative, effort, impact and personal growth. 

While in Washington, D.C., the 102 State Honorees – one middle level and one high school student from each state and the District of Columbia – will tour the capital's landmarks, meet top youth volunteers from other parts of the world, attend a gala awards ceremony at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and visit their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill. On April 30, 10 of the State Honorees – five middle level and five high school students – will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2018. These National 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.  

Since the program began in 1995, more than 120,000 young volunteers have been honored at the local, state and national level. The program also is conducted by Prudential subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, India, China, Brazil and Poland. In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program also distributes President's Volunteer Service Awards to qualifying Local Honorees.

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

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and school leaders from across the United States. The association connects and engages school leaders through advocacy, research, education, and student programs. NASSP advocates on behalf of all school leaders to ensure the success of each student and strengthens school leadership practices through the design and delivery of high quality professional learning experiences. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council. For more information about NASSP, located in Reston, VA, visit www.nassp.org.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.

For Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallion graphics, please visit https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.

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