Oklahoma's Top Youth Volunteers Of 2020 Selected By National Program

OKLAHOMA CITY, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allie Beach, 18, of Tulsa and Justin Evers, 12, of Oklahoma City today were named Oklahoma's top two youth volunteers of 2020 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. As State Honorees, Allie and Justin 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 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 2020.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 25^th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

These are Oklahoma's top youth volunteers of 2020:

High School State Honoree: Allie Beach
Nominated by Victory Christian School 

Allie, a senior at Victory Christian School, helped her church create a ranch for children from low-income families and foster homes, after co-directing an annual summer camp for the past 11 years and helping to start a youth-run philanthropic pizza business. When Allie was 7, her church wanted to start a summer-long camp for children in need, but couldn't find an adult to serve as director. Allie quickly volunteered, and since then, she and a partner have led a 10-week camp that serves more than 100 kids each summer. In 2017, Allie worked with her church's nonprofit to establish a "pizza factory" to serve the homeless and teach kids life and business skills.

Recognizing that these youth could also benefit from a ranch experience, Allie and her team studied the operation of horse ranches in several states, raised funds through grants and fundraisers, found a five-acre property to rent, and recruited more than 120 volunteers from local high schools, colleges and churches. Then they built fences, prepared animal pens and began acquiring more than 100 rescue animals, including horses, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens. Now, nearly 200 young people a year spend time at the ranch, caring for the animals, doing chores and learning new skills. "The kids love the animals, and surprisingly love the ranch responsibilities," said Allie. "It is big-time, stress-relieving, confidence-building therapy they need." Allie and her church's YouthWorks nonprofit are now looking to buy a ranch so that they can continue to offer this experience to kids in need for years to come, she said.

Middle Level State Honoree: Justin Evers
Nominated by Classen Middle School of Advanced Studies

Justin, a sixth-grader at Classen Middle School of Advanced Studies, is an energetic advocate for children in Oklahoma, particularly those who are dealing with hunger, abuse or are in need of foster care. Growing up in a family that opened its home to foster children, Justin has had a close-up view of the problems that many young people face. "I've seen too many kids affected by the atrocities of hunger, abuse and poverty," he said. "I've felt their sadness and pain and longing for a family that cares." He decided that if he could share his experiences, he could make people in his state understand the importance of improving the lives of children in need.

When Justin learned that a pair of social services organizations, Sunbeam Family Services and the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, were looking for a "Kid Governor" to help publicize these same issues, he jumped at the chance. He dug up statistics on child welfare in Oklahoma, made an application video, explained his interest in a panel interview, and was ultimately selected for the position. He then starred in four advocacy videos discussing education, hunger and foster care on social media; gave interviews to newspapers, magazines and TV stations; spoke at school and fundraising events; and lobbied government officials to prioritize children's issues. Since his term ended, Justin has continued to work on behalf of kids in need. He has planned, organized and led activities at two week-long summer camps, packed food for the hungry, sorted clothes for the homeless, collected gift cards for foster children and wrapped Christmas presents for girls living in public housing.

Distinguished Finalists

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

These are Oklahoma's Distinguished Finalists for 2020:

Delaney Barghols, 18, of Edmond, Oklahoma, a senior at Crossings Christian School, hosted TEDxYouth@OKC, which featured 19 teen speakers who shared their stories about mental illness; her efforts included applying for a license, securing an event space, recruiting volunteers and speakers, and building an informational website. Inspired by her own experience with anxiety and anorexia, and the prevalence of youth mental illness, Delaney organized the event to help lift the stigma around the topic.

Autumn Hudgins, 18, of Midwest City, Oklahoma, a senior at Choctaw High School, created "Serving with HeART," and regularly volunteers her time to art-related initiatives; she produces an arts and crafts segment on a show that's broadcast in a children's hospital, organized several art supply drives in her community and serves as a co-chair for the OKC Arts Festival. Autumn also designed and printed more than 400 illustrated cards for hospital patients and children experiencing homelessness.

Jordan Mason, 18, of Dill City, Oklahoma, a member of Washita County 4-H and a senior at Burns Flat-Dill City High School, created and runs "Loving Hearts and Helping Hands," raising more than $13,000 by selling hair bows, toys, bath bombs and candy bars in her local community; her project has benefited tornado victims, people with cancer and other families in need. Jordan has also volunteered her time making bibs for nursing homes and dog toys for her local animal shelter.

Jentri Rayburn, 18, of Ardmore, Oklahoma, a member of Carter County 4-H and a senior at Plainview High School, runs an annual "Socktober" event, collecting socks in her community to benefit several local organizations; this past year, she collected and donated more than 3,200 pairs. Jentri's efforts for each drive include promoting the event, distributing drive boxes to local schools, churches and businesses, sorting socks and delivering the donations.

"In our 25^th year of honoring young volunteers, we are as inspired as ever by the work students are doing to address the needs of a changing world," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "We hope that their resolve, their initiative and their perspectives on society's challenges move others to consider how they can make a difference, too."

"Middle level and high school students are doing remarkable things to shape the future of their communities through volunteer service. They inspire all students and schools to drive learning with real-world challenges," said JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of NASSP. "Congratulations to each of the 2020 honorees – it's an honor to celebrate your commitment to creating positive change."

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 Points of Light Global Network members, 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 May 4, 10 of the State Honorees – five middle level and five high school students – will be named America's top youth volunteers of 2020. These National Honorees will receive additional $5,000 scholarships, gold medallions, crystal trophies and $5,000 grants from Prudential for nonprofit charitable organizations of their choice.  

Since the program began in 1995, more than 130,000 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 and Brazil. 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 principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student's potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. 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. Learn more at 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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