Two Nebraska Youth Honored for Volunteerism at National Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Two Nebraska students, Jacob Buss, 18, of Tecumseh and Alexandra Linder, 11, of Oakland, were honored in the nation’s capital last night for their outstanding volunteer work during the presentation of The 2009 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. The two young people – along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – received $1,000 awards as well as personal congratulations from former First Lady Laura Bush at the 14^th annual award ceremony and gala dinner reception, held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Jacob and Alexandra were named the top high school and middle level youth volunteers in Nebraska last February. In addition to their cash awards, they received engraved silver medallions and an all-expense-paid trip with their parents to Washington, D.C., for this week’s recognition events.

"The young people receiving these awards genuinely care about making a difference in the lives of others and have accomplished so much – in their own communities and around the world,” said Mrs. Bush, who delivered the keynote address at last night’s ceremony. "I thank and congratulate them for their outstanding volunteer work. Students with this kind of commitment and leadership ability are essential to the future of our nation.”

Jacob, a senior at Johnson County Central High School, became a leader in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life fund-raiser in a neighboring county, after finding little community interest in holding a similar event in his own hometown. After experiencing a Relay for Life at a local college in 2006, Jacob, who has two aunts who are cancer survivors, wanted to organize a relay in his own town. He contacted the American Cancer Society for information and advice, and began trying to drum up support from businesses, schools, churches, and medical providers, but encountered little interest. "I felt defeated,” he said, but "I knew I could not give up. If there was no interest in my own hometown, then I would find somewhere else to contribute to a program that I so strongly believe in.”

So Jacob offered to help at the annual Relay for Life in neighboring Nemaha County, and immediately was asked to chair its entertainment committee. While guiding the committee for the next two years, Jacob created games and activities, secured donations for prizes and rewards, and devised other ways to interest and entertain the public at the event. He also tried again to involve his own community, and successfully recruited three teams there to participate in the Nemaha County relay, serving as captain of one of them. As a result of his work and dedication to fighting cancer, Jacob has been elected chairperson of the entire 2009 fund-raiser. "Not only do we give hope and courage to those experiencing cancer, we give people the inspiration to join the fight and take a stand against cancer,” he said.

Alexandra, a fifth-grader at West Point Elementary School in West Point, makes cloth diapers out of used T-shirts for babies in Honduras, and provides layette kits of basic clothing items for infants in other third-world countries. Alexandra, who loves to sew, learned about a project called "Diapers for Honduras” on the Internet and decided to contribute 100 diapers. She asked friends and acquaintances for large T-shirts, and then cut off the sleeves and collars, tri-folded them, and spent many hours at the sewing machine stitching around the borders. When she had reached her goal, she asked her church for a small grant to pay for shipping.

While working on the diaper project, Alexandra discovered that Lutheran World Relief needed layette kits for babies in poor countries. Alexandra collected more donations of clothing and money, and went shopping for infant clothing, blankets, diaper pins, soap and washcloths. She recruited fellow 4-H members to help her assemble and pack 30 layette kits for shipment. "I am continuing to work on both projects,” said Alexandra. "It’s kind of addicting. Once you get started, you just keep going and going.”

"Jacob and Alexandra are inspiring examples of young Americans who care deeply about the needs of others and who have taken the initiative to help meet those needs,” said John R. Strangfeld, Chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "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.”

Nearly 20,000 young people submitted applications for the 2009 awards program last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of the Points of Light Institute’s HandsOn Network. The top middle level and high school applicants in each state were selected in February, and were flown to Washington this week with their parents for four days of special recognition events.

Conducted in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created 14 years ago by Prudential Financial, Inc. to encourage youth volunteerism and to identify and reward young role models. Since then, the program has honored nearly 90,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

"The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is a fabulous partnership between NASSP and Prudential, allowing us to recognize the outstanding young people in our schools and communities,” said NASSP President Larry Bradley. "This year’s honorees exemplify the true spirit of helping others and by doing so they give America and the world a promising future, a future filled with compassion and hope.”

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, Girl Scouts of the USA, National 4-H Council, the American Red Cross, YMCA of the USA, the Points of Light Institute, and other national education and service organizations.

More information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year’s honorees can be found at http://spirit.prudential.com or www.principals.org/prudential.

In existence since 1916, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the preeminent organization of and national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals, and aspiring school leaders from across the United States and more than 45 countries around the world. NASSP’s mission is to promote excellence in school leadership. The National Honor Society®, National Junior Honor Society®, National Elementary Honor Society™, and National Association of Student Councils® are all NASSP programs. For more information about NASSP, located in Reston, Va., visit www.principals.org or call 703-860-0200.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) is a financial services leader with operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Leveraging its heritage of life insurance and asset management expertise, Prudential is focused on helping approximately 50 million individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth. The company’s well-known Rock symbol is an icon of strength, stability, expertise and innovation that has stood the test of time. Prudential's businesses offer a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. For more information, visit www.news.prudential.com.

[Editors: full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions are available at http://spirit.prudential.com.]

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