Brittany was nominated by Lafayette Jefferson High School in Lafayette, and Alison was nominated by Allen County 4-H Clubs in Fort Wayne. 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 2008 at that time.

Brittany, a senior at Lafayette Jefferson High School, initiated a program called “Reading Teams” that recruits school and community volunteers to read to young children in day-care centers and after-school programs. Brittany said she remembers how her parents used to read to her every night, and how that stimulated her interest in learning and prepared her to be successful in school. But “many parents, unfortunately, are not convinced of the extreme need for reading to their children,” she said. So Brittany set out to solve that problem.

First, she and her sister volunteered to read to kids at a local YMCA. “I was amazed at how thrilled the children were to have ‘big’ kids come to spend time and read to them,” said Brittany. Then, realizing there were ways to make a bigger impact, she began contacting day-care centers and after-school programs to propose regular reading sessions for their children. Next, she recruited volunteer readers, organized them into teams, and arranged regularly scheduled reading sessions. This year, Brittany is managing 80 volunteers at 10 reading sites. “The most significant measure of Reading Teams’ success is the excitement that can be seen on the faces of the children when a volunteer comes to read,” she said.

Alison, a seventh-grader at Summit Middle School, has collected over the past two years large quantities of personal-care items, cookies, and letters of support for service members serving in Iraq and recuperating back in the U.S. She also prepared an educational display of military heroes for the Allen County 4-H Fair. It all began when Alison interviewed a soldier who had been severely injured in Iraq for a school project. “I was inspired by his bravery and dedication to his country,” she said. “I believe it is important to honor those who have made sacrifices to preserve the many freedoms we enjoy.”

Alison worked with several airlines and restaurants to solicit letters for servicemen and women from their customers, collected more letters through her Girl Scout troop and 4-H club, and set up a letter-gathering booth at the county 4-H fair. She asked hotels and dental supply companies to donate soap, shaving gear, sewing kits, coffee, toothpaste and brushes, lotion, and other items. Everything she collected was packaged and sent to military facilities in Iraq and to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

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

Carah Austin, 14, of Whiteland, an eighth-grader at Clark-Pleasant Middle School, organized a 10-hour tour of historical sites in Indiana for 120 disadvantaged and learning-disabled children from four local elementary schools. Carah researched the sites, put together the itinerary, oversaw the student-selection process, recruited adult chaperones and tour guides, secured a $500 grant and snack donations, and paid for all other expenses out of her own pocket.

Sarah Boesing, 18, of New Albany, a senior at Christian Academy of Indiana, founded a year-round ministry that provides encouragement and support to families facing childhood cancer or other life-threatening illnesses. Last year, Sarah’s ministry provided support to 40 families in four states. Its activities included throwing parties for young cancer patients at two children’s hospitals, helping to raise $11,000 for a child’s bone marrow transplant, and assisting a family with three chronically ill children.

Jacqueline Exline, 18, of Sullivan, a senior at Sullivan High School, led a fund-raising drive that raised more than $10,000 to start an endowment fund for the Sullivan County Community Kitchen, where she has helped prepare and serve meals for the past seven years. Jacqueline recruited volunteers from her church youth group, helped create an endowment agreement, and then planned and coordinated a luncheon and silent auction featuring gift baskets of donated items solicited from community organizations and businesses.

Daniel Frascella, 18, of Carmel, a senior at Carmel High School, founded a school chapter of Best Buddies, an international organization that recruits peer “buddies” for people with intellectual disabilities to provide them with support, friendship, understanding and acceptance. Over the past several years, Daniel’s chapter has grown to become the biggest in Indiana, with 40 buddy pairs this year.

Marushka Grogan, 17, of Indianapolis, a high school junior at the Grogan Home School, conducted a folk-art program for 6- and 7-year-old disadvantaged children at the Martin Luther King Community Center last summer. After designing a curriculum and raising money for art supplies, Marushka taught 90-minute lessons in music, dance and visual art daily for six weeks during the community center’s summer camp program for young children.

Ajay Major, 17, of Valparaiso, a senior at Valparaiso High School, formed a volunteer multimedia team at his school to provide badly needed technological expertise to school staff and students. Ajay’s team has assisted with the filming and editing of numerous school events, helps maintain the school’s Web site, created an audio podcast about the history and culture of Valparaiso, and provided instruction to both school administrators and students in the uses of technology.

“Over the past 13 years, we’ve seen an incredible number of young Americans who have selflessly devoted their time and energy to helping others in their communities,” said Arthur F. Ryan, chairman of Prudential Financial. “The volunteer work of this year’s honorees is as inspiring as any we’ve seen, and we are honored to recognize the amazing contributions they’ve made to their neighborhoods, cities and nation.”

“Congratulations to this year’s state winners in The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards,” stated Gerald N. Tirozzi, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. “The hard work and determination that these students have exhibited in trying to make a difference in the lives of others is remarkable.”

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. Nearly 4,500 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 5 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.

Co-chairing the national selection committee will be U.S. Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, and Arthur Ryan of Prudential. Also serving on the committee will be actor Richard Dreyfuss; Alma Powell, chair of America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth; Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of the Points of Light & Hands On Network; 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; Kathryn Forbes, national chair of volunteers, American Red Cross; Neil Nicoll, CEO of YMCA of the USA; Michael Cohen, president and CEO of Achieve, Inc.; Barry Stark, president of NASSP; and two 2007 Prudential Spirit of Community National Honorees: Kelly Davis of West Bath, Maine, and Kelydra Welcker of Parkersburg, W.Va.

In addition to granting its own awards, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program will be distributing President’s Volunteer Service Awards to nearly 2,800 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 & Hands On Network; 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, Taiwan and 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.

NASSP is the preeminent organization and the national voice for middle level and high school principals, assistant principals and aspiring school leaders. NASSP provides its members 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 administers the National Honor Society™, the National Junior Honor Society™ and the National Association of Student Councils™.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU), a financial services leader, has 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 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, please visit www.prudential.com.