Two Arkansas Youth Honored for Volunteerism at National Award Ceremony in Washington,...

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

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Pays Tribute to Young Heroes as
Part of Four-Day Recognition Events
WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
Two Arkansas students, Ewald Visser, 15, of Bella Vista and Haydn
Bryant, 13, of Morrilton were honored in the nation's capital last
night for their outstanding volunteer work during the presentation of
The 2008 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 Sarah
Ferguson, the Duchess of York, at the 13th annual award ceremony and
gala dinner reception, held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of
Natural History.

Ewald and Haydn were named the top high school and middle level
youth volunteers in Arkansas 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.

Conducted in partnership with the National Association of
Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of
Community Awards were created 13 years ago by Prudential Financial,
Inc. to encourage youth volunteerism and to identify and reward young
role models. Since then, the program has honored more than 80,000
young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

"Ewald and Haydn 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 Prudential Chairman Arthur
F. Ryan. "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."

Ewald, a freshman at Bentonville High School in Bentonville,
conducted a school and community campaign to collect new and gently
used books for school libraries in South Africa. During a family visit
to South Africa, Ewald discovered that many school libraries were in
dire need of books. "This was an upsetting discovery for me, as I love
to read," said Ewald. "I could not help but wonder how I could help
these school children to experience firsthand what I feel so
passionate about."

With help from his parents and school principal, Ewald developed a
plan. He placed posters all over his school to solicit book donations,
and promoted his effort on the school's TV station. Both students and
teachers responded enthusiastically; teachers even contributed small
prizes for children who brought in books. When a local newspaper and
television station picked up the story, donations began flowing in
from community members, as well. Ewald labeled and packed the books,
and found a cargo company that agreed to transport the boxes to South
Africa free of charge. "If I have made the difference in just one
child's life by introducing him or her to my love of reading, then
this whole project was indeed worth the time and effort," Ewald said.
"Great things can be accomplished when many people work together."

Haydn, a seventh-grader at Morrilton Junior High School, raised
more than $5,000 for cancer research, education and patient care by
organizing and leading an all-youth team for the annual Conway County
Relay for Life. Haydn wanted to get involved after seeing both of his
grandmothers battle cancer. "Because of this, I thought I should do
something about ways to prevent this disease which takes so many lives
each day and every year," Haydn said.

With help from his mother and younger brother, Haydn recruited
friends to form a team called "Kids Crushing Cancer." The team
organized three skating parties and a letter-writing campaign to
solicit donations, and then walked from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on the day of
the Relay for Life event. "Someone from our team was on the track all
night long," Haydn said. The result: $5,250 for the American Cancer
Society. Haydn plans to lead a team again at next year's fund-raiser.
"I would encourage other young people to get involved with Relay for
Life or any other cancer awareness program so they can feel good about
helping millions of people across the world."

Applications for the 2008 awards program were submitted last fall
through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations,
American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Volunteer Centers affiliated
with the Points of Light & Hands On Network. The top middle level and
high school applicants in each state and the District of Columbia were
announced in February. These 102 State Honorees are in Washington this
week with their parents for four days of special recognition events.

Ten of the 102 were named America's top ten youth volunteers for
2008 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters today. These
National Honorees received additional $5,000 awards, gold medallions,
crystal trophies for the schools that nominated them, and $5,000
grants from The Prudential Foundation for charities of their choice.
(The ceremony can be viewed at www.prudential.com/spirit.)

The ten National Honorees are:

Kristen Allcorn, 18, of Sedalia, Mo., who founded a soup kitchen
that provides a hot evening meal five days a week, serving needy
residents at tables as if they were eating in a restaurant. Called The
Community Cafe, Kristen's kitchen has served more than 12,000 meals
since December 2006.

Kristin Brandt, 17, of Lock Haven, Pa., who rallied her school and
community to help her build a two-bedroom modular home on her school
grounds. After 16 months of fund-raising and construction, the house
was hauled 1,200 miles to Mississippi, where it was presented to an
80-year-old woman who had lost everything to Hurricane Katrina.

Bria Brown, 13, of Miami Gardens, Fla., a five-year cancer
survivor who recruited friends, classmates and her Girl Scout troop to
help her conduct a drive in her community to collect teddy bears,
which she personalizes and delivers to other young cancer patients to
bring them hope and encouragement.

Shanna Decker, 17, of Plainview, Minn., who has made more than 600
visits to young cancer patients over the past nine years to give them
hope and inspire them with her own cancer experience, which resulted
in a leg amputation. She also is a frequent speaker at events across
the country, and has participated in activities that have raised more
than $120,000 for sick and disadvantaged kids.

Talia Leman, 13, of Waukee, Iowa, who started an organization
called "RandomKid" that seeks to educate, motivate and unify young
people around the world to work on a broad spectrum of pressing needs.
Her projects have raised money for hurricane victims, helped build a
school in Cambodia, and provided clean water in Africa.

Jenna Machado, 17, of Boulder, Colo., who founded a nonprofit
organization to increase awareness about depression and suicide
prevention, after a cousin took her own life. Jenna has delivered
community presentations on the warning signs of depression and
suicide, conducted an education program in middle and high schools,
and raised money to provide treatment sessions for at-risk teens.

Riley Miller, 14, of Bowling Green, Ky., who has organized an
annual citywide day of lemonade sales for the past three years to
raise money for childhood cancer research, after losing two little
brothers to leukemia. Last year, Riley managed 200 volunteers and 29
lemonade stands, collecting more than $19,000 and bringing her
three-year total to $50,000.

Kaylee Marie Radzyminski, 16, of Cleveland, Tenn., who collects
CDs and DVDs and sends them out every week to American soldiers
serving in combat zones. More than 200 organizations across the
country have joined her "Tunes 4 the Troops" campaign, and over
170,000 discs have been shipped to boost the morale of U.S. troops
overseas.

Mark Rinkel, 12, of Aurora, Colo., who raised more than $16,000 to
provide medical service dogs for his little brother and other children
suffering from type I diabetes. To raise the money, he operated a
lemonade stand at community events last summer, and built a Web site
to solicit donations.

Joey Rizzolo, 13, of Paramus, N.J., who organized a "Freedom Walk"
last September that drew more than 450 local residents to join in
remembering the lives lost on 9/11, including many in his own town.
Joey's event also was dedicated to thanking first responders, U.S.
service members and veterans for saving lives and protecting our
freedom.

The national selection committee that chose the ten National
Honorees was co-chaired by U.S. Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts
and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, and Arthur Ryan of Prudential. Also
serving on the committee were actor Richard Dreyfuss; Alma Powell,
chair of the America's Promise Alliance; 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, president and 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, Me., and Kelydra Welcker of Parkersburg, W.Va.

NASSP President Barry Stark said: "The young people in this
country are capable of doing some extraordinary things given the time
and the opportunity. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards is one
of the great showcases of their amazing acts of kindness and
selflessness. We are pleased to once again join Prudential in honoring
them for their accomplishments."

In addition to the organizations above, 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, the
National School Public Relations Association and many other national
youth and service organizations.

More information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards
and this year's honorees can be found at 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), the National Elementary Honor
Society(TM), and the National Association of Student Councils(TM). For
more information on NASSP, NHS, NJHS, NEHS or NASC, visit
www.principals.org.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services
leader with approximately $631 billion of assets under management as
of March 31, 2008, 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 more than 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, please visit www.prudential.com.

(Editors: full-color pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards
program logo and medallions are available at
www.prudential.com/spirit.)

Prudential
Harold Banks, 973-802-8974 or 973-216-4833
or
NASSP
Shana Kemp, 703-860-7344
or
On May 5, 8:30 am - 4 pm EDT: 202-955-1155 & -1166

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