Grace Beal of New Castle, Pennsylvania named one of America's top 10 youth volunteers of 2019

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Grace Beal, 17, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, was named one of America's top 10 youth volunteers of 2019 today by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards during the program's 24th annual national award ceremony at Union Station's East Hall. Selected from a field of more than 29,000 youth volunteers from across the country, Grace has earned the title of National Honoree, along with a personal award of $5,000, an engraved gold medallion, a crystal trophy for her school, and a $5,000 grant from The Prudential Foundation for a nonprofit charitable organization of her choice.

Also honored this week in Washington, D.C., was Corbin Edge, 15, of Evans City. Grace and Corbin were named Pennsylvania's top youth volunteers in February, and were officially recognized last night at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History along with the top two youth volunteers in each other state and the District of Columbia. At that event, each of the 102 State Honorees for 2019 received $1,000 awards as well as personal congratulations from award-winning actress Viola Davis. The honorees each also received engraved silver medallions and all-expense-paid trips with a parent to Washington, D.C., for this week's recognition events.

Grace, a junior at Neshannock Senior High School, organized an annual basketball-based fundraising event that has raised more than $100,000 since 2014 for Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where her sister was treated before she died of congenital heart failure. "Lucy was the sweetest baby, even though she had a lot of medical issues that meant she would spend long periods in the hospital," Grace said. "My family had its world turned upside down when she was sick, and when she died, I knew I wanted to help other kids and their families." While still in elementary school, Grace began doing that by conducting service projects in her sister's honor. She collected books for the hospital's library, swam laps to attract donations, and gathered blankets for babies at a children's home.

In seventh grade, she asked her basketball coaches if her team could shoot layups after practice to raise money for Children's Hospital. She ended up with almost $6,000. "I was so excited by that outcome that I decided to plan for something even bigger the next year," she said. Grace has hosted "Layups for Lucy" every October since, around the time of Lucy's birthday. In the early spring, she meets with several dozen students to plan the event's activities, concessions and entertainment. Last year, there was an elementary basketball clinic, a free throw contest, a student versus faculty basketball game, a DJ and a magician, a dance line, cheerleader performances, face painting, food and raffle baskets. Grace approaches local and national businesses for sponsorships, oversees all aspects of the event, and meets with officials at the hospital to identify ways her donation can have the most impact. So far, Layups for Lucy has helped start and support a summer bereavement camp for siblings, funded family outings at the zoo and ballpark, and purchased Xboxes and iPads for young patients.

Corbin, an eighth-grader at Ryan Gloyer Middle School, raised more than $10,000 for diabetes patients and research last September by assembling and raffling off 75 gift baskets at his town's Oktoberfest celebration. Corbin has been living with Type 1 diabetes since he was 18 months old. "Being so young, I didn't realize what was going on or how things were going to change for me," said Corbin. "I learned as I got older how it has affected my life, and I didn't want other children to have to go through what I have." After attending a camp for young diabetics, Corbin was inspired to raise money for the cause. He started out small, forming a team for a diabetes walk and just asking family and friends for donations. "That was successful for a while," he said, "but I wanted to go bigger!"

After attending an event at his school and seeing how eager people were to buy raffle tickets for a chance to win a gift basket, Corbin decided to organize an "American Diabetes Basket Raffle" in his community. He drafted a letter about himself and his struggles with diabetes and took it to local businesses to solicit donations. The response was "overwhelming," he said. Once he had collected or purchased items for his raffle, his family helped him organize them into 75 themed baskets. He set up tables to display the baskets and sell tickets, and two days later, he announced the winners, distributed the baskets, and counted his proceeds. "I had set the goal at $10,000," said Corbin, "and when I reached that number, I screamed in excitement!" The money will be used to send young diabetics to a diabetes camp, and to pay for research into a cure, which is what Corbin wants most. "A life of no more shots or finger pricks," he said hopefully.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards is a national youth recognition program sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

"We're impressed and inspired by the way these honorees have identified problems facing their communities and stepped up to the challenge to make a difference," said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "It's a privilege to celebrate their leadership and compassion, and we look forward to seeing the great things they accomplish in the future."

"These students have not only done important work in support of people in need – they've also shown their peers that young people can, and do, create meaningful change," said Christine Handy, president of NASSP. "We commend each of these young volunteers for all they've contributed to their communities."

In addition to Grace, these are the other 2019 National Honorees:

Aja Capel, 15, of Urbana, Illinois, a member of Champaign County 4-H and a junior at Urbana High School, serves as the lead robotics instructor at a local science museum and has launched an initiative to give minority students more opportunities to learn about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Alexander Fultz, 13, of Pineville, North Carolina, an eighth-grader at Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy, created a nonprofit organization that has donated thousands of toys and clothing items to hospitals in several states to brighten the days of hospitalized patients.

Samaia A. Goodrich, 11, of Syracuse, New York, a sixth-grader at Expeditionary Learning Middle School, organizes projects in her community to encourage inner-city youth to make a difference, including an effort to raise money to buy Christmas presents, clothes and household goods for families who moved from Puerto Rico to Syracuse after Hurricane Maria devastated their homeland.

Hannah Karanick, 13, of Anaheim, California, an eighth-grader at Orangeview Junior High School, established a "closet" at her former elementary school that provides new clothing, laundry products, toiletries, quilts and school supplies to students there whose families can't afford to buy such necessities.

Caleb Oh, 14, of Gambrills, Maryland, an eighth-grader at Crofton Middle School, has spent more than 1,000 hours volunteering in many ways over the past seven years to aid people who are homeless, hungry or have other needs.

Caragan Olles, 16, of De Pere, Wisconsin, a junior at Notre Dame Academy, co-founded a nonprofit organization in 2013 that has raised more than $160,000 to provide special tutoring for students with dyslexia, create dyslexia resource centers in three public library systems, and educate teachers and parents about this learning disability. 

Vance Tomasi, 13, of Tampa, Florida, a seventh-grader at Farnell Middle School, has worked with a friend to collect and donate more than 90,000 books to families, schools, group homes, hospitals and libraries over the past two years.

Allison Tu, 17, of Louisville, Kentucky, a senior at duPont Manual High School, launched a youth-driven initiative to raise awareness of student mental health issues and find ways to combat the alarmingly high rates of depression, anxiety and suicide among young people in Kentucky.

Joseph Voynik, 17, of Flowood, Mississippi, a senior at Jackson Preparatory School, worked for four years and raised more than $600,000 to construct a fully accessible baseball field so that children with disabilities could experience the joy of playing America's national pastime.

The distinguished selection committee that chose the National Honorees was chaired by Lowrey and included Handy of NASSP; Andrea Bastiani Archibald, chief girl and family engagement officer for Girl Scouts of the USA; Heidi Brasher, senior director of product line cohorts, strategy and innovation at YMCA of the USA; Brian Coleman, department chair for the Jones College Prep counseling team in Chicago, Illinois and the American School Counselor Association's 2019 National School Counselor of the Year; Larissa Hatch, national youth engagement associate with the American Red Cross; Natalye Paquin, president and chief executive officer of Points of Light; Tony Shivers, a member representative with the National PTA Board of Directors; Rhonda Taylor, director of partnerships and program engagement for the Corporation for National and Community Service; Will Waidelich, executive director of the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE); and two 2018 National Honorees: Michelle Qin, a senior at Dos Pueblos High School in Santa Barbara, California, and Helena Zimmerman, a senior at Rye Country Day School in Rye, New York.   

Youth volunteers in grades 5-12 were invited to apply for 2019 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of Points of Light's HandsOn Network.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program was created in 1995 to identify and recognize young people for outstanding volunteer service – and, in so doing, inspire others to volunteer, too. In the past 24 years, the program has honored more than 125,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.

For more information about The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and this year's honorees, 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.

Editors: For pictures of the Spirit of Community Awards program logo and medallions, visit  https://spirit.prudential.com/resources/media

For B-roll of Pennsylvania's honorees at the 2019 national recognition events, contact Prudential's Harold Banks at (973) 216-4833 or [email protected].

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