Shaylee Rizzo, 17, of Kenai and Samuel Allred, 13, of Wasilla were recently named Alaska's top youth volunteers of 2013 by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a national program honoring middle level and high school students for outstanding volunteer service.

As State Honorees, Shaylee and Samuel each will receive $1,000, engraved silver medallions and all-expense-paid trips to Washington, D.C., where they will join 100 other top youth volunteers from across the United States for four days of national recognition events.

The program also recognized two Distinguished Finalists from Alaska:

- Allison Ostrander, 16, of Soldotna
- Reese Qualls, 13, of Palmer

The Distinguished Finalists each will receive engraved bronze medallions.

Shaylee, Alaska's high school State Honoree, was honored for starting a public service campaign called the “Missy the Moose Program” to raise children’s awareness of the dangers of cars hitting moose on Alaska’s highways, a common occurrence in her area during the hazardous winter months. Samuel, Alaska's middle level State Honoree, was honored for making travel-size pillows and distributing them to children’s hospitals across the country to provide comfort to sick kids.

Read more about each of Alaska's State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists in today’s news release: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130205005086/en/Alaskas-Top-Youth-Volunteers-Selected-18th-Annual

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), is the United States’ largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteer service.

For more information, contact Harold Banks, Prudential Financial, (973) 802-8974, (973) 216-4833 or harold.banks@prudential.com or visit:

http://spirit.prudential.com
www.facebook.com/spiritawards
www.youtube.com/user/PruSpiritofCommunity
www.twitter.com/PruSpirit