Contest: Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

Through November 5, 2019, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards is looking for Minnesota's top youth volunteers of the year.

Students in grades 5-12 are invited to apply for 2020 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards if they have made meaningful contributions to their communities through volunteer service within the past 12 months. The application is available at http://spirit.prudential.com and www.nassp.org/spirit.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), was created in 1995 to recognize the exemplary volunteer work of middle level and high school students. Since then, Prudential Spirit of Community Awards have been given to more than 130,000 middle and high school students across the country at the local, state and national level.

 “We’ve honored young people from three generations since this program began, and while the world has changed many times over, one thing has stayed the same: Young volunteers are doing remarkable, meaningful work to address the challenges facing their communities,” said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. “As we enter our 25th year, we remain inspired by these young people and their stories of service, and hope that they’ll inspire others to get involved, too.”

Minnesota's top youth volunteers of 2019 were Annika Kovar, 18, of Frazee, who created a charity that has encouraged and helped 105 childcare facilities in 21 states to grow vegetable gardens for their kids, and is engaged in numerous other projects to promote healthy eating and physical activity among young people, and Ryan Stoltz, 14, of Eden Prairie, who has spent more than 1,000 hours over the past four years researching and writing 57 news stories as a reporter for the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps, and is also working to supply free hearing aids to people in need around the world. Read more about Annika and Ryan at http://spirit.prudential.com/honorees/2019/mn.