The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards Reception was held Saturday, April 16 at Six Flags Magic Mountain. This was a celebration to honor 75 students for the outstanding volunteer work and their commitment to help improve their communities. These young people are local honorees in the nation’s largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteerism.

Each student has an inspiring history of community involvement. Prudential Financial representatives and other special guests were also present at this reception to show their support for these students who have initiated and organized meaningful service projects that were of great help to so many individuals.  Among the 75 young volunteers awarded were Eleanor Wen and Annie Sewell, who both live in the North Hollywood area.

Annie Sewell is a 14-year-old ninth grader presently attending Campbell Hall in North Hollywood. The schools give out the application for kids whom they feel worked hard enough to earn this award; her principal, Eileen Wasserman, nomimated her after she conducted a bake sale for the Adopt-A-Minefield organization that clears leftover landmines from wars all over the world. She designed and posted flyers, arranged for the bake sale items and raised almost $800.

“Annie has been invited to attend the Adopt-A-Minefield benefit hosted in Los Angeles for the past two years,” said her mother. “Annie, also an American Idol fan, donated her own money to Adopt-A-Minefield in the name of one of her favorite contestants, Jon Peter Lewis,” her mother added. Jon, who is currently working on an album, was a V.I.P. guest at the recent benefit hosted by Paul McCartney. Since the event more fans have donated to the organization in Jon’s name.

Annie also contributed to the victims of 9/11 and helped in the California fires by donating clothes.

“I’m very proud of her,” said Annie’s mother. “She has always had a heartfelt passion for helping people even at a very young age, and while she certainly does not do it for the recognition, it is nice to be honored.” Her mother said Annie plans to volunteer at Childrens Hospital, as soon as she is old enough to work there.

Eleanor Wen, a student at Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood, was another unbelievably active honoree. She volunteered at Las Familias del Pueblo, a community center in downtown Los Angeles. After she saw students struggling in an English as a Second Language class, she created RepeatAfterUs.com, a Web site that would provide free texts and audio clips to help students around the world with their English. Her free online library and language lab offers more than 6,000 popular English texts and 1,200 audio recordings, and has served more than 150,000 visitors. Wen decided to create this site during her sophomore year in high school. Other students and faculty members have helped Wen make her site into an award-winning, critically-acclaimed online library and language lab.

The Prudential Spirit Community Awards Program, sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), was created in 1995 to help make young Americans aware of the importance of volunteerism and community service.