Two Hampden teen-agers selected as state’s top youth volunteers

AUGUSTA – Peter Hastings, 18, and Elizabeth Williams, 13, both of Hampden, were named Maine’s top two youth volunteers for 2001 Tuesday by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism.

The awards program, now in its sixth year, is sponsored by The Prudential Insurance Co. of America in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Nearly 23,000 high school and middle-level students were considered for awards in this year’s program.

Hastings was nominated by Hampden Academy in Hampden, and Williams was nominated by Reeds Brook Middle School in Hampden. As state honorees, they each will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip in May to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees – one middle-level and one high school youth – from each of the other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico for several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America’s top youth volunteers for 2001 at that time.

Hastings, a senior at Hampden Academy, created and now coordinates a weekly program that collects unused food from school cafeterias for distribution to a homeless shelter. After noticing the large amounts of untouched food discarded each Friday by his school cafeteria, Hastings convinced school officials to donate the food to a homeless shelter in nearby Bangor. He then recruited volunteer drivers and set up a delivery schedule. On some Fridays, as many as six large boxes of food are delivered to the shelter.

“This program really benefits everybody,” said Hastings. “It provides homeless citizens with well-balanced, nutritious meals, and gives students a continuing opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. In the end, this project is not really about homelessness, or donating food and time. This project is about earning respect. We earn theirs, and they earn ours. Our community is a better place because of it.”

Williams, an eighth-grader at Reeds Brook Middle School, volunteers at a soup kitchen in Bangor. Inspired by the volunteer efforts of her grandparents, Williams agreed to accompany her grandmother to her monthly soup kitchen assignment.

“I’ve done this ever since,” she said. “My grandparents and I do it together. I enjoy it because I know that I am helping other people out.”

Once a month, Williams helps make two trays of biscuits, counts bowls, sets tables and puts chairs in place before the meal begins. After serving 70 to 150 people, the volunteer crew washes dishes and trays, wipes tables, stacks chairs and sweeps. It’s not the easiest job, but Williams believes the benefits are worth the hard work. “I’m still the youngest person working there, but it makes no difference,” she said. “By helping out the needy, I can fill a little spot inside of me.”

In addition, the program judges recognized two other Maine students as distinguished finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Sarah Bouchard, 15, of Eagle Lake, a sophomore at Fort Kent Community High School, performs in interactive dramas that illustrate the harmful effects of tobacco and the efforts of the tobacco industry to attract teen smokers.

Irene Cyrus, 17, of Orono, a senior at Orono High School, raised more than $1,600 for her school’s music department by writing, producing, and directing a school musical about the history of Broadway.

“These young people represent the noblest qualities of American youth,” said Art Ryan, chairman and CEO of Prudential. “Their commitment and accomplishments graphically demonstrate that young Americans can – and do – play an important role in making this a better world. We are proud to honor them.”

For more information on this year’s Prudential Spirit of Community state honorees and distinguished finalists, visit the community section of Prudential’s Internet Web site at http:///www.prudential.com, or NASSP’s site at http:///www.principals.org.