H.C.R. 79
House concurrent resolution congratulating the 2007 Vermont winners of the Prudential Spirit of Community Award
Offered by: Representatives Frank of Underhill, Symington of Jericho, Haas of Rochester, Clark of Vergennes, Oxholm of Vergennes and Scheuermann of Stowe
Whereas, Prudential Financial and the National Association of Secondary School Principals cosponsor the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards to promote volunteer community service among secondary school students, and
Whereas, in each state and the District of Columbia, one high school and one middle school student are selected as the top youth volunteers and receive a $1,000.00 prize, a commemorative medallion, and a trip to Washington, D.C. to compete for national honors; and two other secondary school students are designated as distinguished finalists and are presented a commemorative medallion, and
Whereas, the top youth volunteers in Vermont for 2007 are Maya Robinson, a senior at Whitcomb Junior-Senior High School, and Audrey Pekarik, a seventh grader at Browns River Middle School in Underhill, and
Whereas, Maya Robinson created a visually compelling photographic exhibit entitled “Seeing Eye to Eye,” consisting of photographs that international exchange students have taken during the past 35 years while studying abroad, and
Whereas, she planned this exhibit prior to traveling to India as a Rotary International Exchange student, and, while in India, she raised money for over 100 children to receive heart surgery and conducted a clothing drive for a local orphanage, and
Whereas, the exhibit will be on display in several galleries, and Maya Robinson is selling copies and postcards of the photos and donating the proceeds to clean water projects, and
Whereas, Audrey Pekarik made and sold bracelets, raising $3,000.00 to finance the construction of a house in Haiti after hearing a guest speaker at her church discuss the living conditions in poor nations, and
Whereas, after receiving instructional help at a local craft store, and family assistance in stringing the bracelets’ beads, Audrey Pekarik sold them at craft fairs and created a display to encourage sales, and
Whereas, the distinguished finalist designees were Alexandra Larrow, a senior at Vergennes Union High School, and Leah Ziegler, a senior at Stowe High School, and
Whereas, Alexandra Larrow recruited volunteers to knit over 400 hats that were distributed to doctors’ offices, clinics, and hospitals for cancer patients’ use, and she promoted the project through local yarn shops, her National Honor Society chapter, and her reign as Miss Vermont National Teenager, and
Whereas, Leah Ziegler, in her freshman year, established a nonprofit organization that has since conducted bake sales, car washes, book sales, and other events, raising $16,000.00 that she and her younger sisters sent to orphanages in Afghanistan, Chile, Ethiopia, and Kenya and to Red Cross relief for both Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami survivors, and
Whereas, each of these students has demonstrated a strong sense of civic responsibility, now therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly congratulates the 2007 Vermont winners of the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, and be it further
Resolved: That the secretary of state be directed to send a copy of this resolution to each of the students honored in this resolution.
Attested to:
