Students in grades 5-12 are eligible to apply for the 2013 awards if they have volunteered in the past year. Awards are granted to youth volunteers at the local, state, and national level.
Local honorees will be selected by school principals, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H groups, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs, and affiliates of the HandsOn Network. In February, several students in each state and the District of Columbia will be named runners-up, with one middle and one high school student named as a state honoree. State honorees will receive a $1,000 award, a silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., in May for special recognition events.
In Washington, a national committee will select America’s top youth volunteers from the state honorees. National honorees will receive a $5,000 award, a gold medallions a crystal trophy for their nominating school or organization, and a $5,000 grant from the Prudential Foundation for a charitable organization of their choice. Applicants’ certifiers (school principal or nonprofit organization head) must nominate applicants by November 12, 2013, for state-level judging.