[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 90 (Thursday, June 30, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S7812]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CONGRATULATING MR. BRANDON HARVEY AND MR. CRAIG PEDEN

 Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I congratulate and honor two young 
Kentucky students who have achieved national recognition for exemplary 
volunteer service in their communities. Brandon Harvey of Breeding and 
Craig Peden of Henderson have just been named the top two honorees in 
Kentucky by the 2005 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, an 
annual honor conferred on the most impressive student volunteers in 
each State, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
  Mr. Harvey, a senior at Adair County High School, is being recognized 
for raising nearly $1,000 to purchase smoke detectors for the families 
of all 175 students at a local elementary school. Mr. Harvey organized 
a special Fire Prevention Day at the school, during which he taught the 
students fire prevention and safety techniques and issued every child a 
smoke detector.
  Mr. Peden, an eighth grader at Henderson County North Middle School, 
is being recognized for leading an effort by his school's Junior 
Optimist Club to raise money to help support the operating budget of 
Riverview School, a preschool for special needs students. With Mr. 
Peden's help, Riverview School was able to pay off its mortgage, and 
now Craig hopes to expand his efforts to directly benefit the 
handicapped children at Riverview.
  In light of numerous statistics that indicate Americans today are 
less involved in their communities than they once were, it is vital 
that we encourage and support the kind of selfless contribution these 
young citizens have made. People of all ages need to think more about 
how we, as individual citizens, can work together at the local level to 
ensure the health and vitality of our towns and neighborhoods. Young 
volunteers like Mr. Harvey and Mr. Peden are inspiring examples to all 
of us, and are among our brightest hopes for a better tomorrow.
  The program that brought this young role model to our attention--the 
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards--was created in partnership with 
the National Association of Secondary School Principals in 1995 to 
impress upon all youth volunteers that their contributions are 
critically important and highly valued. Since its inception, the 
program has become the Nation's largest youth recognition effort based 
solely on community service, with more than 170,000 youngsters 
participating.
  Mr. Harvey and Mr. Peden should be extremely proud to have been 
singled out from such a large group of dedicated volunteers. I heartily 
applaud Mr. Harvey and Mr. Peden for their initiative in seeking to 
make their communities a better place to live, and for the positive 
impact they have had on the lives of others. They have demonstrated a 
level of commitment and accomplishment that is truly extraordinary in 
today's world, and deserve our sincere admiration and respect. Their 
actions show that young Americans can play important roles in our 
communities, and that America's community spirit continues to hold 
tremendous promise for the future.

                          ____________________