[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 29, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S1144]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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               RECOGNIZING OUTSTANDING STUDENT VOLUNTEERS

 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate 
Candonino Agusen and Jackson Button, two students from my State, who 
were named as top youth volunteers for 2012 by the Prudential Spirit of 
Community Awards. The awards were created in 1995 through a partnership 
between Prudential and the National Association of Secondary School 
Principals to honor middle and high school students for outstanding 
service to others at the local, State, and national levels.
  Every year, the top high school and middle school youth volunteers 
from each State and the District of Columbia are selected as State 
Honorees. Each honoree receives a $1,000 award, an engraved silver 
medallion, and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. for several 
days of national recognition events. In addition, other noteworthy 
students from each State are named Distinguished Finalists and receive 
a bronze medallion for their contributions.
  After the natural disasters in Japan in 2011, Candonino, a junior at 
Kealakehe High School, recruited others to help him purchase temporary 
housing kits for the victims displaced by the earthquake and tsunami. 
These kits included a tent, survival equipment, and a month of supplies 
for up to 10 people. His team raised more than $64,000, enough to take 
care of 640 earthquake victims for a month. Candonino contributed 
another $2,000 by making and sending 1,000 paper origami cranes to 
Japan as a symbol of support.
  Jackson, a middle school student at Hawaii Technology Academy, co-
founded a nonprofit organization with his sisters that has raised 
nearly $100,000 to support a wide variety of projects aiding children 
in Africa, Mexico, and the United States. Some of the projects funded 
by the organization include scholarships for children who have lost a 
parent to cancer or other diseases, a solar heater for a Mexican 
orphanage, and school supplies for underprivileged students in Hawaii. 
Through the nonprofit, Jackson and his sisters even arranged for a van 
to take HIV/AIDS orphans in Uganda to medical appointments, and bought 
four acres of land in that country to grow food and build a new 
orphanage.
  I would also like to recognize Scott Fetz of Kailua-Kona and Jessica 
Sonson of Ewa Beach who were named the 2012 Distinguished Finalists 
from Hawaii, as well as the many other individuals who contribute to 
the improvement of our communities every day. Our Nation is a better 
place because of people like these young leaders, who are making a 
difference in their communities and around the world. These students, 
like many volunteers, do not perform these services for recognition. I 
am grateful for awards that acknowledge their selflessness so that 
these role models can serve as inspiration for others. I am proud of 
all that these students have accomplished, and I wish them the best in 
their bright futures.

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