[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 86 (Thursday, May 7, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S2322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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 RECOGNIZING NORTH DAKOTA STUDENTS RECEIVING THE PRUDENTIAL SPIRIT OF 
                            COMMUNITY AWARDS

 Mr. CRAMER. Mr. President, I would like to congratulate and 
honor four North Dakota students who have been recognized for their 
remarkable volunteer service by the Prudential Spirit of Community 
Awards program.
  This year's State honoress are Micah Schilittenhardt and Alexis 
Thompson of Bismarck. Distinguished finalists are Teagen Nicholes of 
Minot and Amorelle Upton of Fargo.
  Micah, a student at Legacy High School, has spent more than 150 hours 
raising awareness across North Dakota about the benefits of dance for 
people with Parkinson's disease, while also raising funds for dance 
lessons, support groups, and research. Alexis, who attends Horizon 
Middle School, started an annual toy drive which has provided gifts for 
more than 400 adolescent hospital patients, launched a campaign to 
increase scoliosis awareness and screening, and organized a support 
group for girls with curvature of the spine.
  Teagen established a food pantry at Erik Ramstad Middle School, along 
with contacting local businesses for financial support, spreading 
awareness about food insecurity and organized schoolwide activities to 
raise funds and donations. Amorelle, who attends Davies High School, 
has raised money to benefit the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center, has 
secured donations from local businesses, hosted several fundraising 
events, and sent more than 300 letters soliciting support from her 
local community.
  The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards were created by Prudential 
Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary 
School Principals in 1995. Their purpose is to impress upon all youth 
volunteers their contributions are critically important and highly 
valued and to inspire other young people to follow their example. Over 
the past 25 years, the program has become the Nation's largest youth 
recognition effort based solely on community service. It has honored 
more than 130,000 young volunteers at the local, State, and national 
level.
  These young volunteers inspire all of us and are among our brightest 
hopes for a better tomorrow. I heartily applaud them for their 
dedication to making their communities better places to live and for 
the positive impact they have had on the lives of others. Their actions 
show that young Americans can and do play important roles in their 
communities and that America's community spirit continues to hold 
tremendous promise for the future. Again, congratulations to Micah, 
Alesis, Teagen, and Amorelle. I fully expect to hear much more from 
each of them as they emerge as leaders of our next generation.

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