[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 8318-8319]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING OUTSTANDING EXAMPLES OF PUERTO RICO YOUTH: MONICA CRISTINA 
                   MAYOL SABATIER AND RIDGE OLIVIERI

                                 ______
                                 

                  HON. ANIBAL ACEVEDO-VILA

                             of puerto rico

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 4, 2004

  Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
extraordinary achievements of two young constituents that have excelled 
with particular success in community service. Monica Mayol and Ridge 
Olivieri, both of San Juan, Puerto Rico, have been selected as Honorees 
of the prestigious Prudential Spirit of Community Awards representing 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This is an honor bestowed to only two 
students per jurisdiction, and as such is a very treasured award in our 
Island and in the Nation.

[[Page 8319]]

  Mr. Speaker, Monica Mayol is a 17-year old senior from Academia Maria 
Reina High School in San Juan. She serves as the activities coordinator 
at Centros Sor Isolina Ferre, one of the most renowned charity 
institutions in Puerto Rico. She tutors disadvantaged children and 
teenagers in several subjects, organizes drives to obtain food 
contributions, and even coordinated an awards ceremony and a Christmas 
party to bring happiness to those in need.
  Mr. Speaker, the other student recognized by the Prudential Awards is 
11-year old Ridge Olivieri, a sixth-grader at Saint John's School. 
Ridge is a very motivated sixth-grader who established a project to 
collect gently used clothing for disadvantaged children in Haiti. He 
felt that it was important to foster a sense of citizenship in his 
fellow peers, and his program got off to a very successful start with 
the help of students, faculty, and sponsors such as American Airlines, 
who delivered the clothing to Haiti free of charge. He has followed the 
footsteps of a very close role model, his brother Chase, who is an 
eighth-grader at Saint John's, began a book recollection program and 
recently won the Do Something Brick Awards, a program that recognizes 
community service involvement in young men and women.
  Mr. Speaker, I can attest to the fact that both are extraordinary 
students and remarkable young people. I feel very proud of representing 
first-rate students like Monica and Ridge in Congress. They are members 
of a whole new generation of Puerto Ricans greatly concerned with their 
people and their country and willing to take action to improve their 
community. During the course of their projects, they have demonstrated 
superb intellectual ability and undertaken a very commendable task: 
service to their neighbor.

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