SALT LAKE CITY — Rebekah Reno, 16, of Orem, and Kara Hughes, 13, of Bountiful, have been named Utah’s top two youth volunteers of 2017 by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.
As state honorees, the pair will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for four days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 students will be named America’s top youth volunteers of 2017.
Rebekah, a senior at Freedom Preparatory Academy in Provo, was honored for mentoring five younger girls last summer as a counselor at the Utah Valley University’s “LeadHERship” Conference.
Kara, an eighth-grader at Bountiful Junior High School, was honored for arranging for a group of musicians and actors with special needs to perform monthly at a local convalescent hospital.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 22nd year, recognizes young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. It is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals.