The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards honors Southport and Bethel students with a $2,500 scholarship, silver medallion and invitation to virtual celebration for their work addressing the challenges of a changing world
Brooks Barry, 17, of Southport and Issabelle Fontaine, 13, of Bethel today were named Connecticut's top youth volunteers of 2021 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, America’s largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer service.
As State Honorees, Brooks and Issabelle will each receive a $2,500 scholarship, a silver medallion and an invitation to the program’s virtual national recognition celebration in April, where 10 of the 102 State Honorees will be named America’s top youth volunteers of the year. Those 10 National Honorees will earn an additional $5,000 scholarship, a gold medallion, a crystal trophy for their nominating organization and a $5,000 grant for a nonprofit charitable organization of their choice.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, conducted annually by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), honors students in grades 5-12 for making meaningful contributions to their communities through volunteer service.
“We created the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards 26 years ago to highlight and support the work of young people taking on the challenges of a changing world – a mission that rings truer than ever given the events of last year,” said Charles Lowrey, Prudential’s chairman and CEO. “We are proud to celebrate the vision and determination of Spirit of Community’s Class of 2021, and all the ways they’re making their communities safer, healthier and more equitable places to live.”
These are Connecticut's top youth volunteers of 2021:
Middle Level State Honoree: Issabelle Fontaine
Nominated by Girl Scouts of Connecticut
Issabelle, an eighth-grader at Bethel Middle School, worked with a partner to collect more than 8,000 books and distribute them in laundromats, schools, daycare centers and food distribution sites. Issabelle has always loved books. “When I was a small child my parents used to read to me and I still have many of my favorite books from when I was a child,” she said. “I want others to love reading and books as much as I do.” But she realized that not everyone is so fortunate to have easy access to a plentiful supply of books.
So in late 2019, Issabelle asked guests coming to her birthday party to bring a children’s book instead of a gift, and then recruited a friend to help her collect more. They decided to place their books in a few laundromats “so children could read instead of being on technology while waiting for their clothes to dry,” said Issabelle. After they appealed for book donations online, books from all over the United States appeared on Issabelle’s doorstep, and the duo started distributing them through schools and daycare facilities. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they shifted their distribution strategy and began handing out bags of books at food distribution sites, church food pantries and school book drives. “It made me so happy to give people books because I love books so much,” said Issabelle.
State Honorees in The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards Class of 2021 – the top middle level and high school volunteer from all 50 states and the District of Columbia – were selected for service initiatives completed, at least in part, between the fall of 2019 and the fall of 2020. Selection was based on criteria including impact, effort, initiative and the personal growth demonstrated over the course of the project. Several Distinguished Finalists and runners-up were also selected in each state, and all qualifying applicants received President’s Volunteer Service Awards.
High School State Honoree: Brooks Barry
Nominated by Stanford Online High School
Brooks, a sophomore at Stanford Online High School, has donated more than 600,000 books to underserved communities around the world, along with school supplies, shoes, clothing and other necessities, through a charity he started when he was 8 years old. It all started when he and three friends started a book club and decided that after reading each book, they would do a volunteer project relating to the story. After finishing “Old Yeller,” the story of a dog, for example, they did household chores to earn enough money to buy pet food for an animal shelter. One day they visited a local library and found that thousands of books were going to be shredded. “We were horrified,” said Brooks. They took the books and quickly found a school that was “ecstatic” to receive them, he said. “We all immediately realized our true calling: sharing the gift of literacy with the rest of the world.”
Brooks’ organization partnered with schools to hold book drives, picked up surplus books from libraries, and appealed for donations at church and community gatherings. At first they distributed books locally, but soon decided their mission should include remote villages in Africa. Logistics were a problem until Brooks partnered with the U.S.-Africa Children’s Fellowship, whose founder agreed to pick up books periodically and ship them. Brooks’ foundation, called “Wonderland BookSavers,” also has held shoe drives for children in need overseas, given blanket-and-book kits to children’s hospitals, arranged an annual road trip to provide books to children on Native American reservations in South Dakota, and helped start a pig farm in a small Ugandan community. Brooks estimates his initiative has reached more than 500,000 people.
To read the names and stories of all of this year’s State Honorees, visit http://spirit.prudential.com.