Continued: Two young volunteers are getting national recognition

Two young Minnesotans are receiving national recognition for their devotion to improving the lives of others.

Anne Brooker, 18, of Minneapolis and Haley Sass, 11, of Frost, Minn., will be in Washington, D.C., early next month to be recognized with other middle school and high school students from each state and the District of Columbia for their outstanding acts of volunteerism.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 14th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Along with the free trip to the nation's capital during the first weekend of May, the honorees receive $1,000 and an engraved silver medallion. While in Washington, 10 of them will be named America's top youth volunteers for 2009.

Brooker, a senior at Minneapolis Southwest High School, founded a nonprofit when she was 11 that has sent condolence packets to more than 20,000 people grieving over a lost loved one.

She started her "Dragonfly Project" after a family at her church, Nativity Lutheran in St. Anthony, lost their 11-year-old son to a brain tumor. With help from her mother, she sent the family a sympathy card, a homemade bracelet and a story that describes the life cycle of a dragonfly as a reminder that mourners are never truly separated from those they love.

"The family wrote to tell us how much the dragonfly story meant to them," Brooker said. "Their response made me realize the importance of letting someone know they are in your thoughts."

Brooker will receive her silver medallion Tuesday at a Minneapolis school board meeting.

The joy of reading

Haley, a member of the Faribault County 4-H and a fifth-grader at Blue Earth Area Middle School, has volunteered two days a week for the Frost Community Library's summer reading program for the past two years, reading to kids and leading activities such as painting, drawing, dancing and making crafts.

"I have always enjoyed the library," Haley said. "I wanted to improve attendance and let kids know all the things you can do there."

Haley said her volunteering encouraged more children to make use of the library.

"Some of the children in Frost had never been to the library, and now they bring their friends."

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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