Bloomfield, West Bloomfield Students Recognized For Volunteerism

Allison Heath, 17, of Bloomfield Hills and Jensen Hwa, 17, of West Bloomfield, were named distinguished finalists for the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a national program that honors student volunteers with scholarships and a trip to Washington, D.C.

According to Prudential, Heath, a Bloomfield Hills High School senior, created a program to provide iPod shuffles pre-loaded with music to 1,500 patients a month at a Detroit cancer institute. Heath had been a volunteer and student researcher at the institute for several years, and also conducted a study to try and quantify the effects of music on cancer treatment. Hwa, a senior at West Bloomfield High School, volunteered to provide web support to several local nonprofits and organizations, implementing a new donation system for the Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition. Hwa also served as a volunteer teacher, offering computer science classes to younger students.

Alyssa Ewell of Canton was named the top high school volunteer of the year for Michigan, in part for her efforts as coordinator for her school’s Relay for Life. Ewell raised over $30,000 for the American Cancer Society and another $12,000 to make a dream come true for a child in the Make-a-Wish program who was battling cancer. The middle level state honoree is Manchester Middle School eighth grader Abigail Diuble, who created a nonprofit to provide bed-shaking devices to wake hearing impaired people in case of emergency. Diube and her family have raised $20,000 to provide the alarms to families in need.

Ewell and Diube each will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. later this spring, where they will join the top two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for a four day event. During the D.C. event, 10 Prudential will recognize ten students as America's top youth volunteers of 2018.

Image via Prudential.