The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism, named the following New Jersey student a Distinguished Finalist for 2017:
Sharwani Kota, 17, of Edison, a senior at John P. Stevens High School, has helped to raise $75,000 to support children with autism through “Hope4Spandana,” the nonprofit she created after visiting a run-down school for children with autism in a rural village in India. Sharwani’s team of 60 volunteers has held more than 70 fundraising and dance events over the past four years, efforts that have supported two schools and 200 students in that Indian village, and provided better therapy and care.
The program judges recognized six New Jersey students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 22nd year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
For information on all of this year’s Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees and Distinguished Finalists, visit http://spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit.