A 13-year old girl from Adair was one of two Iowa teens who received the 2012 Prudential “Spirit of Community” youth volunteer awards Monday night during its 17th annual State Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. Hannah Jorgensen was honored for organizing a campaign to make personal care kits and sew pillowcases for families in transition from a local homeless shelter to more permanent quarters. The other Iowa honoree was 14-year old Kayla De Weerd, of Hull, who was honored for obtaining a $1,500 grant to pilot a nutrition and physical activity program at her junior high school and then gave presentations to educate others about how they could implement similar programs in their schools.

New York Giants quarterback and 2012 Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning congratulates Kayla De Weerd, 14, of Hull (center) and Hannah Jorgensen, 13, of Adair (right) on being named Iowa's top two youth volunteers for 2012 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

As State Honorees, Kayla and Hannah were among 102 top youth volunteers from across the country who received $1,000, engraved silver medallions, and all-expense-paid trips to Washington, D.C., this week for four days of recognition events. At last night’s ceremony, Kayla and Hannah were each personally congratulated for their outstanding volunteer service by New York Giants quarterback and 2012 Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, established in 1995 by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), represent the United States’ largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service. To learn more, visit http://spirit.prudential.com

Home Care Aides, Certified Nursing Assistants, Direct Support Professionals, Hospice Aides, and other direct care workers, who provide hands-on, personal care and support in nursing homes, client’s homes, assisted living, group homes, hospitals, hospices, and other settings, are invited to attend the Iowa CareGivers Association’s “A Call to Leadership” program. The program is being held on May 22 from 11 am-3 pm, at the Council Bluffs Public Library. There is no charge to attend.

“A Call to Leadership” is an educational workshop especially for direct care professionals. Direct care Professionals will explore ways to become a leader both within and outside their workplace and consider how to use their natural leadership skills to be role models for their profession.

Those interested can register: 1) online at www.iowacaregivers.org where the brochure and schedule can also be found; 2) by calling 515-223-2805; or 3) by printing and completing the registration form and mailing it to the Iowa CareGivers Association, 1231 8th St., #236, West Des Moines, IA 50265.

The Iowa CareGivers Association (ICA) exists to ensure that all Iowans receive good care and support when and where they need it. ICA does that by serving the needs of those who provide most of this care and support…direct care professionals. The ICA Direct Care Professional Leadership Program is made possible by a contract with the Iowa Department of Public Health.

The “Live Healthy Iowa” Kids Governor’s Challenge finished their 100-day activity and nutrition challenge on April 25th, with just over 31,000 kindergarten through 12th-grade students participating on 1,322 teams. The Governor’s Challenge encourages youth to be more active and make better nutrition choices, and is a way for Iowa schools to win monetary awards to purchase new physical education or playground equipment. In order to be eligible for cash prizes, teams must report each week of the challenge. Four schools won a $500 cash prize each, while the top cash prize of $1,000, went to the Creston Elementary School, in Creston.

Teams recorded their minutes of activity, servings of fruit, vegetables, milk/water and screen time. The totals from the challenge included:  more than 62.8-million minutes of activity; 759,000 servings of fruit; 447,000 servings of vegetables; 490,000 servings of milk and/or water; and more than 1.7-million hours of screen time. Live Healthy Iowa Kids is a free statewide 100-day challenge for youth inspiring them to be more active and make better food choices. During the program, participants aim to be active for 60 minutes a day, at least five days a week. Youth will also be challenged to track their nutrition habits. In 2011, the Live Healthy Iowa Kids/Governor’s Challenge had nearly 11,000 participants on 549 teams registered for the challenge.

For more information about Live Healthy Iowa Kids, visit www.livehealthyiowakids.org.  Live Healthy Iowa Kids was created in 2004 as a program of the Iowa Sports Foundation and is endorsed by the Iowa Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness & Nutrition. Live Healthy Iowa Kids’ youth initiatives are free programs encouraging Iowa’s youth to be more active and learn about healthy food choices in a positive, fun way. Since they began, more than 500,000 youth have participated in Live Healthy Iowa Kids/Governor’s Challenge, Go the Distance Day and Fall Fitness Day.

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