Kladar a top volunteer
<p>Courtesy photo New York Giants quarterback and 2012 Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning congratulates Ariane Drake, 18, of Pocatello, center, and Emily Kladar, 12, of Hayden Lake, right, on being named Idaho's top two youth volunteers for 2012 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.</p>
Emily Kladar of Hayden was honored Monday as one of America's top 10 youth volunteers of 2012 in a ceremony at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, winning a national Prudential Spirit of Community Award for her outstanding volunteer service.
The 12-year-old is the youngest of the 10 national honorees.
Selected from a field of more than 26,000 youth volunteers across the country, Emily received a personal award of $5,000, an engraved gold medallion, a crystal trophy for her school, and a $5,000 grant from The Prudential Foundation for a nonprofit charitable organization of her choice.
The sixth-grader at Canfield Middle School created a nonprofit charity with her sister that has raised more than $60,000 to benefit the families of children needing heart surgery.
Conducted in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, The Prudential Spirit of Community Award was created 17 years ago by Prudential Financial to encourage youth volunteerism and to identify and reward young role models.
Since then, the program has honored more than 100,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.