Kyle Bennison and YMCA CEO Doug Pszczolkowski display the Certificates of Excellence presented to Bennison at a recent YMCA Board of Directors meeting.
A Hopewell Valley Central High School student was honored for his exemplary volunteer service.
Seventeen-year-old Kyle Bennison received a Certificate of Excellence from The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards and a President’s Volunteer Service Award granted by the program on behalf of President Barack Obama.
Hopewell Valley YMCA nominated Bennison for national honors this fall in recognition of his volunteer service.
Bennison launched a community-wide awareness and education program, Stewards of Children. Using a national curriculum, Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children uses video interviews with adult survivors of child sexual abuse to explain the realities of a societal scourge.
Bennison organized local Stewards of Children trainings as his project for earning his Eagle ranking from the Boy Scouts of America.
His project included organizing and marketing eight training sessions throughout Hopewell Valley. As a result of his project, 116 local adults have been trained in Stewards of Children. Three local volunteers have become facilitators to lead training sessions and two others are currently pursuing facilitator status.
Hopewell Valley YMCA CEO Doug Pszczolkowski said the organization committed to educating five percent of the local adult population over the next five years.
In addition to the Spirit of Community and President’s Volunteer Service awards, Kyle was honored at a State of New Jersey YMCAs Alliance Dinner in October as Outstanding Youth Volunteer.
Presented annually by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Spirit of Community Awards honors young people across the U.S. for outstanding volunteer service.
Certificates of Excellence are granted to the top 10 percent of all Prudential Spirit of Community Award applicants in each state.
President’s Volunteer Service Awards recognize Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country.
More information is online at hvymca.org.
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