The 2010 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program honored Akash Nigam of Los Altos with a state-level Certificate of Excellence for his exemplary volunteer service.
Officials at Mountain View High School, where Nigam, 17, is a senior, nominated him for the award for his work with at-risk, underprivileged youth.
Nigam has also received a President’s Volunteer Service Award, which recognizes volunteers with significant contributions.
Nigam started Kick, Lead, Dream, a summer soccer camp for at-risk youth in Los Altos, Mountain View and Sunnyvale. With the support of Mountain View Chief of Police Scott Vermeer and donations, Nigam has run the two-week camp for the past three years. He has volunteered more than 500 hours and raised $25,000 to run the camp, which hosts 250 campers from six local schools.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program recognizes the top middle and high school volunteers in each state and the District of Columbia, and will name America’s top 10 youth volunteers in May. More than 275,000 students have been considered for the awards since the program began in 1995.
“The recipients of these awards vividly demonstrate that young people across America are making remarkable contributions to the health and vitality of their communities,” said John R. Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial. “They truly deserve all of the praise and encouragement we can give them.”
