Teens receive national awards for their volunteer work

Utah students Tiffany Jencks, 16, of South Jordan, and Monroe Dauwalder, 13, of Alpine, were honored in the nation's capital Thursday for their outstanding volunteer work during the presentation of the 2008 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

The two teens, along with 100 other youth from across the country, received $1,000 awards, as well as personal congratulations from former first lady Laura Bush at the 14th annual awards ceremony and gala dinner reception at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

"The young people receiving these awards genuinely care about making a difference in the lives of others and have accomplished so much — in their own communities and around the world," Bush said.

Jencks, a member of the Salt Lake County 4-H and a sophomore at Bingham High School in South Jordan, wrote a book to educate people about homelessness, supported an academic club for under-served minority students at her school, and helped her family deliver school, first-aid, and personal-care supplies to impoverished people in three Central American countries.

Dauwalder, a seventh-grader at Timberline Middle School and a certified volunteer animal trainer, helps disabled people teach their dogs to perform a wide variety of useful tasks to assist them.

— Amy K. Stewart