Mauldin Teen Named Top Volunteer

Nathaniel Stafford, 14, of Mauldin was named North Carolina’s top middle school volunteer for 2012 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism.

On Thursday, Nathaniel, who recently relocated to Mauldin from Fayetteville, NC, was presented with an engraved silver medallion by David Gray from Prudential in recognition of the accomplishment. The presentation occurred at the office in Mauldin.

Nate raised over $10,000 to buy mosquito bed nets for 1,000 families in Africa by hiking 100 miles in nine days, volunteering at local restaurants and conducting a coin drive at his school.

As a State Honoree, Nathaniel will receive $1,000, in addition to the medallion and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington DC, where he will join the top two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America’s top youth volunteers for 2012 at that time. 

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