Trio of students honored
3 to receive medals at Cumberland School Committee meeting for volunteer efforts
CUMBERLAND — Three local students – one from Garvin Memorial School and two from Cumberland High School – will each be presented with medals at tonight’s School Committee meeting, honoring them for their volunteering efforts.
Emily Raimondi, a fifth-grader at Garvin Memorial School, will be presented with an engraved silver medallion, recognizing her selection by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards as one of Rhode Island’s top youth volunteers. Cumberland High School senior Olivia Barboza and freshman Connor Enestvedt will each receive bronze medallions to recognize their selection as Prudential Spirit of Community Distinguished Finalists.
Created in 1995, The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards is the nation’s largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service. According to the Prudential website, the program honors middle- and high-school students for outstanding service to others at the local, state, and national level.
Raimondi will be honored with her silver medal tonight for her efforts in collecting gifts for children from low-income families and homeless pets in an animal shelter. She’s also raised nearly $10,000 over the past four years for people with spinal cord injuries.
During the holidays, the 10-year-old Raimondi hosts a party for the Toys for Tots program, which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them Christmas presents. On her
birthday, she throws another party and asks friends to bring donations of pet food and pet toys, instead of gifts for her.
“I bring all of the donations to the animal shelter, which is always so much fun because I love going to see all the dogs and cats and knowing that they will be happier,” she said in a quote on the Prudential website.
As for her efforts to raise money for people with spinal cord injuries, Raimondi’s funds go to the Travis Roy Foundation, which was established by Roy, a former Boston University hockey player who was paralyzed from the neck down at age 20, when he was 11 seconds into his first collegiate hockey game.
“I was in an accident and my neck hurt and I was scared I was going to be like Travis,” she said, according to the Prudential website. “Everything was
OK, but I wanted to be sure that people who had spinal cord injuries would get the help they needed.”
To raise funds, Raimondi sells cakes that she bakes and decorates from scratch. She also hosts skating events and karate parties, and publicizes these activities by speaking to classes at her school and making Facebook videos explaining spinal cord injuries.
“Through community service I learned that I can do many kind things, and that it means a lot to other people, and that makes me happy,” she said.
As a state honoree, Emily will receive $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. in May for a series of national recognition events.
The other other top Rhode Island finalist was Kierra Giarrusso, 17, of Exeter.
Barboza will be feted for her efforts in recruiting volunteers to help her create and send 62 menstrual hygiene care kits for female students attending school in
rural northern Ghana. She’s also raised money for a health care educator to teach the recipients about menstrual health, and hopes the care kits empower girls to continue attending school and complete their education, according to her profile on the Prudential website.
Enestvedt has spent hundreds of volunteer hours planting, tending, and harvesting crops for the Historic Metcalf-Franklin Farm, a town-owned farm that provides organic vegetables for those experiencing food insecurity. Along with general farm work, the 14-year-old Cumberland High freshman has also educated others about the project, which donates an average of 40,000 pounds of food each year.
The three students will be commended during tonight’s School Committee meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Transitional Building cafeteria at 2602 Mendon Road.