LV teen volunteer given national honor

Friday, Feb. 7, 2003 | 9:58 a.m.

Whether it is fixing up the homes of low-income senior citizens, providing school supplies to disadvantaged children or cleaning up Red Rock Canyon, 17-year-old Holly Adamson finds great satisfaction in volunteering.

The Clark High School senior, who co-founded the Volunteer Youth Corps in Las Vegas, is being recognized for her work as one of the nation's top youth volunteers.

Adamson, who also founded the first Southern Nevada chapter of Junior Statesman of America, was named this week as one of America's 104 most outstanding youth volunteers by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for exemplary acts of volunteerism.

The organization selected two students from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as state honorees for the awards program, now in its eighth year.

Each of the state honorees receives $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., in May for several days of national recognition events.

"There is no better way to spend your time or to make a difference in the community than to volunteer," said Adamson, a native Las Vegan who was born at Nellis Air Force Base hospital.

"You make people's lives a little more comfortable and safer. And it definitely makes you feel good."

In her freshman year Adamson called the Volunteer Center of Southern Nevada, which was looking for teens to to start a youth volunteer network system that became the Volunteer Youth Corps.

Today that group hooks teens up with agencies looking for young volunteers. While a small percentage of the volunteers are doing it for probation programs, the majority do it for school projects or fun, Adamson said.

Every month the organization does its own projects such as the Lowe's Home Safety for Seniors project, where youths install safety items in the homes of low-income seniors.

The organization also does the Learning by Listening program, recording children's books on tapes that are distributed to low-income elementary schools and the Classroom on Wheels program. And they've done cleanups at Red Rock.

Adamson, who has a part-time job at Anchor Blue in Meadows mall and maintains a 4.1 grade point average, has served on the Student Council for four years.

"I was very surprised by the honor," she said, noting she has not yet decided which college she will attend.

Kristal DeRuise, 10, Mendive Middle School in Sparks, was the other state honoree.

The program is conducted by Prudential Financial, Inc. in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals.