Jacob Glorioso, 13, is one of two students named as Ohio’s top youth volunteers of 2013 by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. Glorioso was nominated by Genoa Middle School in Westerville. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, now in its 18th year, is conducted by Prudential in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Administrators (NASSP).
Glorioso, an eighth-grader at Genoa Middle School, helps supply children in need with items their families might not otherwise be able to afford through “Children Supporting Children,” the non-profit organization he co-founded in 2009. On a trip to New York City with his family, Glorioso could not believe there were so many homeless people. “I didn’t want that to happen in my community, so I started to volunteer,” he said. Initially, he and a friend started a pre-school babysitting service and donated the proceeds to a homeless shelter in New York City.
But they wanted to have an impact on their own community, too. So with the help of their parents, the friends formed their own nonprofit and began partnering with local agencies to benefit children in central Ohio. In particular, Glorioso has worked closely with the Westerville Area Resource Ministry food pantry to distribute seasonal bags of items to disadvantaged children. The bags contain warm hats, gloves and hot chocolate in the winter, books and beach towels in the summer and school supplies in the fall. His group also has donated packages of personal care items, used sports equipment and garden produce through the food pantry.
As a State Honoree, Glorioso will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington D.C., where he will join the top two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for four days of national recognition events. During the trip, 10 students will be named America’s top youth volunteers.