After seeing a news report about the many families that did not have turkeys for Thanksgiving, Daniel and Betsy began collecting donated turkeys from their neighbors. "Since Thanksgiving is a time for all of us to be thankful for what we have," Daniel explains, "I wanted to help all those less fortunate people to have a turkey on their Thanksgiving table." Since then, their work has grown into a year-round effort and a formal organization called Turkeys "R" Us, which has been renamed Turkeys 4 America.

Daniel kicks off the process each year by meeting with the Greater Boston Food Bank to estimate how many turkeys will be needed and then negotiates the best price he can get from a supplier. Next, he and his sister reach out to groups, schools and individuals to support the turkey drive, distributing flyers, soliciting publicity and communicating through a Web site. They now receive offers of help from all over the country and have to respond to hundreds of e-mail messages year.

As an eighth-grader at Thurston Middle School, Daniel was honored by Prudential as one of America's Top Ten Volunteers for 2002.

Inspired by the story of a 13-year-old girl who raised $49,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Anna decided to raise even more. "Since I have cystic fibrosis, I naturally have a personal interest in finding a cure," Anna said. She recruited friends, relatives, church members, and the families of other cystic fibrosis sufferers to help with her projects. In addition, she publishes a newsletter several times a year, keeping more than 300 sponsors aware of her efforts. "Since I am involved in many studies at the University of North Carolina, I can see how the money raised for cystic fibrosis is used."

As an eighth-grader at Forest Hills Middle School, Anna was honored by Prudential as one of America's Top Ten Volunteers for 2002.

Then, every Monday last summer, Sasha and her helpers hosted a "learning day" at the park for homeless kids, featuring gardening, fishing, educational tours, environmental readings and wildlife lectures. At summer's end, the program culminated with a big party for the kids, complete with entertainment, crafts, games, and gifts.

As an eighth-grader at Norton Middle School, Sasha was honored by Prudential as one of the National Top Ten Volunteers of 2003.

While walking one day with his mother four years ago, Clayton saw a neighbor throwing out two perfectly good bicycles, and thought "it would be really great to fix up those bikes and give them to kids who would really like to have one." In particular, he had in mind the children of prison inmates. "I knew that those kids hardly got anything for Christmas," he said. Clayton persuaded a local radio station to announce that he was looking for used bicycles, and soon other news media began reporting on his project. Initially, he received so many donations he had to turn some away, but ended up refurbishing 100 bikes the first year with the help of several friends who came to be know as Clayton's Backyard Crew.

Clayton also rounded up donations of bike helmets, lock, and other accesories to go with the restored bicycles. His crew repaired and donated 300 more during the following two years.

The kids who receive the bicycles, which are distributed through the Angel Tree Prison Ministry, think they're from their parents in prison.

As an eighth-grader at William P. Hobby Middle School, Clayton was honored by Prudential as one of the National Top Ten Volunteers of 2003.