Benny, his brother, and sister had been living at the Jesse Lee Mission Home and attending its school in Seward, Alaska after their mother died and their father was in poor health. At night, Benny world gaze at the sky and image himself growing up to be a strong fisherman guiding his boat by the North Star.

While Benny was in seventh grade, the American Legion sponsored the 1927 Territorial Flag Contest opened to 7th-12th graders throughout Alaska. Many people were hopeful that the territory would gain statehood soon. Optimistic Benny designed a flag for the contest and submitted it with a written explanation. "The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaskan [star-shaped] flower. The North Star is for the future State of Alaska, the most northerly of the Union. The dipper is for the [Ursa Major Constellation] Great Bear - symbolizing strength." Benny was too shy to show his drawing to anyone and believed that the other children's drawings were much better than his.

Competing against 141 other entries, Benny's design won first place and became the Alaskan Territorial flag. Benny received a gold pocket watch engraved with his flag design. He also won a trip to Washington, D. C. to present the first Alaska flag to President Calvin Coolidge.

In 1935, inspired by Benny's design, Marie Drake, of the Alaska Department of Education, wrote a poem entitled "Alaska's Flag". It was set to music and adopted as the official song of the Territory of Alaska in 1955.

On January 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state, and Benny's original award-winning design remained Alaska's official flag.

After creating a plan and obtaining support from her family, Anna sent out information about her project to potential eyewear donors, created a Web site, and then solicited funds to purchase supplies. At first, Anna's family helped examine, clean, sort, inventory, bag, and box the donations, Then her church youth group volunteered their assistance. Since then, Sight Angels has become a primary reading glasses supplier for the Denver Rescue Mission, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, and Stout Street Clinic.

As a student of Elizabeth Middle School, Anna was honored by Prudential as one of America's Top Ten Youth Volunteers for 2004.

When their father had surgery in 1997, Amanda and her sister spent hours in hospital waiting rooms with nothing to do but watch television. They began bringing books from home and leaving them for other children to read at the hospital. Amanda saw how well they were received and thought about doing more. She collected 800 books at her school the first year and organzied student volunteers to collect books in their schools or churches. She also asked libraries and recycling centers for their discarded books.

Amanda makes flyers and sends e-mail appeals to potential donors in addition to decorating collection boxes, picking up donations, and sorting and distributing the books. Her collection drives take place each spring and fall, yielding more than 10,000 books annually, and have expanded to homeless shelters, clinics, and literacy projects. "So many kids take it for granted that they have good books and know how to read," Amanda said.

As a student of Montrose School, Amanda was honored by Prudential as one of America's Top Ten Volunteers for 2004.

When Kristal learned that her best friend's mother suffered from lupus, a disease with no cure, Kristal knew she had to help. She decided to collect round rocks and paint them to look like ladybugs, and then sell them to help fund research efforts to cure lupus. "We set a goal of $1,000 in a year," said Kristal, who enlisted the help of friends and family in her project. She obtained permission to sell her work at a friend's store and her mother's work place. An article in the local newspaper helped spread the word, and Kristal's first 500 rocks sold out within three months. "The hardest part was finding all the rocks," she explains. Sales of Kristal's ladybug rocks now total over $25,000, with all profits going to the National Lupus Foundation of America. She has been contacted by kids in other states who want to join the cause. "I learned that even the smallest idea can become huge," she says. "We haven't gotten a cure yet, but we are still trying."

Kristal, a seventh-grader at Pine Middle School, was honored by Prudential as one of America's Top Ten Volunteers for 2003.