KATONAH, N.Y., May 21, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In an era defined by historic levels of bullying, divisiveness, and yes, even college scandals, Trophy Central, Inc. is taking a different direction - rewarding high school students who exhibit exemplary levels of kindness. Students can apply to win a scholarship towards their first year of college by demonstrating outstanding citizenship, sportsmanship, charity, and neighborly benevolence.
"We seem to have taken several steps backwards recently, or perhaps worse, we have completely lost our footing. With every message amplified by social media, we need to drown out negative behavior by recognizing and promoting acts of kindness to an even higher degree. So, we decided we want to do our part to help change things. We started this popular program last year to help students pay for college – which has become so costly," explains Neil Rader, Founder and President of Trophy Central, Inc. "But our scholarship has a twist. Unlike traditional scholarships that reward academic or sports achievement, ours rewards kindness. Nominations for our 2nd Annual Trophy Central Sportsmanship and Compassion Scholarship Award are being accepted now through September 2019. For details visit the official Trophy Central Scholarship Award page. Students can also win our Random Acts of Trophyness Contest and receive a beautiful engraved trophy or plaque as well as a mention on our website's blog."
The 2019 recipient, Devon Willis, was awarded both prizes for her extraordinary display of kindness and hardworking philanthropy to help a young man receive life-saving surgery. When the student learned that her best friend's brother needed a prohibitively expensive heart transplant, Willis spontaneously leapt into action. Among other grassroots efforts, the young girl launched a social media campaign and sold raffle tickets in her hometown. She also orchestrated an effective media advocacy campaign, personally appearing on multiple TV shows and doing newspaper interviews. Her work helped to build publicity for her fundraising efforts with the Children's Organ Transplant Association.
She also inspired others to acts of kindness that ultimately generated more than $80,000 in donations to help pay for the surgery. Many of those vital contributions were in amounts as small as a dollar or two, as people far and wide, of all ages and economic brackets, did their part to help. The project Willis started convincingly demonstrated that during a divisive time in America, being charitable toward others can also "go viral" in a positively contagious way.
"We were so moved by this girl's immense kindness and selfless determination," Rader says, "that we engraved her custom trophy with the words The Compassionate Heart Award."
Motivated by the wonderful examples of these remarkable young people, Trophy Central had also decided to sponsor a new contest, the TrophyCentral Inspirational Leader of the Year (TILY), that will honor teachers, coaches, mentors, and volunteers in the community with gift certificates, trophies, & award plaques. Says Rader, "We would love to hear from people across the United States with their stories as they nominate the inspirational people who have touched their lives in meaningful ways." The deadline for submitting nomination entries is June, 30, 2019.
SOURCE Trophy Central
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