Dilocker honored for youth volunteerism at national ceremony in Washington D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Iowa’s top two youth volunteers of 2013, Katelyn Cinnamon, 18, of West Des Moines and Samantha Dilocker, 13, of Red Oak, were honored in the nation’s capital last night for their outstanding volunteer service during the 18th annual presentation of The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.
Cinnamon and Dilocker – along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – each received $1,000 awards and personal congratulations from Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey and Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix at an award ceremony and gala dinner reception held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), named Cinnamon and Dilocker Iowa’s top high school and middle level youth volunteers in February. In addition to their cash awards, they each received an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip with a parent to Washington, D.C., for four days of recognition events.
Cinnamon, a senior at Valley High School, has raised thousands of dollars to purchase iPad tablets for each exam room at the Blank Children’s Hospital Hematology/Oncology Clinic, and to send young cancer patients to a weeklong camp through the Children’s Cancer Connection. While volunteering to work on craft projects with kids at the clinic, Cinnamon was so impressed with their bravery and resilience that she wanted to do more for them. “They are some of the strongest, bravest, happiest kids I know,” she said. “They deserve to have something to look forward to.”
Dilocker, an 8th grader at Red Oak Middle School, initiated an annual auction of baked goods and crafts at her local Elks Lodge that has raised more than $22,000 over the past seven years for a local food pantry, a scholarship fund, a community toy drive and a child with cancer. In 2006, Samantha’s mother’s employer announced that it would be closing. “There was a lot of discussion in our home and community about people losing their jobs,” said Dilocker. “I didn’t really understand what it all meant, but I knew I wanted to help.”
She proposed a bake sale to her mother, who suggested the local Elks Lodge might want to help. Together, they decided to ask lodge members to donate baked goods for a Christmas auction. Dilocker asked a family friend to serve as auctioneer; solicited donations of cakes, cookies and pies from Elks members; made posters and signs to advertise the event; and helped run the auction.
“We were shocked at how many things were donated,” said Dilocker. When the final tally exceeded $1,000, “we knew we had to do this again next year,” she said. The auction has since grown to include craft items as well as baked goods, and the proceeds have ballooned: $3,700 has been donated to a food pantry, $8,100 to a Christmas “share-a-toy” program, $3,300 to the National Elks Foundation and scholarship funds, and $6,100 to area families with children with leukemia.
“It has been an honor for me to present the proceeds of these auctions on behalf of so many good people of the Elks Lodge,” said Dilocker.