For Immediate Release: March 13, 2014
Further information: Rachel Flor (617) 514-1662, rachel.flor@jfklfoundation.org
www.jfklibrary.org
BOSTON, MA – One hundred middle school students from across Massachusetts were honored with the John F. Kennedy Make a Difference Award™ on Thursday, March 13th at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in recognition of volunteer work the students have performed in their communities.
Student projects include helping fellow students who have disabilities, working at local food pantries and senior centers, developing outreach efforts to discourage cyber-bullying, volunteering for Best Buddies, and fundraising for various relief efforts around the world. Among other cities and towns, the students hail from schools in Barnstable, Dorchester, Dracut, Everett, Longmeadow, Provincetown, Quincy, Roxbury and Winchester.
The John F. Kennedy Make a Difference Award™ is given to students who are nominated by a teacher or principal for an outstanding contribution they have made to their school, neighborhood, town, or the global community.
“President Kennedy believed that every person can make a difference and each of us should try,” said Library Director Tom Putnam. “These students are an inspiring example of JFK's timeless call to service.”
At the ceremony, each student received a personalized certificate recognizing their work on the project for which they were nominated.
Massachusetts State Treasurer Steve Grossman delivered remarks to students and their families about the call to public service and its power to transform people and their communities.
The John F. Kennedy Make a Difference Award™ is sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1984 to provide financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.