Melissa Monette of Mililani was named one of America's top 10 volunteers yesterday in a ceremony at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.

Monette, a 16-year-old Mililani High School student selected from a nationwide field of close to 20,000, won a Prudential Spirit of Community Award.

She received a personal award of $5,000, an engraved gold medallion, a crystal trophy for her school, and a $5,000 grant from The Prudential Foundation for the nonprofit charitable organization of her choice.

Also honored was 13-year-old Kristyn Wong, an eighth-grader at Kaimuki Middle School.

She and Monette were named Hawaii's top youth volunteers in February, and were officially recognized last night at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, along with the top two youth volunteers of every other state and the District of Columbia.

At that event, all Prudential Spirit of Community State Honorees for 2009 were presented with $1,000 awards, and congratulated by former first lady Laura Bush.

Monette founded a nonprofit organization that has provided more than 13,000 pounds of fresh produce and canned goods to low-income senior citizens and homeless people over the past two years.

She became aware of poverty in her community by participating in church, school and Girl Scout programs to aid the needy. But the problem really hit home when her own grandmother turned to a food pantry for help and was denied assistance because she was not homeless.

"It is very difficult and traumatic for (seniors) when they get turned away from nonprofit agencies distributing food because they are not poor enough to qualify," Monette said.

Wong has been a member of the Junior Optimist Club at her school since 2006, and last year was named Junior Optimist of the Year for the outstanding role she has played in the club's community service projects.

Wong has visited and entertained nursing home residents, worked at Thanksgiving dinners for seriously ill children and their families, collected food for the Hawaii Food Bank, cleaned up a local park, mopped the deck of the USS Missouri, entertained kids at the Okinawan Festival, and helped raise money for organizations such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters. She also has recruited other students to join the club, and assists her club's adult adviser in planning club events.

Applications for the 2009 awards program were submitted last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of the Points of Light Institute's HandsOn Network.

The top middle level and high school applicants in each state were selected as State Honorees in February, and were flown to Washington this week with their parents for four days of special recognition events.

Ten of the 102 State Honorees were named America's top youth volunteers for 2009.

The ceremony can be viewed at http://spirit.prudential.com.