Two Hawaii students, Jacqueline Ho, 17, of Pearl City and Megan Meimei Nakahara, 14, of Kamuela were honored in the nation's capital Sunday night for their outstanding volunteer work during the presentation of The 2008 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

Those two,- along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country, received $1,000 awards as well as personal congratulations from Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, at the 13th annual award ceremony and gala dinner reception, held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Jacqueline and Megan were named the top high school and middle level youth volunteers in Hawaii this past February.

In addition to their cash awards, they received engraved silver medallions and an all-expense-paid trip with their parents to Washington, D.C., for this week's recognition events.

Jacqueline, a senior at Kamehameha High School, has been an active volunteer for Special Olympics since she was 10. She said was inspired to get involved by her parents' work with Special Olympics: her mother is a vice president of Special Olympics Hawaii, and her father is a weight-lifting coach for the organization.

Jacqueline began as a bowling partner for Special Olympics athletes, then became a soccer referee. As her experience increased, Jacqueline took on a leadership role at soccer events, helped with paperwork, and assisted athletes in a variety of events. Jacqueline has encouraged many of her friends to volunteer for Special Olympics, as well. Jacqueline's main goal is to make sure the athletes have fun, which requires patience and a positive attitude, she said. "Working with Special Olympics made me the type of person who stands up for others that are unable to stand up for themselves."

Megan, an eighth-grader at Hawaii Preparatory Academy, played a lead role in a monitoring project that collects data on Hawaiian green sea turtles and raises public awareness about the plight of this endangered species. She said her interest in the turtles was sparked by a school field trip in the fourth grade. Two years later, when she encountered an opportunity to volunteer with a turtle-tagging group, she jumped at the chance. She first had to learn about the turtles so she could help educate the public about the project. Soon, she was going on regular data-collection trips, carefully measuring turtles' width, length, thickness and weight so that their growth could be tracked over time. Megan has participated in more than 20 such trips, and along with others in her school, has been working with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel to improve turtle research.

Applications for the 2008 awards program were submitted last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and Volunteer Centers affiliated with the Points of Light & Hands On Network.