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Michael Heim is one of 102 young honorees in the nation who won the “Prudential Spirit of Community” award and could be named as one of the top 10. 

This May, 14-year-old Michael Heim will be feted in the nation’s capital and just may come home as a $5,000 winner.

The son of Daniel and Sue Heim of Sartell, Heim – a Sartell Middle School student -– was recently named one of 102 winners of the “Prudential Spirit of Community” award. There are two winners chosen from each state (one from junior or middle school, one from senior high school), plus two from the District of Columbia. Heim won the middle-school category for an essay he wrote about the personal and social rewards of volunteering – in particular for a project he organized to help the Anna Marie’s Women’s Shelter. His principal, Julie Tripp, entered the essay, but Heim had no idea he would have a remote chance of winning, considering how many thousands of entrants there would be.

Lo and behold, he was stunned last week when news arrived in the mail that he was one of the two Minnesota winners.

“My family and I had talked about the possibility of winning, but I never thought I could win it,” he said. “It is a cool honor, and it’s nice to get $1,000.”

From May 5-8, Heim and his parents will be in Washington, D.C. for an honors luncheon and tours of the city.

At that time, 10 winners will be named from the 102 nationwide nominees. Each winner will receive $5,000, which they can spend however they like.

“If I win, I’ll save almost all of it for my college education,” Heim said.

It’s no wonder Heim is a winner; volunteerism is an integral part of who he is.

He volunteers at Place of Hope, serving dinners a few times each year; he helps as a ticket-taker at River Bat games; and he serves as a greeter and helps run the slide shows at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Sartell.

He has also done a volunteer project for Anna Marie’s, a women’s and children’s safety shelter in St. Cloud.

“Knowing you can help is a great feeling,” he said. “It’s a good feeling when you help them, and it’s a good feeling for them, too, and they really appreciate it.”

Heim is certainly not new to honors and other forms of recognition.

He is one of four people selected as “Ambassador of the Year” for the “China People to People” program. He was one of 113 youth nominated. Last summer, Heim was chosen by People to People as a student ambassador to China, where he took extensive tours and learned a lot about that country.

Heim, whose favorite school subject is math, plans to enter the field of engineering, architecture or some form of mechanics and building. He is currently using his mechanical-construction skills by helping build the sets for Sartell Middle School’s upcoming production of the musical play, “Aladdin.”

The following is Heim’s award-winning essay:
Why Volunteering is a Joy
by Michael Heim

What inspires individuals to volunteer? Is it peer pressure, teachers, parents or does it come from inside?

I was inspired by my delegation leader, Linda, from the People to People organization.

Linda encouraged me to collect paper products for a charity in St Cloud. I chose to collect for Anna Marie’s House, a battered-women’s shelter.

Spending an evening pondering the challenge, I organized my thoughts on how I could efficiently collect the most paper products. I finally decided to encourage my 200 fellow schoolmates to help me reach my goal. My goal was to bring in enough paper products to fill an SUV in one week.

During my art class, I made posters to hang around the school and church to encourage students and parishioners to help stuff the SUV. I also made daily announcements at my school to encourage my schoolmates.

Helping the battered-women’s shelter was important to me because our family has taken care of two foster children that came from abusive homes. By collecting paper products for the battered-women’s shelter I was able to help them reduce their expenses for paper products so the shelter was able to use that money for other expenses.

The most difficult part of this project was finding a place at school to store all the paper products that were being brought in to stuff the SUV. This was a good problem to have.

Working on this volunteer project taught me to be organized, responsible, how to encourage and motivate people and it also gave me a great deal of satisfaction reaching my goal and helping the women and children at the shelter.

The whole stuffing-the-truck was a memorable experience for me. Watching 200 students enthusiastically work together for a great cause. When some of the students helped load the paper products into the SUV, I was pleasantly surprised that the SUV was overflowing. My heart leapt for joy at how generous the students and families at my school were. At the conclusion of this project, I felt it was a huge success. I was very thankful for everyone’s assistance to help me reach my goal.

Volunteering has been a big part of my family’s life. It is hard to explain the feelings I get when I hand a plate of food to a hungry adult or child and they give me a smile and politely say, “Thank you.” Or when I help my mom drop off gifts for the families our parish adopted for Christmas. The families are so thankful when they see the generosity of so many people.

I would encourage everyone to volunteer in whatever capacity they are able to. Volunteering is a great way to fill a need we all have in us. There are so many volunteer opportunities in our own communities; we just have to look around.