Exton resident Praneeth Alla, a junior at The Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square, has been named one of Pennsylvania’s two Youth Volunteers of 2018 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism.

Alla will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip in late April to Washington, D.C., where he will join the two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for four days of national recognition events.

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Alla spent more than 1,000 hours creating a website for a charity in India, improving its ability to collect and manage donations, publicize projects, and track income and expenditures. He also founded a network of youth clubs to raise money to improve the education of children in India. When Alla was a child, his father told him stories about growing up poor in the countryside of India.

The program judges also recognized eight other Pennsylvania students, two of whom reside in Chester County, as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service.

Nandini Bhatt and Sahitya Suresh, both of Malvern, are eighth-graders at Great Valley Middle School. Together, they created a project called “Cards for Care,” selling greeting cards printed with their handmade designs in exchange for a charitable donation. They were able to donate more than $600 to the Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia.

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