(KNZA)--A Hiawatha Middle School student was among two Kansas youth honored for volunteerism during a ceremony this week in the nation’s capital.

13-year-old Sydney Smith and 18-year-old Grace McGowan, of Overland Park, were honored during the 22nd annual presentation of the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards Sunday night.

The pair—along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – each received $1,000 awards and personal congratulations from Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps at an award ceremony and gala dinner reception held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, named Smith and McGowan Kansas' top high school and middle level youth volunteers in February. In addition to their cash awards, they each received an engraved silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip with a parent to Washington, D.C., for four days of recognition events.

Smith, a seventh-grader at Hiawatha Middle School, raised nearly $1,800 for diabetes research by soliciting donations and selling homemade crafts in conjunction with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation annual fundraising walk in Kansas City. Smith has had Type 1 diabetes since she was 16 months old. “Currently, there is no cure,” she said. “Forty thousand people are diagnosed each year. In my middle school alone, I am one of two Type 1 diabetics. So, my reason for fundraising really hits home.”

“These honorees have done exemplary work to contribute to the health and vitality of their communities, and we look forward to seeing the great things they achieve in the future,” said John Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. “Congratulations to each of these extraordinary young volunteers.”

Youth volunteers in grades 5-12 were invited to apply for 2017 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards last fall. More than 31,000 middle level and high school students nationwide participated in this year’s program.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program was created in 1995 to identify and recognize young people for outstanding volunteer service – and, in so doing, inspire others to volunteer, too. In the past 22 years, the program has honored more than 120,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level.