Prudential honors Basking Ridge high school junior
Shannon McNamara recognized for founding nonprofit
July 15, 2010
Shannon McNamara, a junior at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge New Jersey, was awarded a Prudential Sprit of Community Award for her work in founding a nonprofit organization supplying books to schools in Tanzania. Shannon was one of only ten students nationwide to receive the honor.
The organization she founded, SHARE (www.shareinafrica.org), has funded libraries for three schools in Tanzania, supplied 21,000 books, and implemented a reading program for Tanzanian girls to attend after school. Ordinarily, girls would not have the same educational opportunities as boys in the country.
Shannon discovered the lack of educational equity on a trip to Tanzaniain in 2008. For that trip, Shannon collected 500 pounds of books and computer equipment to donate. Once there, she and her family restored a room in one of the schools and transformed it into a library with the books and computers she had collected.
Upon her return to the states, Shannon embarked upon speaking engagements with churches, scout groups, schools, and other community groups, and continued to raise funds to expand her programs.
To date, her programs are educating 150 Tanzanian girls, and the libraries are serving 2,500 students.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Award program, in conjunction with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, provides $5,000 grants to exceptional high school students each year, and donates an additional $5,000 to each honoree's charity of choice. 102 individual state winners were named as well. Shannon was one of two representatives from New Jersey at the award ceremony in Washington D.C. May 3.