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Prudential Spirit winner

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Westhampton Beach High School junior Emily Arpino has received a Prudential Spirit of Community Award for recently spearheading a very successful breast cancer awareness and fundraising project.

A member of her school’s varsity cheerleading team, Arpino earned the recognition for making pink cheerleading bows, which she adorned with breast cancer ribbon decals and rhinestones, and selling them to cheer teams across Long Island. Her project raised $4,280 for the LI2Day Walk, which will take place on June 8. 

The Westhampton Beach junior said she came up with the idea after searching for pink cheer bows for her team to wear during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, last October. Unable to find any, she opted to make and sell her own and donate all the proceeds.

This is not the first community service project Arpino has been involved in. Through the student travel program Rustic Pathways, she has ventured to Costa Rica to assist with a sea turtle project and will be heading to Peru to work on a water restoration project in the Sacred Valley. 

Along with cheering, Arpino is a baton twirler and participates in her school’s music program.    

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program recognizes middle and high school students for outstanding service to others at the local, state and national level. More than 125,000 students have been honored since 1995.