Rep. McNerney Presents Pleasanton Student with Congressional Gold Awards

Rep. Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) presented three students from the 11th Congressional District with the Congressional Gold Award, the nation’s highest award for young people. 

Claire Williams of Pleasanton, Christine Langford of Ripon and Jonathan Menor of Stockton attended a ceremony in Washington, D.C. recently during which McNerney presented them with their awards.

“I’m thrilled to honor Christine, Jonathan and Claire for their Congressional Gold Medal Awards,” said McNerney in a statement.

“They each dedicated many hours to volunteering in the community and striving for personal development and physical fitness. I’m proud to recognize them for this special achievement.”

The Congressional Award is the United States Congress's award for young Americans.  The program is open to all 14- to 23-year-olds, who work to earn Bronze, Silver and Gold Congressional Award Certificates and Bronze, Silver and Gold Congressional Award Medals. 

Each level involves setting goals in four program areas; Volunteer Public Service, Personal Development, Physical Fitness, and Expedition/Exploration.

In order to earn the Congressional Award Gold Medal, each individual must complete a minimum of 400 hours of voluntary public service, 200 hours of personal development activities, 200 hours of physical fitness, and four consecutive days and nights of an exploration or expedition. 

Claire Williams completed over 600 hours of public service. She worked with students in need of literacy tutoring, served meals to the hungry, and helped with events for foster care children. Claire also improved her piano and tennis skills and traveled to Italy.

Christine Langford volunteered over 200 hours at a pre-school and another 200 hours at a local hospital.  She also learned to play the piano, improved her basketball skills and twice traveled to Guatemala. 

Jonathan Menor dedicated over 400 hours to volunteering at a local Boys and Girls Club.  He also interned at a local business, trained for a 5K run and traveled to Japan for two weeks.

Any young person between the ages of 14-23 may register for the Congressional Award program by calling 202-226-0130 or logging on to the web site: http://CongressionalAward.org.