San Bernardino, CA – The 19th annual Teens Make A Difference Awards Ceremony will take place at Inland Center Mall on Thursday, May 10th at 7:00pm Center Court. This ceremony recognizes local high school students for their outstanding volunteer service at community places such as libraries, hospitals, schools, nonprofits and community based organizations.

A total of 100,886 hours of service, a 30% increase, were volunteered by 1,205 high school students in the past year, a 34% increase. All students with 25 hours or more will be recognized and receive a goody bag filled with fun items including mall coupons from Inland Center stores and two tickets to the Inland Empire 66ers Baseball Game. The top student and school with the most volunteer hours will be recognized as well. The top student award is the “Top Dawg” Award and the top school award is a perpetual trophy. The value of a volunteer service hour is $24.18 as determined by the Independent Sector; therefore, a contribution valued at $2,439,423 has been provided to our community.

“The “Teens Make a Difference Awards” ceremony was created by Inland Center to encourage high school teens to volunteer in their communities and has grown from 35 students to over 1,200! “It’s wonderful to see all the high school students from so many different schools come together to celebrate volunteerism.” said Terri Relf, Senior Marketing Manager at Inland Center Mall, “This event continues to grow and this year we added four more schools. This truly is a testament to the all the high school students who do so much good right here in our community.”

Communities that have benefited from volunteer hours performed by the students are: Colton, Grand Terrace, Highland, Loma Linda, Mentone, Redlands, Rialto, San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga.

“United Way has a deep history in volunteer engagement. Volunteer Service provides local teens the opportunity to discover the rewards that can be derived from helping those less fortunate than ourselves, as well as helping cultivate a lifelong commitment to civic engagement.” Stated Doug Rowand, President and CPO, Arrowhead United Way.

“Volunteers, both individually and collectively, have the ability to powerfully impact their community,” said Gregory Bradbard, Inland Empire United Way CEO. “It is our pleasure to see so many local residents engaged on a daily basis in meaningful volunteer opportunities that truly improve the lives of individuals and families in need in the Inland Empire.”

Since the inception of the awards ceremony in 1993, we have recorded a total number of 9,018 volunteers completing 1,033,748 hours. This is a program of Inland Center Mall, Arrowhead United Way’s Volunteers United program and Inland Empire United Way’s Volunteer Initiative, Hands On Inland Empire. The mall is located at 500 Inland Center Drive, San Bernardino. For more info call Inland Center Mall at 909-884-7268 or log on to the mall’s website at www.inlandcenter.com.