CAPE TEEN HONORED FOR VOLUNTEERISM

When Traci Taylor was in the hospital as a cancer patient she thought children needed something to make hospital stays a little easier. Working with her family and a local church, she built the Toy Train.

Taylor, a Cape Girardeau Junior High School student, stocks a cart with toys for children who are patients at Southeast Missouri Hospital and raises money by speaking to local service clubs and encouraging donations.

Taylor, 15, was one of two Missouri teens to be honored for her volunteer effort in the national Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program.

She will receive a silver medallion and a $1,000 award and will participate in a national recognition event in May in Washington, D.C., where she will be a finalist for one of 10 national community service awards.

The other Missouri winner is Patricia Meyers, 18, of Rolla, who was recognized for her "Trip on This" drug- and alcohol-abuse-prevention campaign.

A total of 104 honorees -- one middle-school and one high-school student from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico -- were named from applications submitted to their local schools detailing their community service activities.

At the Washington, D.C., event, five middle-school and five high-school students will be named as the nation's Top 10 Prudential Spirit of Community youth volunteers for 1996. Each national honoree will receive a gold medallion, an additional $5,500 award and a trophy for his or her school.