JUNIOR RECOGNIZED FOR WORK IN THE COMMUNITY

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April 15, 2025

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Jacob Evans honored for his work with the Detroit Police Athletic League and Charlotte's Wings.

Jacob Evans, a junior at Notre Dame Prep, recently was presented with the 2025 Youth Recognition Award by the board of directors of the Rochester Area Youth Assistance (RAYA), a nonprofit organization whose goal is to strengthen youth and families in the Rochester community.

The Youth Recognition Award recognizes students who have made a positive impact in their community or created a new opportunity through leadership to do positive things for people who need help.

Evans was selected for the award after donating more than 800 new baseballs and more than 300 new softballs to the Detroit Police Athletic League (PAL) through the first annual "Helping Others Play Like A Champion Ball Drive" at NPD, and for his work on the Youth Leadership Council for Charlotte’s Wings, a local nonprofit that provides books to children in hospitals and hospices throughout Michigan. 

Bobbie Hall, physical education department chair and health and English teacher at Notre Dame Prep, and Karen Holt, the executive director of Charlotte’s Wings, nominated the Rochester resident for the award.

"Jacob truly is a mission-driven student at NDP," Hall said. "His desire and passion for serving others is clearly evident in the initiative he created for the Detroit Police Athletic League."

She adds that she can tell much about a person by their actions.

"And it is obvious through Jacob's leadership and actions that he is resourceful, generous and committed to leaving others better off than he found them. True servant-leadership is in his DNA and he continues to make a positive impact on others. I am proud to know him and nominate him."

Evan admits he was a little taken aback after learning of the recognition.

"I was surprised and very excited as I did not know I had been nominated," he said. "But I am very grateful for the people who nominated me since it's a tremendous honor to receive a community-based award like this one."

He said his motivation for doing such work within the community comes from a number of sources.

"As far as my work with PAL, playing sports has always been a significant part of my life," he said. "In middle school, my basketball team played in a league that was hosted by PAL. I learned about PAL’s history and mission of providing opportunities for kids to play sports who otherwise lack the resources and opportunities to do so."

But it was a week-long trip last June to South Dakota to rehab homes on the Rosebud Indian Reservation that convinced him to find a way to serve those closer to home.

"On the long drive home, I started to think about how I could help others during the school year," he said. "I contacted PAL and asked what sporting good items they needed most and they said baseballs and softballs. So with the unwavering support of our principal, Mrs. [Kim] Anderson, I was able to create NDP’s first annual Helping Others Play Like Champions Ball Drive." 

Evans, who plays basketball and tennis for the Irish, adds that he's already hard at work prepping for the Second Annual Helping Others Play Like Champions campaign that will kick off in August.

Evans' work with Charlotte's Wings was rooted in his family's friendship with a woman who lost her 5-month-old baby girl, Charlotte, to a rare and incurable brain disease.

From that tragedy, according to Evans, Charlotte’s Wings was created for the sole purpose of donating new books that children in hospitals can keep. Today, the organization donates recreational books to hospitals for the enjoyment of their youngest patients as well as other types of books and resources to help families cope with sometimes devastating diagnoses.

"For the past two years, I've served on CW’s youth leadership council," Evans said. "The council’s biggest project is to assist in organizing and running CW’s annual bocce ball fundraiser at Palazzo di Bocce in Lake Orion." 

Last year, the event raised approximately $17,000 and CW used the proceeds to purchase more than 1,000 books. Throughout the year, Evans and the youth council also support CW as needed with book drives and by placing Charlotte Wing’s bookplates on all of the donated books.

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.