By Michael R. Ebert
michael.ebert@newsday.com
Meredith Burcyk, a senior at Northport High School, recently received the first Youth in Philanthropy Award from Huntington's Junior Welfare League.
In addition, she was named one of eight New York State distinguished finalists for the 2008 Prudential Spirit of Community Award from Prudential Financial for helping to raise more than $100,000 for disadvantaged people in Nicaragua.
"I used to be really into sports, but now it's community service,” said Burcyk, 17. "I think my first visit to Nicaragua really changed me.”
Since 2006, Burcyk has made three trips to Nicaragua with Students for 60,000, a high school club that provides aid to the needy. Last month, she and 47 other Northport students spent nine days building two houses in the town of Chacraseca and dug trenches for a pipeline in Nuevo Amanecer, a community of 350 inhabitants.
Locally, Burcyk teaches English to Spanish-speaking immigrants at La Casa Communal community center in Farmingdale and does recreational activities with the homeless through the Huntington Interfaith Homeless Initiative. "We play cards and keep them entertained,” she said.
Burcyk is president of her school's Future Educators Association, vice president of the Technology Honor Society, and a member of the National and Foreign Language honor societies.