Palatine's Rosie Colucci recognized as top student volunteer

Chalk up another honor for Palatine resident Rosie Colucci, a student at Plum Grove Junior High School in Rolling Meadows.

Rosie, 13, who has inoperable cancerous brain tumors and other health problems, is known in the community for spending countless hours raising awareness and money for research on the disease she's contended with most of her life.

In recognition of her work, Rosie recently was named one of America's top 10 youth volunteers at the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. The national program is sponsored by Prudential Financial, in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Prudential cited Rosie's leadership in collecting at least 60,000 toys, books, stuffed animals, games and other donations for hospitalized kids, while also raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund research for a cure for childhood cancer.

Rosie and the other award recipients were congratulated by Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn during a gala dinner reception at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Each honoree also received $1,000.