YODER – Southeast High School senior Logan Grosz has been selected for honors, based on his volunteer work at Children’s Hospital in Denver.

Grosz, 18, was awarded the Prudential Spirit of Community Award representing Wyoming. One high school student and one middle school student is selected annually from each state to receive the recognition.

Grosz was honored recently for giving back to Children’s Hospital in gratitude for saving his life with an emergency transfusion. 

After being saved twice at Children’s Hospital, Grosz sees his life as unchanged. But he has a need to help the hospital where he has spent a lot of time since birth and has help to make a difference in the children who are getting treatment there. Grosz has a rare blood disease that affects his autoimmune system and his mother has had to rush him to Children’s Hospital on more than one occasion for blood transfusions that saved his life. 

As a patient, he experienced the long waiting time for doctors to make diagnoses and to be released. Going for check-ups every couple of months, he wanted to give back to the Hospital for the children. Grosz organized a fundraiser to collect toys at Christmas and video games for the check-out center to update the video game collection 

“When I stayed there I mainly played video games,” he said. “My mom would go down stairs and find whatever video games I wanted to play, I raised enough money to get newer titles for them.” Grosz raised $7500 in cash donations for DVDs, video games, crafts and developmental toys for the hospital and its young patients. 

Raising money for projects within the community, Grosz started winning awards, recognizing his volunteer service. In the last 18 months, he has received the Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals for the Prudential Spirit of Community Award for Wyoming. The award is presented in Washington, D.C., where he met Lindsey Vonn and Miss America Cara Mund, as well as the CEO of Prudential, he said.

“We didn’t get to meet anyone big time,” he said. 

The award Logan will receive is the Congressional Award for volunteering. He has already won the Bronze and Silver, the next is the Gold. He stumbled on to the Congressional Award while in Washington from Mike Lyndsey.

Grosz was nominated to be an Ambassador for the hospital because of his fundraising efforts. 

“I love giving back to the hospital, I don’t do it for the awards. I do it to help the hospital,” he said, “I went to a golf course and did a speech. The money raised went to the 7th floor (at Children’s), which is the Blood and the cancer floor.”

How has his volunteering changed his life? 

“I don’t know how it has changed my life honestly,” Grosz said. “It was amazing meeting all these kids with the awards and what they’re doing.” 

He tried to compare their project with his humbling himself, snoting theirs seemed to be more important. He has met the last two Miss America’s, making a television commercial with one about Children’s Hospital. But that is not as important as giving back to the hospital.

After graduating, his plans this summer include showing sheep at the fair, going swimming and fishing with friends. His plans after summer vacation, he said, “Give back to my community for a greater cause than myself.” He also plans to continue his education at Casper College and major in social work. 

And Grosz has already found new causes. He is asking his classmates to bring in toiletries for the Veterans Administration Hospital in Omaha, Neb. He had heard from his aunt, a nurse at the hospital, that a 94-year-old veteran patient came in by ambulance, he had nobody to pack some things for him. He needed a tooth brush and the hospital had none to give so he did not get one, this 94-year-old Veteran could not brush his teeth these are one of the things that are not bought but come only by donation. Logan decided to help, talking with the superintendent of schools he was asked to make a flyer which is going out to all the schools. Logan has also started crocheting tiny hats for Neonatal Intensive Care Quality babies to keep their heads warm and is asking that if people want to help, he will take any crocheted hats that will be donated.