Seton Catholic Prep freshman Scarlett Clegg was recently named the third-place winner of the Diocese of Phoenix’s 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service Project Award for her efforts in bringing the Angel Tree Service Project to her school.

“I feel proud, and honestly, when I received the email that I had won, I didn’t respond for two days because I was so excited,” Clegg said. “I really didn’t think I was going to win.”

Clegg and her family have organized an Angel Tree Drive at her home parish for years. She recently took over handling the drive from her parents.

Upon a visit during her PASS Day to Sunshine Acres in Mesa earlier in the fall, she was inspired to do the same through Seton Catholic.

“I wanted to give them (the children at Sunshine Acres) Christmas,” Clegg said. “I really wanted to give that joy and do my part during Christmas. When I told my friends my idea they were like everyone is going to support it.”

With encouragement from her friends and some help from Robbie Penate, Seton Catholic’s activities and campus ministry coordinator, Clegg set out Angel Trees across campus, wrote out and placed tags with gifts for the children in need on the trees.

She then put out collection bins for when the tags were filled.

Clegg’s project received 70 gifts going to the less fortunate during the holiday season — a number that impressed her, considering it's the first year of doing the drive at Seton Catholic.

Clegg’s efforts were submitted to the Diocese of Phoenix, where she earned her third-place award. She and the other recipients were honored at the Jan. 18 Martin Luther King prayer breakfast.

Clegg said she was grateful to have seen her hard work honored and also grateful to the Seton Catholic family for getting behind her project to help those in need.

“Without this community, without Mr. Penate’s help, we wouldn’t have gotten as much support as we did,” Clegg said.

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