Ludacris Wins 2007 Spirit of Youth Award

Ludacris and his charitable organization, The Ludacris Foundation, will receive the National Runaway Switchboard’s (NSR) 2007 “Spirit of Youth” award at the annual Spirit of Youth Benefit on November 1 in Chicago, Ill. The “Spirit of Youth” award recognizes individuals who help to keep America’s runaway children off the street. Luda raised awareness for the cause on his 2006 hit, “Runaway Love,” off his Grammy Award winning album, Release Therapy. “Since Ludacris and The Ludacris Foundation have been involved, we have experience a 50 percent increase in calls to our hotline, and the number of visitors to our website has increased more than 60 percent,” says NRS executive director, Maureen Blaha. “I am extremely happy my association with the National Runaway Switchboard has had a positive impact on reaching our to runaways and potential runaways,” Ludacris said in a statement. “When I wrote the song, I wanted young people to know running away from their problems is not the answer and that they did not have to face every problem alone.”