Allison Austin and Jennifer Lugg, both students at the University of California, Davis, will receive the Congressional Gold Award this week in Washington, D.C., for their public-service contributions and exceptional activities. The U.S. Congress created the award in 1979 to recognize extraordinary achievements by young people. Award recipients are evaluated on a combination of four factors: voluntary community service, personal development, physical fitness and expedition activity. On Saturday, March 28, Austin and Lugg will be honored with a dinner at the nation's capital attended by legislators and will be given a tour of the Capitol and the White House. Fifty-eight students from the United States will receive the Gold Award. Austin, a freshman, volunteered more than 1,500 hours after school in community service programs last year, including feeding the homeless and assisting the disabled in the District of Columbia. She began her dedication to community service as a 13-year-old junior high school student, making sandwiches for the homeless. Her commitment continued through high school, and last year she directed a group of volunteers in the delivery of food to more than 600 street people a day. Austin also assisted a blind woman daily with chores around the home and with her correspondence. In addition to her community service, Austin worked part time on the weekends assisting a veterinarian. She was an active member of the high school swim team, and she assisted with the completion of the Appalachian Trail, a 2,000-mile system of mountain trails, extending from Maine to Georgia. Lugg, a junior, contributed more than 1,700 hours to community service in Los Angeles, participating in programs ranging from first-aid instruction to the building and maintenance of hiking trails in the Angeles Forest. Her community service activities involved water-safety instruction as well as providing Brownie and Junior Scout troops with basic first-aid training. Lugg worked as a lifeguard and taught water safety and standard first aid. She also trained the physically and mentally disabled to enjoy water safely. Additionally, Lugg served as a high school peer counselor who tutored students in history and English. She also exhibited pictures in an art gallery after completing classes in advanced photography at UC Davis. Lugg's physical fitness activities included climbing and rappelling rock outcroppings in the Joshua Tree National Park. The fourth component of the award, expedition, was fulfilled by a one-week canoe trip down the Colorado River. Austin's future plans include attending veterinary school and becoming a large animal practitioner. Lugg is planning a teaching career in studio art.