For the past six years, Will Evershed has been making an impact in his community – and abroad.

The 2025 Bingham High graduate has logged more than 400 hours providing public community service. At his high school, he held several leadership roles, including sophomore class secretary, student body officer as a junior and senior class president. This last year, alongside his classmates, he dedicated significant time to fundraising efforts which supported students with disabilities at the Kauri Sue Hamilton School and helped fulfill a wish for a child through Make-a-Wish Utah.

Evershed also led a clothing drive benefiting Salt Lake City’s Orange Street Community Correctional Center, which supports women transitioning from incarceration back into the community.

“They needed 70 (winter) hats, 70 pairs of gloves and 70 scarves, so I reached out to my local community and got most of those items,” he said. “I ended up making all the scarves. It felt good and I’m grateful to be able to do this because many of these women don't have anything to come back to.”

In July 2024, Evershed traveled to Nepal on a humanitarian mission.

“I was there for two and a half weeks with others, and we were building a dining hall for a local school because they didn’t have one; they ate lunch in the classrooms,” he said. “This opened my eyes even more. There are people very less fortunate than we are and it's good to give back.”

These efforts contributed to Evershed earning the Congressional Award and being congratulated by U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens. He achieved the program’s highest honor, the gold medal.

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1979, the Congressional Award recognizes youth between the ages of 14 and 24 for their initiative, service and achievement. Participants can earn bronze, silver and gold certificates or medals by meeting goals in four key areas: voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness and expedition or exploration.

For his personal development hours, Evershed leaned into his love for theater and music, logging 200 hours.

“I did a lot of theater when I was in middle school. When I was the lead for ‘The Music Man,’ after school, I was there every day for about two hours rehearsing lines and singing. Since then, I've been playing the piano to keep up my skills,” he said.

He also completed 200 hours of physical fitness by participating in cross country and track throughout high school. His senior year highlights include a 17:13.9 finish in the three-mile race at the state cross country meet, along with spring track times of 2:06.9 in the 800 meters, 4:39.9 in the 1600 and 10:01.4 in the 3200.

“I ran for at least an hour after school every day. When I was injured, I was on the StairMaster, the elliptical or the rowing machine,” he said.

The final requirement for the award was to plan and complete an extended adventure. Evershed and his older brother John, a previous Congressional Award recipient in 2021, organized a week-long trip to Colorado.

“It was during COVID, and we planned and toured all the national parks in Colorado with my family. On the way back, we hiked Delicate Arch (in Arches National Park). We planned all the meals and what we were going to do each day,” he said.

He submitted his application in January 2025 and received confirmation in April. Shortly before departing on a church mission to Ethiopia, he met Owens in person.

“I tried on his Super Bowl ring on my ring finger, but I'm sure I could fit my thumb in it,” he said. “Working on this award allowed me to find things I love and set and accomplish goals. It takes a lot of time and energy, but I learned I can do anything I set my mind to. I’ve already started using that mindset and goal setting with learning the Amharic language they speak in Ethiopia. I’ve been working on it a bit every day and soon I’ll be able to understand and speak it to accomplish my goal.”