Faith Feeds harvesting for the hungry
Faith Feeds arose from John Walker’s passion for gleaning, which he had done with a small group of individuals for several years. With his wife he hosts gardening workshops where he shares his concerns about food supply and hunger in the Bluegrass Kentucky community.
Faith Feeds provides food for the poor in the central Bluegrass Region. More importantly, it provides less fortunate community members with the opportunity to volunteer in community garden programs and provide their own food.
Local food pantries have fresh food to offer instead of just canned goods and "non-perishable" food. Local citizens enjoy richer diets in healthy food and the recipients have the opportunity to join in the gathering and growing of that food, which helps their self-respect.
The continued emphasis on gleaning food which would otherwise go to waste spreads the opportunity for generosity throughout the community, from farm to farm, family to family without having to cause guilt in order to create contributions. It is a win-win situation for all the participants. This is why Faith Feeds volunteers are Daily Points of Light.
Michael Carnell
Michael Carnell volunteers his time and services as the technical director of Palmetto Technology Hub (PATH), a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide technical support to the South Carolina low country nonprofit community.
Michael, along with another computer expert, founded PATH in 2010 to provide free services to area nonprofits struggling to pay for technical support. Using the online PATH help desk ticket service, nonprofits submit their requests for assistance and receive free services from volunteers with expertise in technical topics ranging from website development to hardware maintenance.
To date, PATH volunteers have helped local nonprofits solve more than 100 technical issues. Several PATH volunteers have also donated their time and expertise to teach training workshops on various topics of interest. Nonprofits that could not afford these services in the past are now able to get the help and training they need to solve technical issues and create an online presence.
Michael has dedicated countless hours of his time to the creation and maintenance of the PATH website, as well as the website for Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding. As the technical director for PATH, he also answers many of the help desk inquiries himself. Michael's dedication to serving the nonprofit community truly makes him a Point of Light.
Madison Manuel
Madison Manuel is a teen that volunteers much of her time with the Nick's Fight to be Healed Foundation, whose mission is to support pediatric blood cancer patients as well as serve the young adult blood cancer community. The foundation strives to improve quality of life by promoting well-being, reducing stress within the entire family, and providing resources to help children with blood cancer lead fun and fulfilling lives.
The foundations namesake, Nick, was a friend, student and brother to so many in Madison’s community. When he died, the community was heartbroken. The foundation reflects Nick’s values and personality while helping other patients with blood cancer.
All the hard work, volunteer time, working through the grief for the larger good paid off on December 15 when Nick's Foundation donated $50,000 to create an endowment for the child life specialist position at The Melodies Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders.
When a child is diagnosed with cancer, their world and their family's lives are all changed forever, no matter what the outcome. Young adults especially have a difficult time because they are transitioning into an adult and cancer has negatively altered this wonderful time in their lives.
A child life specialist helps the families adjust to their new “normal” and focuses on the emotional healing of a child, which is just as important as the medical healing.
Because of her service and help with the Nick’s Fight to be Healed Foundation, Madison is a Daily Point of Light.
Bill and France Moriarty
Bill and France Moriarty are retired and travel around the country full-time in their RV, lending their assistance to Habitat for Humanity affiliates nationwide.
After they sold their construction company, they began to volunteer more than half of their time, traveling in a custom-built truck and trailer filled with tools and materials. They've worked with Habitat for Humanity since 2002 all over the country. They were first-responders to Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and worked with Operation Home Delivery with Habitat after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Their contributions include creating building plans for affiliates, assisting with permitting processes, land purchases and coordinating Global Village, Collegiate Challenge, AmeriCorps and RV Care-A-Vanner volunteers.
Bill and France assisted in the merger of the two Mississippi coastal Habitat for Humanity affiliates to become the Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast in January 2007. Bill acted as construction director and oversaw all aspects of construction and more.
They address the needs of those living in substandard housing conditions by working with Habitat for Humanity and gearing specifically toward affiliates across the country in need of assistance, guidance, support and capacity building by helping to boost the affiliates' functional and operational capacity so that they are better equipped to serve the community.
This couple is special because they give and keep on giving without any thought of reciprocation or recognition. They can look at the world, see what it needs, and put themselves in the position to do something about it and inspire others to do the same. This is why Bill and France are Daily Points of Light.
Lawrence Ward
Lawrence Ward volunteers up to 32 hours a week providing quality service for retirees, veterans, military family members and enhancing the education environment of local youth.
Lawrence spends his time helping active duty members through counseling and provides claims assistance, casualty assistance, and military benefits. His tireless effort and confident approach to his daily tasks allows him to quickly determine the needs of everyone. He also serves as the Retired Affairs Officer, maintains the Professional Reading Room and serves as the Legislative Committee Chair for Joint Base Myers/Henderson Hall. He acts as a liaison between veteran’s organizations such as the USMC War Memorial, Marine Corps Drill Instructor Association and also the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
In order to help the youth in his area, Lawrence volunteers with the Tutor and Buddy program at the Barcroft Elementary School.
Lawrence’s technical experience, long hours assisting service members in achieving their goals, unyielding and loyal devotion and sincerity are what make him a Daily Point of Light.
Sage de Beixedon Breslin
Dr. Sage de Beixedon Breslin has been serving the San Diego, Calif. region as a practicing psychologist for more than two decades but it is only in the last four years that he has been treating service members as a Give an Hour provider.
With an average of five to six pro bono clients, often young Marines from Camp Pendleton, she is doing her part. The Healing Heart Center in Solana Beach where she practices offers an integrated medicine approach which Sage finds particularly useful with her diverse clientele. Sage donates between six and twenty hours to each of her Give an Hour cases. “I’d donate more but many of them leave me to deploy again,” she says.
One of Sage’s cases is a 24-year-old active duty Marine who returned from deployment in 2008 with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One of his duties was to search and defuse the area around his Forward Operating Base for buried landmines. When he returned home to Pendleton and sought help, he was given a mild anti-depressant and told to “buck up and shut up”. His wife had divorced him for another man and he was barracked right smack in the middle of highly active training facility that ran training exercises 24/7. One of his battle buddies referred him to Give an Hour and he was matched with Sage. Along with providing tools to cope with his PTS such as self-talk and meditation techniques, Sage has set two long-term goals for her patient. She is trying to get him into a Navy PTSD program and urging him to act upon his own desire for discharge.
Because of her care and compassion for military and veterans in need of counseling, Sage is a Daily Point of Light.
Rodney Cruise
Rodney Cruise is a member of the Halifax Habitat for Humanity board of directors and fundraising committee co-chair. In addition, he hosted the Annual Celebration of Hope Event in June 2010 for the third year in a row.
Rodney directly impacted the quality of life for families served by Habitat for Humanity, by supporting the build of three different homes in 2010. Of the three homes, one in particular stands out. The Spirit of Hope which houses homeless families. They were able to access immediate services through the United Way and Halifax Urban Ministries and secure transitional housing through Family Renew Community. Their journey to homeownership through Habitat for Humanity was directly impacted by the support and generosity of Rodney. He and his associates at Sodexo provided generous support towards the construction, fundraising and dedication of the home.
Rodney helped bring together community agencies, allowing resources to be used and form partnerships that can further support future efforts, all resulting in greater services and resources for the community. What makes his volunteer activities outstanding is his incredible spirit and initiative, combined with a seemingly limitless generosity. He uses his resources to continually widen the circle of support that Halifax Habit for Humanity has in the community. This is why Rodney is a Daily Point of Light.
William (Bill) Fitzgerald
William (Bill) Fitzgerald is an avid runner, having completed 65 marathons around the world. Through a chance meeting at a marathon in 2000 he was introduced to Habitat for Humanity, and participated on a short-term Global Village trip to build houses in Beius, Romania.
He was identified as a potential trip leader, took the challenge, and has since led ten more trips to Romania and other countries, guiding close to 100 people through an intense field experience that he described as one of the hardest, most strenuous, dirtiest, and emotional experiences of his life. In addition to leading trips as part of the Global Village program, Bill has also served six months every year for the past five years as a full-time volunteer in the Habitat for Humanity headquarters office, helping to administer the Global Village program. His service in helping to train other volunteers and reconciling expense reports increases the capacity of the department to provide a meaningful service opportunity for more volunteers.
Bill states that poverty housing is such an overwhelming and insurmountable problem, it seems difficult to think about eliminating it from the face of the Earth. He serves such a significant amount of his time with Habitat because he feels that if everyone contributes in a small way, we can have an impact on the problem. He looks at his work in terms of “families helped” rather than as numbers, which makes it possible to see that even though he hasn’t solved an overall world crisis, he has made a difference for as many families as possible.
Bill is a very positive person to have in the workplace and community; he has a real sense of the global poverty need and how to connect others to make the largest impact. This is why Bill is a Daily Point of Light.
Christopher Craig
Throughout the course of the past ten plus years, Christopher Craig has provided dedicated service to the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS).
Christopher began as an EMT with the NC-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team and since has served various roles within NDMS including a combined role of Communications Specialist and EMT for the National Medical Response Team East, lead Communications Officer for the NMRT-E team and Deputy Commander of the NMRT team. During his federal service, he has deployed to countless disasters, and has served his country on multiple National Specialty Security Events. His service has not only served the people of the United States during their most vulnerable times, but has also served The Department of Health and Human Services, NDMS, the NMRT team, and each individual that makes up those different divisions.
Outside NDMS, Christopher has shown great dedication to service to those in need, through his volunteerism at the local, state, and federal levels. He began his emergency medical service with the Ocean City Beach Patrol as a Surf Rescue Technician in Ocean City, Md. He then transitioned into a volunteer role as an EMT-I and Rescue Technician with the North Meck Volunteer Rescue Squad in Huntersville, NC – where he continues to serve.
Christopher has touched countless individual’s lives. He has helped communities when they are at their weakest and has gone so far as to recruit others like him into volunteer roles – furthering his reach and effect.
Christopher has remained selfless throughout his service, dropping everything for his fellow neighbor whenever necessary. He represents the true spirit of service that we all long to possess. This is what makes Christopher a Daily Point of Light.
PCU Mississippi SSN 782
The Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Mississippi, a submarine for the U.S. Navy, has an average of 55 volunteers who together, have accomplished 866 hours of community service since the inception of the program in October 2010.
The crew volunteers in many ways; from assisting the elderly, veterans and active duty troops stationed overseas, to assisting in educating school age children from kindergarten to fifth grade.
The PCU Mississippi’s community service program directly benefited more than 10,000 local people in the New London County area in 2010. The program improved the quality of life for military veterans, children, low income families, elderly, and the Mississippi cities of Groton, New London, Norwich, Mystic and Ledyard.
PCU Mississippi packed and delivered holiday meal kits to less fortunate military families for Christmas and Thanksgiving, provided cooking, cleaning and helped raise donations and provide support to children participating in a bowling contest at the Special Olympics.
No other submarine has had a community service program during the building of their ship. PCU Mississippi’s crew volunteers have completed more community service as a sea going command than all of the large shore facilities in their area. That is why the crew volunteers of the PCU Mississippi are Daily Points of Light.
