St. Francis Auxiliary/Volunteers
Sarah Uphole
Joe and Elaine Griswold
After years of teaching in the United States, raising two children, enjoying 3 lovely granddaughters, and traveling frequently to Central America, a long dreamed-of trip to East Africa in 2003 changed Joe and Elaine Griswold forever.
During their safari vacation, the Griswolds and fellow travelers decided to make a side trip to a government sponsored village school in Lukaya. Due to road delays, they arrived hours after they were expected, but 700 students waited enthusiastically to greet them. The couples then toured the school and the village and by the end of that visit, were coming up with ways to help the children. As Joe Griswold states "We went to view the animals but were captured by the children."
While researching a way they could make a lasting contribution to Lukaya, the Griswold’s learned that over 50% of Lukaya’s population is under 18 years old with huge numbers of orphaned and vulnerable children because of the spread of HIV/AIDS. As a small truck-stop along the main highway of East and Central Africa, Lukaya’s populations live along the road termed "the AIDS Highway" because of its role in spreading the disease through sub Saharan Africa.
With strong backgrounds in education and a firm belief that knowledge is a powerful asset for individuals and communities, the Griswolds and many American partners and donors, began the Mustard Seed Academy, a school serving approximately 300 children from ages 3 to 13.
Today the Mustard Seed Academy hosts small class sizes, well-educated Ugandan teachers, good nutrition and health care. It is also a well-known model for sustainable development as the school’s directors and teachers are local to the community and the campus uses socially responsible and environmental friendly building materials. The school grounds even contain a medicinal garden that helps with improved nutrition, resulting in children who are more resistant to common diseases such as malaria and typhoid.
Debbie Reid
Rich Smith is a dedicated volunteer of the Tonto National Forest. For nearly six years, he has served the public by reducing the natural resource impact from off-highway vehicles (OHV), while improving recreational opportunities for Tonto National Forest visitors.
From March 2005 to 2008, Rich formed and led the Friends of Sycamore, a group of individuals and volunteers who helped address concerns in high-use OHV sites that were negatively impacting the Tonto National Forest.
Since then, he has organized the volunteers into a non-profit corporation, Tonto Recreation Alliance (TRAL). The organization has educated others about the importance of respecting forest land by encouraging user ethics. With the Tonto National Forest receiving the greatest number of primary OHV visits—529,000 visits annually—than any other individual national forest, Rich’s motivation was quickly embraced by the Mesa Ranger District.
In 2009, the Mesa Ranger District discussed with TRAL the need for conservation of a riparian area at Mesquite Wash. The goal was to keep OHV traffic out of the area. TRAL partnered with the Forest Service and Rocks Stars Motorcycle Club to install signs and barriers at all of the entrances to the sensitive areas.
He also is currently training others to lead projects. Under Rich’s leadership, a member of TRAL organized a clean-up to remove 25 tons of trash with the help of 500 volunteers. The trash filled four 40-yard roll-off dumpsters!
Rich’s service began with Friends of Sycamore and has grown to a non-profit organization that has formed partnerships and provided more than 2,000 hours of volunteer hours annually. Rich is making a difference in his community.
Rich Smith
Rich Smith is a dedicated volunteer of the Tonto National Forest. For nearly six years, he has served the public by reducing the natural resource impact from off-highway vehicles (OHV), while improving recreational opportunities for Tonto National Forest visitors.
From March 2005 to 2008, Rich formed and led the Friends of Sycamore, a group of individuals and volunteers who helped address concerns in high-use OHV sites that were negatively impacting the Tonto National Forest.
Since then, he has organized the volunteers into a non-profit corporation, Tonto Recreation Alliance (TRAL). The organization has educated others about the importance of respecting forest land by encouraging user ethics. With the Tonto National Forest receiving the greatest number of primary OHV visits—529,000 visits annually—than any other individual national forest, Rich’s motivation was quickly embraced by the Mesa Ranger District.
In 2009, the Mesa Ranger District discussed with TRAL the need for conservation of a riparian area at Mesquite Wash. The goal was to keep OHV traffic out of the area. TRAL partnered with the Forest Service and Rocks Stars Motorcycle Club to install signs and barriers at all of the entrances to the sensitive areas.
He also is currently training others to lead projects. Under Rich’s leadership, a member of TRAL organized a clean-up to remove 25 tons of trash with the help of 500 volunteers. The trash filled four 40-yard roll-off dumpsters!
Rich’s service began with Friends of Sycamore and has grown to a non-profit organization that has formed partnerships and provided more than 2,000 hours of volunteer hours annually. Rich is making a difference in his community.
Cindy Baczewski
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix had a plan to combat the increases in juvenile crime, gang activity and drug trafficking that was plaguing the West Valley. Together with several community partners, they were preparing to tackle these challenges by expanding programs and building three new Clubhouses in these needy areas. However, to be successful in these efforts, the Boys & Girls Clubs needed to increase the fundraising and volunteer efforts of its auxiliary groups.
For seven years the Boys & Girls Clubs have counted on Cindy Baczewski to help them achieve these lofty goals and change the lives of disadvantaged area youth.
During her seven years of service with MetroOrg, Cindy has played an integral role in transforming the group through a restructuring and rebranding process. MetroOrg is a volunteer fundraising and direct service group that supports the mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix. But, when Cindy joined MetroOrg in 2003, the group was a loosely formed volunteer organization providing very limited fundraising support for the Clubs’ vital programs and services. Today, thanks to Cindy’s perseverance, the organization is an attractive service outlet for young professionals and has grown its membership by 700% while also improving member retention and engagement.
The group began to plan and execute several large-scale fundraising events, including Global Gala, a food and beverage tasting event and auction that attracts 300 guests each year, the Heatstroke Classic Golf Tournament and Best of Texas Poker Tournament. Through these events, the group has consistently exceeded initial fundraising goals netting a profit of $108,000 in fiscal year 2008-09.
Beyond her many roles within the MetroOrg, Cindy also gives her time to serve in other capacities within the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix. At any given time during the year, Cindy can be found assisting Club staff with quality assessments, coordinating donations for badly needed program supplies and even taking youth participants on fieldtrips.
Through all of her roles at MetroOrg and Boys & Girls Clubs, Cindy has never lost sight of the goal to provide hope and opportunity to youth in some of the West Valley’s most underserved neighborhoods.
Renee Van Heel
All Fired Up
When wildfires devastated her community in 2007 and burned her home, Renee van Heel did not wallow in despair, instead she got “fired up.”
Renee founded a support group to help the women of the San Diego community who had lost their homes. The organization, Fired Up Sisters, works to get fire victims back into their homes and help fire victims to become fire survivors.
The group has grown to include six hundred women in the last two and a half years and continues with its efforts until all of its members are back in their homes. It meets bi-weekly and each meeting includes guest speakers which assist the fire victims with such things as stress reduction, solving insurance problems and dealing with family issues.
Under Renee’s leadership the group became a smooth-running machine equipped to solicit and distribute donations to burned out victims. Renee designed the program to include a donation leader trained to procure discounted services and donated items from stores. Another group leader manages the collection and distribution of donated items. So many individuals and companies were inspired by Renee’s call for help that the quantity of donations collected necessitated the rental of a warehouse. Renee inspired others to take over a host of other responsibilities including organizing fundraising events and expanding volunteer opportunities to benefit the fire victims through partnership with the Hands On Network.
Members are so grateful for the support and assistance that Fired Up Sisters has provided them during their difficult time that they want to document their processes to help potential victims of a future catastrophe. Renee and the group want to help future victims by giving them access to the tools they developed so they have support at the very beginning of their crisis.
Cindy Brenneman
Sometimes it is not one action or cause that distinguishes an individual, but rather their instrumental role in establishing the groundwork where community can flourish. Cindy Brenneman’s continuous efforts to strengthen her community of Costa Mesa follow that pattern.
In 2008 Cindy received the Mayor’s Award for her work as president of the board of the Costa Mesa Community Foundation. During her tenure Cindy directed several ambitious projects.
Cindy oversaw The Foundation’s fund-raising campaign to build the Costa Mesa Veteran’s Memorial, which now stands as a focal point at Harbor Lawn-Mt. Olive Cemetery.
Cindy directed another complex fundraising endeavor to raise the $1.4 million necessary to build Angel’s Playground. The Costa Mesa Community Foundation secured a $930,000 grant from the State of California Parks & Recreation department to build Angels Playground at TeWinkle Park. Through a collaborative effort with the City of Costa Mesa and Angels Charity Cindy was able to oversee the successful opening of the first playground in the county developed for both able and disabled children.
Under her leadership the Foundation was also involved in the establishment of a scholarship program for the Costa Mesa Police and Fire Explorer programs which grant four scholarships yearly for 16 – 21 year olds interested in learning about what it takes to become a fire fighter or police officer.
“As I get closer to retirement age I only see my volunteerism becoming a bigger part of my life,” says Cindy. “As long as I can walk I will volunteer. As long as I can make a difference I will continue to do so.”
Another area of dedication for Cindy is her desire to be actively involved in volunteer disaster preparedness efforts. She serves on the city's advisory committee for the Costa Mesa Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and also serves as a volunteer CERT member and instructor.
“With all of the recent budget cuts, this program has become vitally important to aid in public safety for our community,” says Cindy.
Dr. Ken Johnson
Creating One Smile at a Time
Dr. Ken Johnson creates smiles that will last a lifetime through the free dental work he provides to children in need.
"My father was a generous, giving man who instilled in me a core value of giving back & helping out,” recalls Ken. “He raised funds for needy community members even while not having much money to support his own family.”
Ken has been giving back through providing volunteer dental services throughout his entire 44 year career. As a young dentist Ken made 25 international trips to provide volunteer dental care in impoverished countries throughout the world. He served hundreds in his trips to Guatemala and helped establish two dental clinics in the Grenadine Islands in 1998 that are still in operation today. Then, he realized that similar a need existed for a free dental clinic in his own community in Corvallis, Oregon.
Through a partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis, Ken created the first free youth dental clinic in Benton County, Oregon. It is housed in the Club. Ken solicited $100,000 worth of donated dental equipment and supplies and worked with public school nurses and the Benton County Health Department to identify children most in need. Since the clinic opened in 2008, 1,200 children have received access to nearly $1.2 million worth of free dental care.
The clinic has served as an inspiration for other dental professionals in the area with 50 volunteering their services at the clinic and others expanding free care offered in their offices. Ken hopes other dentists throughout Oregon and the nation will establish similar clinics.
Even in his retirement Ken is still active, maintaining his license so that he can continue working in the clinic. He also has hopes to expand clinic services by providing educational programs focused on life-long dental health, job shadowing opportunities for local high school students and potential internships for dental and hygienist students.
To ensure the clinic can keep creating beautiful smiles, Dr. Johnson created an endowment through the Benton County Foundation. His goal is to grow the endowment fund so that it will support the annual expenses of the dental clinic and fund a clinic coordinator to expand the clinic’s ability to serve youth across the county.