Project READ

Joshua Schara is a member of St. John’s Evangelical Church in North Freedom, WI. His program, Project READ (Reading Equipment for America’s Defenders) is the largest volunteer undertaking for a teen in the area.

Josh was worried that people were becoming complacent about supporting our troops. So in March of 2007, he contacted the local National Guard unit to see what he could do for them. They told him that troops were in need of reading material to help them stay connected to their families and so they won’t feel so homesick. He then designed and set up camouflage collection boxes around town to collect books, magazines, local newspapers and books on tape or CD. He placed one of his boxes in the back of the church and made announcement after church to inform everyone of Project READ.

The response from the community has been overwhelming. The donations have now expanded to consist of personal letters of encouragement, chapstick, gum, hard candy, stationary, Frisbees, sunflower seeds, playing cards and bug spray. He spends each day after school and work collecting the mountainous bags and boxes of donations from businesses and individuals. He then fills each box as full as he can of the donations.

Unfortunately, each small box that the United States Postal Service provides costs $8.98 in postage. Josh had over 100 boxes ready to be shipped when he realized that he would need some financial help. Josh started a part-time job to help pay for the $900 worth of shipping that he needed. Then he decided to meet with the local media to publicize Project READ and his goals. Almost instantly, strangers started calling and asking how they could help and donations for the shipping started to come in. Josh was even asked to attend a local VFW meeting so that they could recognize Project READ and donate $300 to help ship the boxes.

Josh has received phone calls and emails from people that are moved by Project READ and what it means to them; that our younger generation is compassionate and has a social conscience that can be overlooked in today’s media coverage of youth.

Normally a very shy person, Project READ has made Josh more confident in himself and what he can do. He was able to raise over $1,000 to ship over 1,800 pounds worth of supplies to our troops so far.

Rosa Griffith

Many of us make promises to God in times of crisis. But how many of us actually keep those promises? Look no further than 79-year old Rosa Griffith. In 1989 her husband died and in 2000 she suffered a stroke. During her rehabilitation, Rosa promised God that when she got better, she would visit people in nursing homes.

She wasted no time. As soon as she could in 2005, Rosa began volunteering at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital. She still needs a four-prong cane to get around and relies on public transportation to get to and from Levindale, but she never misses a Wednesday visit. Many people her age are deterred by bad weather, but not Rosa. Shortly after Rosa started coming to Levindale, a 292-bed nursing home and specialty hospital to visit residents, she met a young man who had suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was bitter and mean to the people closest to him. Rosa spent a lot of time helping him come to terms with his situation. She promised him that as long as she was able, she would always visit him. He has since moved to a new location and she still visits him every Friday. Rosa is kind and compassionate, but truthful. She doesn’t give people false hope nor is she condescending. She is truly comforting and very humble.

Before Rosa completed her first year at Levindale, she was asked if she would be interested in hospice care. Hospice volunteers visit the nursing home residents who have less than six months to live. It requires additional training and is often difficult for volunteers. Rosa embraced the idea.

After her training, the staff expected Rosa to continue coming to Levindale on Wednesday afternoons to be with the hospice patients, instead of her usual residents. However, Rosa now arrives at 9 a.m. so she can continue seeing the 20-plus residents with whom she had already established relationships. In her own words, she could not let down the people who were expecting her. In addition, she now has a caseload of 14 hospice patients.

Recently a hospice nurse said that Rosa’s most extraordinary talent is her ability to just be with a person. Hospice patients are often unresponsive, so Rosa reads poetry (which she does with the help of a magnifying glass) or the Bible to them. She just wants patients to know that another person cares.

Everyone looks forward to seeing Rosa on Wednesdays, not only the residents but the staff and other volunteers. So far, Rosa has spent over 500 hours volunteering at Levindale and she makes the most of every minute that she is here.

Bill Chaloux

All over the country, elderly are struggling to carry out their daily routines due to lack of transportation. Attending medical appointments, getting to their jobs and even running errands are challenging. Thanks to Bill Chaloux, and other volunteers within the About Care organization, the elderly in Arizona communities, Chandler and Gilbert, are able to be more mobile.

Bill has been volunteering with About Care and helping the elderly and disabled since the organization began in 2004. He volunteers approximately 30 hours a week by driving his elderly or disabled neighbors to their appointments, work, and anywhere else they might need to go. He caters to their needs, while bringing joy and hope to them at a time when they might feel discouraged. He supports those healing from lost loved ones and health problems, while enabling them to be active in the community.

Bill’s volunteer work doesn’t end with About Cares, his ongoing commitment to his community also led him to the fire department where he volunteers.

Bill admires his neighbors that have chosen to remain in their homes and retain their independence through hard times of loss. Their courage inspires him to continue giving back and helping them through About Cares.

Abigail Groff

Anne Marie Helbling

Anne Marie Helbling organized the Wounded Warrior Celebration for wounded soldiers and their families from Fort Sam Houston’s Brooks Army Medical Center. She also setup, numbered, hosted, and cleaned up behind 1,500 Parade Customers that raised $25,000 for the Paseo del Rio Association.

The Wounded Warrior Celebration provided opportunity for young people to serve, including college students and dozens of high school students, and mobilized the community to raise funds for the city’s top tourist attraction, the San Antonio Riverwalk. They also established and conducted ongoing relationships between the residents of San Antonio and the community of the Fort Sam Houston Brooks Army Medical Center.

Some things are different as a result of Anne Marie’s service. Young students have learned the fulfillment of servant leadership and giving back to the community, a relationship has been established between the soldiers and members of the community that will help the wounded warriors in the transition to jobs in the community, and funding for the maintenance and expansion of the city’s famed Riverwalk will continue to encourage the recovery of the San Antonio downtown core through tourism.

Annie Helbling’s community service event is a reflection of a lifestyle which fosters impressive accomplishments. She has tirelessly volunteered in countless events, such as the Holiday River Parade for ten years and has the distinction of earning the Ten Year-Ten Thousand Customer milestone. She has routinely delivered Meals on Wheels to the San Antonio senior citizens for years, surpassing the 1,000 meal delivery record long ago. Her summers are spent as a counselor at the Brooks City Base Challenger Center where she has volunteered to teach grade school students the wonders of the NASA Space Program and space exploration. Throughout the year she leads her high school Red Cross Club to numerous volunteer activities, always with the focus on servant leadership. She is a force multiplier, gathering scores of volunteers and motivating them through recognition such as the Presidents Volunteer Service Award where verified volunteer activities are tabulated and awards are presented to volunteers at set milestones.

Florence Phillips

Florence G. Phillips, a former Peace Corps and VISTA volunteer, is the founder/director of the ESL (English as a Second Language) In-Home Program of Northern Nevada. Her innovated efforts in education over the last five years have positively impacted a great number of people living in five Northwest Nevada counties. Florence saw that many immigrants cannot speak English and desperately want to learn, but for a variety of reasons are unable to attend formal classes.

In February 2004, Florence started volunteering her time by tutoring students one-on-one in English in their homes at no cost. However, she soon realized that there was a much greater need than she could handle alone. She then started mobilizing unpaid community volunteer tutors, training them and matching them with other students. Tutors meet twice a week in the students’ homes since many do not have transportation.

Today, she coordinates activities of 85 tutors and 151 students. Florence works tirelessly recruiting, training, inspiring tutors and then matching them with students from her ever-growing waiting list. She receives 2-3 calls a day from people who want to learn English. She also works raising funds to cover the cost of instructional material which keeps the program at no-cost-to-student. The curriculum used is the highly regarded “Laubach Way to English/Reading” series of books in which she was trained as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Her ongoing efforts have yielded tremendous returns in that these students become more productive members in their community. They are more engaged in their children’s educational life. The role model that the parents and grandparents are providing to better themselves educationally will inspire their children to also achieve educational goals, making this program intergenerational. Although most students are Latino, others come from Asia, Europe and elsewhere. Since the program’s inception, it has helped students pass the U.S. Citizenship exam, obtain GEDs, find jobs or get promoted, encouraged parents to help their children with homework and communicate with teachers and given students the ability to shop in English speaking stores and communicate with medical personnel.

The program has been so successful that word has spread among the immigrant community and there is now a waiting list of 105 people who want to learn English and need tutors. Through her selfless efforts and determination over the past five years, Florence is making a positive and lasting contribution to our community. Her goal is for the program to continue to address the unmet needs that exist in the five counties currently being served, and intends to expand into two additional rural counties so that non-English speaking adults there can learn English and become more productive in their communities.

Jack Beach

Jack Beach is a very accomplished runner. But by addressing high rates of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease through running, his impact on the world around him has been so much greater.

He was involved with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training® (TNT) Program for many years, more recently with the Alzheimer Association’s Team Unforgettable. Both of these programs provide training to people to run or walk a whole or half marathon. Jack has participated in, mentored for and coached in numerous running events.

As a coach, Jack has provided personalized fitness training for a period of four to five months for each event, numerous training clinics and lots of motivation! He’s made us all realize that we are better than we think and stronger than we imagine.

Today, Jack continues to coach and continues to receive nothing but amazing feedback from his teams. He supports people from start to finish and believes that everyone can do a marathon and half marathon, especially for a very worthy cause. With his encouragement and support, the participants on his teams have benefited the community by raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease research and patient services.

A famous author once wrote that “the key is to keep company with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” Jack is one of those people. As a mentor and coach, he’s a caring adult in many lives—he helps all us remember every day that you can do whatever you put your mind to, especially when it comes to changing lives.

Jennifer Ogburn

For Jennifer Ogburn, convincing others to get involved in their communities is almost as much fun as getting involved herself.

“My friends and co-workers tell me that I have a contagious enthusiasm for volunteering—an energy that encourages them to become active in the community as well,” Jennifer said.

Finding time to volunteer and helping others to get involved has long been a priority for Jennifer, a senior engineering manager in Harris Corporation’s Government Communications Systems Division in Palm Bay, FL and a mother of two young sons. Jennifer was bitten by the volunteerism bug as a child, watching her parents’ involvement in her family’s hometown of Fairfax, VA. Her own community involvement began in high school, as part of the Kiwanis Key Club. She continued organized volunteering through the Junior League when she moved to Florida.

Today, as a busy professional and mother, Jennifer has sought volunteer opportunities that provide her with an opportunity to engage her children in community activism and to make a real, lasting impact for children, families and seniors in Brevard County, FL. As a result of her efforts, homebound seniors have received critical meals, local organizations have expanded their educational offerings and women and girls have been exposed to the opportunities available in the field of engineering.

One of the organizations Jennifer is heavily involved in is Meal on Wheels. Every month 50 Harris employees, family members and friends help deliver meals to the homebound elderly. During the holiday season, Jennifer organizes a cookie drive where volunteers baked thousands of cookies to be included in the delivered meals.

Jennifer is particularly passionate about her volunteer work with the Brevard Zoo where she currently coordinates Harris volunteers for community construction days in support of the zoo’s Paws On Exhibit, a new children’s area sponsored by Harris. Jennifer coordinated several Harris days, overseeing employees and their family members as they worked to finalize the exhibit’s attractions. “I was proud to help my colleagues better understand the extent to which both their support and Harris’ support plays a role in the zoo’s ability to thrive as a community resource,” Jennifer said.

Jennifer has also been a strong supporter of Harris’ involvement with Habitat for Humanity. During recent Habitat home builds, Jennifer helped organize the participation of a 36-member team. She has also coordinated volunteer meals and helped purchase a washer and dryer for the home’s new residents.

Jennifer’s efforts have also led to improvements at two important centers for at-risk children. For girls across Brevard County, the Hacienda Girls Ranch in Melbourne, FL is a critical resource. The Ranch provides shelter to girls who have lost parents, been abandoned or are homeless due to abuse, neglect or emotional or behavioral problems. Jennifer acted as a team leader for Make a Difference Day at the Ranch, leading an effort to clean and refurbish one of the campus’ buildings. Jennifer and her team painted pantries, closets and doors and replaced shelving materials.

Jennifer also made an impact at the Space Coast Early Intervention Center, a therapeutic preschool designed to support young children challenged by disabilities, by participating in the construction of more than 1,000 feet of fencing for the Center.

Jennifer has been an active member of the Space Coast chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), which promotes engineering opportunities for women and empowers women to succeed and advance. She has led “Introducing Girls to Engineering” workshops and recently chaired the organization’s annual awards banquet. At the banquet, several high school girls received SWE sponsored scholarships. As a member of the scholarship selection committee, Jennifer helped select recipients. Following the event, one student wrote to the banquet committee, “I really enjoyed being around so many intelligent and inspiring women. I was totally unaware of the supportive community of women involved in the field of engineering.”

Despite her many accomplishments to date and her unique ability to inspire others, Jennifer has no plans to slow down any time soon. Later this year, she will begin serving as a member of the United Way’s Community Impact Volunteer Review Board, which helps the United Way allocate money donated to its Impact Fund. She will also join the Brevard Zoo’s Development Committee to help drive fundraising efforts and plans to help coordinate the addition of a new educational kiosk that will provide live video feeds of gorillas living on an African preserve.

“The more I volunteer, the more I want to instill my passion for volunteering in others,” Jennifer said, “I hope that my efforts have made a true difference across my community.”

Denny Collins

Ashley House primarily functions as a transitional home for children who need a step from acute hospital care to home. They are a nonprofit corporation in good standing with multiple licensures in the state of Washington. Ashley House is licensed as a Children’s Group Home and a Home Health Agency for pediatric private duty nursing care. They manage four sites that are minimally modified family homes providing a very homey atmosphere for both children and their parents.

Ashley house has built a reputation in the community for providing medically intensive care to children in a home setting. Treatment for chronic lung conditions including tracheotomy and ventilator management, central line TPN management as well as dialysis and preparation for organ transplant are some of the areas that they are accomplishing at this time. Several children have been through their program following severe traumatic or anoxic brain injuries as a step from acute hospitalization to inpatient rehabilitation. The program is working with multiple pediatric hospitals and clinics throughout Western Washington.

Denny has been a mentor, teacher, surrogate father and role model for Ashley House children, especially for one child who is a quadriplegic. Denny has consistently been an active participant in this child’s life. Denny has attended school with this child and learned the assistive technology needed for this child to be a productive member of the community. Denny has enabled this child to progress in his schooling, maintain self-esteem and has demonstrated love and encouragement.

Denny addresses the need for inclusion for the disabled. The isolation of disability is great, especially for young children who cannot enjoy the normal physical activities of their peers. These children must depend on others for the majority of activities. Technology replaces physical activity for these youngsters. It provides a way to socialize and acquire skills needed for a productive life. As a small organization and with the shortage of nurses it is difficult to provide the much needed one on one attention these children so desperately need. Denny has played an integral role in filling this need.

Denny’s impact for these children is immense. The ability for these children to complete homework assignments, keep up with studies, advance in socialization skills has been realized due to the time, patience, and diligence Denny has provided. Some of these children are placed at the Ashley House by the state; some of these children see Denny as a surrogate parent. Denny has provided continuity for these children when parents are absent or uninvolved. These children see their caretakers come and go; unfortunately, this is the reality of their lives. Denny is the one constant these children count on.

Denny has inspired all who know him. His commitment has been unwavering. His patience saint like, his energy boundless and his love has been and continues to be unconditional. It is rare for a community to find a volunteer who is tireless and continues to portray the same amount of time, energy, and unwavering love that Denny has displayed for the last nine years. Denny has not sought recognition or thanks, he quietly gives day after day and in fact, would most likely be upset that he has been nominated. The epitome of a volunteer is one who give freely and selflessly never asking for anything in return.

Mary Lowe

Mary Lowe has worked with the Gwendolyn Wilkes Rainbow Center for the past six years. As a volunteer Administrative Assistant for the Center, she is responsible for typing and drafting letters, reports, charts and programs for the Center, ensuring the accuracy of spelling and grammar through written or verbal instructions.

Ms. Lowe is responsible for delivery and pickup of payroll for the employees of the Center on a bi-weekly basis, and monthly and quarterly financial reports for the Director. She also assists with monthly, quarterly and annual expense reports. On a monthly basis, Ms. Lowe is responsible for providing monthly expense reports to the Director, ensuring that all receipts are calculated accurately and copies made for the monthly food expense reports.

Ms. Lowe is responsible for purchasing all food supplies and equipment for the Center. She assists in distribution of hot lunches for the needy on a weekly basis locally as well as pickup and distribution of pastries daily. She assists the Director with the Toys For Tots Program for the city of Columbus. Through this program, the Center is responsible for the distribution of toys to all major organizations.

Ms. Lowe is responsible for assisting the Director with Public Relations by disseminating information regarding the Center or obtaining information from various businesses and individuals, when requested. She also assists the Director with fundraising projects.