Elizabeth Kerns

From the nominator:

“Elizabeth Kern has been a mentor in the UMC Mentoring and Caring Program for three years. Initially, I matched Liz up with April, a 12-year-old girl. April’s sister and brother also were matched up with mentors. After her sister’s mentor accepted an internship in Kentucky, Liz volunteered to mentor both girls. During group events, I can see that all three children in the family know Liz well and feel very comfortable with her. She is always cheerful, full of energy and truly seems to love spending time with all three children.

In addition to her work with children in our mentoring program, Liz also volunteers to deliver meals to shut-ins; is the president of Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD), an honor society; is president of the Dairy Club; and organized a spaghetti dinner fundraiser to help fund a scholarship for another student to participate in an alternative spring break service trip. She also is a judge for regional high school FFA contests, works weekends at a transitional housing complex for adults with mental illness and volunteers in many other capacities at the University of Minnesota, Crookston.

The UMC Mentoring and Caring Program began four years ago in response to a community outcry for positive role models and activities for children after school. The program has partnered with Polk County Social Services to identify children for the program. Many of the children in the program have learning disabilities or live in families dealing with difficult issues.

Liz has worked with this particular family for three years. The greatest difference I see in the children is a sense of self-confidence. April went out for track last spring, and it was so nice to see her communicating comfortably with other teammates. She is extremely shy but is learning how to feel more confident in herself.

Liz is always willing to volunteer to help someone. More importantly, however, is that she looks around and sees what needs to be done—and then does it. She is well connected to the students, the campus and the community.”

Carylsue Evanhoff

Carylsue Evanoff started volunteering at the Waterford Senior Center for the Focus Hope Food Program and Food Bank in 1991. For the past eleven years, she has supervised all the activities of the Focus Hope Food Program and the Emergency Food Program at this site. The Focus Hope Food Program distributes boxes of food to 124 clients each month. She will see that additional food is provided if circumstances warrant and it is available.

Carylsue orders and picks up the food, completes reports and coordinates volunteers to pack the food and deliver it. Carylsue commits 1,359 hours a year in assisting staff while supervising and additional 24+ volunteers. The Emergency Food Closet is for low-income seniors who need staple food items immediately for survival. Carylsue makes sure there is an adequate supply of food on hand in the pantry and advocates for donations to restock the shelves when necessary.

Carylsue is very frugal and is diligent about getting the most out each dollar available. She has become an advocate for the low-income senior by requesting help from local businesses. Carylsue organizes an annual bake sale to raise funds to offset the cost of both food programs. At Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, Carylsue has arranged for each of our clients to receive special holiday food boxes. Currently, Carylsue is arranging to get fresh fruits and vegetables for our clients. She will see that additional food is provided if circumstances warrant and it is available.

For the past five years, Carylsue has been working in conjunction with elementary school children in the Waterford School District to collect food for the pantry. She has mentored some school children by familiarizing them with the Waterford Senior Center and the inner workings of the food assistance programs for seniors.

Carylsue is a member of the Waterford Senior Center Advisory Board and the chair of the subcommittee for Human Services. She is also a member of the Waterford Senior Center Finance Committee. The members of these monthly committees assist the coordinator in setting the Center’s course for the future and making prudent financial decisions. Carylsue volunteers for the Waterford Aging Network whose mission is to expand services for local seniors. She works on their annual resource brochure, helps coordinate networking breakfasts and advocates for senior services within the Waterford community.

In addition, each fall the Waterford Senior Center hosts a Health Fair. Carylsue obligingly helps with the set up and volunteers her services in any way possible throughout the day.

Carylsue has a physical condition that prohibits her from lifting heavy objects. When the need arises, she calls upon her “resources,” other volunteers, to assist to get the task done.

Carylsue works tirelessly and is a very integral and vital part of the Waterford Senior Center. She has always demonstrated caring concern for low-income seniors. It is quite apparent that her area of interest is in helping with the community’s needs. Carlysue identifies seniors with special needs and seeks out additional assistance with outreach services whenever possible. It would be very difficult to replace such a caring and dedicated volunteer.

Haley Lynch & Katie Vahle

Haley Lynch, age 11, and her friend Katie Vahle, age 12, started a youth volunteer group called H & K’s Service Paws with the goals of providing service dogs free of charge to disabled youth and providing valuable information about service animals to their greater community.

Through their annual “Amanda’s Dog Festival” and various fundraising projects they provide children who are visually impaired or physically disabled with independence through the use of highly trained service dogs. Recipients of the service dogs have a wide variety of physical disabilities including muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders and more.

After they formed their volunteer organization, Haley and Katie, with proposals in hand and without an adult present, professionally approached businesses for sponsorship of their festival. They then contacted animal organizations and invited them to help develop an educational component of the festival. They set up educational demonstrations, including one using K9 Police drug dogs, advertised their festival using multiple forms of media and organized volunteers.

This past year “Amanda’s Dog Festival” raised $5,000 that was donated to KSDS, Inc., one of very few organizations across the nation to provide service dogs to children. The festival, with the help of several not-for-profit national animal organizations, also educated an estimated 1200 visitors on the invaluable benefits of service dogs.

Haley and Katie are exceptional young ladies. They are young girls who have learned the importance of giving back to the communities that help raise them. They are empathetic to the needs of others and are willing to spend many hours of their own childhood helping others. They have also inspired other young children to find their own ways to give. Two children launched their own additional volunteer projects at Amanda’s Dog Festival this past summer and one is now currently expanding and growing her own youth volunteer organization.

Oylan Dong

Oylan Dong founded Project Outstanding Youth (Project OY) and completed these projects, among many others. She is dedicated to serving disadvantaged children in Panama.

Inspired by her sisters who had done service in Africa, Oylan decided to work in a Spanish speaking country. A family friend introduced her to orphanages and youth centers in Panama. Over the past three years, she has visited Panama five times, spending most of her free time, holidays and vacations helping hundreds of poor children and families.

Malambo is the only orphanage in Panama that accepts and cares for babies with AIDS and Oylan was deeply moved by the experience of meeting a number of these children.

During her visit, Oylan learned that the orphanage’s goat farm, a major source of milk and protein for these children, was badly in need of renovation. The soil had become contaminated with bacteria and was infecting the goats. Oylan wanted to help with the renovation and raised $25,000 for Malambo by contacting hundreds of friends and family members. She was awarded a Certificate of Achievement by Malambo at a special ceremony last June. The new goat farm now provides milk and meat to 180 children, including orphans born with AIDS.

Ciudad del Nino (CDN) takes in boys from distressed families. They live at the facility during the week where there are teachers, coaches and mentors who help with homework and provide after-school activities. CDN also helps the families by providing vocational training to the parents and psychological counseling to all members of the family.

Oylan befriended two young boys from the Vasquez family. The social worker explained their plight. Oylan met the family of seven who had been living in a small shack made of metal sheets and cardboard, not big enough for even one person to stand up straight. They had no electricity, running water, kitchen or bathroom and only two small beds for the entire family. In addition, a visiting uncle had sexually abused the children, the mother had cancer and the father was unemployed.

Oylan went home and raised $4,000 to build the Vasquez family a new home. After the house was built, she returned to visit. The difference was amazing! The new house seemed to be a catalyst to the family’s turnaround. The mother’s cancer was in remission, the elderly father had gotten a job, the girls’ grades in school had greatly improved and the previously angry young boy had become happy and even playful. Motivated by this success, Oylan went back to CDN to do more volunteer work.

During another visit, she met a member of the Lozada family and was able to assist them also. The Lozado’s home was similar to the Vasquez family. The family is headed by the mother and there are five children. One of the daughters has cerebral palsy and is need of constant care. Because she is handicapped and the home is only accessible via a steep mountain path, the girl cannot attend school. Oylan could see just how much they would benefit from a new home in a flat area, near schools and clinics.

Oylan raised another $4,000 to build the Lozada family a home. On her visit during June of 2008, she accompanied the mother to review the construction of their new home. The school is within walking distance. The health clinic is next to the school and the village is nearby. Oylan hopes to return to see the completed house and would like to bring friends with her to help paint.

Over the past few years, Oylan found numerous projects to tackle, some successfully and others that will continue to succeed over time. These experiences have changes her; she is more empathetic towards the poor, the ill, and the under-educated, which is a source of continual inspiration for Oylan. She will continue to look for needs both domestically and globally, where she can utilize her skills and abilities to continue to make a difference in the lives of others.

Addie Mix

Addie is the co-founder and Executive Director of a voluntary organization titled “Reclaim A Youth” (RAY). She has been at the helm of RAY since its inception in 1993. Addie receives neither a salary nor a stipend. Her work is simply passion in action. Since 1993, she has worked tirelessly in providing community services to at-risk youth and conducting grief and loss group counseling. But that is not all, through her commitment to save a child from violence, teenage pregnancy and poor school performance particularly in the Village of Glenwood and the Glenwood school district, she has partnered with Glenwood School #167 to provide an early youth intervention program that meets regularly at the school district that emphasis conflict management, mentoring and leadership training at no cost to the district. Her love for children and passion to make a difference in a child’s life can be easily detected through her tenacity to bring caring professionals together to collaborate and lead efforts such as Ray’s James Mix & Sean Cater Memorial Scholarship Fund which has raised over $165,000 for young scholars, the College Orientation Program, which prepares young adults for the realities of living on college campuses, and the Grief & Loss Support Group held at Calvary Baptist Church of Glenwood which provides support and counseling to those experiencing difficulty and grief.

Reclaim A Youth of Illinois addresses the following problems that plague its community and surrounding communities; school violence, social forces that prevent males from achieving in school particularly the lack of positive role models to emulate, the absence of or insufficiency in adequate resources for grieving children and adults, and economic inequities that are responsible for many children not having financial support to attend 4 year colleges.

Every year 10-12 college age students receive money for college through Addie’s efforts to educate youths. Through RAY’s college orientation program and scholarships over 50 students have graduated from colleges such as UIC, DePaul, Northwestern, Morehouse & other HBCU’s.

The principal and social worker at Glenwood Junior High School report that the RAY youth intervention program has resulted in a decrease in the number of fights among students and that there is a noticeable change in students coming prepared to class after their participation in the youth program.

Utilizing a self-esteem assessment tool that measures the impact RAY facilitators are making on the students enrolled in the after school program, students feel good most of the time with feeling bad not lasting as long, smile more and have a better belief system, have more energy and are able to accomplish more goals, are friendlier, able to make long-term friendships, can look people in the eye, are becoming more independent and are demonstrating behavioral and academic success in school.

Through her grief at the murder of her only son on his college campus, Mix determined to shed a RAY of hope in lives of many children residing in her immediate community. She would accomplish her hope through the creation of youth recreation, mentoring, college scholarships and college orientation programs.

Kathryn Marin

Kathryn Marin is the founder and executive director of a mobile recreation unit called CJ’s Bus. After her own experience with a tornado that took the life of her two year-old son, Kathryn realized the need for a safe place for children to play while their parents tend to their recovery needs. CJ’s Bus is a mobile play care facility loaded with games and toys for children in disaster. With the goal of being on-site with 1-2 days following a qualified disaster, the bus is a recognized destination staffed by certified volunteers where families feel safe to leave their children for a few minutes or hours as they attend to the immediate recovery needs of their family, businesses and community.

With the completion of CJ’s Bus in August 2007, Kathryn has provided a safe place for children to focus on their crayons instead of the devastation around them and permit them to remain innocent during disasters. This is accomplished by using the inside and especially the outside perimeter of the bus for a wide variety of entertaining and interactive age-appropriate activities, both active and passive.

Kathryn, along with Congressman Brad Ellsworth, has initiated the process of CJ’s Home Protection Act. This Act would change the Federal manufactured home construction and safety standards to require every manufactured home delivered for sale to be supplied with NOAA weather radio. Weather radios provide immediate broadcasts of severe weather warnings and civil emergency messages, including tornado and flood warnings, AMBER alerts for child abductions and chemical spill notifications.

Kathryn lost her 2 year-old son CJ, as well as her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law in the deadly F3 tornado which ravaged Evansville and Newburgh, IN on November 6, 2005. The tornado took 25 lives and was one of the deadliest in Indiana history. Kathryn made a very personal decision to devote the rest of her life to putting smiles on the faces of children affected by disaster. She once said that she knew she could either be miserable the rest of her life or she could do something about it. She chose to make changes that will better the lives of other families.

Mike Heikes

We know that life is full of lessons. Some we learn the easy way, some the hard way. Mike Heikes was riding in the front seat of a car in 1982 with one of his friends. Both had been drinking and Mike was not wearing a seat belt. His friend was speeding at 100 mph and missed a curve in the road, crashing the car. Mike was thrown onto the road that would be stained with his blood until it was resurfaced. The accident occurred the weekend before Mike was due to begin college.

The doctor told Mike’s parents the surgery for his brain injuries probably would not save his life; however, Mike did survive. He was in a coma and partially paralyzed; the doctors did not know if he would ever be able to walk again. But Mike is walking today; he is a survivor but still suffers from short-term memory loss as a result of his brain injuries from the accident.

After the accident, Mike spent three and a half months in the hospital recovering from surgery. The accident and recovery period gave Mike a new mission in life. He shares his testimony to many and talks about the dangers of drinking and driving. Mike has been invited to share his life experiences with churches, schools, nursing homes and with parents. He hopes to be able to save one person and their family from having to go through what he did.

Mike also temporarily lost his driver’s license in 1990 due to limited peripheral vision. During that time, he purchased a bike to ride to work. Though he had ridden a bicycle since he was a child, he realized he liked it. Even when his license was reinstated, Mike continued to ride his bike and over the next six years, he logged more than 85,000 miles. Mike then began to get involved in cross country bike rides and used that to raise more than $70,000 for the three hospitals that treated him after his accident: Lake Region Hospital in Fergus Falls, MeritCare in Fargo, ND and Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Minneapolis.

In addition, Mike has taken his mission a step further and also speaks about bike safety. Mike donates bicycle helmets to youth free of charge so they will be safe while riding. To date, he has given away more than three thousand helmets to boys and girls living throughout Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota. Mike uses his cross country rides to raise money to provide the free bike helmets.

Many individuals and families have benefited from Mike’s speeches as well as his helmet donations. Some he may never know about and he is happy to hear from some of the recipients of his service. However, Mike will continue to raise money for bike helmet donations and share his life story in hopes to continue to save lives.

Andrea Walker

Andrea Walker has been a dedicated member of the Special Olympics Georgia family for more than a year. She first volunteered for the State Fall Games in 2007. She wanted to become a volunteer and saw that the Fall Games needed help. Andrea traveled from Atlanta to Albany, GA to get to the games. Andrea also recruited her parents to volunteer.

Andrea and her parents, Steve and Carolyne Walker, were assigned to volunteer at the sport of Bocce, one of Special Olympics Georgia’s largest sports. This occurs all three days of the games and Andrea volunteered both Friday and Saturday.

Andrea was scheduled to volunteer Saturday morning for about five hours. Bocce is scheduled from early morning to approximately 9:00 pm on Saturday, and it needs at least sixty volunteers throughout the day. When the evening shift came around, the group was short of volunteers. Andrea decided she wanted to stay for a longer time at Bocce because help was needed. Her parents also continued to volunteer. Andrea ended up serving for twelve hours during that one day.

Since the Fall Games, Andrea has been active in almost all of Special Olympics Georgia’s events. She once again volunteered for the State Indoor Winter Games in January of 2008. Not only did she volunteer at their assignments, but Andrea stepped in to help at one of the bowling venues when she saw things getting a bit hectic. Andrea helped to rally the volunteers and made the necessary calls to have the venue running smoothly.

Andrea has also been an active and energetic member of the 2008 Duck Derby Committee. She helped to sell many ducks at various businesses and festivals and was there at the 2008 Duck Derby to help support the staff and sold even more ducks. Andrea has also recruited several of her friends for 50/50 raffles to sell at baseball and hockey games to benefit Special Olympics Georgia.

Andrea also stepped up her role at the 2008 State Summer Games and was a volunteer coordinator for aquatics, one of the largest and longest events. Andrea volunteered for all the days of the Games. She organized and coordinated the volunteers.

Andrea has truly shown what it means to go above and beyond. She has proven many times that “ordinary” people can truly be exceptional! Andrea is dedicated and reliable, and these are not characteristics that all people embody. Andrea “sticks out” because of her dedication and determination to serve. Special Olympics Georgia is glad and honored that Andrea Walker made the decision to become a volunteer.

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mission for Christ

Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church was established in 1843 and soon after, the first school was built. St. Peter’s School has grown from a one-room schoolhouse to a modern school that educates approximately 100 students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight each year. St. Peter’s serves several school districts and local Native Americans. St. Peter’s is a parochial school that relies mainly on church donations and competitive, low-cost tuition, to meet all of its instructional and operational costs and expenses.

Saint Peter’s School provides a high quality alternative to public school. In addition to learning mathematics, science, social studies, reading, art and music, students also learn about religion. The religion classes include some of the basic teachings and morals of Christianity, which include respect for all people and helping people who are in need or less fortunate. Each year, students participate in a variety of service projects including donating canned goods to the local food pantry, assembling care packages for military men and women serving overseas and sponsoring a child in a third-world country. Students and church members work collaboratively on other projects such as collecting gifts for needy families at Christmas.

Throughout the years St. Peter’s School has graduated many successful alumni who have made a positive difference in their communities. They received an outstanding education that provided a solid foundation for high education in high school, college and beyond. In addition to excelling in their chosen fields, alumni also given back to the community who are sick or injured. Many alumni are leaders in the church and directly involved in the service projects at school. Many alumni have chosen to send their children to St. Peter’s School because students learn to be well-rounded individuals who do well in school, and become productive citizens who contribute to society.

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church and School continue to be pillars of faith and education in the community while many other local parochial schools have close. St. Peter’s Lutheran Church members’ sponsorship and funding of the school helps to make tuition affordable, offer scholarships, provide upkeep and care for the buildings and grounds, and pay for the instructional and operational expenses.

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church continues to sponsor a school that provides a quality Christian education for over 160 years and continues to be a center of academic excellence and it teaches students to be aware of people in need of help. St. Peter’s encourages students to use problem-solving skills and then take action to make the world a better place.

Penny Henderson

Penny Henderson is an extremely valuable volunteer in the United States Army Garrison-Yongsan (USAG-Yongsan) community. She began volunteering for the Army Community Service (ACS) Center in May 2008 and volunteered in other organizations in the community since August 2007.

From August 2007 through June 2008, Penny served as the Reservations Chairperson for the American Forces’ Spouses’ Club (AFSC). Her organizational skills, positive attitude and work ethic helped make the 2007-2008 Board Year for AFSC one of the best in recent history. During that time period, Penny volunteered an average of 30 hours a week for a total of 1,200 hours. Penny also volunteered her time at the Chosun Gift Shop (CGS) which is the fundraising arm for the AFSC. The profits from the CGS helped fund charitable organizations across the military community in Seoul as well as in the Republic of Korea. The CGS donated more than $500,000 dollars last year to both American and Korean charities. Penny sacrificed most of her Saturdays to volunteer for the AFSC and the CGS which generated money to donate to charity.

In May 2008, Penny saw another need in the community which she was uniquely qualified to fill. The Army Community Service Center (ACS) manages the appointments for the Korean Immigration officials which visit the Yongsan community twice a month. Penny volunteered to become the A3 Visa and SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) assistant. In this role, Penny managed an average of 100 clients each week to coordinate and administer the appointments for the Korean Immigration officials. She volunteered an average of 50 hours a week for a total of 1,400 hours in a short seven month time period. In this role, she conducted pre-screening of client’s paperwork to ensure they had the necessary information and documentation required by the Korean Immigration Officials. Penny was able to explain the process in such a way and in such a manner to relieve the stress and frustration of the customers and create a positive and productive environment for clients to obtain the necessary documentation for living in South Korea.