Jerry W. Johnson

Jerry Johnson is extensively involved in the Fort Lewis, WA, Army Family Team Building Program (AFTB), which began in June 2001, has been instrumental in developing one of the Army’s finest programs. The goal of AFTB is to increase personal skills, provide basic knowledge of the Army, enhance personal development at a professional-level, and provide leadership development opportunities for Army families.

Each Christmas season Johnson spends from mid-November through Christmas Day as Santa. He visits Family Readiness Group meetings, the Waiting Family Support Group, and the Exceptional Family Member Program Christmas party and spends countless hours having his picture taken with children and adults. He is also Santa for the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Fort Lewis.

Johnson volunteers in the Fort Lewis Retirement Office. He has served as a member of the Retiree council since 1985. He assists with planning for the annual Retiree Day, and assists with the biannual Retiree Newsletter which is mailed to over 50,000 retirees in the Northwest.

Each year Fort Lewis conducts a conference to solicit suggestions from Soldiers and families regarding ways to improve the Army. Suggestions are worked on at the local level, and the best are forwarded to higher headquarters. Johnson has participated in this Army Family Action Plan event for the past six years and has represented I Corps and Fort Lewis locally and at higher headquarters.

Johnson volunteers within the surrounding communities; and is Commander of the Tumnwater, WA Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) where he chairs the annual VFW Voice of Democracy, Patriot’s Pen, and Junior Essay contests. He also plays a major role in procuring VFW donations for Fort Lewis family programs.

As Chairman of the Thurston County (Olympia area) Veterans’ Council, he organizes and MCs the annual Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day ceremonies at the state capital in Olympia. He also finds time to his busy schedule to volunteer at the Washington state Veterans’ Home in Retsil, WA. He escorts residents on shopping and sightseeing trips, and to dinner outings. He provides residents with books, videos, puzzles, and clothing. Cooking is another passion, and he cooks and serves food each year at the Retsil Annual Family Day activity.

In addition to all these programs, Johnson is the Chair of the Culinary Arts Advisory Council at Clover Park Technical College, in Tacoma, WA, and Chef de Train of Thurston County Voiture 151 of the Forty and Eight (a Veterans service organization) where he assists in providing nursing scholarships and encourages recipients to utilize their training in military or Veterans hospitals. He is also a Roundtable Commissioner for the Sasquatch District of the Pacific Harbors Council of Boy Scouts.

Samantha Bolan

Samantha Bolan has had a variety of volunteer experiences. She has volunteered for Oxfam and the Make Trade Fair campaign at the 2006 Vans Warped Tour. Make Trade Fair is a campaign to make trade fairer for small farmers in the United States and also abroad. Oxfam is the agency that runs the campaign. At the event, she collected signatures for The Big Noise petition from the concertgoers and educated them and made them more aware of the many problems facing small farmers today.

She also volunteered at Catholic Charities Food Pantry where she worked with a young boy who came in almost every day to the Summer Lunch Program. She would play games and make crafts with him.

She has also volunteered at Lourdes Hospital. For the past four years, she has volunteered at Lourdes in the Café de Paul on Thursdays and the Gift Shop on Saturdays. The proceeds from the sales of the Café de Paul and Gift Shop go to patient care.

Donna Schoonover

Donna Schoonover has impacted the lives of at least 200 Perry County youth through her 262 hours of dedicated service to the Task Force in the past year. She has donated more than 1,400 hours of service to the Task Force in the past 7 years. She is a dependable person who thrives on helping others and will go the extra mile to help someone in need. Her willingness to share her ideas and problems helps her to be a successful communicator with the youth in our community. Through her service to the Task Force Schoonover serves as a role model for younger individuals and demonstrates a positive outlook on life. Schoonover’s serving as a peer mentor and as a role model has impacted the lives of many Perry County Youth. Her leadership and dedication will have lasting results on these youth’s lives and lead to more positive decision-making and stronger positive youth. She builds connections with all the youth she works with and with the community around her. She takes an innovative approach to helping the youth by connecting with them in and way she can find. Without her influence, many Perry County youth would not have a positive role model to look up to or anyone to turn to when in need.

Schoonover has been a mentor with CHAMPS Mentoring Program for 7 years and has assisted two at-risk high school youth and two middle school youth during this time. She continues to provide them with support and assistance. She has donated 52 hours of time to her mentees in the past year and a total of 364 hours of time to these youth since beginning the program. She also donates 28 hours a year to all of the mentors and mentees in the CHAMPS Mentoring Program. This totals 196 hours of donated time for her crafting classes over the past 7 years.

The CHAMPS Out-of-School Program began 5 years ago for 16-21 year olds who have dropped out of school and are working on getting their GED. Within this program volunteers assist the coordinator, in helping these youth believe in them, prioritize, learn the skills needed for getting a job, set goals and learning communication skills. Weekly sessions from 5:30-7:00 have been designed to help communities youth get the knowledge and skills they need to reach their goals, so that they can benefit the community by finding worthwhile jobs that they can be successful at. Schoonover has been volunteering 78 hours a year to this program totaling 546 donated hours in the past 7 years of service.

Seeking Answers has been running for more than 4 years, and is a program for 16-21 year olds who are “seeking answers to substance use issues.” Weekly sessions are held for an hour to help youth think about how their decisions are affecting their lives, what circumstances attribute to them making these decisions, and what healthy alternatives to using substances are. This group also tries to help youth set goals and assess if their actions are helping them achieve these goals, as well as assess how close they are to becoming an addict verses a social user. Another goal of this group is to help the youth understand that everyone makes mistakes, and it is best to learn from that mistake and move on. This program benefits our community by providing a support system for youth who are using substances and need encouragement to change. Schoonover became involved with this group prior to its actual formation. She has donated 52 hours to this program in the past year and more that 208 hours to Seeking Answers since its inception.

Seeking Answers About Substances (SAAS) is similar to the Seeking Answers Program, but it is age appropriately designed for 12-15 year olds. Weekly sessions are held from 4:00-5:00 p.m. at the Community Center. She has been an intricate part of this group since it began. She has donated 52 hours of service to this program in the past year and a total of 182 hours in the past 3 1/2 years since the program began.

Schoonover has therefore donated a total of 262 hours of dedicated time and service to the Perry County Community Task Force in the past year, and 1,496 hours of service since she began volunteering for the Task Force 7 years ago.

She is also part of the funding commi8ttee that has started 2 years ago to help come up with fundraising ideas for the Perry County Community Task Force. She was then nominated by the committee to be the President. She served and continues to serve as the committee’s President.

Schoonover has assisted 116 youths through her volunteer work with the Perry County Community Task Force in the past year, and continues her dedicated service to Perry County youth.

DPOL

K-9 for Kids

In a time when schools struggle to find innovative ways to connect with students, the challenge is often insurmountable. Financial and time restraints exasperate this problem leaving many students to walk the tight rope between good decision making and bad decision making.

Who would have known that it would be man’s best friend to teach these student how good decision making can reap positive rewards. Modeled after the success of pet therapy programs, Kim Gilchrist, Don Fisher and Denise Fisher decided to go a step further. In December 2004, Ms. Gilchrist and Mr. & Mrs. Fisher collaborated with Nancy Dubin, principal of Laurel Nokomis School Sarasota County Florida and the Sarasota Sheriff’s Department to develop a curriculum that allowed students to be matched and mentored one on one with registered pet therapy dogs. The program was written so children could be with a dog while working towards developing specific skills to enhance the decision making skills through self-esteem building, responsibility, respect, conflict resolution and role playing.

For one hour a week, 8-10 students are partnered with their K-9 companions and handlers to implement curriculum. Yearly, approximately 45 students are trained by 8-10 dogs and handlers totaling over 400 hours of volunteer time. In addition, guest K-9’s, such as Sheriff work dogs, search and rescue dogs and seeing eye guide dog puppies visit and volunteer to strengthen the message of the lesson. A school counselor and Resource Officer are on hand at all times to address any issues that need professional intervention. This hands-on service exemplifies innovation and collaboration to provide students with the skills they need to successfully walk the rope of success. The true testimony to the success of this program is the waiting list that the school now has of requests of children to participate in the Laurel Nokomis School K-9 for Kids program. The number of students outweighs the number of pet therapy dogs available! But never fear, the K-9’s have started the “twilight bark” telling their friends there are kids in need!

Effie Horning

As founder and executive director for “The Crowns for the Cure”, Ms. Horning works continuously to better the lives of those around her. She has founded special projects that deal with children and their families. Though the majority of her time is spent working on breast cancer fundraising, there is much more to The Crowns for the Cure than that. Effie works with her team members to get kids out in their communities volunteering at events, they teach them to be aware of themselves and knowledgeable about cancer; not just for themselves, but for their families. Effie and the team empower children, young adults, and adults alike to be proactive in their personal health care.

One specific way she has done this is by placing the Gail Model on her Crowns for the Cure web site: www.thecrownsforthsecure.com. The Gail model is a breast cancer risk assessment which was previously only available to medical professionals. Although many people are aware that a first degree relative is a risk for breast cancer, many are unaware of many other factors.

She and her team also service youth and disadvantaged seniors and hospitalized veterans through the Valentines for Veterans project. Valentines is the national week of recognition for hospitalized veterans. For over a decade, all around the country, her volunteers help varied daycares, schools, and youth organizations to create valentine cards for hospitalized Veterans. It teaches the children about the Vets’ job during war and peace, why the Veterans may be there, why they are being recognized in this capacity. Once the valentines are made, children are taken to hospitals and homes where Effie’s organization helps the kids pass out the cards to patients and residents. They talk with them, hug them, and come away with a greater appreciation for the elderly and those who serve(d) our country.

Although it’s called Valentine’s for Vets, they do this project also during Christmas and at other non-celebratory times of year and call it “Project Just Because.” She and her team like to perpetuate the idea that these persons are special, or thought of not just because of a holiday, but “just because” they are special.

Though the main focus of this day is mostly on Veterans; policemen, firemen, seniors in retirement homes and the like are also involved, bringing them joy on a holiday that celebrates love and appreciation for others.

They also work on providing resources for medical services including a current project being put into place is a proposed trip to South Africa to deliver formula and vaccines.

Her group is also a Presidential Volunteer Service Award organization and a National Leadership organization.

Though the main focus of this letter is on the activities of her organization, Effie also works hard on her own to help others through her profession as a nurse, and her sharing of her experiences as a cancer survivor.

VOLUNTEERS IN MOTION Program

Every day in Brevard County, FL, a community of 500,000 on Florida's Space Coast, there are frail and elderly residents who need assistance. These seniors live at home, on limited incomes. They are able to live independently through supportive services such as the VOLUNTEERS IN MOTION program. This program offers personalized transportation to elderly citizens by taking them to the grocery store, shopping or to the doctor. A few hours of volunteer support, once or twice a week, can make a major difference in these seniors' lives. Whether it's driving a van or answering a phone, our volunteers serve because they care.

VOLUNTEERS IN MOTION (VIM) is a service coordinated by Space Coast Area Transit, the Senior Resource Alliance and the Community Care for the Elderly program. The program began in 1996 in an effort to provide reliable transportation at no cost to Brevard County's elderly citizens who are unable to use Space Coast Area Transit's Fixed Route system because of health reasons. Many of these citizens cannot afford expensive nursing homes, and with assistance such as VIM, they can remain in their home and continue to be independent. Frequently, many of these seniors do not have family within the county to assist them with these transportation needs.

Since its inception, VIM has been able to assist thousands of elderly individuals. Volunteers receive intensive background checks, and training by attending instructional classes outlining how they transport these individuals. When transporting, volunteers are provided with county vehicles that are wheelchair accessible and meet rigorous local, state, and federal laws and testing. A few hours of volunteer support once or twice a week makes a major difference in a senior's life.

Currently there are 25 volunteers in the program, the majority of who are retired or semi-retired, and average over three hours of transport each week. Transports are daily between 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Since the VIM Program's inception in 1996, almost 38,000 frail, elderly seniors have been transported, and the registration continues to grow as Brevard County's population ages.

Carly Apap

Carly Apap is, by temperament, a shy, quiet, and poised leader with an uncanny ability to listen and observe others in order to effect positive change. Through volunteer work with sheltered animals, she developed a gentle voice of leadership. Through volunteer work with children with disabilities, she found the soft voice of leadership. Since the age of nine, she has volunteered with autistic children. There she perfected and continues to use a voice that speaks for those without one. She continues that effort each summer.

High school opened the door into a world of social opportunities. She conquered her shyness when she began her own club – one brand new to Martin County School District. Called “Teen Trendsetter Reading Mentors (TTRM)”, its mission is to teach reading skills to third grade students at risk of failing the FCAT. TTRM is a partnership of low achieving elementary school readers to devoted high school volunteer mentors. Equipped with the experiences of getting children with autism to speak words, Carly was confident that she could surely get reluctant students to read words.

TTRM works because Carly accepted the profound responsibility of persuading, encouraging, training, and monitoring conscientious teen members to go to a local elementary school and mentor struggling readers. It is a well-established fact that children who are poor readers are often ostracized by their peers in very subtle ways; often a poor reader’s lack of skills snowballs. Dedicated to the curriculum and the promise of its end results, she convinced each and every one of her volunteers to commit for an entire school year.

Carly has a passion for reading and love of the written word became contagious. What better life-long gift to give to others. In the beginning, these young and struggling students detested the idea of reading books but grew to run to the classroom window and say, “Ooh, ooh, there’s mine,” at the teens’ Wednesday arrivals.

The heart of the club is the young child who comes to trust and rely on his/her mentor. Carly saw to it that these young children were not disappointed. Not only has Carly engaged in service to solve a school’s problem of low FCAT scores (almost every child in the program has received a “3” on FCAT reading), but her encouragement has seeped to her peers. Because of her success, another high school in the district has been inspired to start a Teen Trendsetter program.

Carly has continued this program for three successful years. Presently, she is grooming another teen to take her place, so her legacy will continue as she steps into the college arena. What is the sum total of her impact? How do you measure that school administrators are ecstatic, that more 3rd grade students are passing FCAT, that a little group of readers now have a big case of high self-esteem? How do you measure the possible impact of what teens with strong bonds and cascading smiles will accomplish in the future? To date, Carly has completed over 1,000 community, action and service hours.

Alice Campbell

Alice Campbell has served in the Foster Grandparent program through Golden Umbrella for 27 years. Golden Umbrella, in Redding, CA was one of the first pilot programs for the Foster Grandparent Program on the West Coast and has sponsored the program for the past 34 years. Foster grandparents mentor and tutor students throughout three north state counties.

In Shasta County, 43.5% of children come from low income families. As of 2002, 13.7% of adults in Shasta County had entered drug and/or alcohol abuse treatment programs as compared to the 8.5% statewide average. With a population of 180,000, there were 6,337 cases of reported child abuse in 2002. In 2000, 12.3% of births were to teenage mothers. Of the 34 reporting counties in California, Shasta County ranked number 13 for the highest number of teen pregnancies.

Alice spent the first 20 years at Mary Street School helping to ensure that young women received the education and emotional support they needed during their pregnancies. During that time, she helped teen mothers to learn Lamaze, prenatal care and parenting skills while they continued their high school classes. Alice’s friendly smiles and encouraging words made the students feel loved and valued and provided them with nurturing that they often did not receive at home.

For the past 7 years, Alice has donated an average of 25 hours per week to a classroom of 10th, 11th and 12th graders at North Valley School. North Valley School educates at-risk children based on their individual needs. Some of these children have experienced abuse and neglect.

Alice works tirelessly in the classroom to help students with low self-esteem, family problems and lack of motivation. The children feel comfortable opening up to Alice because she has proven herself to be faithful and trustworthy. For many of these children, Alice is the only adult in their lives to lend a sympathetic ear. She is instrumental in helping students to build trust toward adults which has a direct impact on their success in relationships later in life.

Jarvis Carter

Jarvis Carter has been volunteering in the community for five years. This began during his eighth grade year when he became a member of the Martinsville/Henry County Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. Part of the requirements for membership in the organization is to complete a minimum of ten hours of community service.

Volunteering in his community has made him a better person and given him a sense of the importance of giving back to the community. He has completed community service at the Virginia Museum of Natural history, Apple Ridge Presbyterian Church Camp, Blue Ridge Manor-Assistant Living Residence, Fayette Area Historical Initiative board, Vacation Bible School teacher, Boys & Girls Club, and Tutoring. He has become very aware of people who are less fortunate than him and has acquired a desire to render his services to help when or wherever there is a need. Blue Ridge Manor for Assistant Living Residence is where he has completed most of his community service hours. This Residence has given him a sincere passion to render his services to people who are less fortunate and disabled. He wants to make an impact on his community. One thing that has inspired and motivated him from this service is his career goals. This experience influenced him to conduct seminars, workshops, and camps to give people an understanding of how important a quality life is. He wants to impress upon people how important it is to take medications as directed and have as much of a normal and quality life as possible.

Jarvis volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club because he enjoys working with the children. He looks at children as our future and feels that it is his job as a teenager to help lead children in a positive direction so they can have a bright future. The Boys and Girls Club provide opportunities for children to foster the fulfillment of their potentials.

Vacation Bible School is an outstanding way to cultivate children through the church. Jarvis has been a teacher and an assistant for Vacation Bible School at his church. Tutoring affords him the opportunity to help others and to work with children on an individual basis. Sharing his intelligence and mentoring gives Jarvis a sense of reaching out and helping others to succeed. Jarvis has done numerous community service hours.