Sav-A-Life Counselors

Sav-A-Life volunteer counselors consist of forty volunteers who counsel clients who are in crisis pregnancy situations. Some of our clients are as young as fourteen and as old as 50. They are often frightened, laden with guilt and many feel their lives are ruined or over.

The Sav-A-Life volunteers are extensively trained to offer these young women options. This is done in a very gentle and loving way. The volunteers are not there to judge the clients’ behavior but rather to offer them hope, to help them in their immediate situations and to encourage them to choose a lifestyle that is more conducive to have a peaceful and wholesome life.

The situations of the clients are many and varied. Some are estranged from their parents; some have been raped either by a gang, a family member or a boyfriend; some have become pregnant from being on a careless emotional fling and, sadly, some become pregnant because they want someone to love them and they believe the baby will instantly love them from the moment of birth. Many come from poverty and violence filled backgrounds and a number of them come from middleclass and affluent families.

After getting information on the client’s medications, drugs, alcohol use and a description of her lifestyle, the counselor provides the self-administered pregnancy test to the client. If the test is positive the volunteer offers the client enrollment in the Life Choices course. This course includes parenting, budgeting and lifestyle patterns along with a Bible study. During this course, the volunteer bonds with client. The volunteers go the extra mile with these clients and have been known to purchase groceries, they have brought food from their freezers, they have gone to a hospital and rocked a baby and they have spent hours in prayer for the clients.

Sav-A-Life is a faith based and faith funded organization. Each client is asked about the spiritual side of her life. Each volunteer is trained to speak in a caring way with clients about their spiritual journeys and the clients seem to love and welcome this part of the interview process. Prayer is included in each client visit.

The Group also offers The Hope Group as another service. This is a support group for post abortive women who are going through the emotional trauma left by an abortion. These traumas are sometimes dormant for more than 20 or 30 years and when they surface they cause emotional chaos. The Hope volunteers are truly extraordinary. All of them have had an abortion and suffered the traumas and gone through the healing and forgiving process. They want to share their recovery with these women who are still in chaos and help them become emotionally healthy. The Hope volunteered goes the “tenth mile” with each lady who attends the group. These volunteers are on call 24/7.

Sarah Goeke

Sarah Goeke is a recent graduate from Cape Central High School, but she has been very active in her community. Sarah has served Old Town Cape as a volunteer leader of the Downtown Kids Association since spring of 2004. The purpose of the Downtown Kids Association (DKA) is to involve students and young adults in all aspects of the redevelopment of downtown Cape Girardeau so that they feel a connection with this important part of our city and continue to support the area throughout their lives. In her role as leader of DKA, Sarah is a full voting member of Old Town Cape’s Board of Directors.

Sarah has also worked over the past year to complete her mission as the volunteer leader of the DKA. In doing this she has developed a youth movie night on the Common Pleas Courthouse grounds and helped organize a trivia night to raise funds for the event. More than 75 people attended the first even alone. Encouraged by this early success, she continued to find ways of improving the event so that it draws more young people and their parents to Old Town Cape. In March of 2005, Sarah was instrumental in the success of the downtown cleanup day, recruiting more than two-thirds of the total amount of the volunteers present for that event. All of the volunteers recruited by Sarah were high school students.

Sarah’s enthusiasm for these projects has carried over to others who she was able to recruit for assistance when needed. These motivated members of the DKA have ensured that the program continued to grow and flourish now after Sarah has graduated from High School and begun her pursuing her college education away from Cape Girardeau.

Old Town Cape’s vision is to become a community that cherishes it’s past and in an economically viable district for the citizens of Cape Girardeau to live, work, and to play. This vision is supported by Sarah’s work through the DKA, believing that the entire community, including youth, must support the redevelopment of downtown Cape Girardeau if its efforts are to be successful. Sarah’s work also reflects Old Town Cape’s mission statement; Old Town Cape preserves the historical integrity of Cape Girardeau and promotes economic development using the Main Street Four Point Approach. She does this by encouraging community youths to not only get involved with the redevelopment, but to continue to support it throughout their lives.

In addition to her work through the DKA and Old Town Cape, Sarah was and is active in Cape Central High School’s choir, orchestra and drama program. She has performed vocally at many area churches and is a very visible part of the arts community in Cape Girardeau. Sarah has been a motivated member of Old Town Cape and the Downtown Kids Association. Through her time and dedication, she has shown this community great how to give back. Sarah has been a determined and enthusiastic volunteer.

Chris Snoberger

In her efforts to provide shelter for her neighbors and to care for animal life, Chris Snoberger dedicated her time to a number of organizations. As a volunteer for the Texas Ferret Lovers Rescue, Snoberger works diligently to improve the treatment of ferrets in her community. She serves as treasurer, spending four to eight hours every week balancing the organization’s budget, paying bills, keeping records, and saving ferrets. As one who has helped rescue abandoned ferrets she has helped raise awareness about animal rights issues in her area, spreading the organization’s message to the surrounding animal control units and raising the level of care ferrets receive in her area. She has participated in projects that raise funds to pay medical bills accumulated by the owners of ferrets, and has even taken in sick ferrets in need of extra care. Snoberger carries tremendous responsibility within the rescue, which may explain why the organization leaders say “she’s always dependable”.

But caring for ferrets is not her only volunteer endeavor on behalf of animals. Snoberger also plays a role in the animal advocacy organization, Saving Pyrs in Need, Inc. (SPIN), which finds safe homes for Great Pyrenees dogs. Volunteering regularly as SPIN’s Events Coordinator, Snoberger has organized a Pumpkin Patch Party, Halliburton Family Days, and the North Texas Irish Festival, each of which required volunteers to raise funds, adopt dogs and locate new foster homes. Thus, by involving herself in two causes close to her heart, Snoberger is able to raise awareness in her community, as well as save the lives of many animals. And by helping to control the animal population and improve the lives of ferrets and Great Pyrenees dogs, Snoberger helps the community as a whole.

Besides her love of animals, Snoberger also finds time to volunteer for the Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity. A volunteer for four years, Snoberger recently took on a leadership role as Crew Chief, leading new volunteers and giving instructions on work sites. In addition, Snoberger lends a hand wherever and whenever needed, working at fundraising events, helping to recruit volunteers and ever extending her volunteering to the classroom where she serves as a construction 101 course trainer, a position that finds few volunteers willing to take on. These volunteer efforts for Habitat for Humanity demonstrate Snoberger’ selflessness and willingness to help in whatever capacity she can. While she has been helping Habitat for Humanity, the Dallas chapter has become the seventh largest homebuilder there and the fourth largest Habitat affiliate in the US.

Snoberger not only dedicates herself to organizations around her community, but she is also the chair of the Aetna Volunteer Council in the Dallas Office encouraging and organizing events for her fellow co-workers to volunteer. She has donated her time and energy to numerous organizations, and has greatly influenced those causes close to her heart. Through her contributions to animal organizations and to Habitat for Humanity, she is deeply involved in her community’s overall well-being. This involvement led her to be nominated for the 2006 and 2005 Aetna Voice of Conscience Award, in which she received runner-up status both years.

Sophia Key West

As a volunteer, Sophia West has empowered over 18 million families nationwide over the past 10 years with her English/Spanish character development abduction prevention DVD’s and performances. Addressing the need of crime/violence prevention and predator awareness, Sophia’s program and materials lead to a long term intergenerational solution.

As a child, West was victimized by a child sexual predator and suppressed the anxiety of the attacks. Later she married and was haunted by the nightmare again one Christmas Eve when her son attempted suicide. It was discovered that he had been sexually abused for years by a trusted family friend. West refused to allow her family to be victims. She founded a campaign, to stop predators and to educate families on the ten psychological deceptions that predators use to gain control over their victims. These are the same deceptions that are used on the internet, phone or face-to-face.

For more than ten years, West has traveled the nation with her innovative approach, lecturing and educating millions of children with interactive programs. West, a master magician, interlaces the program with good magic tricks that segue into the deceptions that negative individuals use to manipulate children into gangs, drugs, violence, and sexual abuse or to their death. She trained thousands of volunteers to follow in her footsteps as mentors to teach programs. West lobbied Congress for a grant under DOJJ to create and distribute free bilingual English/Spanish family crime prevention kids nationwide. After launching the national initiative where families, schools and organizations utilize these materials, West’s efforts have reached another 8 million families nationwide. Most recently she has partnered the charity with the Navy’s Community Service Outreach Division and with the National Education Association. West volunteers thousands of hours each year, even while pregnant with daughter, Michaela Victoria, now 5 months old. In 2005, she received the President’s Volunteer Service Gold Medal and she just received The Volvo For Life Heroes Award, the Governor’s Volunteer of the Year Award and President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for unwavering commitment to stopping crime, violence and to protecting all children.

In a nation where the Department of Justice estimates that 7 out of 10 girls and 3 out of 7 boys will be victimized before they reach the age of 18 and where 551,000 registered sex offenders are living within our communities, West brings to light the truth about predators. She is often quoted saying, “Only 10% of child sexual predators are ever caught, which means that 90% or over 7 million avoid apprehension and thrive within the shadows of ignorance. We cannot be with our children at all times, but what we teach our kids will protect them forever.”

Criminals seek two things to successfully commit a crime, vulnerability and opportunity. West’s program creates an invisible shield of awareness around each child eliminating their vulnerability. Crime can only be reduced when we raise the awareness of potential victims. In a world where we often seek treatments for problems, West brings a solution.

Ann Meadows

Catholic Social Services has had the distinct honor and privilege of having Mrs. Ann Meadows volunteer with them since 1981 (for 25 years). Mrs. Meadows has volunteered her time, her home and her love to care for foster babies that have come through Catholic Social Services while they are waiting to be placed with their adoptive families. She and her family have given of themselves fully and tirelessly to bond with these babies and let them feel the love of a family.

Over the course of 25 years, Meadows has cared for 42 babies for Catholic Social Services. The agency could not have carried out its mission to provide adoptive services for the community had it not been for people like Meadows. She has served an integral function in an extraordinary capacity for the agency. The commitment that she has given the agency has made it possible to bring together so many families through adoption.

Meadows has been available on a moment’s notice to take these newborn babies into her home and care for them as her own. All the while, Meadows has raised her own six children, and cared for her grandchildren as well. She is also very active in her church, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Prattville. She has been married to Mr. Charles Meadows for almost fifty years.

Catholic Social Services takes pleasure in sharing the tremendous attributes of such an outstanding person. Meadows always greets everyone with a smile and gentle warmth. She has welcomed not only the babies into her home, but also the nervous first time adoptive parents at times to visit with their baby. You can only hear praises sung about Meadows from all of the adoptive families because of her commitment, dedication and compassion.

Though she has lived a life of service, it is doubtful that she will ever realize the depth of how much she has touched these adoptive families over the years. To know that their child has been loved and nurtured by such a loving and selfless person and family while waiting to be placed for adoption is comfort beyond words for most adoptive families. The foster families provide this service out of the goodness of their hearts. There is no adequate way to express the deep appreciation for what Mrs. Meadows has done for the agency and for countless families over the years.

David Marker

Dave Marker has been a member of Retired Senior Volunteer Programs (RSVP) of Senior Services, Inc. since 2001, delivering Meals on Wheels (MOW) and volunteering for Probate Court for almost 9 years. Last year Marker volunteered 450 hours which, when calculated by the Point of Light Foundation value of $18.04 per volunteer hour, equates to $8,118.

Marker is a friendly face and welcome visitor when he delivers MOW to homebound residents. “He is cheerful, has a great sense of humor and loves what he does,” says Ann Wesselhoff, MOW director, “Oftentimes he is the only contact seniors have with the outside world.” According to Marker, “It’s instant gratification. They smile and thank you when you give them a meal.”

As a volunteer for MOW, Marker provides staff at Senior Services with a daily report on a person who might otherwise go by unnoticed. If a client does not answer the door, staff is notified. Marker is an advocate for seniors who might otherwise have fallen through the cracks.

Marker also volunteers for Probate Court in response to another community need. He has been trained to interview clients disconnected from the larger community, to spot abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and to make certain that the guardians are meeting the needs of the wards of the court. “It’s hard work, but I feel I make a difference and that’s why I continue to do it.”

According to Pat Neal, Intake Specialist and Coordinator of Probate Advocates, “Marker is known as a ‘sweeper’. Advocates choose their cases and Marker takes the oldest, least desirable, most challenging ones. With over 500 cases under his belt, he is now skilled enough to intercede for case intervention. He also has taken on a leadership role and is trained to instruct new volunteers. As we say here, we are ‘Marker dependent.’ We get more positive feedback about Marker than any other volunteer, and many ask for Marker when they have to be re-evaluated. He makes everyone feel so comfortable and his calming demeanor takes chaos out of a house. For kids, he’s the quintessential grandpa.”

At 73, Marker volunteers despite the obstacles that accompany old age. Another obstacle is financial as Marker pays for gas and other related costs while in Kalamazoo County. Since many of the volunteers prefer not to drive long distances to interviews and advocate for wards, Marker travels throughout the state, “because it’s important work that has to be done,” and receives limited mileage reimbursement outside Kalamazoo County. Wards of the Court are often obstacles themselves and it takes a very special individual to volunteer in such a challenging situation. According to Neal, “The task of providing for a ward can be very demanding. Volunteers like Marker are an essential link in the chain of service this court provides to its guardians for their wards.

Kingdom Construction

Kingdom Construction Children’s Ministries is a volunteer-based, community supported ministry that has been very busy at two local hospitals: Women and Children’s Medical Center and Highland Hospital in Charleston, West Virginia. The group has started two programs, “Big Hugs” and “Jacob’s Wings.”

Big Hugs is Kingdom Construction Children’s Ministries hospital visitation program. The volunteers visit the sick, abused and neglected children at both facilities. Each child visited receives a stuffed bear and balloon from “Honey,” their bear mascot. Teen volunteers visit and run errands for the children during their monthly visits. To date, more than 186 children, in addition to their parents, have benefited from visits. The goal of Big Hugs is to make a scary situation a little more tolerable for hurting children.

Jacob’s Wings is an innovative and unique program that Kingdom Construction began in memory of Jacob Williams. This program comforts the hurting parents who have suffered a loss due to the death of their pre-mature or still-born baby at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. The children volunteers paint trinket boxes to be used to hold permanent molds of the baby’s hands and feet as a memorial to be given to the parents. In addition, the adult volunteers make hand-made gowns for the babies to be used for burial since preemie clothes are not readily available.

Both programs bring unique solutions to needs that may not be known by many; however, the families that experience their service are very grateful. The Kingdom Construction Children’s Ministries has been and will continue to impact families and children in the Charleston, WV to bring comfort and solace in a time of need.

Anne Bush Ambrose

Anne Bush Ambrose had a hero, her father Avner Bush, a school superintendent in South Georgia. Anne strived to be like him, especially in the way he helped others. From the beginning, service has been at the heart of Anne’s life, and her sense of mission has sustained her through significant personal tragedy.

In her twenties, she organized a Tutorial Program for disadvantaged students in the Gainesville City Schools, and she volunteered with the Department of Family and Children’s Services to find foster homes for neglected children. At age 29, she went to Peru to serve as relief director of an orphanage. There tragedy struck and she was shot through the spine and paralyzed. Since then she has continued to live an extraordinary life, serving others from a wheelchair.

In her thirties, Anne taught students who required special services and served as volunteer counselor-in-training in a church outreach program. After earning a master’s degree at Brenau University, she studied with renowned therapists, opened a practice in psychotherapy and consulted in several addiction treatment centers in Georgia. She also designed and implemented a House Arrest Program for convicted drug users, earning the Liberty Bell Award, the state’s highest for outstanding service to the justice system.

In her forties, Anne founded Metropolitan Serenity House Inc. in 1989, an innovative treatment center for young men addicted to drugs and alcohol. She founded Avner Bush Academy, a drug free, private high school, accredited in 1996, for the residents of Serenity House.

In her fifties, she continued to serve as Executive Director of Serenity House, a nonprofit institution, served as Head of Avner Bush Academy, the private high school that serves residents of Serenity House, and worked tirelessly with young men with substance abuse problems, creating opportunity for each to fulfill his potential. Many of these young men are now men of integrity, contributing to their communities and enjoying healthy relationships. Their families have benefited enormously from the family therapy they experienced under Anne’s care.

Currently, she serves as Chairman of the Board for the organization she founded. She continues to work with families suffering from the disease of addiction. She never forgets the young men who have been part of the Serenity House community. When they face challenges, she gives them her personal support, no matter how long they have been gone and for however long they need it.

Anne Bush Ambrose has been a lifelong volunteer hero. With courage and creativity, she is still helping young men, their parents, sisters and brothers, and even their significant others to heal relationships, discover their true values, and become their best selves. Anne’s father would be proud.

Judith Lackey

Around Aetna, Inc., Judith Lackey’s name is synonymous with a number of different things, but above all her name is always associated with avid volunteerism. It is not only her donation of time to various organizations that makes Judith stand out, but her enthusiasm and heart with which she fully commits herself sets her apart.

Lackey has acted as the Middletown Aetna Volunteer Council (MAVC) Chair for the last two years and as co-chair for three years before. Under her leadership, the MAVC has realized an incredible rise in membership, increasing from 50 to 160 members, all of whom donated an astonishingly large number of hours to various causes. This is a direct result of the support and encouragement that Lackey lends to her fellow employees. Through her excellent example of commitment and positive attitude, Lackey has motivated everyone around her to become more involved.

Lackey has accomplished many things through her association with various organizations. Driven by her own mother’s battle with cancer, Lackey has donated so much of her time to organizations involved with raising money to fight cancer and to raise awareness about the disease. Among those causes, she has worked for the past four years with the CUREchief Foundation to create CUREchiefs, which serve as headwear for cancer patients. Lackey also served as a team leader in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk for each of the last five years. By walking 60 miles over 3 days, she contributed to the Avon Foundation’s effort to raise millions of dollars.

That’s not all. She has been an active member of Project Lead for the past four years, for which Lackey collects and delivers winter coats to shelters. She is also on the Bowl for Kids’ Sake committee, and when the organization expressed a last-minute need, Lackey raised $200 by forming four teams and donating raffle items. Lackey and her family also volunteer at soup kitchens and shelters around the area during the holidays. She headed the distribution of a cookbook, “A Tribute to Heroes,” with proceeds going to victims of 9/11. She also organized a Hurricane Katrina Relief drive that collected over 1,200 items in less than three days. To advertise for these organizations and many more, Lackey has coordinated several non-profit fairs held in the Middletown Aetna office to introduce outside organizations and to promote volunteerism to Aetna employees.

Above all her numerous accomplishments, Lackey’s infectious personality leaves a mark on all who come in contact with her, motivating friends, family and community members to join her volunteer efforts. She has been able to touch so many different communities with her service, each benefiting from a dedicated volunteer who logs 300-plus hours yearly. As a testament to this personality and to the selfless volunteerism that Lackey has displayed for many years, she was awarded the 2006 Aetna Voice of Conscience Employee Award.

Nathan Calvert

In order to deal with the possible influx of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina, the small middle Mississippi town formed a community wide non-profit group called Winston Relief. After attending one of the preliminary meetings in August, sixteen year old Nathan Calvert noted that nothing specifically was being done locally for children who were forced to evacuate. After brainstorming, Nathan and a friend decided to check with the Winston Relief board of directors and start Winston Relief-kids.

The purpose of the project was to provide goody bags full of activities and toys for children who arrived in our area because Nathan was concerned for those children who did not have their favorite books and toys. The community was concerned that evacuees would reach our area quickly, so he worked swiftly, within one week span of time. He contacted a local radio program, local website, and churches in the town about the need for donations. Drop boxes were positioned in down-town businesses for people to place their donations. Nathan was overwhelmed by the community response. In fact, he stated that the hardest part of the entire project was dealing with the sheer number of items that were donated. Over 150 goody bags containing small toys, crayons, books, markers, etc. were assembled and distributed locally and on the Mississippi gulf coast.

Because of Nathan’s interest in those affected by the hurricane, his family, along with fellow church members, made a trip to the Mississippi gulf coast in January to assist in the clean-up effort. When he returned to school, Nathan was invited to speak to a February meeting of a biology club about his experiences on the coast and about the possible health implications of the hurricane.

Hopefully this project had a positive impact on each child who received a bag. It certainly impacted Nathan. He improved his organizational and communication skills and learned some important life lessons. He has said that this community involvement has taught him that people want to help during a disaster; they just need someone to show them how to assist. He has also stated how happy he is to live in an area full of such concerned, generous people.