THE REGAL SWAN

The Regal Swan® is a team of volunteer researchers who, in 1999, set out to provide veterinarians and swan keepers with current information regarding the humane treatment and veterinary medical care of captive swans. The team was the first to write a book on the care of captive swans, titled,”Swan Keeper’s Handbook: A Guide to the Care of Captive Swans,” by Krieger Publishing in 2003.

Since the organization’s inception, the project has grown to more than 25 team members, comprised of veterinarians, educators, photographers and other professionals based throughout the nation. However, the majority of the team’s research has been conducted at Orange Lake Resort & Country Club in Orlando, Florida and Lake Morton in Lakeland, Florida. The Regal Swan® team has completed an exceptional amount of work through its research in a very short amount of time, with limited funds.

The research team was the first to successfully vaccinate captive swans against the deadly botulism toxin and West Nile Virus using titre testing to prove the success of the vaccines. The team also proved that the West Nile Virus vaccine does not cause anemia in the swans. Utilizing DNA sequencing, the group helped link a protozoan that affects both humans and swans while identifying water as the vector for infection. Using data garnered during the research, team members developed and implemented a science, math and reading curriculum, K-12 and Adult, for educators.

Recently, the team helped identify bacteria as the leading cause of swans turning pink in Cork, Ireland. The team has also successfully composted swan manure into a fertilizer product named, “L’essence of Swan®.”

This exceptional group of individuals has volunteered its time and efforts to provide quality veterinary medical care for captive swans, while encouraging children and adults to pursue careers in reading, math and science. For more information on this innovative project, please go to: www.theregalswan.com

ELEANOR JOHNSON

As a member of a relatively new program at the medical center, Eleanor has been a valuable asset to the program as staff attempts to improve volunteer assignments making even more meaningful and valuable to students as they pursue a nursing career. Her input has provided us with good insight on youth volunteer expectations and ideas to hold the interest of young applicants. She has been volunteering on a weekly basis since October 2001. Her present assignment on one of the busiest inpatient units can be somewhat taxing and stressful at times but Eleanor takes this assignment and runs with it. She approaches her work with a strong attitude and accomplishes what she sets out to do.

Eleanor realizes that working with people who are ill is sometimes a challenge and sometimes a huge personal reward. She truly enjoys working with the patients as well as the staff. She has been able to adjust her own responses to varied situations when confronted with patients who may be demanding or difficult; however, she realizes that her small contributions to their inpatient stay carries a tremendous responsibility and often makes a huge difference in patient satisfaction.

The combination of Eleanor’s pleasant demeanor and the knowledge she has gained in working with a very diverse group of patients and staff has certainly prepared her for leadership roles. Her continued interest in pursuing a nursing career has not wavered and has actually gained more interest as her responsibility level increased. When she was limited in what her assignment provided, she was able to observe the medical care team and learned that health care is very much a team effort in achieving holistic care of a patient. She also assists in the orientation of new Cadettes who are entering the program.

Eleanor has many gifts but perhaps the most outstanding is her ability to bring out the best in others. She has frequently been known to greet even the crankiest of people and make the experience rewarding for both she and the patient. While working in the inpatient unit, she grew to know many of our patients who had suffered losses of either limb or spirit. These patients needed the encouragement and reward of moving forward to gain back their mobility and even their spirit. Eleanor could always come around with a cheerful greeting and turn around an otherwise glum day for many of our patients. Her contagious energy and spirit are frequently the best medicine the hospital could offer.

ELIZABETH LUO

Elizabeth can be depended upon to carry out all tasks given to her. At her very young age, she has already shown a high degree of responsibility as she performs her daily assignments. She has consistently shown that she can be relied upon to complete any project assigned to her. During the entire time that she worked in the various sections of the Human Resources department, she always fulfilled her tasks timely with very little instructions and minimal supervision. It is never unusual that she delivers a finished product that always exceeds what is normally expected of her.

Elizabeth possesses a “can do” attitude. When given a task, she takes it seriously. she accepts her work assignments willingly and always with a smile. She is a team player who is always eager to contribute to any endeavor to the utmost of her ability. She takes ownership of her job and takes great pride in her accomplishments. She brings results.

Elizabeth is well liked by everyone in the department. She has that magnetic smile that seems to radiate light and lighten things up in the office. She is a welcome addition to the Human Resources team. She gets along great with everyone and is always willing to share her vibrant energy foe the good of the whole. She is courteous to all the staff and patients alike. I strongly believe that Elizabeth will become a very capable leader in due time. During her tour in the Human Resources department, she never actually had the position to exhibit her potential as a leader. But the attitude she displayed at work, her maturity in dealing with every type of situation and her ability to easily adapt to the ever-changing priorities in her tasks clearly shows her tenacity as a person and a leader. Her mature outlook on life at such an early age indicates that she will eventually blossom into a very strong leader.

During her tour of duty in Human Resources department, Elizabeth had no direct contact with patients. But she would have been a source of inspiration to our patients as she was to the HR staff. She demonstrated that she truly cared about her job and results of her efforts. If she were assigned to the clinical areas, I am certain that she would have shown the same sincere concern and nurturing to our veteran patients by giving them her full attention.

AKRON SUMMIT COMMUNITY ACTION, INC.

It is the purpose of the Community Action Agencies (CAA) to provide a range of services and opportunities having a measurable and potentially major impact on the causes of poverty in the community. CAA assist low income people to secure and maintain adequate housing and suitable living environment, obtain emergency assistance to meet immediate individual and family needs for healthy nutrition, housing and employment needs, and remove obstacles and solve personal family problems that block the achievement of self-sufficiency.

Akron Summit Community Action, Inc. (ASCA) is designated as the primary sponsor of the anti-poverty program in Summit County Ohio (Ohio Department of Development, County of Summit, City of Akron Designation). In July 2003, the ASCA decided to co-chair an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Coalition of Akron along with the City of Akron. The main emphasis of this Coalition was leveraging community resources to assist low-income families. This included the number of Akron families who applied for the Earned Income Tax Credit, increasing availability and use of free tax preparation sites (VITA), and increasing financial literacy and linkages of EITC applicants.

During the 2004 filing season, ASCA applied and received a fund to manage an appointment line to schedule appointments for low-income families to call an to set up a time to have the tax returns prepared at one of the five free tax preparation sites. One of the five sites operated out of one of ASCA’s facilities and ASCA also provided the EITC program with an overall Site Coordinator. During the 2004 filing season, 240 tax returns were prepared by volunteers for low-income families and 386,161 were educated about the EITC through newspaper articles and television spots. There were 42,848 educated through mailings to low-income families. A local template produced by the ASCA provided the information source of the newspaper articles, television spots and the mailings.

In the 2005 filing season, the Coalition decided to reduce the number of sites to use the available volunteers more effectively. During the 2005 filing season, 817 tax returns were prepared for low-income families, 622,969 were educated about the EITC through Media sources and 119,674 were educated through flyers, brochures, and mailings about the EITC. Most of the tax returns were electronically filed. In addition to savings on the tax preparation fees, electronically filed returns prepared by volunteers, also saves the low-income clients from the exorbitant costs of return anticipation loans. Even though all the efforts stated above were accomplishments of the Coalition Partners, they could not have been done, without ASCA leading the way and providing the appropriate information and resources for the volunteers. For the filing season 2006, the Knight Foundations provide funds so that this service can continue, and The Coalition has increased its goal to service at least 1,200 clients.

EARLENE CAMPBELL

Earlene Campbell was willing to do anything to help the Homeless Emergency Project, Inc., when she came to them eleven years ago. Needing the help, they ushered her into her into their kitchen, where she spent the day peeling potatoes for meals for the impoverished. The project quickly realized her potential, however, when her love and compassion for the homeless and underprivileged became evident through her interactions with them. Campbell was invited to become an Office Assistant. Since then, her friendly voice has been on the other end of the telephone, speaking to people who need her words of help and encouragement. As a receptionist, her smiling, caring face greets those that go to the Homeless Emergency Project (HEP) because they have nowhere else to go. Campbell does not treat the people she serves as they are charity cases; however she affords them the dignity she firmly believes they deserve.

A full career as an EMT, an ambulance driver, and an Emergency Room Registered Nurse taught Campbell a thing or two about hard knocks and injuries, both physical and emotional. Her varied life experiences have been blessings in disguise and assisted her at various points in her volunteer service. A man once came to live at Homeless Emergency Project who had had his arm amputated two days prior to his arrival. An error in health care meant that no one was scheduled to come care for his wound and change its dressings, which was a problem that was not corrected for weeks. Campbell had the knowledge and the generosity to care for this ailing man, who still resides (healthfully!) in the housing units. She has also stood in as a dental assistant when the HEP’s dental clinic was short staffed, learning what to do as she went along and providing much needed assistance.

When case managers are not available at HEP, Campbell is also qualified to do intakes of new applicants. While wearing this hat, she reviews the homeless person’s application, interviews them, and goes over the rules of the house. Campbell also enters their information into the computer system, shows them to their housing unit, gives them a key, and provides a bag of toiletries for their use. Campbell volunteers every week, and has been a constant face there since the day she was sent to the kitchen in 1994. She comes with a heart of compassion, dedication, as well as her ability to be spontaneous and flexible; and all of these qualities assist her in making HEP, its clients and its staff a better place.

AQUILLA CAPERS

Mrs. Capers, a lifelong Washington, DC resident, has been volunteering at the Capital Area Food Bank for over 10 years. She works at the Food Bank five days per week and treats her position as if she were a paid staffer. The first to arrive each morning and the last to leave each evening, Mrs. Capers is viewed as a leader amongst the rest of the regular volunteers.

Mrs. Capers holds a BA Degree in Public Administration and is retired from the Veterans Administration Hospital with 28 years of service. She is a mother of two and a grandmother of six. In addition to her work at the food bank, Mrs. Capers also volunteers in her church. When asked why she volunteers at the food bank, she said that she “loves to help people and is concerned about others physical, mental, and spiritual well being.”

SONJA SWANSON

Sonja has volunteered for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Greater Las Vegas for the past two years as a active member of the National Honor Society (NHS) at E.W. Clark High School. Sonja first became involved with RMHC when she volunteered her NHS group to cook a meal for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. The House serves as a “home away from home” for families who must travel to Las Vegas to receive critical medical treatment for their children, and the dinner program helps provide these families with a hot meal and one less thing to worry about while their child recovers.

The dinner program is a valuable volunteer program. Individuals and groups can sign up to cook dinner any night of the week, and our families always look forward to coming “home” to a hot meal. Thanks to Sonja, the Clark High School NHS has been a regular on the dinner calendar for two years, and RMHC can always count on them to help with community events and holiday activities.

As part of our mission, RMHC supports organizations in Southern Nevada that benefit the health, welfare and education of children. One organization RMHC works with regularly is Nevada Children’s Center (NCC), who provides treatment services to emotionally and behaviorally challenged children between the ages of four and thirteen.

As president of the NHS this year, Sonja organized a Halloween carnival at the House for over 20 children from NCC. The group set up four trick-or-treat rooms, a haunted house in our basement, and decorated the House with spider webs, props, and music. They provided homemade treats, facilitated group games, and made sure that extra costumes were available for children who weren’t able to provide their own. Sonja came up with this idea on her own, and planned the event from start to finish with minimal help from RMHC staff or the staff of NCC.

In addition to the work she’s done with RMHC, Sonja has also been involved with volunteer projects for Habitat for Humanity, the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, University Medical Center and various senior citizen centers. She’s been on two mission trips to build homes for poor families in Mexico, and has dreams of working for Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, or an international organization such as the UN.

Sonja is truly dedicated and committed to helping others. She goes far beyond what’s required or expected, and her enthusiasm, maturity and work ethic inspire all who know her. At the young age of seventeen, Sonja understands what it takes to really make a difference in the lives of those she serves.

DYLAN MAHALINGAM

Dylan is nine years old. When he learned about the effects the recent tsunami had on the people living in Southeast Asia and East Africa, he decided he needed to help in some way. He organized a few fund raising dinners with the help of his parents and raised over $900 for the survivors. The money was sent to India, to help a specific disadvantaged fishermen community and specifically used to replace fishing boats and nets in affected villages near Chennai. His contribution made a significant difference to this sea-side community which did not receive any assistance prior to this help reached them. When he finished this project, he started another one – this one to last forever.

After the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, he noticed that the kids at school and outside of school had a lot of questions about the tsunami and some of the information they were hearing was frightening. There was a lot of information about the tsunamis that they did not fully understand – what generates a tsunami? Can anything be done to prevent one from happening in the future? Are there ways to minimize the impact of a tsunami? They wondered if there were ways to warn people of an impending tsunami and if they can know when the next one may occur. By asking multiple questions, Dylan learned a lot in the process. Dylan decided to create a Web site to teach children 14 and under about tsunamis, how to watch for warning signs, and how to protect themselves if they are ever in an earthquake-prone area. He decided that this cannot be a one-student job so he assembled a team of like-minded individuals and with the help of his friends and teachers, he started a website called “Killer Waves” that describes the history of tsunamis, its impact, and recovery efforts following a tsunami, precautions and safety measures. The website contains several original drawings, interactivities, maps and other visuals to help a variety of age groups benefit from a visit.

Dylan spent his entire winter vacation along with the other teammates to develop the website. The website, on average, took about 10-15 hours weekly of each kid’s time over three months. During the development of the website, they ran into several obstacles: several technical difficulties were involved in building a website. The team had a specific focus in mind, and they delegated work based on individual strengths.

Each piece they worked on was a collaborative effort; the graphics would be completed by one person and passed to another who would animate them, and so on. If any technical roadblocks were uncovered, the team would come to the coaches for advice. They helped them get past obstacles with the components they were creating and also assisted them in debugging what they had already done. The team came up with several remarkable ideas, some of which they were unfortunately unable to complete, due to time-constraints.

There is an inextricable bit of each of them within each piece of their work; their personalities mesh so seamlessly that it is nearly impossible to tell where one person’s work ends and another’s begins. In the end, though, what really matters is the final project; a culmination of the fastidiousness of five invaluably diverse, dynamic and buoyant personalities. The site gets a hit of several hundred users per day and is growing and can be viewed at http://www.ammuirivinti.com/04oct/01797.

SHAZIM UPPAL

Shaz was here on time every day. His normal time to leave at the end of his volunteer day was 1 pm we ate lunch together 12-12:30 pm. At 12:30 he came down to the clinic and tidied up the mad tables, took out trash without being asked. Shaz, without a doubt, in the two years I’ve been volunteering has been the MOST dependable volunteer from any school we had in the clinic.

The first day in the clinic, I was orientating Shaz. He noticed several empty cardboard boxes, which one of the staff had removed the contents to put on shelves. Without being asked Shaz took out a pocketknife and cut the tape on the boxes to flatten them for the dumpster. When asked, he said the family had owned a small store some time ago and he learned he was to cut the tape and put the flattened boxes in the dumpster. After Shaz’s orientation, he didn’t need my supervision much except for special projects. Daily he did the chores without being asked and helped the staff with patients, he could assemble Dolomite Swedish walkers, wheeled walkers and he knew which tasks were required to maintain good patient care with patients. He followed staff with wheelchairs in case a patient would get to tired to walk. Shaz is one of the few outstanding volunteers who once he knew what his responsibility was, required little or no supervision to accomplish the task. He enjoyed the interaction with patients many, many years older than him and the patients demonstrated their approval of Shaz’s fulfillment of his endeavors to make the patient’s stay better.

Shaz’s personality was such that when he asked them during their therapy if they needed water, snacks or coffee and tea, patients enjoyed Shaz not being told what he was to do. Shaz has an excellent rapport with staff beyond his years of age. He explained his father required him to work in his convenience store so he had to have pleasantness to customers. Shaz’s personality and pleasantness makes him an exceptional young man in his career goals. He never complained about work and his interaction was always appropriate for patients and staff, but most important he listened to what they said.

Shaz’s overall personality and the hard work he must do as a self-starter in his parent’s business probably has something to do with his overall self-reliance and self-starting. Shazim’s personality and his doing requests of the many patients in our clinic was extremely helpful to patients. Many patients seem to be looking for someone to talk to in the busy bustle of this hospital. Shazim’s ability to interact and listen to stories patients described was appreciated by the patients. Shaz’s also assisted in the Veterans Cooking Class where we helped patients who have lost coordination and need supervision. Shazim would work with one patient without being asked. This then gives the patient a sense of fulfillment, through gentle encouragement by Shazim actually accomplished a chore.

JENNIFER GRAHAM STEPHENS

Jenna volunteers on the GC&SU Campus through the Clothesline Project. The Clothesline Project is a visual display of t-shirts with graphic messages and illustrations that have been designed by women survivors of violence, by their friends or families. The Clothesline may also contain t-shirts made to honor women who have died as a result of violence. The purpose of this project is to increase awareness of the impact of violence against women, to celebrate a woman’s strength to survive, and to provide another avenue for her to courageously break the silence.

From her work with the Clothesline Project to her passion to want to help women Jenna has helped to develop a pilot program called Woman’s Resource Center on the GC&SU Campus. Jenna Worked hard to meet with the correct people to help make her dream a reality. She met with faculty and staff along with members of the Upper Administration of the college as well as the university’s president, Dr. Dorothy Leland. This past January, Jenna’s dream came true and the GC&SU Women’s Resource Center was opened. Jenna is currently working on a shoestring budget and working in the center 30 hours a week as part of an internship. Jenna is solely the staff of this office along with student volunteers and with the guidance of professional staff members. Jenna is hoping to get the numbers up of women that use the center and their programming numbers up so that hopefully a full time Women’s Resource Center director can be hired.

Jenna represents her program well; she also attends leadership workshops and meetings so that she can become the best student coordinator she can be and to make herself a better leader. The clothesline Project has received the student coordinated program of the year from The GIVE Center as well as Jenna has received the Student Coordinator of the month and semester awards from The GIVE Center. This April during volunteer appreciation month Jenna, the Clothesline Project and the Women’s Resource Center will be named volunteers of the day.