FOURTEEN PINES NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORKS/KIDS CLUB

Fourteen Pines Neighborhood Networks Kids Club is unique because it is not about kids alone. It is about community, neighbors and open to all ages.

The wonderful programs and the affect they are having on the community can only be attributed to the people living here at Fourteen Pines. It has taken time, but this has become a self-sustaining community. All the programs and programming is done by the community volunteers; themselves.

The turnover in volunteers is becoming faster each year. This is wonderful, though some coordinators really get stressed over this situation, often called attrition. We here at Fourteen Pines call it relationships and lives, outside the low-income community.

Janice Berry, Julie Jankowski, Becky Fisk, Laurie Butler have all just been awarded and recognized for their community service here at Fourteen Pines; by the Oregon Multifamily Housing / Housing and urban Development office in Portland. However, this is not an individual effort, or even a small group effort. Nearly everyone at Fourteen Pines contributes in some way.

Our goal is to establish four more centers with kids clubs by the end of 2005.

WINNIE WINTERS

For more than 20 years, Winnie Winters has volunteered at Opportunity Village, making a major contribution to the organization’s phenomenal growth. In addition to her many years of service, she has provided a home to people with intellectual disabilities who have no families to depend on. Ms. Winters feeds and clothes them, takes them to special events and introduces them to a concept of love that they many never have experienced.

Ms. Winters has participated in countless Opportunity Village activities. She supervises the mailing of thousands of pieces of literature monthly, countless volunteers in the office and she works at special events. Ms. Winters has also directed the Opportunity Village Gift Wrap Booth at Boulevard Mall and raised in excess of $500,000 for people with disabilities. Because of Ms. Winters, thousands of disabled people in Las Vegas know the improved financial and emotional quality of life that comes with active employment.

WACO CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

For the past twelve years, the Waco Police Department has been supported by an active group of volunteers from the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (CPAAA). Since January of 2003, this group has volunteered 6,412 hours in direct and indirect support of the Police Department’s community policing programs.

One of the major focuses of the CPAAA is raising funds throughout the year in support of the Citizens Police Academy, Waco Police Department, and local police officers. In 2003, the CPAAA provided over $7,400 to the Department for the purchase of equipment and training of police officers. The equipment purchased ranged from a Rescue Randy training dummy to child fingerprint/ID kits. Funds were donated to the Police Memorial Run, Crime Stoppers Pig Trot, and the Blue Santa program, as well as to provide officer training in topics such as criminal profiling and hostage negotiation. The Association also donated $1,000 to the McLennan Community College scholarship fund for students enrolled in the College’s Criminal Justice program.

Members of the Association also directly support the Department by providing manpower during special events and projects throughout the year. Members regularly assist with crowd management and traffic control during the 4th of July and Cruise-Fest USA celebrations, help with the day-long civil service testing of police recruits, provide crowd management for the Police Memorial Run. Last year, the Association helped distribute over 1,000 “goody bags” at the Halloween event held at a local mall. This year Association members began assisting with the Police Department’s telephone “warrants call” program. To-date, over 150 persons with outstanding warrants has been contacted through this program. This spring, Association members provided security/courtesy patrols at the 2004 international Viking Fest, which was held in Waco for the first time. CPAAA members also work as scribes at the quarterly child safety seat checks sponsored by the Police Department and Safe Kids Coalition. Twenty-nine of the Association’s members are part of the Police Department’s emergency response volunteer teams which are used to search for missing children and adults. Members also augment officers during natural and manmade disasters.

The Waco CPAAA program is one of about 900 such programs throughout the country that is registered with the President’s Volunteer in Police Service program (VIPS). The Association is also registered as a “certifying organization” for the President’s Volunteer Service Award program, which began in 2003. Ten members of the VIPS program are also CERT qualified – and were the first to be qualified in the city.

Members of the CPAAA truly embody the spirit of volunteerism by putting their commitment to building a better community into one of involvement and action.

MIKE COSENTINO

The Volunteer Center of Manatee County established a Volunteer Reception Center in Arcadia, Florida one day after Hurricane Charley ravaged the area. They operate 7 days a week, registering thousands of volunteers who are doing amazing and generous tasks to assist residents impacted by the storm.

Mike Consentino is a roofer from Sarasota, Florida. He registered to volunteer during the first day of their operation. Since that date, he has spent an average of 8 to 10 hours a day to help fulfill more than 50 residents’ request for temporary and permanent roof repair.

Daily Consentino drives 140 miles round trip. He arrives with his dog Money at the tent outside of Wal-Mart ready to work. There he looks for the requests from the elderly and low-income DeSoto County residents who are awaiting insurance adjustors and/or have no insurance to make the necessary repairs.

Consentino exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism. He shares his time, skills and talents with those most in need when they need him most. He is an inspiration to all and the benefits of his commitment increase each day. He has already repaired more than 50 roofs at homes and churches and relieved the stress of an excess of 100elderly and low-income residents whose lives were forever changed on August 14, 2004 as Hurricane Charley devastated De Soto County.

Consentino embodies the compassion, commitment and philanthropic spirit of a volunteer. He has a genuine desire to help those who are less fortunate.

EL PUEBLO, INC./FIESTA DEL PUEBLO

El Pueblo, Inc., a non-profit statewide Latino advocacy organization, nominates its Fiesta del Pueblo volunteers, whose dedication and loyalty is vital to the coordination of the two-day cultural event. La Fiesta del Pueblo began as an all-volunteer effort in 1994 when a small group of diverse individuals got together to organize a Latin American festival. The effort was so successful and came at such a needed time, that by the next year its volunteers launched a full-fledged non-profit. Today the non-profit is a leading organization dedicated to strengthening the Latino community of North Carolina through advocacy, education, and the promotion of cross-cultural understanding. La Fiesta is now in its eleventh year and continues to bring Latinos and non-Latinos together to enjoy Latin America food, music, traditional dancing, arts and crafts, children’s games, and educational affairs.

The festival was created out of the need to connect the rapidly growing Latino population of North Carolina with the larger, more-established communities across the state. These new immigrants who are making such an economic impact on our state often speak little English when they arrive and encounter numerous barriers upon entering their new home in the United States. Resources available to most Americans such as food, shelter, education, civic participation, and health care are denied and with such a difficult beginning in this country, many Latinos have found support and strength through the rich Hispanic cultural networks and communities around them.

In its first year, La Fiesta del pueblo attracted 2,000 participants. By 2003, over 60,000 people attended, suggesting both the incredible growth of North Carolina’s Latino community as well as the increasing interest in cross-cultural understanding. But perhaps even more impressive than the number of attendees is the dedicated group of nearly 600 volunteers who come together every year to make La Fiesta possible.

Our volunteers begin planning for La Fiesta over 8 months before the event. A volunteer kick-off is organized five months before the festival to sign up volunteers and create the year’s volunteer committees. And even after La Fiesta del Pueblo, volunteers spend over two months evaluating the festival’s success, thanking stakeholders and sponsors, and getting ready for the next year. Although the event itself is only two days, the planning and mobilization of volunteers required is a yearlong process. Every year in September, as soon as one walks into La Fiesta, our volunteers can be seen hard at work selling soda, picking up trash, directing parking, coordinating the four performance stages, offering health screenings, and even co-chairing the festival itself, Men, women, and children from all backgrounds, Latino and non-Latino, even former drug addicts from a non-profit recovery center, are behind the scenes (and in front!) making La Fiesta happen. It is truly an event that connects people from all walks of life.

Our volunteers return year after year and many of the committee co-chairs have been with La Fiesta since its inception. Some of our volunteers who chair the Fiesta committees devote over 15 hours a week in the months leading up to La Fiesta del Pueblo. Our Fiesta co-chairs work from 7am until midnight in the days leading up to La Fiesta as well as during the event. And one of our volunteers even pays out of his own pocket for an internationally renowned clown from Puerto Rico to perform!

The volunteers get involved for many reasons-from a desire to keep a particular form of cuisine alive to a passion for learning about other cultures-but non of them get active to get recognition. Indeed, Fiesta volunteers are the first to highlight the other aspects of Fiesta-sponsors who provide the funding, the artists who perform, and the food vendors who cook. We are so grateful to our volunteers whose sacrifice and dedication is immeasurable and instrumental to La Fiesta.

The loyalty of the community that we work with is only one way to measure the impact of La Fiesta. Many of the approximately 200 organizations that participate in La Fiesta do so in order to learn about Latinos. The festival has served as an innovative tool to integrate Latino issues into the “mainstream” North Carolina population. Further, La Fiesta offers capacity building to its vendors, providing training sessions for the first-time Fiesta participants and allowing family-run businesses to expand their exposure and market.

La Fiesta del Pueblo is an event that actively engages and connects a diverse group of volunteers, performers from all over the United States and Latin America, and festival attendees in an opportunity to strengthen not only the Latino community but also the greater communities of North Carolina and America.

JEFFERY D. LAMBIN

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a super hero, or princess waiting for he knight in shining armor to save her? What about if you could single handedly use your powers to save the world from destruction? Yes, it does seem like a fantasy, one that we all shared in our youth. What’s really neat is, to see how children and their families react when they start to play with the Kids Kart, Express Yourself! It takes them away from reality, into different places and times, and mostly takes their hurts away!

Both the kids Karts & Kids Karts. Express Yourself!, offer hospitalized children , along with their families, to be those heroes by dressing up and allowing their minds to take them to different places or by using their hands to design, create or learn to do something new!

Jeff and his team of builders have created over 12 kids Karts & Kids Karts, Express Yourself! For pediatric hospital wards as well as children’s centers in Nevada and California. They continue to build, stock, and deliver the donated Kids Karts & Kids Karts, Express Yourself! They are expanding to many other states, and internationally to Peru, South America, just for the asking.

Jeff and his team spend 20+ hours a week on the project and it’s success, over the three-year period totaling well over 3500 hours!

Jeff has also started a newspaper column entitled “Everyday Heroes,” that highlights youth and their achievements, from superstars and those who show exceptional courage in those quiet moments. With much success, Jeff’s expanding team will be presenting a cable talk show, featuring spotlighting youth, their accomplishments, plus the things that make them special and unique.

RHONDA MILLER

Rhonda Miller moved to Cedar City nine years ago. As long as she has lived there, she has been known in the community for her concern for others and involvement in several projects. Projects she has been involved in have: helped school children in India, the Navajo tribe in southwestern Utah, the Family Support Center in Cedar City, Park Discovery in Cedar City, and others.

In the spring of 2003, several neighbors were discussing Jourdyn Cleveland, a 15-year-old girl in Miller’s neighborhood who had been diagnosed with cancer a year earlier. The family was in an economic predicament because of the costly cancer treatments and associated expenses. Everyone said, “Someone should organize a fundraiser.” By the end of that day, Rhonda had decided she would be that someone.

Miller has five children ages one through 13, and her husband, Richard, is frequently out of town with his National Guard responsibilities. The Miller’s had recently learned that they would need to relocate to another county in Utah, so Miller had much to do preparing for the move. She put all these plans on hold to plan, organize, and accomplish the goal of raising $10,000 to help the Cleveland family.

Miller started with a group of women who agreed to help. She carefully delineated specific responsibilities for each. Rhonda is a person who sees the big picture and yet knows exactly what details are necessary for putting the pieces together. She planned a 5 K race, a fun run, a kids carnival, an auction, a rummage sale, a dinner, two concerts, car wash, police dog demonstrations, haircutting, a bake sale, food booths and a craft fair. She worked full-time on this project, many times into the early morning, for two months.

On April 26, 2003, Jourdyn’s Jamboree was held – it was a phenomenal success! Over $22,000 was raised for the Cleveland family in that single day. Miller recognizes social problems on many levels, from the family struggling to meet the exorbitant costs of cancer treatment, to the needs of children who need a safe and stimulating place to play, to the needs of children she will never meet but who need a stove to keep warm or need pencils and paper to continue a sporadic education. Her selfless service to individuals, groups, causes, and the community of Cedar City is a great motivator to all who know her. Because if Miller has the time, anyone has the time!

KIERA ZITELMAN

Kiera Zitelman, 13, an eight-grader at Takoma Park Middle School in Silver Spring, organized an effort to make 60-120 bagged lunches at her church each month and distribute them to a local homeless shelter.

When she was 8 years old, Kiera received a gift of $20 but didn’t know what to do with it, so she donated it to a charity for the homeless. That made her feel so good that she began making and selling greeting cards, and organized a neighborhood concert, which raised another $80 for the cause. She donated that money to Happy Helpers for the Homeless after reading a newspaper article about the group, which was founded in Maryland by former Prudential Spirit of Community honoree Amber Coffman. Amber then asked Kiera to start a chapter in her county, so Kiera recruited a dozen young volunteers at her church to make, bag and distribute lunches for the homeless.

“The most difficult part of this project is getting money to buy food,” said Kiera, who originally received donations from grocery stores, but now relies on donations from church members. Kiera also has conducted canned-food drives for the homeless, and coordinates barbecues and holiday parties with her church group at the homeless shelter.

VERA MAE HANSON

Vera Mae Hanson is a 73 year-old retired dietician who worked as a Director of Food Service. She has been a resident of Napa, California since 1971 and has worked to help others in her community for the past 15 years.

Hanson has been running the Seventh Day Adventist Center in Napa for the past 15 years. The center provides free clothing, food and furniture to those in need. Hanson and her staff are all volunteers; however, they take the time to wash all the donated clothes and make baby layettes for new babies.

Hanson’s husband is a retired dentist, and she has influenced him to serve also. He now picks up donated appliances and furniture to be given to families that could not otherwise afford these items. Recently the Hansons came to the aid of a lady who had no transportation other than a bicycle. The woman had been searching for and found a job; however, the training was 20 miles away. Hanson did not want this woman on a bicycle at night and offered to drive her and pick her up.

Hanson is a special part of her Napa community. Those in need know her and have had their lives touched by her dedication and genuine concern for their well-being. There is no way to quantify all she does; however, it is evident that all who leave the Seventh Day Adventist center have been blessed.

TROY WALKER

Troy is a board member of A Volunteer Emergency Response Team, AVERT. As a member of AVERT, Walker helps to organize and train CERTs, Community Emergency Response Teams, which are volunteer groups trained in disaster preparedness, fire suppression, disaster medical operations, search and rescue, disaster psychology and team organization. Walker was trained by the Salt Lake County Fire Department, and then took the “Train the Trainer Course” to become an AVERT trainer under FEMA guidelines.

Walker serves as the Chair of Events and Community Relations for AVERT. In this volunteer position, he makes contacts in the community, and arranges to have information about AVERT and CERT at community events.

In Utah, a state emergency drill is held annually at the State Chemical Stockpile, a burn plant in Toelle. Walker and his wife, Jenny help plan this event. Jenny is a moorage artist, and offers her services to paint fake injuries on participants in the drill. Walker and Jenny help plan and attend many local emergency drills throughout the state.

Walker has helped to write policies and procedures for the AVERT-CERT program. As a CERT instructor, he has spent hundreds of hours training and teaching CERT’s and setting up teams in many communities in the state of Utah.