MICHAEL LANE

Michael Lane is an outstanding young man who has been a leader at Seabreeze High School for the past four years. While maintaining a weighted grade point average of 4.4, he has still made the time to serve in his community and make Ormond Beach a better place to live. He has been recognized as a National Merit Finalist because of his high SAT scores and was named Volusia County School Board’s Outstanding Youth Volunteer of the Year. Michael is a giving teenager that puts other ahead of himself.

He is a member of many organizations at his school including the National Honor Society, Idealist Art Club, Ceramics Club and the Spanish Honor Society. He is also very active in tutoring his peers in the subjects of Chemistry and Spanish. When he is not volunteering at school or at club meetings, Michael assists in the school tutoring program by matching students with tutors in subject that they need assistance in. Michael also assists the teachers at school. He sets up science labs and helps out in the ceramic studio.

In addition, Michael helped to coordinate the Reading Aloud with Partners (RAP) program with their feeder school, Pine Trail Elementary. He continues to work with the program as much as he can while still keeping up with his school work and other service commitments. Michael spends about two hours each week at the school reading to students, selecting books and working with the elementary school teachers when he is needed.

Michael brings pleasure to both his peers and the children at Pine Trail. They are excited when they are finally able to master a skill that has given them trouble in the past. Those he tutors are happy when they are able to answer problems and understand concepts after his help.

Michael has been ranked first in his class and continues to keep a high grade point average. In addition to his service with his school, Michael has also accumulated more than 200 volunteer hours while working as a Pasty Chef at the Oaks Wine and Gourmet and participating in the Cross Country Club, Crew and Robotics. He has also volunteered regularly at Peridot Place, an elderly care facility where he talks with and reads to the patients. He also helps three other elementary schools set up and maintain their Fall Festivals. He also donates his time to Daytona Beach Fun Festival and the Greek Festival.

JAMES BOOZER

Dr. James Boozer is the director of the Evening Homeless Medical Clinic at the Modesto Gospel Mission. He assists in the care and well being of the homeless and poor in the community. He is an unselfish citizen whose contributions to the homeless far exceed anyone’s expectations both as a medical doctor and a volunteer.

Several years ago, the Modesto Gospel Mission worked to open an Evening Medical Clinic. The group had office supplies, volunteers and insurance. They lacked a director to oversee the clinic and all its operation. At that time, Dr. Boozer presented to the mission to volunteer his services as a doctor. The Mission took the opportunity to advise him of their predicament and asked him to step in as the director of the clinic. Even with the short notice and his intent only to volunteer as a doctor, Dr. Boozer graciously accepted the non-paying position as the Evening Medical Clinic Director.

Dr. Boozer puts in countless hours to ensure the clinic runs smoothly and the patients are getting the appropriate and necessary medical treatment. He completes quarterly audits on patient files to make sure proper medical attention is being administered and that patients are not abusing the system. In addition, all volunteer doctors are reviewed to guarantee continuity throughout the medical clinic.

The medical clinic is run solely by volunteers and donations. It is a free clinic that costs the homeless nothing. Because of this, Dr. Boozer faces the obstacle of receiving donated medical supplies to keep the clinic running. Though homeless patients have no money or medical insurance, they can receive treatment through the Clinic. There is a never-ending stream of men, women and children who need medical attention.

Dr. Boozer dedicates his time so that the homeless population in the area can receive proper medical treatment. People in the community are much healthier and the emergency rooms are less congested because of the Modesto Gospel Mission’s Evening Medical Clinic. He has a compassionate heat and his only compensation is the gratification of improving the lives of the homeless.

BE A READER LITERACY PROGRAM

The Be A Reader (BEAR) Literacy Program is a community service project that is co-sponsored by the United Jewish/African American Federation of Tidewater. Literature is deeply treasured by Jewish Americans who have been known for centuries as the “People of the Book.” The purpose of this project is to help children acquire a love of books and reading that leads to academic achievement and personal success.

In the summer of 2000, the Jewish Federation volunteers contacted the principal of Birdneck Elemntary School. This school has an at-risk enrollment of 940 students that would greatly benefit from the BEAR tutoring program. BEAR was implemented in early October after the team captain, Gail Flax, an education studies professor of graduate students at Old Dominion University, trained volunteers.

The reading specialist at Birdneck Elementary School, Linda Pascarosa, gave a pre-tutoring inservice, where packets of tutoring materials were distributed to volunteers. Twenty-three volunteers comprised of 21 females and 2 males were paired with 18 second graders who were selected by 8 classroom teachers.

Some of the volunteers paired in teams to ensure that none of the weekly Tuesday one-hour training sessions would be missed. Each tutor team was assigned a child to work with throughout the entire school year. Tutors exchanged notes each week with the child’s classroom teacher who identified the areas in which the students needed help. In addition, the Jewish Federation leader coordinated with the reading specialists researching appropriately leveled reading materials to be used in the program. The Federation also purchased a new set of beginning chapter books to be used with the BEAR program.

The second grade classroom teachers communicate their enthusiasm and praise for the program often with the reading specialists. The students feel as if their tutors are a part of their extended family. They believe it is like having their very own aunt, uncle or grandparent there helping them at the school. The participants in the program enjoy the personal touch and individual attention, and their writing and reading grades have improved also.

The BEAR program has been a success as a result of consistent and conscientious volunteers. There has never been a week when one child had to go without their BEAR tutor. The tutors are serious and dedicated to the program; they feel as if they have adopted their student and do not want to let them down.

Next year, the BEAR program will be expanded to also accommodate third grade students. This will allow the students that are currently enrolled into the program to participate in follow-up tutoring while also enabling the new second graders to enter the program.

RON WIELOCHOWSKI

Ron Wielochowski attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). While a student at UNLV, Mr. Wielochowski was a star basketball player. After graduating in the early 1970’s, he has been involved in numerous charitable events to benefit children and others in the state of Nevada.

Mr. Wielochowski has been an active supporter of the Candlelighter’s Association. For the past 12 years he has been instrumental in creating various program for the organization. He has organized an annual Halloween party and recruited local businesses to donate hotel rooms, food and candy each year to make this event a success.

In addition, Mr. Wielochowski has been involved with Child Haven. While serving with Child Haven, he created a Christmas in July event for the children at Child Haven. Throughout the Christmas season, he is heavily involved in groups that donate clothing and food to individual churches and organizations. He also plays the role of Santa Claus for many years and has developed a relationship with a group of youngsters that assist him as “elves.” He also personally outfits the elves each season to assist him in his duties.

In addition, Mr. Wielochowski is involved with Wednesday’s Child each year. He also goes to UNLV during one of their Running Rebel games and passes out gifts. He also collects clothing that he stores in his garage and at other sites. Then he donates the clothing items to numerous organizations including Shade Tree and numerous churches in Clark County.

Because of his tireless efforts with the Candlelighter’s and other organizations, Mr. Wielochowski has been honored as the Candlelighter’s Man of the Year. He has also received the UNLV Alumni Outstanding Service Award.

LINDA LERA-RANDLE EL

For the past 20 years, Linda Lera-Randle El has dedicated herself to helping those who are homeless and suffer from mental health and/or substance abuse issues. After leaving the MASH Crisis Intervention Center in 1997, where she served as Director, Mrs. Lera-Randle El continued her work with the homeless population, concentrating her efforts once again on those people who were living on the streets of Las Vegas and the surrounding areas. She is the person who brought street outreach to the forefront of homeless services and through her efforts, many other agencies came to realize the value of this type of outreach and have begun to participate in the same type of work.

On October 31, 2001, Mrs. Lera-Randle El incorporated a nonprofit organization, Straight from the Streets. Working out of her own vehicle and without pay, she spends many long hours driving to remote areas of the valley searching for people who are homeless. She introduces herself to them and assesses their needs. Many times it takes several encounters for her to gain someone’s trust and to bring them to the point where she can begin the long and often frustrating process of transitioning them off the streets and into stable housing. She does not work a 40-hour week and can often be found bringing food, blankets and personal hygiene items to her clients on the weekends and in the evenings. She knows that homelessness does not end each day at 5:00 pm.

Mrs. Lera-Randle El picks up her clients at their campsites and takes them to their appointments as opposed to merely referring them to social services or the security office. She helps them fill out the complicated paperwork, and helps her clients get replacement identification cards and other important items. Mrs. Lera-Randle El also helps clients find apartments, move in and continues to check on them during their transition. She walks them through the process of getting mental health counseling and treatment and has had tremendous success in getting people who are severely mentally ill into long term treatment and stable housing. Because of her dedication and success, Mrs. Lera-Randle El has been featured in many newspaper articles and on television news reports.

Mrs. Lera-Randle El is a unique person who works with people in a non-judgmental manner. Her street wise, no nonsense approach comes from many years of direct experience with the homeless population and a personal background that gives her insight enjoyed by few other advocates. She measures her success on the lives she touches and the hope and new lives she brings to her clients. She is not paid for her serve and uses all donations for supplies, food and services she provides for her clients. Because of the total support of her loving husband, “Chicago,” she is able to dedicate herself to those in need in Las Vegas.

BUZZY ALEXANDER

Born with cerebral palsy, Buzzy Alexander was an Easter Seals ambassador. For many years he has raised funds for Easter Seals and has also initiated a partnership with the Daytona Cubs baseball teams to benefit Easter Seals.

Doctors told Mr. Alexander that he would never walk. As a child, he endured more than 27 surgeries and received regular therapy at Easter Seals, becoming a part of the Easter Seals family. Today he lives in his own home and spends 40 hours per week working as a dispatcher at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, a job that he has held for more than 20 years. Mr. Alexander uses his spare time to volunteer with the Easter Seals.

Mr. Alexander’s activities bring more attention to the purpose and mission of Easter Seals. The funds he raises are directed to programs, which help change lives of those with special needs. These programs include speech, occupational, and physical therapy; aquatic therapy; hippo therapy and a host of other services working to bring independence to the lives of our neighbors with disabilities. He also single-handedly initiated the News-Journal 50-50 along with the Daytona Cubs-Easter Seals partnership, both of which have been ongoing.

The Easter Seals-Daytona Cubs partnership is a major fundraising activity. It involved Cubs ticket sales and special raffles. During 2003, this partnership brought in more than $2,500 with the vast majority of the work being completed by Mr. Alexander. In addition, the 50-50 raffles he has created at the News-Journal where he has worked for more than 24 years is also another major fundraiser. All of the proceeds of the raffle are donated to the Easter Seals. Last year the raffle raised in excess of $2,500.

In addition, Mr. Alexander takes his vacation time from the News-Journal in order to volunteer at an Easter Seals event, the Harley Give-Away booth. This booth is manned each day of Bike Week and Biketoberfest, and Mr. Alexander is at the Easter Seals booths for several hours each day.

Along with these activities, Mr. Alexander has helped transport equipment for special events, has been a spokesperson for Easter Seals and has also recruited additional volunteers. Mr. Alexander’s activities bring more attention to the purpose and mission of Easter Seals. The money he raises is directed to programs, which help change the lives of those with special needs. These programs include various types of therapy and a host of other services working to bring independence to the lives of their community members with disabilities.

THE HOCKADAY & ST. MARK’S COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAM

The Hockaday School and St. Mark’s School of Texas, under the umbrella of the Hockaday/St. Mark’s Community Service program work for the betterment of the Dallas/ Fort Worth community. Students from both schools commit countless man-hours to numerous outreach projects, including neighborhood improvement, ESL tutoring, disaster-relief services, fundraising and drives and many other types of service endeavors.

Hockaday and St. Mark’s open new horizons for their students by exposing them to the many wonders of the community involvement. Students must commit at least fifteen hours annually to the Community Service Program, but most choose to become much more involved, sometimes dedicating hundreds of hours.

The Community Service Program operates under the leadership of Director, Jeanie Laube and the two schools’ Community Service Committees that are comprised of a select few Upper School ( freshman to senior) students who have shown an extraordinary commitment to community service. These committee members function as supervisors to the student bodies during projects and also help with the documentation and organization processes. The Committees’ role involves more than mundane oversight and administration, however. All members of the committee are expected to not only commit three times the required fifteen- hour allotment of community service but to also serve as role models and leaders for both their peers and the younger students at the Middle and Lower Schools. For example, the Community Service Committees host several projects for seventh and eighth grade students, each lead by a committee representative and chaperoned by a faculty member of either Hockaday or St. Mark’s.

Though they work with more than 80 community organizations, many of their projects are ongoing and they participate in on a weekly basis. Some of these programs include tutoring children in the Dallas Independent School Districts (DISD) from Harry C. Withers Elementary, John J. Pershing Elementary and Tom C Gooch Elementary schools; helping to teach ESL at the Jubilee Center of Dallas; creating center pieces for the Salvation Army Carr P. Collins Social Service Center; and providing entertainment for the homeless men and women of Austin Street Shelter. They are also very involved with Genesis Women’s Shelter, the Salvation Army Angel Tree program, the North Texas Food Bank, the Dallas Arboretum, the Science Place and the Dallas/Fort Worth Zoo, and they send volunteer to help these organizations many times during the year.

The Hockaday and St. Mark’s Community Service Program works to instill in the students of both schools the quintessential value of good citizenship to seek to develop the habit of volunteer service. This awakens the children’s concern for those coping with hardship and encourages a sense of responsibility for the environment. Both schools believe that a meaningful and flexible program of mandatory community service can raise social awareness, broaden outlooks, build conscience and maturity and teach sound leadership values and skills.

NANCY SMITH WORTHEN

Nancy Smith Worthen understands the importance of volunteerism to the community as well as being committed to volunteers having a positive experience. She has been the volunteer coordinator at the Providence Children’s Museum for 15 years. She has been involved as a volunteer on the Professional Development Committee at the Volunteer Center of Rhode Island (VCRI) since 1992, and she has served as the co-chair of the committee for many of those years.

She has been instrumental in the evolution of the group from a smaller, less formal group to a more professional and very highly regarded training group. This committee helps VCRI fulfill an important part of its mission to connect people and opportunities for effective volunteer community service through building the capacity for effective volunteerism through training and consultation.

By providing training to volunteer managers, Ms. Worthen and the Professional Development Committee are helping the Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts communities to enhance the volunteer experiences of all people. They believe volunteers are more likely to continue to volunteer in the future if they have a good service experience.

Ms. Worthen develops and presents low cost but high quality workshops to fellow volunteer managers. These workshops are beneficial in that they are providing important information to those working with volunteers. Workshops encompass a range of topics from recruiting to retaining recognition to staff relations and many more. Workshops are popular and draw between 10 and 30 volunteer managers at a time with 8 workshops offered annually.

Ms. Worthen was instrumental in designing the Basic Volunteer Management Workshop that VCRI now offers four times each year. This training covers the basic steps of managing a successful volunteer program. She was also very active in starting and continuing the tradition of offering an all day conference to volunteer managers that allows them to focus on sharpening their skills while networking with other volunteer managers in the community. Annually, 60 to 75 volunteer managers attend the VCRI conference that is coordinated by the Professional Development Committee.

Ms. Worthen is a role model to other volunteer managers in the Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts areas. She has become an unofficial mentor to many of the high quality volunteer managers currently working in many area nonprofit agencies and plays a vital role in meeting the critical needs in the Providence community. She has given at least 500 hours as a volunteer with VCRI and is looking forward to her newest project with the Professional Development Committee’s formal mentoring program for volunteer managers.

DOROTHY DUNN BAILEY

For the past 17 years, Dorothy Bailey has selflessly and tirelessly given care and love to people living with HIV/AIDS served by Bering Omega Community Service. Since 1986, Ms. Bailey has eased the pain of residents, parents, children and loved ones when they need it most, while giving respite to the hospice staff. She gives hope and transition to more than 650 terminally ill residents and their families and loved ones at Omega House.

The Center for Disease Control reports that Houston has the 7th largest population of people with full-blown AIDS in the nation. Bering Omega serves 1 in 3 people reported to have HIV or AIDS in Houston/Harris County and targets indigent, uninsured and under-served HIV+ individuals and their caregivers who have no other healthcare alternatives. Ms. Bailey gives compassionate care to these people living their last days due to HIV/AIDS.

Ms. Bailey also helps with contributions of much-needed funds and in-kind donations to help offset operating expenses. She has served as a leader of the Volunteer Committee for more than four years, as well as a volunteer for the annual fundraisers, “Arts Songs and Arias” and “A Christmas Songfest.” On any given day you can find Ms. Bailey administering for the Volunteer Services Program, holding the hand of a terrified person who is dying, writing a newsletter article for volunteers, or anything else she is asked to do.

Ms. Bailey continues her service being on-call to serve clients, and as an active member of the Volunteer Committee – a Board of Trustees level group that focuses on volunteer recruitment and recognition. In addition to her many hours of volunteer service, Ms. Bailey holds a part-time job as an employee of the Resource Group, an agency that provides funding to direct service providers for those with HIV/AIDS.

CALVARY BILINGUAL MULTICULTURAL LEARNING CENTER

Whole families grow up and grow stronger at Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center. Often families first come for childcare, pre-school and after-school programs. Both parents and children may stay for classes or return as staff and become part of the Learning Center’s extended family.

Three-year-old Ethiopia Stewart can tell you how much she loves the Learning Center in Spanish or English. That’s because all education at the Learning Center is bilingual and multicultural; the Learning Center celebrates the richness of the Columbia Heights community.

Ethiopia’s mother, Moona Stewart, says that the Learning Center has “helped raise” all four of her children. Moona lost her job when Ethiopia, her last child, was born because she didn’t have childcare. Luckily for Moona, an Ethiopian immigrant, she found a new job and the Learning Center at the same time. All four children have enjoyed early childhood, after-school and summer programs, tutoring, arts enrichment and a host of other offerings through the Learning Center at different points in their young lives.

Founded in 1986, Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Learning Center began offering child development services to 15 neighborhood children. Today some 600 community members turn to the Learning Center for support that ranges from job referrals to programs for their children and help strengthening their skills as parents and earners.

In 1995, the local phone company donated a boarded-up, 73,000-square-foot switching station, which the Learning Center renovated to reflect its two-way relationship with the community. Walking by the beautiful, glass-walled building, neighborhoods can see young people plan a drama production and young artists as they paint. They can stop and watch the Learning Center at work for them.

The Learning Center serves as a doorway to America for immigrant families and a source of hope and possibility for other families in Washington, D.C.’s diverse Columbia Heights neighborhood. On average, children enroll in Learning Center programs for seven years, and 85% of Learning Center employees start out as parents of children in childcare. Long-term relationships mean that the Learning Center can help families work toward their goals and can support them through crises.

Parents can attend workshops in parenting, literacy, economic literacy, computers and languages. An essential employer for teens in the community, the Learning Center gives young people income, skills and an alternative to gangs. Art programs create a means of expression for community members of all ages.

Community members who want training in early childhood education can enter the Learning Center’s Child Development Associate Program, which offers bilingual training to speakers of English, Spanish, Cantonese, Creole, Vietnamese and Arabic. Deepening neighborhood resources for excellent childcare, more than 400 graduates now staff childcare services or operate licensed centers in their homes. With the income to stay in the community as housing prices rise, these professionals also form a bulwark against being displaced by gentrification.