CLOTILDE DEDECKER

On March 8, 2002, International Women’s Day, Clotilde Dedecker, then a freshman at Nardin Academy, attended a program on Women in Afghanistan at the local YWCA. This panel of speakers introduced her to the tenets of Islam as well as the plights of Afghan women and girls in a post September 11th Afghanistan. One of the speakers, Susan Safi-Rafig, Executive Director of Atlanta Afghan Women’s Association, gave an impassioned plea for assistance in educating Afghan girls.

Clotilde attends an all-girl high school. While attending the program, she had a response to Ms. Safi-Rafiq’s call and approached her after the presentation to see if there was some way she could help. She informed her that there were eight girls’ high schools in the community, and this may be a great opportunity for them to be a part of rebuilding Afghanistan by doing what they do best, support the education of girls. Clotilde then spend the second half of her freshman year developing a project proposal and presenting it to the eight principals of the schools.

All of the Administrators were supportive of her proposal and five of them agreed to have their schools participate. The Western New York (WNY) Girl Schools Coalition-Afghanistan Project was then created. This group is comprised of a delegation of four students and a moderator from each of the participating schools. They have met monthly since September 2002 during the school year at the various school to plan and implement strategies that support their goals, which are to raise awareness of Islam and Afghanistan within their school communities and to raise money to build and adopt a girl’s school in Afghanistan.

Their first goal of raising awareness resulted because of the traumatic events on September 11th. There are more than 3,500 students that attend the participating schools. They have all addressed the stereotypes and learned about Islam and deepened their understanding and appreciation for Middle Eastern cultures.

One year after the tragic events at the World Trade Center, the WNY community was faced with ethnic profiling challenges as the “Lackawanna Terrorist Cell” was implicated. These girls were able to have a very different dialogue about this challenging situation, as they understood the difference between extremist groups and the rest of the Middle Eastern community.

The Coalition is now completing its second year of operation. To date, they have raised and sent more than $15,000 for the rebuilding of the Zarghona Middle School for Girls in the Kandahar Region. They are now in the process of raising additional dollars to furnish the school and library. Their fundraising has included school drives, an all schools dance, grants and in-kind support from the community. The Coalition’s in-country partner is Afghan’s for Civil Society. They have been e-mailing photos of the school’s progress and of the students that are being served. The WNY Girls Schools Coalition-Afghanistan Project is excited to be a part of raising consciousness and awareness about the Middle Eastern community while promoting peace and education.

SEWARD COUNTY BRIDGES INC.

BRIDGES, Inc. was implemented as a coalition to bring communities within Seward County together. Their goal is to provide better communication amongst community members, gather data on the needs of the county, provide grant writing for programs that would enhance the lives of citizens within the county and provide programs for families and youth that enhance the lives of county citizens. BRIDGES began their grassroots effort six years ago, and has gradually built upon the needs of the county. A survey was done five years ago in the county to obtain information on what the citizens top concerns were. The findings of this survey showed the number one concern to be alcohol and tobacco use among teenagers in the county. The solution was to provide more prevention and intervention programs for youth and their families in the area.

BRIDGES then began partnering with county schools, organizations, businesses, churches and community members to build upon existing programs and implement new ones. This collaborative effort brought together entities that had never been together before in Seward County. Volunteer opportunities gave community members of all ages the opportunity to work together. Youth and the older generation have found each other through mentoring and tutoring programs.

A Seward County Interagency Council was built to bring together various agencies that can communicate with each other monthly. A Pre-Trial Diversion program was researched and developed alongside the County Attorney to provide an intervention program for youth and adult first time offenders. Educational classes were implemented alongside the Seward Cooperative Extension Office and Rural Region V Prevention Center to reach parents and youth that participate in the Pre-Trial Diversion Program. BRIDGES works alongside the Seward Cooperative Extension Office to promote and provide educational opportunities for schools and community members within the county.

A Family Nights and Good Beginnings Program was implemented to bring families with younger children together for educational and mentoring activities provided by the Seward Cooperative Extension Educator, who works with the BRIDGES coalition. BRIDGES implemented a mentoring program for new parents and their babies two years ago. This program has connected with the hospital and organizations in the communities to provide support and educational opportunities for these new families. A group of Quilters in Seward County provided blankets for the new babies in the mentoring program. BRIDGES helped establish a new Board of Directors and assisted with hiring Co-Directors at the Seward Youth Center. A grant was written by Bridges to provide After School Programming at three schools in Seward County. A BRIDGES committee started a suicide prevention task force that was implemented in the county. A BRIDGES Task Force was formed to raise $25,000 in funds for the TeamMates Mentoring Program in Seward County. Another task force, Safe Communities, has educated the county on seat belt safety.

Through BRIDGES, many collaborative efforts evolve as a result of the spirit in community members, businesses, schools, churches and organizations. BRIDGES has built the foundation and has found a response from county members.

EDISON INTERNATIONAL

Edison International’s family of companies develops, acquires, finances, owns, operates and maintains reliable and efficient power systems around the world. Although the company has had a volunteer program in place for over a decade, recent changes were made to make the program more enticing, appealing and user-friendly. The new program is called Energy in Action.

Energy in Action was launched worldwide in March 2003. Employees in the U.S., Asia, Australia and Canada received a volunteer starter kit containing a letter from the CEO, a brochure detailing the new program, a Volunteer Rewards card listing incentives, a user guide for the online tracking system and an Energy in Action t-shirt branded with their own company signature.

Edison International employee volunteers plan, organize and staff team volunteer projects, called Follow Your Heart events, throughout the year. Follow Your Heart ideas are conceived by employees themselves and benefit nonprofit organizations that they choose to “adopt.” Last year, 65 different Follow Your Heart projects took place, which totaled 259,000 hours of volunteer service.

Edison International’s heritage is based on its three core values: integrity in dealings, excellence in service, and respect for all we serve and with whom we work. As one of the company’s cornerstone values, Edison demonstrates respect for communities by supporting volunteerism that benefits children, education, the disadvantaged, the environment and disaster relief.

Edison has partnered with the Anaheim Angels baseball organization to hold food drives and collections of school supplies at the gates of Edison International Field. Energy in Action volunteers man collection drop-off sites at every Tuesday night home game during the baseball season. Volunteers have collected 12 tons of food and pallets of school supplies for America’s Second Harvet and low-income, Title I schools in Orange County, Calif.

Edison also partners with VolunteerMatch, a web-based volunteer referral service. VolunteerMatch has created a customized site interfaced with the company intranet to ensure that employees anywhere in the world can find a way to make a difference in their local community.

LAUREN AND CORY BOLDON

Though Lauren and Cory Boldon are only 13 and 14 years old respectively, they believe the old adage, “there by the grace of God go I” must never be forgotten. Their parents spoke this to them many times while growing up, and now it is a part of their lives. Lauren and Cory take pride in helping people who are less fortunate than they are because they believe that is their responsibility.

There is an ever-growing Hispanic population in the inner city of Minneapolis. It is one of the largest in the country. Lauren has been taking Spanish for seven years at school and wanted to use this knowledge to help others. She has a 4.1 GPA and her sister, Cory, has a 3.4 GPA, so they decided to help children who were having difficulty in school, as well as adapting to our English-speaking culture.

Lauren spoke with her mother and decided they could tutor/mentor a Hispanic family in the social system of Hennepin County. They contacted Hennepin County and were connected with the Ready Program leader for mentoring a child. Their idea was a new concept for Hennepin County so they had to receive approval from the Hennepin County Board. Once approval was received, the Ready Program leader matched the Boldons to a family of Hispanic and Native American heritage. They work with the oldest seven children of a sibling group of eight, ages five to thirteen. Lauren and Cory have been working with them for over two years now and are very proud of their progress. The girls have learned to understand differences in culture, education and life experiences and been able to make a difference for this family. As a result of Lauren’s idea and example, many families have also started mentoring “family to family.”

In addition to working with the Ready Program, the Boldons sponsor several children in other countries through Children’s International. They are also counselors at Church Bible School and have collected clothes for Mary’s Place, a homeless shelter. They collected more clothes than all of the other participants at their school combined. Lauren and Cory raised money for Cystic Fibrosis, “Hoops for Hearts,” raked leaves for the elderly, delivered dinners for the elderly and sing at nursing homes. Lauren and Cory also have fed the homeless at The Family Place and have made desserts for the homeless at the Simpson Shelter.

Because of their community service, the Lauren and Cory have become more mature. Their father is Chief of Construction for the Corps of Engineers, and he was asked to be the senior civilian Engineer to help rebuild Iraq. Their dad asked them to take someone else because they had just adopted Cory two and a half years ago, it was not fair to make her relive her fatherless childhood with a drug-addicted birth mother. They were Cory’s 8th family in foster care and her third adoptive placement. When the government said that there was not anyone else to go and they needed their Dad, as a family they decided that he must go and help the Iraqi people. They are very proud of their father’s commitment to our country and to the Iraqi people. He sets a good example of service in his everyday life, and because of that, the Boldons know they will continue their future volunteering.

CHILDREN’S HUNGER ALLIANCE YOUTH PROGRAMS

Children’s Hunger Alliance Youth Development Program partners with existing after school programs in Franklin County, located in churches, community centers and schools, to offer USDA meals essential for proper growth and development. Food alone, however, will not attract the children to an after school site. Enrichment encourages kids to attend after school programs that keep them safe, provide a way to get good nutrition into their bodies and continues the work that teachers have started in the classroom. Many of the programs are offered through the use of community volunteers and agency AmeriCorps members supervise their participation. A hot nutritious meal, coupled with quality enrichment programs offers a long-term solution in the fight to break the cycle of hunger.

Little Chefs is a five-session collaboration with the American Culinary Federation. It involves cooking experiences and career development. Children work with an accredited chef who volunteers to teach them about nutrition, food preparation and careers in the culinary field. For the last session, the children are allowed to wear chef hats and uniforms to prepare a fun meal for invited family guests.

Cook with a Book is a program where a community volunteer reads a book to the children in the after school program. They then assist the children in preparing a meal or snack that coordinates with that book.

Bright Futures involves Columbus area professionals as volunteers who share their careers and vocations with the children at an after school site. The children learn about life beyond their immediate surroundings, the importance of staying in school and have fun all at the same time. Speakers have included a judge, a police officer, a mayor, a photographer, a member of the Columbus Symphony, a local Creole Funk bandleader, a writer from the Columbus Dispatch and an animator.

The Ohio State University’s Master’s thesis reported that youth participating in the programs are more likely to meet minimum USDA requirements for all key nutrients. Ongoing outcome measurements show that the participating youth arrive at school on time, attend school more regularly and are more likely to pass on to the next grade than their peers. In addition, a University of Cincinnati evaluation reported that the youth in the Children’s Hunger Alliance Youth Development Program are more likely to pass 4th and 6th grade proficiency tests than their peers.

Children’s Hunger Alliance Youth Development Program provides nutritious meals and engages community volunteers to provide enriching experiences to youth between the ages of 5 and 18 in Franklin County. In 1995, the program started with 12 after school sites and 300 children served each day. It has grown to more than 1,300 youth at 45 after school sites. Youth Development is a program part of Children’s Hunger Alliance, a statewide nonprofit agency that has been working to feed hungry minds and bodies all over Ohio since 1970. The agency’s mission is to break the cycle of childhood hunger through education, leadership, advocacy and service.

ELWYN GLOVER

Elwyn Glover has quietly volunteered for the Midget Football program for the past 38 years. He has laid a solid foundation of sportsmanship and life skills for nearly four generations of young people in the Lancaster County community.

Mr. Glover’s duties include and have included serving on the Board of Directors, serving as a Commissioner during game days, coordinating the Red Cross First Aid Teams for game days, coordinating the football officials for the games, maintaining the fields, preparing the fields for games and working with the general operation of the league. Mr. Glover also is responsible for coordinating the eight sponsorships that have a total of about 55 teams annually. The coordination includes budget, insurance and financial responsibilities. He is currently President of the organization and has been so for the past 15 years. Prior to that he served as Vice President for 10 years.

There are about 1,200 boys and girls that participate in the program annually. Based on his years of service between 38,000 and 45,000 boys and girls have had an opportunity to participate because of his continuous dedication and hard work. Many of those young people have continued to play football in high school and college.

Mr. Glover not only plays a leadership role, but he also mows and maintains the fields along with his other league duties. The annual hours are conservatively estimated based on 15 hours per week for eight months of the year and 10 hours for eight football days. This totals nearly 600 hours for Midget Football alone. In addition, Mr. Glover has been a volunteer in the Scout organization for more than 30 years. He first served at the local level on various committees. For 26 years, he served as Scout Master and he is currently on the Boy Scout Cornhusker Council Properties Committee.

His work with youth does not stop here; he has also served on Board of Directors of the Lincoln Lutheran Junior and Senior High Schools for seven years. Mr. Glover’s priority has always been youth and his dedication is unmatched by anyone in the community.

CRESCENT REAL ESTATE EQUITIES

Crescent Real Estate Equities Company is one of the largest publicly held real estate investment trusts in the nation. The sense of commitment and excellence found at Crescent properties is brought to the community through Crescent’s FACES of Change program. Founded in 1997, FACES of Change creates three-year partnerships between Crescent properties and elementary schools in need. Currently, 37 Crescent properties are partnered with 26 elementary schools nationwide. FACES of Change partnerships take many different forms but they all create powerful benefits for the schools, students, families and volunteers. During the 2002-2003 school year, Crescent properties raised a combined $312,513 for their FACES of Change partner schools.

For Read Across America Day, in celebration of Dr. Suess’ birthday, volunteers from 14 different Crescent properties volunteered their time at FACES of Change partner schools, reading to students and stressing the importance of strong literacy skills. The volunteers added to the fun by dressing like the Cat in the Hat, complete with signature red and white striped hat and big red bowtie. In addition, the schools were presented with new books for their classrooms and libraries.

A FACE of Change partner school, Sidney Lanier Elementary in Dallas, Texas, was the recipient of a brand-new ten-station obstacle course and playground. Previously no play equipment was available for the schools’ older students. FACES of Change volunteers from The Crescent® funded the playground through two silent auctions at the property raising a total of $20,000. The shiny new playground has also become a community resource since the school is located in an urban neighborhood with very few parks.

Last spring, more than 35 students from Nash Elementary School in Fort Worth learned first hand what it means to be a Crescent team member at the “Hands On” Crescent Career Day. Crescent’s corporate office hosted the career day involving more than 64 Crescent employees.

With a FACES of Change partnership in every market in which Crescent operates, FACES has touched the lives of more than 25,000 children through 52 partnerships with elementary schools since its inception in 1997. And FACES’ 7,000+ volunteers have contributed more than $1.2 million, including goods and services, and more than 22,000 hours of service.

Crescent CEO, John Goff, explained the FACES philosophy best in a recent interview, “I could write a check for [students from a FACES partner school] to go to Six Flags or I could spend some quality time with them. At the end of the day, I think time is more valuable.”

BIG FRIEND LITTLE FRIEND

The Big Friends of Yankton, South Dakota come from all walks of life. They are college students, retirees, insurance agents, doctors, mental health workers, clergy and even schoolteachers. Some of them are also police officers, social workers, attorneys, truck drivers, principals, nurses and various other professions. Before becoming a Big Friend you must be screened extensively to ensure a safe relationship with your Little Friend. In addition, the Big Friends complete an “interest” survey to give the greatest chance of matching with a Little Friend that has similar interests. Most Big Friends participate in the Big Friend Little Friend program an average of three to five years.

Thirty-six Big Friends have a weekly commitment to meet with their Little Friend. They talk, go fishing, ride bikes, walk on the nature trails, and participate in crafts, camping, picnics, yard work and baking. Some of the Big Friends take their Little Friends to the movies, sporting events, concerts or a multitude of other activities. The Big Friends are dedicated adults who work to have a special relationship with their Little Friend and have a positive impact in their life.

The Little Friends come from various walks of life also. They do not all come from single parent families. All of the Little Friends benefit from the additional time with a caring adult. Little Friends are 6 – 17 years old with the majority being between the ages 9 – 15. Currently there are 23 unmatched Little Friends, 17 boys and 6 girls. There are many Little Friends who have graduated from the program, but they still stay in contact with their Big Friends. Some of the Big Friends are now the “adopted” grandparents of the former Little Friends’ children.

There are monthly Fun Functions for the duos to attend. This is also a time and opportunity for the Big Friends to share experiences. Several of the Big Friends are now Board members of the Big Friend Little Friend program and can share their personal experiences to aid with Board decisions.

Big Friends and Little Friends consider this a “win-win” relationship. In a recent interview, a potential Big Friend said that she wanted to join the program because when she had a Big Sister, it made a very positive impact on her life. These current 36 Big Friends along with the hundreds of other adults who have participated in this program have made a difference for many years in the lives of youth in South Dakota.

PAT FARENGA

Pat Farenga has had a family funeral business in New York City for the past 38 years. In addition to serving the community in the for profit sector, he has also been involved in civic, ethnic and nonprofit organizations.

Mr. Farenga is President of Columbus Alliance, a philanthropic Italian-American club in Bronx, County, New York. In 1981, Mr. Farenga was instrumental in organizing a humanitarian effort to assist the victims of the devastating earthquake in southern Italy. He rallied fellow funeral directors, medical providers, and anyone who wished to donate medical supplies such as bandages and crutches for this endeavor. These items were then encased in caskets and brought by hearses to Kennedy Airport and loaded on the airplane by a previous agreement with Al Italia Airlines and flown to Rome. The items were then put on trucks by the Italian Red Cross workers and delivered to the “Mezzogiorno” for use by the afflicted and maimed and ultimately for burial of deceased victims.

As a result of this particular project, Mr. Farenga was sent $15,000. The republic of Italy announced a shortage of burial receptacles and was very appreciative of his efforts; however, Mr. Farenga turned over the entire amount to the Columbus Alliance. They decided to give $5,000 to then Governor Mario Cuomo, Congressman Mario Biaggi and Monsignor Patrick Carrol Abbing of Boys Town of Italy, respectively. Mr. Farenga was also honored with a citation from the State of New York, a Congressional Medal of Merit and a Certificate of Gratitude from Boys Town of Italy.

In addition to his work with the Columbus Alliance, Mr. Farenga is 45-year member of Kiwanis International, Worldwide Service Organization, Charter Member and President of the local North East Bronx Club and has a lifetime membership bestowed upon him by the Kiwanis Club of Hartsdale, New York, where as a member in 1968, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of the Bronx-Westchester Division. As the Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Farenga was the catalyst along with fellow Kiwanis Club members, in establishing a “Key Club,” which is a Kiwanis Club designed for high school students. The youth in the club are introduced to service and helping those who are materially less fortunate than themselves. Now, Mr. Farenga performs at senior citizen functions and boat rides the club sponsors for the seniors. He also participates in Christmas caroling for youth at the annual Hartsdale Kiwanis Club Christmas Party.

Mr. Farenga was called upon by the Fordham University Circle K Club to do a benefit performance for the International Project of the Year. There he opened for the Harlem Boys Choir in a fundraiser for third world children afflicted with AIDS. That evening $6,000 was raised and sent to the Kiwanis representatives in the countries where these poor children are cared for and treated. Most recently, Mr. Farenga has been a “community mobilizer,” working with the Mayor and School Superintendent of Tuckahoe High School for “The First Year Remembrance of Our Never Forgotten Heroes – The World Trade Center Tragedy – September 11, 2001.”

LEANNA ALEXANDER

“Bringing Books to Bremond” was the result of reading a small article in a local newspaper about a group of people in Bremond, TX forming a committee to establish a “first ever” library committee in their little community of 830 people. As Leanna loves to read, it was hard for her to grasp the thought of any town not having a library.

Leanna contacted the president of the Bremond Library Committee with the thought of helping collect books. In her initial contact, Leanna learned what they really wanted to do is establish a charter to become part of the Central Texas Library System. A building to house the library had been acquired and they had already collected 3,500 books. Now all they needed was 4,000 more books to reach the required number of 7,500 books to meet the minimum standard of the Central Texas Library.

Through her advertising efforts at several churches and organizations, to date Leanna has sorted, catalogued and delivered more than 6,300 books. On the reverse side of her flyers requesting books, she also listed a brief questionnaire to try and learn ore about the descendants of the original settlers of Bremond, TX. With the response that came back on these simple flyers, Bremond has now formed a committee of citizens that are looking into the possibility of creating a separate Historical Museum for the town of Bremond.

As a direct result of Leanna’s efforts, the number of individuals using the facilities of the library has tripled. The children’s collection and the resource books have been expanded greatly. More importantly, because of the tremendous response, the library has been able to secure additional funding through various foundations to expand its facilities and obtain more shelving. The Bremond Library has received a three-year provisional membership from the Central Texas Library System, having reached three of the four criteria’s required. The last criteria is to be able to afford and hire a full time librarian.

Leanna learned to use her time and resources wisely in order to get everything completed. She says that her most important intangible aspect was the joy and pride she felt when she saw the empty shelves gradually filling up with books. Leanna learned that success could be measured on a little girl’s face reading a new storybook for the first time or an old man’s helping hand on sorting day.