Join us for the George H.W. Bush Points of Light Awards Oct 13 in Washington DC

SISTER RUTH QUINN

Sister Ruth Virginia Quinn, S.S.J., is a person with boundless energy. She is always ready and willing to extend a helping hand and gives one hundred percent effort to assist others with immediate or long-term needs. Her many acts of kindness over the years have impacted and still continue to positively influence the lives of the young and old, the rich and poor, the educated and uneducated, as well as the healthy and infirm. She reaches out with love to her neighbor in need of physical or spiritual assistance – reaches out without counting the cost.

Sister Quinn, a born teacher, spent years in the classroom educating youngsters who were preparing to take their rightful places as leaders in our society. She taught many age groups, and her example of service inspired her students to reach for the stars, and her success stories are numerous and inspiring.

At one point during her teaching career, she was asked to consider working with special needs children. Along with her affirmative answer, she realized the need to improve her teaching methods and hone her skills, so she enrolled in a Master’s program at Fitchburg State College. A full four-year Joseph P. Kennedy scholarship enabled her to receive, with honors, a Master’s Degree in Special Education. As she continued her daily work in the academic classroom, she also made time to establish and set up 13 diocesan learning centers to help children with learning needs to receive training in religious education.

Her dedicated efforts blossomed into a joy for parents seeking Christian values and guidance for themselves and their children with special needs. Her work continues to live on in the hearts of needy families.

Sister Quinn has a hard time saying “No’ to anyone who calls upon her for assistance, and she has been blessed in many ways because she truly cares and shares. Although she is retired from full-time teaching, she has used every minute to the fullest by volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House since 1991, Holy Name Rectory, Holy Name School, and Mont Marie Health Care Center. In addition, she works tirelessly for the annual Community Festival of the Sisters of St. Joseph. She certainly shows the character of Christ in her daily living.

CHARLENE RIDDLE

Among the corps of volunteers at Ogden Regional Medical Center is Charlene Riddle, an outstanding example of one who gives remarkable service. Volunteering is a natural extension of Mrs. Riddle’s personality. She exhibits an exceptional commitment to Ogden Regional Medical Center where she serves in both the Volunteer and Senior Friends programs.

Having begun volunteer service in 1992, Mrs. Riddle can be found at the hospital working in one area or another almost any day of the week. Her enthusiasm for the hospital mission and its hallmark of caring is contagious. She has been an excellent example, and the impetus for others to volunteer or expand their service. She is obviously one who lives and loves her volunteer work.

Over the years, her contributions have lightened the emotional load for many patients, eased the stress for staff members, and improved the functions of the St. Benedict’s Auxiliary. Mrs. Riddle’s current duties at Ogden Regional include:

  • Coordinating “You Are A Star” employee recognition program assembly and distribution of gifts monthly
  • Coordinating the Senior Friends “Get Fit” exercise classes twice weekly
  • Serving on the Staff Liaison committee responsible for employee social events
  • Purchasing and preparing refreshments for Senior Friends events weekly
  • Providing transportation for one employee on a regular basis
  • Supervising the Volunteer & Senior Friends booth at the Weber County Fair
  • Managing the “ Lick and Stick” committee to collate, fold and mail over 1000 newsletters bi-monthly

Mrs. Riddle’s past Ogden Regional Medical Center volunteer accomplishments include, but are not limited to, serving as 1998 President of the 200 member St. Benedict’s Volunteer Auxiliary, serving as 1997 President Elect of the 200 member Volunteer Auxiliary and starting a “comfort bears” program in the Emergency Room, providing plush toys for distressed toddlers. She has also served as a Recovery Room Volunteer, Family Birth Place Nursery Volunteer, Transport Volunteer, Pain Clinic Volunteer, Senior Clinic Clerical Volunteer, and has completed the Total Quality Management training.

In addition, Mrs. Riddle has numerous community service contributions outside of the Ogden Regional Medical Center. She is the first Vice President of the Clearfield Chapter of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARF) where she helps retirees obtain benefits and serves as a volunteer member of the congress. She is a leader in the Altrusa Club of Ogden, a service organization, where she accepted a long-term commitment to read to latchkey children after school, donated a decorated tree to the Christmas Tree Express for a fund-raising auction, helped organize fund raising events to provide scholarships for underprivileged women and participated in provided support services for single women and their families.

DR. JIM REISZ

Dr. Reisz has volunteered with Big Brothers/Big Sisters (BBBS) of Morgan County for almost four years. He has been matched with Bryan Gomaz for the entire time. Matches with BBBS usually only last one or two years at most, so this in itself is a great accomplishment.

Bryan lives with his grandmother. His father is in jail in another state. Bran’s grandmother says that Dr. Reisz has been a godsend for Bryan. Bryan looks to him like a father figure and Dr. Reisz talks to Bryan like a father would. Dr. Reisz and his family welcomed Bryan with open arms. He and his wife have two sons in college and when they are home, they always spend time with Bryan. They get together every week for at least 3 ½ hours. Dr. Reisz and his wife invite Bryan for supper at least once a month and Dr. Reisz attends all of Bryan’s school functions, birthday parties and Christmas gatherings.

Some of the activities that Bryan and Dr. Reisz do include going fishing, bowling, hiking, camping, playing with the computer and putting model cars together. Besides doing “fun things,” Dr. Reisz is also available to help Bryan with his homework and do other “fatherly” things. He has taught Bryan how to throw a baseball and football and Bryan’s grandmother says that they could not ask for a better Big Brother. Dr. Reisz and Bryan attend nearly all of the activities that BBBS of Morgan County has, including the Easter Egg hunts, Christmas skating party and summer swimming party.

TONY WASHINGTON

Tony Washington, a graduate of Frostburg State University, was accepted as an AmeriCorps *VISTA member in V.O.I.C.E. (Volunteer Opportunities in the Community Environment). His year of service focused on the rebuilding and expansion of a volunteer clearinghouse providing service-learning and volunteer opportunities for students, area youth and community members. As Allen HallSTARS! Program manager, he grew the program while he continued to be student focused serving as a mentor and role model for his 90 AmeriCorps members. At the same time, he led the Allen HallSTARS! Advisory Board, instituting procedures for his AmeriCorps members that were well-thought out and consistent and recruiting community partners.

Mr. Washington gained the respect of his colleagues, students, faculty, staff and community members through efforts such as:

  • Collaborating with more than 60 non-profit agencies in Western Maryland to facilitate volunteer and service-learning opportunities.
  • Managing and designing the V.O.I.C.E. Clearinghouse a web-based volunteer reporting system.
  • Founding of the Faulty Vs HallSTARS! National Volunteer Week Service Challenge
  • Organizing more than 50 service projects for clubs and organizations, which led to more than 9,000 hours of service in Western Maryland communities.
  • Organizing and leading the first Frostburg State Univerist5y’s first Relay for Life raising over $8,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Although it is evident that Mr. Washington supervised and coordinated many programs, his volunteer effort of note is the Frostburg State University Sponsor-A-Family for Thanksgiving program. Mr. Washington created and designed the program, in partnership with the Western Maryland Food Bank Director, which recruits FSU departments to join together to donate items for a Thanksgiving dinner for a needy family in the tri-state region (western Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia). In the first year, 8 baskets were delivered. This year, in its fifth year, 21 baskets were delivered. The number of baskets delivered has grown in proportion to the enormous generosity of FSU staff, which continues to increase. Many times the baskets are filled with a weeks worth of food, many included cash donations, cards, hats, mittens and homemade cards. A total of 108 baskets have been delivered in the past five years.

Mr. Washington now travels back to western Maryland from Baltimore each year, which is 2 ½ hour drive, to deliver the baskets to the families.

TRI-STATE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

In a disaster or emergency, communications are critical! During an emergency, there are large increases in the volume of radio traffic per channel on public service radio systems and that means there is a waiting time to gain access to pass a message. Often there are equipment problems at key locations or the need arises for one agency to talk with another agency they normally do not talk to or radio systems are incompatible or they need an unattainable frequency or they may need to contact a location at a distance far beyond the range of their radio system. The first 72 hours of an emergency are the most important, as it can take so much time to get everything set up and working. It takes time to activate the mutual radio system.

The Tri-State Amateur Radio Club works with the Red Cross and Salvation Army and, during an emergency, sends hundreds of emergency radio telegrams for people in the affected area, to their family and friends – at no cost!

During an emergency, when the public radio system is overloaded, that is when there is the greatest need for information. This lack of information results in further attempted use of the telephone and cell phone system, which is already overloaded. The Tri-State Amateur Radio Club helps with all of these problems.

During an emergency, the organization’s volunteers meet a very important community need. They serve the whole community by demonstrating how effective amateur radio is and encouraging others to become involved so the next time there is an emergency they can handle it themselves. They give hands on training on the spot and as people become trained and licensed, they are better prepared to deal with the next emergency which gives them an even better connection to their community.

AMANDA FELDMAN

Amanda Feldman has been making a positive difference in her school, community and the daily lives of others for years as she motivates her peers in volunteerism and community involvement. In 1997, Amanda founded “Peer Partners,” a youth volunteer group, to help others while inspiring her friends and community to share in the rewards of volunteerism. Amanda brings the community together as she advocates the prevention of youth smoking, illiteracy, homelessness, and birth defects, while supporting disaster relief efforts and inspiring kindness. Her efforts have reached across generations and continents.

In addition to her annual fundraising, she organizes community-based service projects that have mobilized hundreds of community members as they work together to meet the needs, health and well being of others in need. In addition to having been the annual top fundraiser in the effort to ameliorate illiteracy, she has collected toiletries for the homeless, hats for children with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, books for children who lost theirs during disaster, quarters for breast cancer research, handcrafted valentines to remind our veteran’s that they were loved by today’s youth, and more. She organized the first ever community talent show to raise money for the children of the victims of the September 11 tragedy and subsequently had more than 100 youth volunteer their talents.

Her latest volunteer effort culminated with a trip to a rural school in Ghana West Africa where she delivered sorely needed educational supplies and seed money to help build the school a library! She also serves as a Board Member to the American Red Cross Atlantic/Cumberland Chapter and Girl Scouts of South Jersey Pines advocating the needs of her peers and her community.

Amanda became a member of Atlantic County REBEL, a youth anti-smoking effort, at the age of 12. For the past four years, she has been REBEL Chairperson while serving on the State of New York Youth Advisory Board. In addition to delivering the anti-tobacco message to teens and community members throughout her county and state, she serves as mentor to middle school children as she leads, educates and motivates them to remain smoke free. She has written several articles for the “REBEL” magazine, which focuses on teen tobacco issues, and through her personal effort she took the anti-tobacco message to more than 800,000 teens Nationwide by publishing an article in Teen Newsweek.

She has also appeared on several infomercials, including WPIX’s anti-tobacco special “Kicking Ash” and CN8’s ‘One on One’ in an effort to mobilize her peers and community members toward a healthy smoke-free lifestyle. Her proposed ordinance to ban smoking in her local park for the health and safety of children and elders alike, resulted in her local City Council’s agreement to consider implementing a partial ban. She enlisted the support of Little League Presidents throughout the State of New Jersey, Those Little League Presidents have since either ordered or posted the ‘tobacco-free/smoke-free’ signs that Amanda designed, funded, and distributed, on their ball fields to send the message that tobacco affects the health and well being of our children. She is currently serving as Vice President of Development for IGNITE, the first ever national youth-led, youth-driven anti-tobacco movement. She has also recently been appointed to serve on the Youth Advisory Panel for The American Legacy Foundation.

ANNE CLEMENT

Since her retirement from BP Amoco two years ago, Anne Clement has filled much of her spare time with volunteer activities, averaging about 50 hours a month. She has worked with volunteer programs and organizations and often “goes the extra mile” when things need to be done.

She has been a First Responder in the Ride Along Program affiliated with HOPE Place (Crisis Services) assisting with domestic violence calls to the Decatur Police Department. As the only trained Decatur resident, Ms. Clement rode entire shifts with Decatur police officers several times a week. Although she specifically assisted with domestic violence, she has been involved in many situations while accompanying a police officer.

Ms. Clement is also a Citizens Police Academy alumni. This required completion of an 11-week course, one night a week where she was trained to volunteer with the Police Department. This again can involve riding with the officers for an eight-hour shift. In addition, she works at the Police Department’s Community Resource Center in Colonial Mall about two days a week. Here, she has been responsible for establishing and maintaining a file system for the alarm registration program. Working with the same officer, she has preformed an extensive audit of the open warrants of the Department. Plus, she assists with computer system work.

As Program Vice President of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Ms. Clement has arranged varied and interesting programs for the group. She has also been responsible for the Yearbook. Wherever there is a need, Ms. Clement tries to fill it. She has been in charge of the Legal Advocacy Fund (LAF) and is a willing computer teacher for those who request her services. She is also responsible for forwarding “Get the Facts” e-mail from the national association as voter education for those members with computers. Her forwarding of the local traffic alerts is also helpful to many members.

Anne Clement is always more than willing to “lend a hand” when asked. Several Decatur groups appreciate her capable and willing spirit.

VIOLA ENGEL

Viola Engel is a volunteer Long-term Care Ombudsman for the Salt Lake City Aging Services. She is a caring, cheerful addition to the organization whose nursing background makes her a perfect fit as a volunteer. Ms. Engel dedicates 4-5 hours each week to the organization and has done so for the past 2 ½ years.

As an ombudsman, Ms. Engel advocates for the elderly living in nursing homes, investigating abuse, neglect and exploitation. She has been instrumental in helping nursing home residents’ voices to be heard. She also lets them know they have a say in their living environment. She facilitates trainings with staff on residential rights and other topics that are appropriate for the staff and volunteers. Monthly, she holds meetings to encourage residents to advocate for themselves.

In addition, Ms. Engel works with the family members of the residents. She encourages the families to become more involved in the residents lives and has helped them developed family councils. She has also assisted by providing mediation services.

The vital purpose of an ombudsman is to empower and defend long-term care residents and improve their quality of life. Nationally, over 60% of nursing home residents do not have family members who will advocate for them. The position of an ombudsman is not a warm and fuzzy one; however, it is a volunteer position that requires excellent communication skills, objectivity and dedication. You are required to look at facts and conditions and work to make sure the residents are being cared for in the way they should be. You may also need to speak with family and request that they become involved in their family member’s lives; that is not easy to do.

Viola Engel takes the time to get to know the residents. She looks at their conditions and sees what needs they have and what needs are being met. She then studies the laws and rules that govern the rights of long-term care residents so she can be prepared as an advocate. She then works and fights to see that the rights of residents are honored; she is fair and tenacious when it comes to their rights.

NAVAL TECHNICAL TRAINING CENTER SHIPMATES PROGRAM

For the past two years, every Thursday SHIPMATES (Staff/Students Helping Interesting People in the Meridian Area Through Enthusiastic Service) team up with Toomsuba HeadStart to help the children grow up in a better atmosphere. SHIPMATES has volunteered more than 790 hours of community service throughout the year mowing lawns, painting, stripping and waxing floors, and generally cleaning up the site, helping the Toomsuba staff focus more quality time with the children. In addition, SHIPMATES assisted children with the presentation of programs spotlighting youth talent. By turning work to play, SHIPMATES has made a lasting impression on the young children who benefit from our community service.

Since 1992, SHIPMATES has teamed up with Habitat for Humanity. Throughout the year, SHIPMATES devoted 673 hours to helping build safe and comfortable housing for those who might otherwise not have a home to call their own. Building affordable housing improves the overall community, making safer neighborhoods and reducing poverty levels within the community.

Since the program started in 1981, SHIPMATES volunteers have participated in Area 5 Special Olympics. Volunteers were needed for the sporting events to assist participants. SHIPMATES have provided volunteers ever since, helping to inspire special students to achieve their goals. Special Olympics sporting events include golf, softball, soccer, equestrian, basketball, and track and field.

The Merrehope house, the SHIPMATES program’s first project in 1981, is a restoration project that SHIPMATES helps to preserve. Once a month they work to keep the yard and the house up to standards. Merrehope is a historic landmark in the community, and it is used for various events including weddings and other gatherings that would not be possible if not for the SHIPMATES program.

The SHIPMATES program has helped to keep the community clean over the past 10 years. Every three weeks, SHIPMATES pick up litter in a designated two-mile area through the Adopt-A-Highway Program. Volunteers also participate in Meridian’s Annual Public Lands Day, devoted to picking up litter around public lakes. Litter prevention and environmental awareness benefit all residents of the community, The children who participate in picking up litter experience the valuable rewards and personal satisfaction of preserving our earth.

Twice a month, SHIPMATES partner with Love’s Kitchen Incorporated, cooking and distributing meals to the homeless. A structured environment is provided for the homeless during their time of need, a place where they can come to eat breakfast and lunch without fear or embarrassment, helping to reduce crime, such as theft, which tends to stem from the frustration of poverty.

DONALD LOGGINS

Donald Loggins is a founding member of the Green Guerillas, organized in 1973 by late noted environmentalist Liz Christy. The group works to develop and preserve gardens and open spaces in impoverished urban areas. The Liz Christy Bowery Houston Community Garden, created by the Green Guerillas on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, is the oldest community garden in New York. The garden has been featured in numerous local newspapers and online city guides.

Mr. Loggins has been instrumental in keeping this garden alive. For 30 years, he has helped transform a blighted corner of one of the poorest areas of New York City into a neighborhood that families and children want to live in again. He gives tours of the garden to share with children, many of whom do not know where fruits and vegetables come from, an environment where they can see fruit trees and vegetables growing. The garden also contains a live turtle pond, a working beehive and a place where visitors can observe large goldfish.

In addition to maintaining this landmark garden, Loggins has helped develop hundreds of community gardens around New York by providing technical assistance. He also assists with semiannual plant giveaways where plants, seeds and bulbs are donated to local gardens, community open space groups and vest pocket parks. Loggins’ volunteer efforts have been documented in several New York newspapers and he also has received an award for his urban greening dedication from the mayor of New York City. He is also a member of a Brooklyn Community Board, appointed by the Borough President for his environmental and community work. Mr. Loggins is an individual who takes pride in giving back to his community through gardening that grows community pride, adds beauty to the world and helps maintain a healthy environment.

The Liz Christy Bowery Houston Community Garden provides open green space and a a natural environment for children in the poorest section of Manhattan and has served as a model of what can be done at the grassroots level by concerned citizens without using government funds. People in Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle and other cities have seen what was done on the Lower East Side and created similar community green spaces in their own neighborhoods. Immigrants living in the Lower East Side from China, India, South America and many other nations sit in the garden on how summer days to cool off and discover they have something in common and their children become friends.