CAITLIN GORSKI

Caitlin Gorski is a student at Hopkinton High. She is a quietly commanding junior who serves as Class President, actress, varsity volleyball player, artist, Church youth leader, community service volunteer and honor student. Caitlin believes relationships and people are most important. She values the years her family spent in Marlborough before moving to Hopkinton. There, the diversity gave her a great foundation for the work she is doing now.

Caitlin recently participated in the three-day, 60-mile Avon Breast Cancer Walk, and she raised over $2,800 for research. In addition, Caitlin has served with the Ambassador’s Club – welcoming new students to Hopkinton High School, Gospel Road – a volunteer group that works in soup kitchens and visits the elderly and the Bottle Drive for victims of the September 11th tragedy. Caitlin has also sponsored a child in a third world country, worked with DEL – a leadership workshop for children, the Connectors Club, Youth Outreach Weekend, Girl Scouts and Teenagers Against Drinking & Drugs.

A visit to a homeless shelter in Boston inspired her next project. Caitlin met a homeless man at the shelter who was getting up in early morning everyday to look for a job. She respected and appreciated his daily struggle to provide basic needs for himself. That moved her and changed her perception of those who were living in the shelters. Caitlin wanted to create a job fair for the homeless. In order to gain the skills necessary to move forward with her job fair, she applied for the “Take the Lead” program.

Chosen as one of 38 from a pool or more than 600 high school students nominated by teachers and community leaders, Caitlin is now a part of Mount Holyoke College’s “Take the Lead” program. She and the other participants were chosen because of their potential for leadership and ability to make a difference. This program entails the youth attending workshops in team building and organizational skills, and the participants work on a project of their choice under the guidance of a mentor. Caitlin’s project advisor advised that she exhibits commitment, passion and compassion when articulating her desire to reach out to the homeless. She believes that Caitlin will be a wonderful agent for positive change in the world.

Caitlin is working to implement a job fair for jobless and economically disadvantages individuals. This event has grown from an idea to a large event that will occur on May 20,2003 at City Hall Plaza in Boston. It will be called “Job Fare 2003” and her slogan for the event is “ Putting Care Into Careers.” Caitlin has reached out to St. Francis House, Impact Employment Service, Community Work Services and Boston Employment Services. All of them have offered their resources to assist with Job Fare 2003. Caitlin has assembled a committee of individuals from these organizations to guide her in creating an important event that could potentially improve the lives of people who are currently facing serious economic challenges. She is doing the fundraising, contacting of employers and organizing the specific details.

GLORIA JOHNSON-RODGERS

Dr. Gloria Johnson-Rodgers is a family practice physician, humanitarian, author and coordinator of the Gwendolyn Wilkes Rainbow Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Columbus, Georgia. Since its inception in 1994, the Gwendolyn Wilkes Rainbow Center, a multifaceted Child Care and Adult Day Treatment center, reaches out to the community and is inclusive of the whole family unit. It seeks to empower wholeness in the family unit.

The Rainbow Center has sought a high standard of excellence in all that has been attempted; a free clothing and food pantry, which serviced more than 60,000 locally last year; a Child Care Center that gives honors for educational achievement, working with 90% low-income families, and an Adult Day Treatment Center that provides warm meals, professional staffing, transit shelters, and some assistance with homeless. All of these services are a part of the Center and most efforts are facilitated through volunteer service.

Another humanitarian cause supported by Johnson-Rodgers is the hunger crisis in Nigeria, West Africa. Last year almost one million children in Nigeria died before the age of five due to starvation. In 2002, the hunger situation has heightened to the worst level in history; families are dying on the streets. Dr. Gloria Johnson-Rodgers has begun work to alleviate the suffering of families, especially women and children in Nigeria. The plan is to build feeding stations in three distinct regions of Nigeria, which will give access to the whole country, as most states are within one hour walking distance of each other. The stations will be able to give goods to 10,000 residents at one time, therefore feeding hundreds of thousands daily. Johnson-Rodgers are her team of volunteers are also building several orphanages throughout Nigeria to help solve the problem of homelessness.

Thousands have already been fed in Nigeria, West Africa, since the project was begun in the year 2000. Scholarships have been donated for 1,500 children from very poor areas. These children are very gifted, but have no means for school. Johnson-Rodgers has helped to build two schools and donated medical supplies, along with toiletries, to the women and children in the villages of Nigeria. Nowhere else in the world has anyone attempted to build such feeding stations which will accommodate the masses. Instead of several trucks per month, several million can be fed easily. Physicians, educator, various people from all walks of life and many other volunteers are on standby and willing to join in this project to educate, donate time and service.

Recently, Dr. Johnson-Rodgers was named one of the 100 winners of Charming Shoppes’ VOICES essay contest – 100 remarkable women who raised their VOICES to create positive change in their communities. This award was based on work being done in Columbus, Georgia, and Nigeria, West Africa, through MISSION NIGERIA/Operation Feed Worldwide. This contest was sponsored by Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant, and Catherine’s.

In addition to her work being done locally and abroad, Dr. Johnson-Rodgers is a loving, devoted wife of Dr. Charles Rodgers, mother of four beautiful children. She provides personal counseling to anyone who needs her, regardless of race, nationality, background or religious affiliation. Because of her love for people, she is willing to help anyone who asks. The children in the neighborhood have adopted her as “Mom.” She gives them odd jobs to do throughout the ministry. There are times when she stops her busy workday, whenever the neighborhood children come to visit, to spend time with them, allowing them the opportunity to “express their thoughts.” She always has a “loving smile” and plenty of love for anyone. Because of her compassion for the children, on her next visit to Nigeria on last year, she describes the suffering that the people are experiencing.

Dr. Rodgers is a member of the Homeless Task Force, Columbus, Georgia, and provides transient shelters for the homeless. She was also responsible for setting up a Feeding Program for Senior Citizens in Atlanta, Georgia, whereby she assisted the elderly to ensure they had sufficient food for the entire month. She is also well known for her words of wisdom given during her weekly TV program, Morning Inspiration, which airs on a local television station and reaches 197,000 households.

ELIZABETH BULL

Elizabeth Bull is enrolled at Northwestern Connecticut Community College, which has strong programs for Interpreting majors and programs for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. She is studying to earn a double major in Interpreting for the Deaf and General Studies with a focus in Criminal Justice. Though these programs require contact hours and fieldwork, the contributions mentioned here are all volunteer services.

Early in her coursework, Bull became proficient in sign and the general college community. Her natural ability to engage with her peers, together with her sign language skills has benefited the campus community by comfortably blending two diverse groups, the hearing and the deaf.

The Northwest Deaf Club was the lead organization in the Captioning Now effort to lobby for legislation that would require movie theaters to provide closed captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. Bull was very active in this effort. Currently, she monitors the local theater web site and relays movie information to the larger deaf community. She regularly attends captioned movies, notes attendance and encourages people to gather socially afterward for pizza sponsored by the Deaf Club. She is the campus contact person with the CT Recreation Association for the Deaf for an upcoming movie and social event.

Bull makes herself available, pro bono, to make theater and other community experiences accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing. In December, the Art Department hosted the opening of a 30-minute documentary, “9/11 Numbers That Echoed Through a Nation,” which was produced by students and shown at the Gilson Theater. Bull participated in the panel discussion that followed. During the Fall 2002 semester she volunteered as a peer tutor in class, Selected Topics for the Deaf, where she took notes and made herself available to assist deaf students with their homework assignments. This past January she attended a presentation on lobbying in Ashford, CT, sponsored by Self Help for the Hard of Hearing.

The Northwest Deaf Club elected Bull as Secretary and she was voted as the ‘sign to voice’ interpreter for the deaf officers. (Beginning in Spring 2003, Bull was granted fieldwork hours for the voice interpreting.) She is also a Senator for the student government and she has assisted as an interpreter on several occasions. She has made it possible for a deaf woman to serve as the Senate Secretary this year.

Bull is truly a catalyst who can successfully motivate people to take active roles. In addition, she bridges the communication hurdle between the hearing and the deaf. The number of deaf students on the Student Senate has increased since Bull has been a Senator. The number of Senators and associated friends who have attended the Deaf Club meetings and events has also increased, as well as the number of hearing students who have learned the basics of sign language either on their own or who have chosen it for elective credit. Bull proposed that the Student Senate and the Deaf Club coordinate joint social events. These two groups now cosponsor an annual semi-formal dance and are planning a trip to Boston later this spring. She is a co-chair for both events.

LYNN CARROLL

Lynn Carroll has been a volunteer at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB) for the past 16 years. She possesses a unique skill of being a nationally certified Braille Transcriptionist for the blind. Carroll has volunteered her special skills to enable the blind to access educational materials in Braille. She devotes seven to ten hours per week helping the USDB produce educational materials in Braille for blind students.

Carroll has also shared her unique talent, training two staff persons at the USDB in Braille transcription. Under Carroll’s guidance, these two people have obtained national certification in Braille transcription. She has taught classes in Braille transcription and in the Nemeth Braille code, used in science and math, for teachers and aides at the school. Recently Carroll finished team-teaching an introduction to Braille that was broadcast to other parts of the state via Utah’s EDNET.

Educational materials in Braille are costly and can be difficult to find. One textbook or reading book in Braille may cost anywhere from $600 to $2,000. Many books are not available in Braille and must be transcribed. Carroll has employed her specialized training and expertise to enable hundreds of students to access educational materials while saving the school thousands of dollars. USDB now has a Braille production department staffed by people she trained, and together they produce text books, tests, worksheets, pamphlets and an array of additional materials that otherwise would have been unavailable to a blind student.

Carroll has had unique challenges in her service to the deaf and blind. She earned her Braille Transcription Certification in 1981 and has volunteered in various ways since then. She has studied specialized Braille codes at home and traveled to workshops provided by the National Braille Association. Carroll worked with the Lion’s Club to secure two Perkins Braillers as a donation to USDB. She is also active throughout her community and has taught classes in reading Braille by sight for Ogden City Schools Continuing Education Program. In addition, Carroll is active in the Ogden Community Choir and the Audubon Society. The list of students, teachers and community members that have received direct and indirect benefit from Carroll’s volunteer service is abundant.

EDITH CALLAHAN

Ms. Edith Callahan started volunteering at The League for People with Disabilities, Inc. two years ago as part of her school’s service program. She started a program called “Tips-n-Wash” that provided a rare service – cleaning of wheelchairs/mobility equipment and replacement of tips on canes. Ms. Callahan is being nominated for her insight and unique way of addressing a health and safety hazard. Although this particular project has ended, accorded to her school’s service program, she still makes quarterly visits to The League.

Edith is graduating this semester with a degree in Physical Therapy and was first an intern in The League’s Wellness Center. She became aware of many issues her clients face and started addressing some with her program. People who use wheelchairs are often dependent on care providers to help them with personal hygiene. Unfortunately, their wheelchairs are often neglected. Those who are able to wash their chairs may not have the space to do so at home. Also, the rubber tips of canes wear down and are sometimes lost. She provides for a very basic need that is not addressed.

WENDY WERKMEISTER

Wendy Werkmeister currently serves as President of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC). For over eight years, she has led the statewide economic development corporation providing business education and access to capital to those interested in starting or growing a small business.

Under her leadership many accomplishments have been realized. The organizational revenue increased from $200,000 to $1,600,000, staff increased from 1.5 to 20 fulltime individuals and the WWBIC has been recognized through numerous local and national awards including United States Small Business Administration (US-SBA) New Market Awards, Rural Partnership Awards andUrban Economic Development Association Leadership Award. Werkmeister has been recognized as Milwaukeean of the Year and Rotarian of the Year. WWBIC now provides training to over 1,500 individuals per year and loans close to $1 million annually due to Werkmeister’s leadership. WWBIC has also been a subcontractor for both the US-SBA’s Egypt Initiative and US AID for international business development.

Werkmeister has actively served in a leadership role on many local committees, boards and civic associations. She has been past President of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Civic Alliance and Milwaukee North Shore Rotary Club. She is current Assistant District Governor of Rotary District 6270, Group Team Leader of Rotary Group Study Exchange to Nigeria, Vice President of the Association of Women’s Business Centers and Vice President of St. Francis Children Center.

In addition, Werkmeister has been involved in numerous local, national and international developments including a Rotary Group Study Exchange to Nigeria, International Host to delegations recently from Ghana, Tanzania, Russia and Ukraine, Cocoa-Organic and Sustainable Farming Project in the Dominican Republic and the building of a school and well in Kadoka, Nigeria. She is also serves in the development and coordination of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Hank Aaron State Trail Run/Walk and the development and lead in Milwaukee’s Public Market.

MARY WILSON

Mrs. Wilson is currently the director of the Mt. Olive Community Development Corporation Village Center After School Program, which is funded in part by grants.

This rewarding task has enabled Mrs. Wilson to help the children realize their full potential as they receive assistance with homework. Emphasis is placed on math, reading, spelling, English, history, writing and public speaking and computer skills. Additionally, attendees are taught cultural and human relations skills.

Mrs. Wilson takes children to the library, amusement parks and other outings, which allows them to see and know that knowledge is power and that education, coupled with common sense, will help them to go anywhere and be winners for life.

She helps the Youth Minister at Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church with Monday night bible study and also assists with fundraising activities for the Mt. Olive baseball teams.

Mrs. Wilson is the Asst. Director for the Mt. Olive Church 2003 Young Disciples Camp, which will be held for six weeks this summer. She will assist with camp registration, preparing and serving breakfast and lunch for about 30 – 35 children. She will assist in organizing and operation of the overall summer camp activities. She has assisted with organizing other children's summer camps, including being responsible for preparing and serving breakfast and lunch for the students and counselors in the programs.

Mrs. Wilson still finds time to make scrumptious cakes, pies and other dishes for sick and shut-in persons in the church and the community. She brings fresh vegetables from her garden and puts them aside for anyone who will take them (without cost.) She also serves on culinary committees that prepare food for church activities.

Moreover, Mrs. Wilson has found the time to join the Historic Health Center as a Board Member and extend her volunteer role in the community. She is also serving, and has served for over 15 years, in Stewardship and Finance positions for church.

In May 2002, she received the "Mother of the Year" award from Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church and also received the 2002 "Volunteer of the Year" Award for Anne Arundel County, MD.

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA’S COLLEGE AT WISE, ATHLETIC PROGRAM

The goal of the faculty and staff at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise is to make a positive difference in the lives of others by giving of their time and talents to help meet the physical and self-concept needs of people in the area. The athletes, coaches, trainers and athletic administration have worked to impact their community; however, they have also received because of their giving.

The women’s volleyball team volunteered to assist the 2002 summer Remote Area Medical Program. This program dispenses free medical and dental care to needy children and adults in the area. The women’s basketball and volleyball team also made 30 “sack bunnies” and 15 comforters during the month of October for the Child Advocacy Center for neglected and a used children. The men’s football and baseball teams provided free instructional clinics for area youth during the month of August. During both the men’s and women’s basketball games in the winter, the athletic department raised money and secured food donations for the Wise County Food Bank. In addition, the football team has an annual benefit basketball game with local media in December. All proceeds from the event go to the “Hope House” shelter for abused women and their children.

The athletic department as a whole sponsors the “Cavs and Kids” program where all are school age children can buy tickets for the football and basketball games at reduced prices. Then the individual schools get to keep all the money from the ticket sales to used for supplies the school needs at the time. In addition to sponsoring “Cavs and Kids”, the athletic department also sponsors the “Helping Hands” awards where they annually sponsor a male and female from each of the seven county towns who have volunteered their time to serve local youth in recreational and civic related pursuits. This is done with hopes of stimulating other adults to volunteer with young people.

Student athletes and coaches spoke at Wise Primary School during October and November on making good life choices. They touched on the importance of studying, avoiding drug and alcohol abuse and being kind to others. They also spoke to Pound High School classes about the importance of character and integrity. In addition, more than 150 student athletes volunteer their time to build the Wise Primary School Pow-Wow Playground. The school provided the equipment and materials and the University provided the labor.

The athletic administration also speaks to 60 to 75 area youth baseball and softball coaches annually about the importance of nurturing and self-concept building as they work with young children between the ages of 8 and 12. The men’s baseball team also adopted an area rest home patron as their #1 fan and treated her to awards and special on field activities during the spring of 2002. The women’s softball team also schedules regular visits with the residents of Heritage Hall Rest Homes.

WHITMAN COLLEGE CROSS CULTURAL OUTREACH PROGRAM

Walla Walla, Washington has a farm labor camp that is primarily populated by families who work harvest. The majority of these families are Hispanic. The parents tend to speak limited English while the children are bi-lingual, speaking both Spanish and English. Several years ago, a Whitman student names Griselda Enriquez, began going to the camp frequently to interact with the children. She was not a part of an organized program; she often went alone. He purpose in visiting was to let the children know that they had options. She told them they could do well in school, go to college and become what they chose to be.

When she graduated from Whitman College in May of 2000, another student approached the Center for Community Service Office and suggested that the office continue the link that Griselda had forged by creating a formal program that brought Whitman College students together with the children from the farm labor camps.

At that point, the Cross Cultural Outreach Program was created. It consists of several student coordinators who are responsible for the vision and planning of the weekly activities. They then recruit other Whitman students to attend with them on Saturday mornings and be involved with the children. Students and student groups are encouraged to share with the children their passions and to actively engage them in activities. Events that are sponsored are intended to be much more than just a weekly activity program to give the children something to do on Saturday mornings. The focus of the program is to broaden the children’s experiences and let them know that the world is filled with opportunities for them by actively involving them in the weekly theme.

The Cross Cultural Outreach Program also includes field trips. The student coordinators felt that it was important for the children in the farm labor camp to be more involved in the local Walla Walla community and to explore some of the resources available to them. One such trip will have the children traveling to a local ice chalet to play broomball with the Whitman students. This is a favorite event for the college students, and they wanted to share the experience with the children. In addition to playing and interaction with older college students, this exposes the children to the entire college campus and atmosphere.

The Cross Cultural Outreach Program is a success. It is a model that shows motivated young adults making a positive difference in the lives of children. It also shows young adults living in a community and taking responsibility for making that community a better place while they are there as opposed to being disconnected from what is around them. The students, the community and the children are enriched by the experiences of this program.

JOY READY

Joy Ready is the founder and director of King’s Club International Ministries. Ready founded this inner city ministry eight years ago. She quit a successful bridal shop business to make this vision a reality. Although her private business provided ample financial security, she wanted to impact the lives of the community around her.

Ready decided to start King’s Club to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the underprivileged and at-risk children in Urbana-Champaign. After taking the big step of selling her business, she decided to dedicate her life to reaching out to the poor. In achieving this goal, she had to sacrifice; however, she is happy with the choice she made. Though her current income actually is well below that of the people she now ministers to, Ready will continue her service with the King’s Club.

The King’s Club is reliant on private donations for funding. Since its inception, it has grown to become the most prominent inner city program in Urbana-Champaign. Each week, a Sidewalk Sunday School bus visits the areas and provides a time of fun and excitement for the children. Games, prizes and food are given out along with a weekly bible lesson in the form of skits and examples.

King’s Club is the only organization in town that goes out to the inner city every week and personally visits each home of every child that attends the Sidewalk Sunday School. The number of children in the program has grown steadily annually, and today the organization reaches out to nearly a thousand children in the Urbana-Champaign area. Most everyone in the inner city knows about the King’s Club and “Sister Joy.”

From the Thanksgiving boxes of Love to Easter Egg Hunts to Christmas stockings and presents, Ready’s vision has been to partner the Urbana-Champaign community with the underprivileged. Every year she has mobilized radio stations, local churches and even college organizations like the Asian American Association, to donate their time and money to help make the lives of the youth a little better.

During that process, the King’s Club promotes awareness of the plight of the inner city children. It has also helped to better knit the community into one working unit. They have made the neighborhoods safer and most importantly, changed the lives of children. Many of the youth that have been a part of the Club from its inception are now teenagers, and they are making decisions that will positively impact their community and the rest of their lives. They are able to make more informed decisions as a result of the ministry of the King’s Club.

Ready made personal sacrifices to meet a need in her community. Her sacrifice has resulted in the founding of King’s Club, and now the Club has expanded as far away as Africa. King’s Club Nigeria now meets with more than 300 children in Nigeria. There are plans to expand to South Africa and Brazil also.