JOAN-MARIE BURNS

For the past four years, Joan-Marie Burns has been a dedicated volunteer for Habitat for Humanity International. She has given over 3,000 hours of her time to fund raising, traveling, speaking, and building homes. She has volunteered with the construction of more than 30 homes and has done everything from framing houses to shingling roofs, hanging sheet rock, mixing concrete, tiling floors, landscaping, installing siding, and raising trusses.

Burns has participated in building homes in Georgia, Florida, California, Costa Rica, Antigua, and Guatemala. She has traveled with Habitat’s President and Founder Millard Fuller and has been endorsed by former President Jimmy Carter, Habitat’s most famous volunteer, regarding her work for Habitat. She has personally raised in excess of $75,000 for Habitat by organizing over 15 fundraisers. Some of the activities include: selling gingerbread houses and cookies, candy bars, and Easter hams, inviting children to Putt-Putt to sign boards to be used in building homes, displaying donation boxes around towns, having yard sales, raffling off a Habi-tot playhouse, raffling off a children’s bookshelf, and producing and directing a Mr. Habitat Contest. Burns has illustrated children’s coloring pages that teach the mission of Habitat and has produced two promotional videos that she uses for speaking engagements.

She has filmed three public service announcements (PSAs) and six radio PSAs. The television PSAs have appeared in more than 200,000 homes. At this time, Burns has logged in excess of 20,000 miles for Habitat. In Fresno, California, she spent two weeks on a Global Village work project building homes with a group of eight other people. While in Costa Rica, she built homes and attended a breakfast for International Habitat Board Members. In Antigua, she was part of a meeting of International partners for Habitat. Her trip to Guatemala was very eventful as she attended and was part of the celebration for the 10,000th Habitat Home Dedication in the country.

She has spread her volunteerism internationally. One of Burns’s most recent honors is that she has been named an Official National Spokesperson for Habitat’s Women Build program. Women Build focuses on women helping women get their children out of poverty. Burns will be traveling to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Kentucky in March. She has been featured on the cover of a regional magazine and her volunteer work has been recognized in numerous newspapers and publications.

4-H JR. GARDEN GLEANERS

To make a difference in this world, you just need a good idea and someone to carry it out. Two teen-agers from Newcastle came up with a good idea and have been carrying it out for the last three years.

The 4-H Junior Gleaners are high school students. Kyle and Dainen McDaniel are brothers who attend Del Oro High in Loomis, California. They helped start this project nearly three years ago using the theme, “Grow a Row to Donate.” They have been gathering extra fruit and vegetables from residents and orchards throughout the South Placer area for three years now.

The idea to start the program came when Kyle and Danien, who live in Newcastle, California, had too much fruit from their own cherry tree for their family. With a desire to share, they gathered the extra fruit and delivered it to an elderly center. That sparked the idea to begin a project on a much larger scale. The young men, who were already members of the Placer County 4-H, talked it over with June Stewart, the 4-H program representative and they began developing a full-blown project.

They have been instrumental in saving food and giving it to those who need it. Their goal of providing fruits and vegetables to those who otherwise might not have what they need in their diets has been very successful. To date, the teens have collected and distributed well in excess of seven tons of surplus food They have also recently put up information on their own website at http://jrgardengleaners.tripod.com, and they are working with other 4-H groups around the country to take the idea nationwide.

A recent study put out by the University of Los Angeles, (UCLA) shows that in the greater Sacramento Region that includes Sacramento, Placer, and Yolo counties more than 58,000 people have trouble putting food on the table daily and over 22,000 of those are actually hungry. Kyle says that educating people to understand that they do not need to have an orchard or a farm to donate surplus fruit and vegetables has been one of their biggest chores. They need only to have people call them who have an extra bag of mandarins, lemons or oranges or persimmons to donate.

It may not seem like a lot, but to those who never have these fresh items it means a great deal to their health. They pick them up and deliver them to a proper place. They hope that as people begin to plant their gardens next spring they will remember “Growing a Row to Donate.” They will come and harvest it for them when it is ready and deliver it to people who need it.

MARCIE BURNS

For the past ten years, Marcie Burns, an unsung hero, has committed her time and passion for mentoring children at Kruse Elementary in Pasadena, Texas, in the H.O.S. T.S. program. The H.O.S. T.S. (Help One Student to Succeed) program is a one-on-one tutoring program for students reading below grade level. Yearly she commits the largest numbers of hours of the 2000 HOSTS volunteers in the city. She dedicates her time to Kruse Elementary where she shows up regularly every week from 7: 15 to 11: 45 Tuesdays to mentor twenty students in the reading/language arts program. She does not receive any type of stipend for her services. An estimated dollar value for the year of her commitment of 200 hours @ $22.00 is $4,400.00.

Kruse is a low socio-economic campus with 89% of its 700+ students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, and the students’ life experiences are limited. Burns opens doors and provides affirmation and individual attention so many at-risk students need. Attendance of the students mentored by her is higher than the average, and the students’ overall school success extends well beyond the HOSTS classroom.

Kruse Elementary is now a Texas Recognized campus, and Burns is one of the reasons Kruse students have a sense of competence as learners in order to perform well on state accountability tests. HOSTS classrooms do project a “feel-good” atmosphere, but the students’ enhanced self-esteem is built on a solid foundation of achievement that has been catapulted by Burns.

Burns holds high aspirations for each young person she mentors. She is somebody who cares about her students and once they get their self-esteem up, the students are convinced they can do anything to which they put their minds. She is transforming the schooling experience of children, increasing school attendance, making readers of non-readers, achievers of underachievers, and confident, engaged learners.

Not only does Burns have this passion for helping young people, she volunteers her time in other areas. For the past four years she has been involved in the Prison Ministry Bible Correspondence program. Monthly she corresponds with 75-100 inmates and devotes 20 hours weekly to this activity. They study and answer questions and Burns corrects, grades, and returns their papers with letters of encouragement. Several of the prisoners have commented that the good thing that has come from being in prison is that they have learned about God and being a responsible individual. Many of them have now become worthwhile and productive citizens upon release from prison due to Burns’ commitment.

Besides her mentoring and prison system work, she visits nursing homes and hospitals and heads up committees to feed ill and bereaved families. For nine years she has been assisting with a monthly birthday party for the elderly at the Pasadena Care Center.

JAMES JOHNSON

James W. Johnson Sr. is the driving force behind a conservation education program that benefits thousands of young people in Pennsylvania. Scouting troops and church youth groups have primarily utilized his efforts. In 1994, Johnson worked with several key programs. He created the Kinzua Bridge Historic Trail in 1982. The only one of its kind in the area, the Kinzua Trail exposes visitors not only to a nature trail but to the history of the area. The railroad bridge, which is part of the trail, stands 301 feet over the valley and was the highest in the world when it was built in 1882. The trail requires that each visitor provide four hours of public service at the Kinzua Bridge State Park in McKean County and conduct four additional hours of environmental education. In the past year, more than 530 young people contributed in excess of 2,100 hours of public service to the park. They also conducted an equal number of hours in environmental classes. Johnson also established Chestnuts Unlimited. Through this program, youth have planted a grove of chestnut trees at Kinzua Dam. Johnson obtained donated trees from the conservation district as well as the tree shelters for a special tree planting in a restricted area. Through the Alternative Education Program, Johnson worked with nine alternative education students. These young people were from various local high schools, and they came together to accomplish a myriad of projects and the Kinzua Dam. The group completed riverbank stabilization projects, tree planting, landscaping, building split rail fences and several other maintenance projects. The Spring Conservation Camporee brought 300 Scouts from Pennsylvania and New York to the Kinzua Bridge State Park. The Scouts contributed more than 1,000 hours of conservation service and education in the single day event. Their project consisted of special nursery planting, cleaning up the park, building bluebird boxes and planting crabapple trees for wildlife enhancement. There have been over 56,000 hours in community service projects and conservation education classes accumulated since 1982 in the Environmental Youth Program resulting in an economic benefit to the Kinzua Bridge State Park, the Allegheny National Forest, US Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Bradford. In 1982, there were 76 participants in Johnson’s conservation programs; however, by 2002 there were 1,000. To date, over 10,000 people have participated. This is a 15- fold increase, and it attests to the success of the program in a quantifiable way. Johnson personally funds a major portion on his conservation projects and education programs. Because of his service, he was one of the recipients of the 1995 President’s Service Award, and in 2002 he was one of the National Arbor Day Award honorees. He was honored with the Lawrence Enersen Award for outstanding tree planting and conservation work at the community level.

JOHN ALTADONNA

John Altadonna is a catalyst for change. He is a part of many community service activities; however, he was the key volunteer of an event that was recognized by the International Festival and Events Association as the “Gold Award” winner for the Best Event/Program to Benefit a Charity. Because of the success inspired by Altadonna, this program is also recognized as holding the Guinness record for the most food collected for the most food collected for a charity in a 24-hour period. Named FoodStock, this one-day collection netted 37,540 counted and verified items. Each of which was distributed within 48 hours to 11 local food banks. Through Altadonna’s efforts, an active county with a population of 41,765 was mobilized to help those in need. The media campaign began six months prior to the 24-hour event. A tie-dyed Woodstock theme with t-shirts for the volunteers, posters for publicity and stickers for the contributors set off a massive organizational effort. More than 20 nonprofit organizations and over 1,500 volunteers were a part of this massive effort. Throughout the event, Altadonna worked tirelessly to make a significant difference in the lives of needy members of the community. Because of the success of the event, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Commission has adopted the FoodStock program for Community Service. AmeriCorps volunteers will operate it across Pennsylvania on Pennsylvania Family Service Day. They will then work to try to make this a National AmeriCorps Project. In addition to this great undertaking, Altadonna volunteers his time to the Autumn Leaf Festival and the Clarion Area Chamber of Business and Industry. He has been involved for nine years, giving in excess of 4,500 hours of his time to those organizations alone. Altadonna also serves as a Director of the Keystone AmeriCorps, supports the local school districts with job shadow opportunities, employment for the disadvantaged youth, hosts a program that provides youth with $1,000 community scholarships and donates to more than a dozen other worthwhile causes.

OLIVER BROOKS

Oliver Brooks began his volunteer efforts in the community as a pre-schooler. Being from a family who actively supports volunteerism and community service, it was natural for him to become involved in numerous volunteer endeavors over the years. From those early years working with the Salvation Army to distribute toys and food to needy families, Oliver has continued to perform a variety of service to his community. During his high school years, Oliver has become actively involved in Students Realizing their Value (SERV) and has made significant contributions. He has recently been awarded the Governor's Award for Volunteer Service in North Carolina. Among Oliver's notable contributions has been his work at the local and national levels of the American Red Cross. At the local level, he was instrumental for co-founding and organizing a Youth in Action Group for the local Chapter. He has been instrumental in organizing a group of students and leading a variety of service projects from renovation of the local Religious Community Services building to obtaining quality of life items to send to service men and women in Afghanistan. At the national level, he has served on the first Youth Content Committee making contributions to the web site seen around the world. Oliver has authored several articles for the web site. He has interacted as a volunteer with students from around the United States to make this web site successful, educational and informative. In addition to these significant activities, he has contributed numerous hours with several other organizations. He had received a medal from the Mayor of Kinston and Commendation from the Daughters of the American Revolution. Oliver has also excelled in academics with an “all-A” average including advanced placement classes and lettered and been recognized in soccer, tennis and swimming. He has had leadership roles in clubs and his grade level and is currently Vice President of the Student Government Association and voted Most Dependable in his senior class.

GERALDINE PALMER

Take Stock in Children is a comprehensive program that helps low-income children succeed by providing college and vocational scholarships, volunteer mentors, student advocates/case managers, tutoring, early intervention and long-term support, high standards, parental involvement, and community support. It is a solution to one of the most critical problems facing Florida–high dropout and high youth crime rates. Take Stock in Children has a proven record of helping low-income children graduate from high school, attend college, stay out of trouble, and become productive citizens. Marion County has a large population of low-income families. Studies have shown that students benefit from caring adults in a mentoring relationship. A mentor is a role model, a friend and a leader. Geraldine Palmer exemplifies all of the characteristics of a good mentor. Palmer became a mentor in 1999 for the statewide Take Stock in Children Program. Being a former educator, Palmer has a wonderful way of seeing the student’s point of view and focusing on what would help them want to help themselves. As a mentor, Palmer designed a study skills flyer for her mentee who was having trouble with her exams. Using the study skills techniques, her mentee brought grades from F’s to A’s on her next exams. The recent accountability testing at schools has contributed to increased test anxiety for students, particularly when they are not prepared. Palmer’s idea is to not only get prepared but to also get a winning attitude. Palmer followed her mentee from 8th grade 10th grade until a family tragedy split the family and Amanda moved away. She is now mentoring another student who is having some major challenges. Palmer has become a part of the Leadership Council and also served last year on the selections’ team for the program. She is continually expanding her commitment to the program. Soon after she became a mentor, Palmer told about a Leadership experience that she had when she was young. She wanted to give that experience to the Take Stock Children scholars. She designed the curriculum, found the site and organized the whole weekend for about 20 students and mentors. The weekend included a ropes challenge course. Many of the students have never been away from home at all. All participants had a meaningful experience. Palmer is continually telling the Take Stock story. She is in charge of prizes for the annual golf tournament and always brings in several tables full. She recently presented a proposal to her doctor who agreed to contribute funds to support leadership camp. Because of her skills and dedication, there are now three successful leadership camping weekends. From one-on-one mentoring to planning a leadership weekend for adults and teens, Palmer has been a staple of the Take Stock in Children Program in Ocala, Florida.

COMMUNITY CAREGIVERS OF GREATER DERRY

Community' Caregivers of Greater Derry is a nonprofit agency serving elderly, disabled and chronically ill residents of six communities through a network of caring volunteers. These volunteers enable the clients to remain independent in their own homes by providing free assistance with transportation, light chores, visiting, respite, grocery shopping, and telephone reassurance. Volunteers receive no pay for their time. Caregivers was founded in 1988 by a group of people from the community and local churches who saw a need for volunteer services to supplement existing programs and to provide services not available at all or not affordable to many. Last year 145 volunteers helped 197 people. Over the past 14 years, Caregiver volunteers have helped nearly 1000 people. A primary need in this area is transportation, particularly for medical appointments. There is no public transportation. Many people are too frail or ill to utilize public transportation even if it did exist. Other services provide local van transport, but all may require payment, advance reservations or only transport to their location or specific locations on designated days. Some residents are patients with doctors outside the Derry area. These destinations are reachable only by cab or private vehicle. Volunteers also provide rides to kidney dialysis and to radiation therapy. Other people rely on volunteers to shop for them, pick up prescriptions, put in screens or storm windows, do laundry or light cleaning, or just stop in to visit once a week. Some clients also volunteer. For five years one elderly woman who received rides, grocery shopping and light chores herself, called another client at 8 a.m. every weekday. One Monday she did not call. The call receiver became concerned and called our office. The police and fire departments were dispatched and found the caller on the floor where she had been for two days. She had no family, and without doubt she would have been on the floor until her shopper arrived on Thursday. She recovered and thereafter called seven days a week instead of five. They coordinate volunteer efforts with high school students, youth groups, Scout troops, and local company employees who choose one day every fall to rake leaves, clean gutters and fix storm windows. Members of RSVP, AARP, Easter Seals and the SHARE program are Caregiver volunteers. Another volunteer is a Region 10 client. For two years, accompanied by her caseworker, she has done laundry and light chores for an elderly woman. She herself receives rides once a week. Each volunteer helps alleviate community issues of loneliness, isolation and an insufficient number of services. With a little help people live with dignity and independence and remain connected community members. In 2001, volunteers gave 6,059 hours of their time. Of those hours, 32% was spent on grocery shopping, 27% on transport and 22% on light chores. Volunteers drove 23,905 miles or almost four round trips to Los Angeles. One round trip for dialysis costs approximately $32 by cab or $5,000 per year for three treatments per

HAGGEO GAUTIER

Haggeo Gautier runs three programs for the Christian Service Center for Central Florida: Family & Emergency Services (pantry items, clothing, financial assistance and referral), Daily Bread (serving 500 each day a nourishing noontime meal), and Fresh Start (a men’s residential program). Mr. Gautier is a wonderful person filled with patience, compassion and dedication to helping anyone that he meets. His patience is evidenced in myriad situations. Once when a mentally challenged homeless client threw a bowl of soup on Mr. Gautier in the soup kitchen, he just walked out laughing at the noodles hanging on his head. Race and background are not an issue to him. Mr. Gautier greets people with a smile and a hug, and does whatever is necessary to get someone the help they need. In addition to his duties at the Center, Mr. Gautier is an ordained minister. After “taking a break” from the church for several years, he felt drawn to help the homeless find Christ and purpose in their lives. Two years ago he opened the “Inner City Community Church” in the downtown area of Orlando. He wanted a place for the homeless to worship each Sunday where they would feel comfortable and welcomed. Many homeless people feel embarrassed to walk into a church where others are dressed up and look nice. Recently Mr. Gautier began a new project—he has opened a Friday night coffee house. It is simply a place to go for a free cup of coffee and some friendly fellowship. He said he wanted to keep the homeless off the streets and away from drugs, alcohol and panhandling. In addition, Mr. Gautier has found time to volunteer at other organizations in the area and to raise three teenage children. Mr. Gautier received the 1999 Florida Coalition for the Homeless outstanding service award for his outstanding work to the community. He gives his heart, his time and his soul to helping the homeless and needy.

TRACI HAFEN

Each year in the community of St. George, Utah, heads of community agencies sponsor a community meeting at which social problems and needs are addressed. At this time, residents have an opportunity to voice their opinions. From the community meeting in 2000, it was determined that there was a need for a transportation system in St. George that everyone could utilize. The Dixie Area Rapid Transit (DART) system began this project with a start-up grant, but there was no money for bus shelters. This system was created to help all, but particularly handicapped individuals, youth, senior citizens and lower income workers that needed transportation to their places of employment. Traci Hafen was serving as the co-president of the Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC). As a part of the Youth Engaged In Service Olympic Legacy Project, Hafen committed the youth to build the 18 to 20 bus shelters needed for the DART system. Hafen attended transportation meetings, engaged the high school vocational tech class to design bus shelters and presented the final designs to the City Council. Youth then became involved in several construction sites over the summer. She then rode the bus routes with several other YVC board members to determine appropriate bus shelter sites. Hafen has demonstrated leadership and commitment to the goals of this project. In addition she has shown her ability to recruit others and mobilize them to catch a glimpse of her vision.