THE GIVE CENTER

The GIVE (Georgia College & State University Involved in Volunteer Efforts) Center serves as the volunteer/community service clearinghouse empowering students to make a difference by linking them to the needs of the community. The Center’s mission is to promote, encourage, support, develop and facilitate meaningful learning experiences for the campus community through service. They also try to instill in students a sense of citizenship and responsibility, volunteerism and community spirit.

The GIVE Center was started in the fall of 1997 by Ms. Kendal Stiles and Ms. Kate Van Cantfort, a student. It was created because of the need and the desire that students had in community service and volunteerism. In 1999, Templeton Foundation named the GIVE Center as one of a handful of model campus-based programs that help to build character. Dozens of campus organizations have participated in service efforts at GC&SU in the past six years, two-dozen new ongoing programs are in place, and a multitude of individual events have engaged thousands of students in their community. “Service learning” through community involvement is now the fastest-growing activity on the campus.

Under the leadership of GIVE Center director Kendall Stiles, GC&SU students are now the most prolific source of volunteerism in their community. More than 30 community agencies have been touched. For instance, the GIVE Center has taken over the leadership of the County’s “Relay for Life” with the American Cancer Society. In each of the past two years, this event has drawn 5,000 participants from a county with a population of 40,000.

One example of the university’s impact on the local community is GC&SU’s “Best Buddies” program. Best Buddies pairs a student volunteer with a mentally disabled friend from the community. Each year, numerous students engage in one-on-one friendships with a Best Buddy, and each spring, GC&SU students and their Buddies dress up for a catered dinner and formal dance.

GIVE volunteers are involved in many different areas of the Baldwin County community and learn much from their involvement. Opportunities exist for practicum experiences in community leadership through participation in public affairs and in partnerships with community and government agencies. Future plans for service learning at GC&SU include the option to add academic credit- bearing service experiences to regular coursework, a “win-win” proposition for both the student and the community.

GLORIA DESROSIERS

The 1990 Census states that approximately 14.3% of the population in Fall River, Massachusetts falls below the poverty line. The Fall River Community Soup Kitchen was established to provide hot, nutritious meals in a clean and safe setting for those in need. To accomplish its mission, the organization relies on the dedication and service of volunteers.

Gloria Desrosiers has been a part of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program in Fall River for many years. She understands the need of those in her community and takes a portion of her week to serve them and meet that need. Desrosiers works with the staff and volunteers to ensure the clients feel respected welcomed and have a warm meal.

Desrosiers works every Tuesday and Thursday at Fall River. On those days she cooks approximately 190 meals for those in her community who are less fortunate at the time. Her donation of time and effort equates to about 9,000 meals annually.

There is a direct and measurable impact of Desrosier’s service. Fall River has families receive hot, nutritious meals twice a week. Her work helps to give a boost to those who may have had to otherwise decide between eating and providing another necessity for themselves or their family. Hunger is a national problem in the United States and Desrosiers and other RSVP volunteers are helping to make a difference in Fall River.

THE OUTBACK STEAK HOUSE

OutBack Steakhouse has sponsored a Steak & Steak Dinner to benefit the boys & Girls Club for the past four years. Annually the volunteers from the organization have donated in excess of 1,200 hours of service. Through the generosity of the OutBack, the Daytona Beach Boys & Girls Club has been able to establish a signature event that raises much needed resources to fund eight Boys & Girls Clubs.

It is a special night out for the youth to earn a strip to Steak & Steak to be representatives of the Club. This event raises the awareness of the Boys & Girls Club by bringing together business and community leaders to meet the children the organization serves. For the past four years, this event has raised more than $175,000 for the club.

Club members earn the privilege of acting as an ambassador by their involvement, good academic performance and behavior. The children are special guests of honor, and the last event was the second largest source of funding for the Boys & Girls Club operations.

The OutBack’s sponsorship has allowed the Boys & Girls Club to secure the Daytona International Speedway as a cost free site for the event. In addition, the Club solicited all of the printing at no cost from Pro Tech Printers and a Master of Ceremonies from Channel-2 WESH. The Orlando Sentinel Family Fund also matched at a significant percentage all the funds raised at this event, and they provided four free half-page ads in the local section of the newspaper.

OutBack Steakhouse does the Steak & Steak event throughout Florida and the Southeast. They provide all the food, and their employees volunteer at the events. In addition to raising resources, this event creates a heightened awareness of the mission of the Boys & Girls Club sites throughout the state. There were three Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the community in 1998, but there are eight clubs now; and the Steak & Steak Dinner has made this growth possible.

NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA

Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties have one of the highest retiree populations in the country; and Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola takes great pride in meeting the special needs of the community’s elderly population, especially the many who have so proudly served the United States.

Surrounded by such a large older adult population, NAS Pensacola volunteers partner with the Council on Aging (COA) to meet the reoccurring needs of senior citizens. During the four-year partnership with COA, military volunteers have assisted thousands of senior citizens with lawn care, home repairs, painting, entertainment and meal deliveries.

The frequent volunteer service in nursing and retirement homes develops and nurtures relationships between young military volunteers away from their family and senior citizens away from their home. The volunteers offer their time, skills and friendship to these individuals who are most of the time isolated.

In addition to their ongoing visits, NAS Pensacola’s volunteers have participated in the 9th Annual Day of Caring, the 3rd Annual ”Springtime with our Seniors” and the second year of “adopting” one senior couple. Nearly 500 volunteers cleaned the yards of 50 seniors, and over 3,400 volunteer hours of mowing and painting. Ten volunteers also spent their Valentine’s Day with Alzheimer’s patients dancing to big band music to make the holiday special for the seniors who are sometimes forgotten.

The impact of NAS Pensacola’s volunteers community service is cleaner yards, freshly painted homes, repaired homes, more meals delivered to the homebound, hours of fishing, trips to the zoo, picnics, Valentine’s dances and improvements to nursing homes. The greatest impact is the special bond between our young military volunteers and their senior partners. Youth and elders have been matched together leading to the success of an extensive collaboration with the Council on Aging.

THE SCHWARTZ FAMILY

Volunteerism and community service in the Schwartz family does not center around one organization or source. They work with organizations and events sponsored by their employers, their children’s schools, other schools, their church, their neighborhood and some on their own.

The Schwartz family has always participated in a great deal of organized volunteer activities. They worked with the public utilities commission to replace a faulty transformer after the utility company was determined not to. They achieved the replanting of trees in their neighborhood through an email campaign; trees removed or downed in storms had not been replaced for over ten years previously. The petitioned and received a stop sign at a busy intersection. They worked with a neighborhood group to prevent a store from locating across from the school; it was a busy intersection and the storeowner was under investigation in another city for being a drug front. They organized their co-workers to sponsor music students at the Franklin Music magnet school located one mile from their house; music books were needed, so each person bought a book and was thanked by the recipient.

The Schwartz family also organized their co-workers to purchase/donate used sports balls for/to the same school. They purchased basketballs for a local community center after their son complained about the ones that they had. They arranged for funding for the “reward day” for the Franklin Music magnet school orchestra when the district funding fell through at the last moment. They purchased T-shirts for the entire class when their children participated in the D.A.R.E. program at school. They negotiated with a neighborhood thrift store to discount two shopping carts of toys for local family who had lost everything in a fire and were uninsured.

In addition to the above events, the Schwartz family also makes it a point of positively contributing to their community whenever an opportunity arises. They know that many of the children in school with their children are often without things that people take for granted. Those things may be mittens, school supplies, etc. If they find a sale, they stock up and send those items with their children. They also make it a point to ask the teachers if they need anything. They have often forgone a meal out so that they can buy enough clay for 90 kids, or a new notebook for each child.

The Schwartz family works mostly on rehabilitation types of projects that benefit families. They feel that a cash grant does not always improve a situation but giving skills and insight does. They have taught life skills and done home repairs. Everyone in the family helps. The rehabilitation projects that the Schwartz family has done have included elements of teaching the homeowners to care for their own house, but they have also done person life skills projects. They have taught art to both special needs children and abused children. Art is a great coping mechanism in addition to being an escape. They have also taught business skills, spoke at jobs fairs in inner city schools and mentored needy children.

ALICE ROBINSON

The Los Angeles Maritime Institute is a public benefit corporation founded in 1992 to provide character-building sail training to youth. It is an affiliate of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, a facility of the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks. For over ten years, Alice Robinson has been volunteering at the Los Angeles Maritime Institute. Annually, she has been donating over 2,500 hours of service.

As a volunteer, Robinson reaches out daily to inner city youth through the Institute’s TopSail program. The Topsail Youth Program is a two-part experiential education adventure program aboard the schooners Swift of Ipswich and Bill of Rights. The first part of the program typically consists of a series of one-day sails in and around the Los Angeles – Long Beach Harbor area. Each day’s activities build on the skills and knowledge gained during the preceding day sails. These skills include problem solving, decision-making, planning, self-reliance and leadership. In the second part of the program participants utilize their newfound sense of empowerment and teamwork on a multi-day voyage to Catalina Island, 22 miles off the California coast. During the voyage the youth live aboard the ship, plan and fix all the meals and plan each day’s activities.

Topsail does not train youth for lives at sea, but uses the sea to educate youth for life. Many of the students involved in the program have been on the border of dropping out or failing in all of their classes. The students are placed together on a boat and taught that everyone is their teammate. They also have to work together in order to get the sailboat sailing. Robinson finds working directly with the students on the vessels is her greatest joy, and she has been given the nickname, “Captain Mom” as a result of her constant efforts of providing a family environment for youth to feel comfortable in.

Robinson wakes up early in the morning to welcome the children. She is then participating and working with them throughout the day to give them further guidance and support. She has taught the children about maritime life, the constellations and what it means to accomplish something.

SUSAN MORISSETTE

The events of September 11th were seen by all across the nation and even the country. That day was chilly in New England, and Susan Morissette and her family were huddled on their couch watching the grizzly events unfold on the news. They were watching with a quilt thrown over them, and like most families; the death and destruction caused them much sadness and grief. However, Morissette’s four-year old son Christopher asked his mother if a monster did this to the people. This comment caused Morissette to go into action to make a positive out of a negative.

Morissette thought of the idea to make a “healing quilt” as a means of helping children express their sadness over this tragic event. The “Heart of America” quilt started as a project in the Winslow School district. It was designed to help children express their sadness and concern over the events of September 11th.

This project that Morissette began had turned into an international event. Over 36 states in America and three other countries have sent signed 45” by 45” panels. Once it is complete, it should cover more than one acre and will be sewn together in the form of a flag. A completion date of September 11, 2003 has been set. At this time, the quilt will then be taken to New York and presented to the families of the victims.

Morissette is busy as the mother of four children; however, she has used her talents and time in a way to bring some happiness to many who have been overwhelmed with grief. The quilt was available for signing on Make A Difference Day last year and will continue its journey with additions from many places until completion. Morrisette has designed a website, www.heartofamericaquilt.com, so anyone can look at its journey and become a part of the healing also.

MARTIN HADLEY

Teachers at Pathways Elementary School mentioned the idea of a program to help students with their math skills. Martin Hadley was the first parent approached through the PTA, and he thought of an innovative way to help fourth and fifth graders become proficient. Within two weeks of the discussion, Hadley had converted a classroom into a math lab. This lab consists of 16 stations focusing on specific math competencies tested by the state assessment program. Hadley works with more than two hundred students and is at the school daily for at least six hours.

The students visit the lab daily for 45 minutes. Hadley changes the stations each day, grades the children’s papers and charts their progress. He also works with the eight elementary teachers to ensure the areas needing additional instruction are covered in the classrooms. Because of his commitment to the children, Hadley spends about 120 at the school weekly and has done so for the past two years.

This program has proven successful. Last year’s fourth and fifth grade students showed a dramatic improvement in their state math assessment scores, and the teachers believe this is a result of Hadley’s program. The students demonstrate a greater sense of confidence when approaching math due to the personal encouragement and math expertise they have gained in the math lab.

In addition to the Math Lab, Hadley serves with the Boy Scouts of America. He has gone above his duties there and assisted one of the special education teachers in establishing a pac for some of the handicapped students at Pathways Elementary School. He also has run a summer camp program at the school for 50 scouts around the area.

Hadley’s initiative and actions have significantly affected elementary aged children. The need for additional math instruction for fourth and fifth graders was met when he volunteered to establish and operate a math lab.

LEONA SCARTON

When Leona Scarton was growing up in her coal-mining town of Bretz, WV, where life was a struggle, she dreamed of better things not only for herself and her family. When her four children graduated and left home, she began her service as a community volunteer.

The old school house where her children went to elementary school had been abandoned—windows broken, ceiling leaking—vandals destroyed everything. Scarton helped organize a team, which renovated the school building and help community events in it. A mini thrift shop was established to clothe children; children’s activities and parties were promoted. Scarton continues to help the needy families with food, babysitting, and transportation.

Having earned her GED at the age of 65, she recognizes the importance of education and strives to help the youngsters in her deprived community by encouraging children and giving them books.

Despite her lack of formal training, Scarton excels in fundraising for community organizations, especially the Valley Ambulance Association, where she serves as a board member. To help the ambulance squad purchase equipment for her small unincorporated coal-mining town, she almost always sells the most tickets for car raffles. She doesn’t even hesitate to stand by treacherous red lights with her collection box, knowing the money will be donated to a good cause.

Parties and projects for frail elderly, benefits for the fire department, recycling cards for the Children’s Ranch, sending children to camp, mailing thousands of birthday and get-well cards, all at her own expense, are other outlets for Scarton’s compassion, concern, and love.

A 4-H leader for 34 years working with the youth of Preston County, she has also served as a member of the West Virginia Deputy Sheriff’s Association. As a member West Virginia Community Educational Outreach Service for 27 years, the endless source of energy for her community has relished her President, Vice-President, and various committee positions. Not having been blessed with opportunities to travel, she nonetheless gathers information from countries all over the world and, as Continuing Education Chairman, educates and demonstrates.

Scarton’s church recently honored her for 40 consecutive years of service teaching bible school to youngsters. In 1991, Scarton was one of seven honored at the Celebrate Women Awards presentation at the West Virginia State Capitol Conference Center for her work at Hopemont Hospital, visiting patients and directing patient activities. Every patient at the hospital receives a card from Scarton.

KATHY MOREE

Kathy Moree has been a most valued supporter and contributor to the educational needs of the students of W. F. Burns-Oak Hill Elementary since she enrolled her grandson in the school in the summer of 1999.

Moree is not just a volunteer, for her mission is to provide “whatever needs to be done,” so that the essential materials, supplies, decorations, or manpower are available to ensure that the school project or event comes off without a hitch. Her generous gifts of her time and talents, which are immeasurable, have benefited so many of the students and families at the W. F. Burns-Oak Hill Elementary School.

Moree is the volunteer coordinator, whose motto is “we do it for the students” and whose mission is to coordinate the efforts of business partners, community members, mentors and volunteers, to provide a solution to meet the needs of the families. The school is small and located in a rural area, with over 75% of the population on free/reduced lunch. The key support system is the Family Center, which Moree mans daily and stocks with basic home and school supplies. Families redeem “school volunteer coupons” to procure the items they need or want. The students can also visit the Family Center to borrow a toy or game to play, or to shop with coupons that the mentors donate back to the students.

Moree’s accomplishments are many: she provided all the decorated cans for the school’s “Pennies for Your Thoughts” September 11th campaign and the decorations for their Patriotic Celebration; she assisted with the set-up and dinners for FCAT Writes! Parent Night and the FCAT Hands-On for Parents Night; and, she provided the community volunteers for “Granny Reads to Me” Day, along with enough rocking chairs for the Grannies and helping them choose the right book to read; along with running the Family Center and volunteering in classrooms daily.

Moree is the action and involvement behind the effort to find the necessary volunteers, supplies and tools to support the teachers in the classroom, which ultimately focuses to student achievement. If they want accomplished results, they ask Moree to help. She is a sincere, dedicated and positive support for the students. It is through her true commitment to education that they obtain the means to help the students whose families are unable to provide the necessary tools themselves.