LIZ KIRKMAN

Hospice volunteer, Elizabeth “Liz” M. Kirkman, is one of those people who just does what needs to be done, no questions asked. She became a special events volunteer in 1992 after the death of her mother. She enthusiastically assisted in the fundraising specialty area and was nominated for the Board of Trustees of The Hospice Foundation. Kirkman now serves as chair of the special gifts committee.

This hospice ambassador advocates the services of The Hospice of the Florida Sun coast at every opportunity. Kirkman volunteers at health fairs and other outreach endeavors as a member of the agency’s speakers and community outreach bureau. In 1995, she became a patient/family support volunteer. Since becoming a volunteer, Kirkman has documented more than 4,000 volunteer hours.

Her contributions include accommodating any out-of-the-ordinary needs, such as sitting at the bedside of a dying patient, recording the poetry of a patient whose last wish is to see his words published, spending time with a child whose sibling is a hospice patient or running errands throughout Pinellas County. As a member of the board of trustees of The Hospice Foundation, she is able to convey the needs of patients and their families in such a way that the community is inspired to participate in raising funds to provide hospice services to those in need.

From the time she first volunteered for a hospice fundraiser until now as the volunteer with the most community service hours, Kirkman has developed a leadership style that causes others to want to emulate her. Her experiences with patients and families have strengthened her resolve to ensure that all people in Pinellas County know about hospice programs and services available at the end of their lives. In spite of her own health issues and that of her husband, Kirkman has maintained her ability to ensure that the needs of patients and families on her assigned care team are met. Additionally, she visits other volunteers that are ill or having difficult times.

JACQUELINE MCADAM

In the late 1980s, Jacqueline “Jackie” McAdam created and became the chairperson for the Katahdin Area Support Group for those with cancer. Her inspiration came from watching her late husband go through chemotherapy treatments. The 64-year old joined RSVP in 1994 and became an RSVP station supervisor for the Katahdin Area Support Group. In 2001, Jackie logged 1,816 volunteer hours. She has received accolades from the Millinocket Town Council and other public service providers. McAdam has been referred to as a “Guardian Angel.”

The Support Group has several aspects that benefit cancer patients and their families and friends. Through “Operation Breadbasket,” patients receive home delivery of bread, muffins and cookies. The “Love-One-Another Sharing & Caring Family” is a monthly gathering of cancer patients, family and friends at a private home to discuss the successes and disappointments of battling cancer. Speakers also come and talk to the group about pain management, legal advice and coping with emotional concerns. Education programs are sponsored for cancer patients as well as the community at large.

Each year, the group tries to make possible the “I Can Cope” program in cooperation with the American Cancer Society. A reference library has been created regarding the latest treatments. Volunteers provide transportation to doctor’s appointments and run errands for the patients. The Support Group also maintains an extensive inventory of patient care equipment, which is delivered, set up and loaned free of charge.

McAdam has motivated hundreds of volunteers over the years to provide emotional and physical support to cancer patients and their caregivers. Fifteen of her current volunteers are members of RSVP. Various components of the community have been successfully integrated into her service system – churches, businesses, service clubs and schools. Several other communities have sought McAdam’s assistance in establishing similar programs.

ALEXA JONES

Many children of today’s rural South are denied exposure to the arts because they live in households where survival is the critical issue and the parent’s lack of cultural knowledge, coupled with their lack of financial resources, leaves these children void in visual art, drama, and music. Society’s normal expectation is for the schools to fill the gaps created by the home environment. This does occur in some cases; however, Alabama’s children are particularly handicapped by this expectation, as state funding is slightly less than $0.25 per child for arts education each year.

To address this need, Alexa Jones, as an 18-year old college freshman, began The Renaissance Foundation of Alabama, Inc, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing arts education in rural schools and communities. Jones believed that this foundation, by acquiring corporate and state grants and utilizing community volunteers, could make a difference in the lives of these forgotten children. As the Chairperson, she mobilized attorneys and accountants who, like her, donated their time to create a 501 (c)(3) IRS certified organization that could receive charitable donations.

In 1999 when the Foundation was created, it served two counties in Alabama and, with steady growth, in 2002 has thus far served eight counties in Alabama. Through Jones’s direction, the Foundation has provided a myriad of activities in these counties. Jones has taught art lessons in elementary schools, lobbied and secured funding to bring professional children’s theatre to rural areas, produced school plays, provided community art workshops for those children who were left home at spring break, and organized community musical concerts by recognized musician, thus offering all forms of arts exposure. These activities were possible because of her persistence in lobbying state agencies for funding, thus making her one of the youngest individuals to lobby these groups.

Although Jones has made more than 10,000 student contacts and raised tens of thousands of dollars for arts education, it is the impact of these activities on students that is important. As a direct result of her efforts, teachers have stated that after seeing their students enjoy the children’s theatre, they began to allow their students to present reports “in character” in the classroom. Not only did the children enjoy the dramatic outlet, but also the teachers noticed a noticeable difference in the children’s confidence and self-esteem. Perhaps the greatest benefit of Jones’ s involvement with these students cannot be measured as her involvement with them naturally established her as a mentor. Her life has been changed forever as she struggled watching a gifted musician come to school with a rat-bitten hand, bitten as he slept. Another child confided in her that he must sleep under his bed at night to avoid the gang warfare outside his window. One teacher stated that Jones would never realize her impact on these children; for many of them it was the first time in their lives that anyone had taken an interest in them and cared enough to try to make a difference in their lives. Jones is the current Chairperson of the Renaissance Foundation of Alabama, Inc. and a junior at Birmingham-Southern College.

DR. RICHARD HUDSON

Dr. Richard Hudson retired as a family physician in the fall of 1998. Soon after, he worked with the members of Saint Thomas Episcopal Church to start a free medical clinic for the working poor of Pamlico County.

Pamlico County is in eastern North Carolina and ranks 93rd among the 100 counties of North Carolina in poverty and reduced physician/patient ratio. About 40% of the 13,000 residents are classified as working poor. They earn less than 200% of poverty wages defined by the United States Department of Health and Resources. There are also considerable numbers of migrant workers, and these two groups often have to work two minimum wages jobs just to provide basic necessities. They do not have any kind of health insurance, and they only seek emergency care at a local hospital in a crisis.

Dr. Hudson took a look at the statistics and made a change. He founded Hope Clinic to provide free medical care, laboratory tests and free medicines for common medical problems. It took about six months of preparation, but Dr. Hudson’s reputation in the community allowed him to recruit a volunteer force of doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, Spanish speaking interpreters, administrators and lab technicians.

A local pharmacy near the clinic volunteered to stay open the night the clinic operated and to provide some of the more expensive medicines at cost. A medicine assistance program and common x-ray facilities were provided through the local County Health Department who also opened its doors to house the Clinic. When needed, volunteer consultations were obtained from specialists in the Craven and Pamlico counties. In 2001, more than 2000 patient visits were provided at Hope Clinic.

In addition to founding and working at Hope Clinic, Dr. Hudson has volunteered at a similar facility, Merci Clinic, since 1999. Initially, he was co-medical director but has recently taken the responsibility at Medical Director. Both clinics do not receive any insurance benefits or public funds. They rely on individual benefactors, businesses, churches and grants. Some of their grant sources are the United Way, Duke Endowment and Kate B. Reynolds. Dr. Hudson has worked quietly and diligently to improve the health and health care of the poor in rural Bayboro, North Carolina.

WINDHAM REGION HOMELESS COALITION

Established in 1988, The Windham Region Homeless Coalition consists of individuals and agencies concerned with the housing needs of the people in their respective communities. The Windham Region is made up of 22 towns and the Town of Mansfield that is actually located in Tolland County.

Programs that have come out of the Coalition are Holy Family Home and Shelter, Inc., established in February 1989. The Shelter has 23 beds and adds cribs when necessary. A “full house” is any number over 16; the ethnic breakdown is one-third Anglo, one-third Black and one-third Hispanic. The Shelter provides case management, in-house workshops, and a free on-site laundry; free local telephone service, three meals per day, and referrals to state agencies, health care providers, schools and jobs. The Shelter has an on-site education program that was started in 1993. This program includes a pre-school, a toddler time and after school tutoring. Volunteers come from the University of Connecticut and Eastern Connecticut State University to help with the education programs.

Windham Family Living was established in 1990 and is under the umbrella agency Windham Region Community Council. The program provides case management to families in scattered site housing, budgeting workshops and parenting programs.

The Windham Homelessness Intervention Fund was established in 1990 to help individuals obtain part of a security deposit or first month’s rent. The funds are administered by the Windham Area Interfaith Ministry and are a $250 loan. Funds for this program come from selling Munson’s Chocolates, House Pins and grants from local banking foundations. Two large fundraising events that take place each year include a fall goods and services auction held at Windham Mills Heritage Park and at Christmastime a Cardless Christmas mailing is sent to friends and businesses associates, asking for a contribution to the Coalition.

The Coalition meets the second Tuesday of the month from September to June. Presently, the Coalition is working on a Continuum of Care Proposal to HUD to bring in much needed monies to the rural programs in Eastern Connecticut that are concerned with housing.

LAKESIDE HIGH SCHOOL KEY CLUB

Lakeside High School Key Club was founded in the fall of 1995 when the late Meryl Reed, a life-long member of the Greater Hot Springs Kiwanis Club asked Kerry Lockwood Owen to begin this Kiwanis sponsored service organization for young people at Lakeside. This partnering of young people with professional business community, as well as the nonprofit sector, has become a valuable teaching tool for students who are learning the importance of service over self-gratification.

For the past six years, 10th, 11th and 12th grade students that make up Lakeside High School Key Club have worked hand and hand with several organizations. In the spring of 2001, the Club coordinated and supervised the Fifth Annual Sophomore Youth Service Day, which involved the entire sophomore class of 250 students at Lakeside High School. Students pulled weeds, planted trees and re-mulched planting best surrounding the Hot Springs Civic and Convention Center.

At the Youth Center, kids painted the gym, den and ramps and did a complex clean-up and flowerbed renovation and planting. On Saturday of each month of the school year, ten to thirty members of the Key Club work for Habitat for Humanity, clearing brush and rocks, raking the yards, spreading dirt and installing sod, among other projects. Twice a month during the school year, approximately 15 Lakeside High School Key Club members take pets from Hot Springs Animal Services to a local nursing home to interact with the residents.

Partnering with the Arkansas School for Math and Sciences Interact Club and the Hot Springs/Garland County Volunteer Center, Lakeside High School Key Club students sponsored and participated in a Halloween Carnival to benefit area youth. Key Club students mentor at the after-school program at the Boys and Girls Club on a bi-weekly basis.

TED & LUCY PRETTYMAN

Ted and Lucy Prettyman, mentors in the Youth and Families with Promise (YFP) Youth at Risk mentoring program, have been a positive influence on the lives of youngsters who are struggling with difficulties at home, school and other areas of their lives. When the YFP mentoring program was introduced in Wayne County, the Prettymans agreed to mentor two boys who are brothers. The boy’s mother had left the home and a single father who was having emotional problems as well as difficulty finding a job that adequately supported his family was raising them.

The boys were recommended for the program by their school principal. They were both behind academically and socially. They needed closer supervision with homework and having the Prettymans in their lives would lend them emotional support and help teach them basic living skills.

The Prettymans set up a regular time for homework and reading. They ensured that the boys had adequate rest and good nutrition. They showed the boys how to launder their own clothes. They took the boys horseback riding, four wheeling and hiking and enrolled them in a community-wrestling program. The boys’ father was included in every activity in which he was able to participate, including dinners and celebrations. Their grandmother and their schoolteachers have reported progress in school, behavior, responsibility and relationships.

The YFP mentoring program asks that mentors spend at least one hour each week with the children with whom they work. They are to establish a caring relationship, help youth get involved with a positive group such as 4-H, provide tutoring and help with homework, emphasized personal reading, help youth build interpersonal skills and relationships and help them and their families in giving service to others as well as be involved in wholesome recreation. Lucy and Ted Prettyman far exceeded a one-hour a week involvement. They have built a positive relationship with the boys that will hopefully impact the success of their family, social and work life.

MARCIA MCFARLAND-GRAY

Marcia McFarland-Gray is a resident of Clarksburg where she is an active volunteer with the Clarksburg School, and the Clarksburg After School Program of Enrichment and Reading (CASPER). CASPER was developed to offer activities to complement what the small community school can offer. It also provides a safe, enriching experience for children in the after school hours when appropriated childcare or organized youth activities may not be available. There is no community center or youth clubs, so CASPER uses volunteer activity leaders to design and run after school sessions for kids grades Kindergarten through eighth grade. This also develops a sense of community in the town.

Marcia McFarland-Gray volunteers with the Clarksburg School, and the Clarksburg After School Program of Enrichment and Reading (CASPER), which includes activities to complement what the small community school can offer. It also provides a safe, enriching experience for children in the after school hours when appropriate child care or organized youth activities may not be available. Marcia most recently developed community service learning activities to introduce students to volunteering in their communities. In cooperation with the Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, Northern Berkshire Community Action and other groups she has involved local youth in projects serving Clarksburg and surrounding areas. Marcia also offered a HOOPS basketball program, baking classes, half-day educational trips, and a Mad Scientist program. Marcia also serves as a corporator at North Adams Regional Hospital and for the Hoosac Bank. She also is involved with many charitable organizations and projects through “Blue Crew”, a volunteer program through her employer Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Marcia’s most recent efforts with CASPER have been to develop a community service learning program in cooperation with the Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity chapter, the Northern Berkshire Community Action Program, and other local agencies and programs. Student volunteers learn about Habitat for Humanity and how it helps the community, then, they work on projects that benefit the local chapter. The students work in an intergenerational effort with senior Habitat volunteers and develop relationships that will continue to serve the community. This year’s S.T.A.R. (Service To Another Rocks!) program also saw students conduct a bottle drive to raise money to provide a full Thanksgiving dinner for a needy family in town, and to help provide Christmas dinner meals to homebound senior citizens in the area. They also conducted a fundraising drive for the President’s campaign to help children in Afghanistan. The young participants in the S.T.A.R. program are learning the value of service to others in their community, and that even the youngest volunteers can make a difference for people in their own town. The S.T.A.R. participants were recently recognized for their volunteerism with an award from the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.

In prior years, Marcia designed a number of CASPER programs including the “Mrs. Gray’s Half Days” where on periodic half days at the Clarksburg School she organized fun and educational trips for up to 55 children at a time. Seeing the need for working parents to have appropriately supervised programs for young children when the school schedule varied and day care solutions were difficult, she arranged and chaperoned trips to various locations throughout the area.

She also developed Hours Of Organized Practice Sessions (HOOPS), which is a program to make basketball available as part of the after school program. Since there was no other sports sessions offered, she did this to give the children physical exercise, practice and develop core skills and for each of the participants to develop a positive attitude about their skills and development. HOOPS also reinforced the principles of sportsmanship and teamwork. HOOPS also created a great interest within the school, and McFarland-Gray coordinated a special bus trip for the children to go to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. This was a chance for many of the children who otherwise would not have an opportunity to go there. The trip also resulted in seven new parent chaperones becoming involved with CASPER.

McFarland-Gray also taught a baking class. The children learned to follow recipes, measure ingredients, bake and they get to take their creations home each week. At the end of their six- week program, each of the students compiled their own cookbook of recipes to take home to continue developing their baking skills.

Ms. McFarland-Gray developed and led a “Who Wants to be a Mad Scientist?!” program. Children learned science while exploring everyday materials in the home. Weekly, they learned about and tested a scientific principle. They then completed a project with a take home component. A 4th grade teacher uses some of the curriculum McFarland-Gray developed and some of the “Mad Scientist” students help with the demonstrations as a peer teaching components.

BOB FIELD

The Learning Lab is a nonprofit organization that provides individualized educational programs in Adult Basic Skills, English as a Second Language, and Preschoolers & Parents as Partners Family Literacy to assist students in improving their ability to use printed, numerical and written information so they may function successfully on the job, in the family, and in the community. Bob Field has been a volunteer at Learning Lab, Inc. since February of 2000, and he spends 16 hours a week as a volunteer tutor in the adult classrooms.

Students use interactive computer curricula to develop the necessary skills to become employable and fully independent. Field monitors students as they work on the computer and does small group and one-on-one tutoring to assist students with reading improvement, English as a Second Language instruction, GED study skills, and computer literacy skill building. Field’s unique style and quiet perseverance endears him to all of the students and staff alike. Field is truly the epitome of the “Guide at the Side, not the Sage on the Stage.” During a typical class, Field will be helping one student study for citizenship, assisting a group of students to work on critical thinking problem solving, or he will be listening to a student read an English newspaper.

One of Field’s greatest strengths is his ability to point the student in the direction of the answer, rather than telling a student the answer. Field’s dedication to the students does not end when he leaves the classroom; he is always thinking of ways to reach students and improve their ability to learn. Field recently spent time at home doing computer research how to say “good morning” in Farsi, thus endearing himself to that student for a lifetime.

On his one year anniversary, the students themselves said it clearly in a letter they all signed for him: “it is nice learning with you,” “I wish know or meet more people like you in this country,” “Muchas gracias por coloboracion,” “Thank you so much for your helping and your patience,” and “With your help I can talk to people longer.” Field also volunteers another 60 hours a year by assisting the Lab’s administrative staff by providing technical support and expertise with the computer database and systems, assisting with annual solicitation drives, and helping with a myriad of other clerical and administrative tasks. His background in computers and engineering has given the staff access to expertise that enhances the services at the Learning Lab. His consistency and friendly demeanor have been a valuable addition to the Learning Lab service delivery system.

His volunteer work for the community is not limited to The Learning Lab. Field also serves as the Volunteer Alarm Officer for the City of Meridian Police Department, Volunteer Engineer Assistant for the City of Meridian, and a volunteer during tax season. Mr. Field has also been trained and certified as a Child Protective Baby Seat inspector and offers those services free to parents with infant children.

RICHARD KELLY

Richard Kelly has spent the past seven years serving the Department of Children and Families in the Volusia, Florida area. He is involved in all of the major activities hosted by the Department. He spends many hours picking up, sorting, and distributing gifts to give during the holidays. He volunteers at the Department’s children as well as senior Christmas party. In addition, he serves at the Volunteer Recognition ceremony and the annual Book Club Fair.

Last year more than 4,000 gifts were distributed to children in Volusia and Flagler counties as a result of Kelly’s hard work. He solicited donations and recruited others to do the same so children would not have to suffer and go without during the season that is supposed to be characterized by giving. In addition, more than 250 gifts were given to senior citizens and 100 gifts were presented to persons with developmental disabilities.

Kelly spends time working directly with the children, also. He has taught children in foster care how to build CD racks. They have also learned how to assemble friendship bracelets at a “class” he gave at the Book Club kickoff carnival. He never believes any task is too small or tedious, and he watched the younger children at the Volunteer Recognition ceremony while their parents were presented awards.

Mr. Kelly is available to assist the Department with any activity. If he was a paid staff member, you could say he was always on call. His demeanor touches the children and makes them comfortable. His encouraging words also sooth children dealing with the frustration of being in foster care. Sometimes he believes children just need to be listened to and he does just that. When he can, he also helps the children and encourages them to read because that will open new doors for them and help them as they mature into young adults.