Gabriel Chavez
Gabriel Chavez serves as a volunteer in many capacities. He was one of the driving forces in the formation and expansion of the El Caldito Soup Kitchen and is an integral part of the Gleaning Committee. Chavez also heads an annual Empty Bowl Community Event, is a food specialist with the American Red Cross Disaster Unit, and is a very active member of the Knights of Columbus.
El Caldito Soup Kitchens feeds the homeless population in Las Cruces and its surrounding rural communities. The Kitchen was founded in 1984, and they served a meal at noon twice a week. By 1985 El Caldito was serving four days a week, and in the year 200 they served five days a week with special holiday meals. Each month, 300 volunteers now serve 5,000 meals.
The Kitchen needed food donations, so in 1993, Chavez organized a gleaning committee. The purpose of this committee is quite simple; they collect food from grocery stores, restaurants, and local farmers throughout the year. The 18 volunteers that work with the Gleaning Committee make it possible for fruits, bread, and vegetables to be given to the homeless when they come to be served. That way, they can have something nutritional to take with them. The Gleaners also distribute food to 10 other nonprofit agencies that serve the homeless besides El Caldito Kitchen.
As the Food Specialist for the American Red Cross Disaster Unit/Drill Training team, Chavez and his team prepares and delivers food to firefighters who are controlling forest blazes. His team of six volunteers makes it possible for meals to be flown 260 miles away to an average of 250 firefighters.
Chavez also heads the Empty Bowls annual fundraiser. The Mesilla Valley Potters Guild and the El Caldito Soup Kitchen partner each year for this event. Individuals can buy a hand-made pottery bowl and soup for $10. The local restaurants donate the soup and the proceeds benefit El Caldito Soup Kitchen.
Chavez is also a member of the Knights of Columbus. He has assisted with the preparation and donation of 100 baskets of can and dry food given to the needy families who otherwise may not have food during the holidays. The community collects the food for this drive throughout the year, and he works on this project four months with an average of 130 hours of service.
Barbara Pittman
Barbara Pittman was once a young woman caught in an abusive marriage. Now every day, she relives those memories while she counsels others—she volunteers as an advocate for abused women and their children.
Pittman has also had to overcome skin cancer. The battle she fought with the disease resulted in her having to rebuild her face, which included reconstructing her nose. She was still determined to continue to make an impact and change people’s lives. After earning a BS in Psychology, Pittman became a domestic violence counselor, shelter manager, and hotline coordinator for a local battered women’s shelter. She also worked with other domestic violence organizations and used her story to communicate to others that it is possible to escape violence and be happy.
Pittman co-chaired the Formerly Battered Women’s Task Force of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and served on the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Task Force for Mandated Counseling for Batterers. She is also a member of the Coalition for the Right to Live in Peace and continues to be an advocate for women on both the state and national level.
Because she was able to leave a bad situation and start over, Pittman’s story seems quite remarkable. However, she not only wanted to make life better for herself and her family; she chose to help others end abusive cycles and begin to live freely and feel good about themselves. She and her new husband, Scot, founded the Street Clothes Project to make positive changes in the lives of families moving from a life of dependence to independence. The program provides casual and work clothing as well as personal care items to men, women, and children. Some may have just been released from jail, ending a drug or alcohol treatment, or leaving a transitional housing program. Pittman also runs a 13-week support group for women in prison who have fought back in self-defense.
Barbara Pittman’s story was included in a book called The Courage to Give ™:Inspiring Stories of People Who Triumphed Over Tragedy to Make a Difference in the World in 1999. During the past two years, Pittman has served as Verizon Wireless’ national spokesperson for Domestic Violence. In the early spring, she brought the people featured in the books The Courage to Give ™ and Teens With the Courage to Give ™ to Philadelphia for a conference on volunteerism. All the proceeds from her story are being used for domestic violence initiatives in Philadelphia. In addition to this, she is planning a “Race to End Domestic Violence” for October of 2001.
Barbara Pittman received the Peabody Award in 1986, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Pace Award for 1999 and 2000, the Liberty Bell Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 1999 and the Women’s Way Local Honoree Award in 2001.
David & Connie Amtower
Connie and David Amtower both lost their grandparents when they were young; however, they have always had the desire to bridge the generation gap and have a relationship with the more mature members in their community. They give their hearts and time to frail seniors and those who are disabled. The result of their volunteer service is allowing both groups to remain independent and keeping them in their own homes as long as possible.
The Amtowers assist seniors by running errands, helping with light housekeeping chores, providing shopping assistance, and other tasks as needed through the Growing In Home Volunteer Effort (GIVE), which is sponsored by Senior Services, Inc. in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Most of their clients need a substantial amount of help to perform everyday tasks. The Amtowers have also been known to prepare meals, take care of lawn work, shovel snow, deliver meals, and provide respite care. They both participate because they feel it is the right thing to do, it benefits the community, and it makes them feel good knowing they are helping someone else. Volunteering is ingrained in their lives.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Amtower work full time; however, they still find many hours to give to others. Last year, they donated 360 hours of service to the GIVE Program. Their labor of love saved the organization more than $5,000 that would have been paid to an employee. Performing odd jobs and handling responsibilities in their clients’ homes help the seniors to maintain their dignity along with keeping them independent. In addition to working with GIVE, the Amtowers are bell ringers for the Salvation Army at Christmas, they deliver Meals on Wheels on Saturdays, and they deliver food baskets at Thanksgiving. Mrs. Amtower is on the Board of her church and was a longtime volunteer for Kids Connection. Mr. Amtower performs with the Kalamazoo Community Choir and also makes opportunities for their clients to enjoy some of their performances.
The Amtowers truly care and work together as a team. They understand the need for intergenerational exchanges, so the Amtowers also actively recruit others to volunteer. The staff members appreciate them so much because they respond to any need, notify staff of any problems, and treat others with the care and respect they show each other. This couple works to be examples to others by their dedication and consistency. To those they help, their dependability is a precious commodity, and their faces are something to look forward to in an otherwise mundane life of a homebound senior. They were honored with The Golden Rule Award in the Adult Category.
PUERTO RICO YOUTH AT RISK, INC.
Puerto Rico Youth at Risk, Inc. (PRYAR) is a one-on-one mentoring program; the only in Puerto Rico. Thousands of volunteer service hours, youth and their families lives transformed by the power of loving and caring volunteers, at-risk youth converted in to youth in control of their lives and serving others, adult volunteers’ lives enriched by the opportunity to serve and grow – this is what PRYAR is all about.
PRYAR is a nonprofit organization. It delivers intensive programs through committed volunteers since 1996. Participants are young people at risk of school dropout, teen pregnancy, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse and delinquency. Youth reached realize that they have choices in how their lives will turn out. They move from being at risk towards taking socially productive risks.
PRYAR serves the greater San Juan Metropolitan area. Almost four million live in Puerto Rico. San Juan has about 25% of the population. More than 1/3 of San Juan’s population is youth. In 1997, 60% of all the people murdered were between 16 and 29 years old. In this same year, 40% of those detained for murder charges were under 18. Most of the violent crimes are drug-related and three out of four youth between the ages of 15 and 21 have some kind of connection to drug activity. Furthermore, one of every two students does not graduate from high school. Half of these youth will be single parent within two years after leaving school.
PRYAR’s programs are designed to reach youth before it is too late. Participants establish a caring and supportive relationship with an adult mentor, continue in traditional or alternative school committed to accomplish a degree, improve school assistance and reduce misconduct and violent incidents, and learn pro-social skills. They also reduce drug, alcohol, smoking, and unsafe sex practices, improve relationships with family, school, and community members, participate in work experiences, and develop responsible parenting skills.
At the core of the program is the creation of the possibility for volunteer services through a variety of means. The first method is one-to-one mentoring of an adult volunteer with a student from an at-risk community. Current mentors represent a myriad of professions and occupations and range in age from 18 to 65. Throughout the mentoring experience they receive 60 hours of intensive pre-service training, in-service training, support and care. Each mentor delivers 250 to 300 hours of service to his/her mentee. Volunteers serve in a variety of activities including logistics, mentor recruitment, fundraising, and others.
Graduates and former mentors participate in an advanced leadership program called “Orden del Manicato” (Taino term for ‘effort’). At this program, participants gain pride in their Taino, African, and Hispanic heritage, develop and/or strengthen leadership skills, become staff volunteers in future programs, and create inter-connectedness between adults and youth, and create friendship bonds between youth from communities that are in conflict with each other.
USINTERNETWORKING CORPORATION
Since 1999, USinternetworking Corporation (USi) and its employees have given generously their time, talent and funds to help public housing youth in Annapolis, Maryland, bridge the digital divide. They started two neighborhood computer centers. They rewarded promising computer students with 60 home PCs. They established a server and Web site for public housing residents as a learning tool for students at computer lab. They enriches these contributions with a superb mentoring program. USi employees volunteer several after-work hours weekly helping children with reading, homework and computer; taking then new places; loving them and challenging them to excel.
Public housing youth face an uphill battle. Typically raised by a single guardian, with few positive role models and tremendous peer pressure to spend time on the streets, they often fall behind in school. Youth in the housing authority’s after-school programs are frequently two grade levels behind in reading. Access to computers can help, but poor reading prevents children from getting the most from information technology. USi’s solution was 15 volunteer mentors for children age 7 to 12 who seemed likely to benefit from a helping hand. Since May 2000, mentors meet weekly with their charges, help them with homework or computer skills, play or just visit with them. Strong bonds have been developed.
Mentors take their charges outside public housing neighborhoods to Annapolis sites, mentors’ homes and places of work, introducing them to different people and ways of life. Mentors meet with the youths’ families and teachers to get their insights on how best to help. Through reading and computer practice, they expose children to new ideas, life styles, technologies, and the worldwide Web. Most importantly, mentors are models of adult behavior that these youth can strive to follow.
At program start in May 2000, mentors agreed to volunteer six months. Ninety percent are still working, love it, and plan to continue indefinitely. New mentors have replaced those who stopped.
Children with mentors have maintained their grades. Some have improved reading and virtually all have enhanced computer skills. They are proud to have mentors. Far from resenting an adult figure urging them to do their homework, they try to please. No mentored child has asked to leave the program, but children without mentors want them.
This program is unique in integrating mentors with computer training, home computer awards, and reading improvement programs supported by USi, so each program enriches the others. Mentors and children use the excellent computer lab facilities for projects. Mentors strategize with computer instructors and after-school program staff about how to address problems they see. In effect, the mentors, teachers, after-school staff and parents work as a team to help youth overcome obstacles.
PAMELA BELISLE
The Don’t Shake Jake awareness program was formed in May of 1998. Jake was the first child of Pamela Belisle who was fatally shaken by his baby sitter at four and a half months old. Belisle did not want her son’s death to be in vain, so she did something constructive with her emotions.
Belisle is the President and Founder of the program. The mission of Don’t Shake Jake is to educate the citizens of Maine about the risks of shaking a baby. Someone mentioned, “don’t shake Jake” at her son’s memorial service, and Belisle decided that would be the name of a program that would save lives. In the months following Jake’s death, Belisle was concerned with saving the lives of other children and preventing other families from feeling the loss she was living with daily.
Yellow symbolized remembrance and blue is a national child abuse prevention color. The program began with yellow and blue bumper stickers stating “Don’t Shake Jake”. There was also a crisis response number, which was a visual for all to see there is help available in the time of need. The next piece of the program are yellow refrigerator labels that state the slogan and crisis number along with places to write other emergency numbers such as doctor, fire, and the police department. The bottom of the label has a gentle reminder,” Never shake a baby, call for help.” Yellow and blue lapel pins clasped with an angel in memory of all the children who have been injured at the hands of an adult were also made. These are all to serve as reminders to all that child abuse is wrong, and it is a problem that we must take part in preventing.
Belisle utilizes any resources possible to distribute the materials to the general public, hospitals at the time of child’s birth, public functions and fairs, flea markets and festivals, and any engagements she is asked to be a speaker. She sponsors a stock car at Beech Ridge Speedway that has the slogan and the crisis response number in clear view from the grandstand for all spectators to see. Belisle recently received a grant from the Maine Children’s Trust to create and distribute the first Maine Shaken Baby Prevention poster. Her latest accomplishment is a public service announcement airing on local cable networks educating viewers to the risks of shaking a baby.
Belisle’s work is strictly voluntary. She gains a feeling of self worth knowing that she is making a difference in the life of some child somewhere. She knows a parent or caretaker may be thinking twice or calming down before doing harm to another innocent child. Her days are still spent dealing with the loss of Jake; however, she is thankful she is able to spread the need for patience and calmness to others who may not have otherwise heard that message and ended up harming their child. Belisle will continue her crusade in memory of Jake and the hosts of other children killed or harmed by the ills of abuse.
SARAH BELL
At the youthful age of 80, Sarah Bell is more active in a day than some people half her age. A lifetime member of the Church of Christ, Sarah Bell serves every fifth Sunday in the church nursery caring for and mentoring to its children. Although Ms. Bell had only one biological child, she is an advocate for children and has always loved being a positive influence for them.
In 1982 after retiring as a nurse’s assistant, Bell began volunteering at the Division of Family and Children Service (DFACS) by providing nurturing care with pre-adopted babies aging from four days old up until adoption finalization. At DFACS, Bell also assisted with another program named “Second Chance.” This program offered persons who had been separated from their children a second chance at parenting after obtaining/maintaining a job, establishing a stable living environment, and participating in care taking courses.
While serving as a volunteer with the pre-adopted babies and Second Chance, Bell learned of another organization providing older persons an opportunity to remain active and contribute services to the community. That organization was and is the Foster Grandparent Program.
She began serving twenty hours a week in 1989 at Grady memorial Hospital as “Grand-ma Bell.” Similar to the services she rendered in other programs, she provides support and encouragement by talking, reading, playing, listening to and cuddling children. Since 1989, “Grand-ma Bell” has been placed at several sites within the Foster Grandparent Program to serve. Presently, she volunteers at one of the Gate City Day Nursery Association sites in Metropolitan Atlanta, five days a week.
As if this is not enough, each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays after volunteering her time at the nursery, Bell goes to Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital to participate with a pediatric literacy, parent-education program called Ready, Set, Read. To date she has served more years than others and has been a volunteer reader since 1994, which is when the program was piloted. As a volunteer reader, she shares developmentally and culturally appropriate book with children and parents in waiting and inpatient rooms, including storybook themes and creative writing and drawing. She also organizes and facilitates monthly birthday parties for children who celebrate in the hospital.
Studies have shown that the most important time of a person’s life is the first three years. It is imperative that early, positive, emotional and intellectual stimulation be provided for children. That fact makes it evident as to why Bell was selected as one of five 2001 Camp Fire Boys and Girls, Inc. Georgia Council Ember Award Honorees.
KATHRYN DONOHUE
Appointed by Commissioner Howard Safir and sworn in by Mayor Giuliani as an Honorary New York City Fire Commissioner, Kathryn Donohue served as the chair and the Executive Director of the FDNY Fire Safety Education Fund, Inc., Assistant Director of the Fire Department Institute, Inc., and Fire Department Museum Board of Trustees member. She works closely with Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, promoting fire safety education programs in an effort to reduce the number of fire related injuries and fatalities in New York City. Donohue is the only civilian ever to be inducted into the Fire Department Honor Legion – an honor reserved for firefighters who have saved a life in the line of duty.
Donohue has produced the Fire Commissioner’s Humanitarian Awards Dinner since 1995. The proceeds of these charitable events benefit fire safety education programs within the New York City fire department. Her most recent accomplishment is the FDNY Fire Zone, an interactive fire safety learning center for children and adults located in Rockefeller Center. It opened during Fire Prevention Week 2000. Donohue spearheaded the drive to raise $2.5 million from private donors.
Donohue has been recognized for her production of the 1996 FDNY Firefighters Calendar on local TV channels 1, 5, 7, 9, 11 and nationally on the Today Show and Montel Williams Show. The proceeds from these projects benefit the FDNY Fire Safety Education Fund, Inc., the New York Firefighter’s Burn Center Foundation, the Uniformed Firefighter’s Association Widow’s and Children’s Fund, and the Fire Department Institute, Inc.
Recently appointed to the board of the New York City Police Museum, Donohue is responsible for procuring capital requirements, and developing and implementing the marketing and management plan. A life member of the Benefit Committee of the Intrepid Museum Foundation, Donohue served as an Honorary Vice-Chairman of the 1996 Intrepid Salute to Freedom Award Dinner honoring General Colin L. Powell, and in 1993 honoring President Ronald Reagan.
Donohue also serves as Honorary Trustee on the boards of the Friends of the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Foundation and the Federal Drug Agents Foundation. Donohue is member of the Sheriff’s Jury, the Sky Club, and the Friar’s Club, and was recently honored with the Mayor’s Award for Volunteers to City Agencies.
SANDY WIMSATT
How can a 100% volunteer organization raise more than $8 million dollars for research? Not without the unfailing help of a dedicated volunteer. Sandy Wimsatt has served as Families of SMA’s fundraising chairman for more than four years. She has brought creative energy to a position that is critical to the success of the organization.
Families of SMA is comprised of 18 national chapters, three international affiliates and more than 4000 member families. It is the only organization that funds research, provides patient and family support and information, loans equipment to patients, and sponsor educational conferences and support groups.
SMA, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, is the leading genetic killer of children under the age of two. It is a group of inherited diseases that destroy the nerves controlling voluntary movement such as crawling, walking, head and neck control, and swallowing. Wimsatt’s five-year-old son, Michael, has SMA.
Earlier this year Families of SMA contracted with Aurora Bioscience, a private Biotech Company, to find as drug compound, which will help treat SMA. This is a $2.6 million commitment. This step would not have been financially possible without the fundraising leadership of Sandy Wimsatt. Since she began volunteering in this position, fundraising has increased more than three-fold.
Most of the funds raised for Families of SMA do not come from large grants and donations; most come from grassroots efforts by individuals around the world. Wimsatt guides volunteers and encourages fundraising events ranging from golf outings to a coloring contest held by a 10-year-old boy. There is no project too large or too small, as long as the goal is raising money to find a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).
Wimsatt has also added a level of professionalism to the fundraising efforts. Because Families of SMA is a 100% volunteer group, details were slipping through the cracks. Wimsatt developed a system that guarantees that every donor is recognized and entered into a database of supporters, she tracks where the dollars are coming from and where they go, so that $.80 of every dollar is spent on research and less than $.10 of every dollar donated to Families of SMA is spent on administrative costs.
Wimsatt tries to stay out of the spotlight, preferring that the focus go to the hundreds of volunteers who bring in the funds that will lead to a cure for this disease. However, she is THE motivator that has helped this organization grow from one that raised approximately $300,000 a year to one that raises between $2-$3 million a year.
LINDA WHITE EPPS
People take a calendar for granted. For most, it is merely an instrument to look at the dates for the days as they pass or to zero in on plans for future days. For Linda White Epps, the production of “Sisters’ Journeys – 2001” is a mechanism to tell the world that she and the stars of the pages are looking forward to many more cancer-free years. Each turn of a page provides a look at another month, more stories from “sisters” and words of encouragement to women. Each page says examine your breasts and have regular mammograms.
Epps has demonstrated the many benefits of early detection, including breast cancer survival. It was nearly nine years ago when she discovered the lump, oh so tiny, and courageously accepted each bit of medical advice. Epps and her sisters highlighted in the calendar, are now winning the fight and spreading the word among a population, African-American women, who have traditionally waited too late to see a doctor about an often treatable disease. They have banded together to tell their stories so that others can live long and fruitful lives. They are pulling many into the inner circle of good health care.
Epps faced breast cancer in such a quiet way that many around her did not even imagine the gravity of her health problem. They did not understand what her emotions might have been when the doctors used to words and she made the decisions. However, through her efforts, we thoroughly understand her message. Her long list of achievements and awards clearly tell the message that she wants African-American women to heed. She tells it in print and she witnesses to many other “sisters” in groups across the state of Connecticut. Her calendar and her group activity encourage other African-American women to become “witnesses” themselves.
Over the years, Epps has worked closely with the Connecticut Chapter of the American Cancer Society. Among the lists of awards, citations from this organization and the African-American community.
Epps has never asked for or received a penny for her chosen work. In fact, she puts more of her own money and time into these projects than can be imagined. In addition, she actually discounts the recognition and awards. But, she goes on, courageously and without hesitation, to plan the next calendar, reaching still greater numbers of women each year.
