JOE SPENCER
Joe Spencer has been active in the community through his service in the Boy Scouts of America for the past 30 years. He has also been actively involved in his religious organization. He recently retired from the Utah Education System after 30 years of service as a teacher and an administrator.
He currently served on the Public Library Board in the city of Payson, Utah, and is a dedicated volunteer for the Utah “I Can Read” program. As a past principal of Barnett Elementary School, he has returned to tutor children at that school twice a week for the past two years. He has the vision, expertise and dedication is takes to help children increase their reading skills, learn to love reading, and become confident, literate members of society.
Spencer has applied for many grants to aid the literacy programs of the library and actively serves on the board year after year. Last year, Spencer headed up the volunteer recruiting program for “I Can Read” at Barnett, Taylor, Parkview, and Wilson Elementary Schools in Payson. This was no small task. He has spent countless hours on the phone inviting members of the school, PTA and community to get involved with the literacy programs of the schools for Payson.
Spencer’s diligence and dedication helped to meet the needs of each of the schools. At Barnett, there were 18 volunteers and 18 children were serviced in “I Can Read.” This year, they were able to service more than 60 children in the school who are reading below grade-level.
Without volunteers like Spencer, many youth would go through life with serious deficits in reading skills. Literacy is perhaps the most important skill a person can obtain, and Spencer is constantly seeking new ways to promote literacy in the community of Payson.
ALTON BECK
Can anything good come of a tragedy? According to Alton Beck, it can. Since his son was killed in an automobile accident, Beck has been volunteering in the school program at the Slate Canyon Youth Center and on the Advisory Board, helping to make important decisions concerning the future of Youth Correction programs. Beck’s son had been in the “system” and he saw that many people viewed these youth as worthless but Beck saw them as someone’s son or daughter and he was determined to make a difference. Since 1993 Beck has helped every week at the Youth Center with testing, school work or with whatever is needed. He averages approximately 60 hours monthly in volunteer service.
Beck likes to interview each youth and tries to instill in them that they are of worth and provides encouragement for change for the better. With every interview, he understands a little more of what his son was going through.
Some people have tried to have Beck serve in other capacities, but if it takes him away from direct contact with youth, he declines. His mind is made up to be a source of support for the youth. He has initiated different ways to interact with youth in the classroom. He has managed to lift their self-esteem by helping youth discover for themselves what they want out of life and just by taking the time to listen.
Beck has lost two out of four children and he knows the depths of despair but he has chosen to turn his loss into something meaningful by working to give hope to youth.
JERRY ROBERTSON
Jerry Robertson is an important and vital volunteer for the chapter of the American Red Cross in Lee County, Alabama. He is trained as a disaster relief worker and responds not only to people in Lee County who may experience a fire or other disaster, but is registered to respond with the American Red Cross nationally if the need arises.
In February 1999, Robertson was part of a team that responded to severe windstorms in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Just the week before Christmas 2000, Robertson once again answered the call and at an hour’s notice was deployed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to help get survivors of horrific tornadoes back on the road to recovery. He stayed three weeks on that assignment, selflessly giving up being home for the holidays with his family to help those in need.
While on assignment for the Red Cross, Robertson helps to open and operate shelters, assess damage, and assist with mass feeding. Robertson is also trained and qualified to drive Red Cross ERV’s (Emergency Response Vehicles). These vehicles travel into severely damaged areas where residents often would starve, as they are unable to get out to get food.
In addition to his involvement with the American Red Cross, Robertson is very active with his church and also with a county wide feeding program. He not only runs his own food pantry, but also helps other churches set up and operate food pantries all over the county.
Robertson is truly concerned for his fellow citizen and cannot rest if he knows of someone in need. He and his wife, Debra, take underprivileged children into their home and hearts on many occasions. Robertson is also a volunteer for a Red Cross utility assistance program that helps pay heating and cooling bills for the elderly and disabled.
FORT MEADE PARTNERS IN EDUCATION PROGRAM
The Fort George G. Meade Partners in Education Program functions as a link between Fort Meade, the schools, the students, and the community in order to provide maximum support to improve academic achievement by raising academic standards, supporting high-quality teacher professional development, expanding the use of computers and technology in classrooms, and increasing parental and community involvement in education.
The partners are the 12 schools in the Meade High School Feeder System and their adopting military units and organizations. The program focuses on providing all young people with the minimum requirements they need to grow up to be self-supporting and contributing members of our society. The goal is to provide voluntary educational related assistance to more than 78,000 students in the feeder system to enhance the quality of educational programs and expand their learning experiences. Program components were developed to meet local needs. Activities range from tutoring in the academic arena, to enrichment, prevention, career connections, special interest, support and social programs. This partnership improves the school effectiveness by connecting with the military community and drawing on each other’s strengths.
Military role models from the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Department of Defense Civilians participate in this program. Mentoring services are provided on either a one-on-one team mentoring basis, for the purpose of facilitating the at risk students’ social, personal and educational growth in order for them to become productive, contributing members of their respective communities and to society as a whole. Tutoring is provided for each student in his or her particular area of curriculum need to include problem solving, critical thinking, research skills, technology, team building, and communication. The objectives of the program are directly consistent with the Schools Improvement Plans with respect to improving school attendance, academic performance, grades, reducing disciplinary referrals and reducing the overall dropout rate.
In addition to the mentoring and tutoring programs, the Partners in Education Program also provides programs such as Teen Job Fair, Recycling Programs, Science Fair Judging, Junior Achievement Life Skills Program, Run For Your Life Fitness Program, Writing/Reading Contests, Young Astronauts Program, Cycling Across Maryland, and Multicultural Activities.
The Fort Meade Partners In Education Program challenges and engages youth with opportunities through constructive character building activities and by having high expectations of them. The program averages 250 volunteers per month providing approximately 6,390 hours of volunteerism each year.
ERNEST WRIGHT, SR.
Ernest Wright, Sr. began Pro Kids Golf Academy and Learning Center in November 1994. His goal was to increase minority children/youth participation in San Diego junior golf programs. Colina Park Golf Course (in the City Heights area of San Diego, formerly a home of vagrants and a site for drug deals and gang activity) was converted from an abandoned golf course to a community asset and youth sports program, now reaching more than 5,500 kids. Pro Kids is one of the only junior golf programs in America where youth can play “at their own golf course.”
The City Heights area of San Diego suffers from a lack of educational facilities, crime, high unemployment, a low median income, deteriorating commercial and residential properties and a poor community image. Despite challenges, Pro Kids has grown exponentially from 24 kids in the first class to more than 5,500 students participating in 30,000 rounds of golf and lessons a year. All at no expense to the child/families, and . . . all because of Ernest Wright.
Wright receives no compensation for the thousands of hours he spends chairing committees, soliciting friends, golfing with prospective donors, and taking care of “day-to-day” business.
To address significant educational problems, Wright has created the Pro Kids Learning Center Foundation, which is building a $1.7 million clubhouse and Computer Learning Center for the kids and future kids in need.
The Pro Kids Board of Directors represents the ethnic diversity of the San Diego inner city community. All 60 Board Members are involved in golfing with the kids, and contributing equipment/donations to keep the program going and growing.
On his 60th birthday, Wright chose to make it a fundraising celebration for Pro Kids providing college scholarships to 14 inner city youth. His selfless commitment goes beyond typical volunteer service. His sense of caring, responsibility for others and commitment to service and citizenship is demonstrated in the many organizations in which he plays an active role. He is a member of the Crime Commission’s Board of Directors and the County Crime Stoppers. Wright boasts an illustrious 13-year career as a NFL player with the San Diego Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals. An avid golfer, Wright shares his enthusiasm for sports and kids with all whom he comes into contact. Few can resist his charismatic spirit.
Wright has received local recognition for his work and leadership in improving the lives of at-risk children and youth. These awards include special recognition by the Superior Court of the State of California, Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly, the George Bush National Award for Volunteerism presented by Shell Oil, and numerous local nonprofit awards such as United Way and Boys and Girls Club.
FMC CARSWELL FEDERAL WOMEN’S PROGRAM STAFF SPONSORS
The “Back to School with Fort Worth Independent School District (ISD) School Supply Drive” is an annual Affirmative Action Program sponsored by the Federal Women’s Program and staff sponsors at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell. Since the program began in 1996, staff have sponsored more than 450 children and donated more than 500 books. The purpose of the school supply drive is to ensure that local community children are provided with the necessary tools – pens, pencils, paper, books, etc., to succeed in school.
In an effort to accomplish the goal of ensuring a future of qualified and culturally diverse workforce, the Federal Women’s Program, sought ways to promote literacy and education readiness for children in the local school system. The Fort Worth Independent School District serves children of various racial, ethnic, and socio-economical backgrounds, including Eastern European refugee and migrant worker communities. This fact presents numerous challenges to the school system and the community at-large. It became apparent tot eh Carswell staff that children cannot hope to succeed in school unless they are provided the needed tools. Additionally, children without the needed supplies often feel isolated from other children, and this isolation further inhibits their ability to learn and succeed in their school careers.
In 1996, the Federal Women’s Program, identified a need for a school supplies assistance program for economically disadvantaged children. The “Back to School with Fort Worth ISD Annual School Supply Drive” was developed to fill that need.
Each year with the assistance of the Fort Worth Parks and Community Service Board, needy children are identified and Carswell staff sponsor these children. Staff is provided a list of grade-appropriate school supplies and packages are collected during the month of August. All school supplies collected during the drive are donated to the Fort Worth Parks and Community Service Board for distribution to children throughout the city. During the past five years, this program has helped approximately 450 children.
In addition to the need for school supplies, the Federal Women’s Program identified a need for primary and elementary grade level reading material at local community centers throughout the city. The City of Forth Worth has Head Start and After-School Literacy Programs at their various community centers. In 1999, the FMC Carswell Book Bonanza Program was implemented as an extension of the school supply drive. FMC Carswell staff collected nearly 500 new and gently used children’s books. These books were donated to the Community Service Board for distribution to the community centers.
The program has grown each year with more than 100 children “adopted” for the 2000-2001 school year. The Federal Women’s Program Manager continues to receive phone calls of thanks and appreciation from staff at the Fort Worth Parks and Community Service Board. These staff are amazed at the generosity of FMC Carswell’s staff. The school supply packets and books provide a much needed relief to local school teachers who continually seek assistance for the economically disadvantaged children of their school district.
RICHARD ROSENKRANZ
In 1997, Richard Rosenkranz founded the Interfaith Call for Universal Freedom of Worship and for Human Rights in Tibet. He intended the Call as a vehicle to help raise awareness and support for religious freedom and human rights in general, and in particular for the Tibetan people.
Having lost members of his own family in the holocaust, Rosenkranz was both disturbed and energized by predictions that the religion and culture of the people in Tibet could be wiped out within five years because of genocidal practices of the Chinese government. He created the Call party to help the Tibetan people as well as the world at large. Largely through his perseverance and energy, the Call became a phenomenal success in an incredibly short time. At the end of last year, more than 150,000 people made a commitment to observe the Call, up from 8,000 people the previous year.
Working from his house in Florida, Rosenkranz did extensive outreach on a shoestring budget, financial largely through his savings. Relying mainly on e-mail and occasional mailing, he succeeded partly from his ability to convince total strangers this was a cause worth volunteering their time and effort.
He established a network of volunteers, especially young students, to help him reach out to thousands of houses of worship from many faith traditions. He also created a Web site – with help from friends with computer skills – and then solicited prayers for the Call from many eminent spiritual leaders, including His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He posted the prayers on his site, and then asked theologians from different faith traditions to write full prayers services for the Call. As a former national correspondent, he used his journalism skills to write numerous media releases to raise awareness about issues related to the Call.
Rosenkranz is hoping that the Call will help pressure Chinese leaders to restore basic freedoms to the Tibetan people. This year he hopes to increase support for the Call from the present 150,000 to well over 300,000. But he also views the Call as a way to inspire youth to get involved in positive activism, as well as a way to bring the world’s faith traditions together in a united stand for universal freedom of worship and human rights.
He intends to maintain the Call as a semiannual event presented twice each year., once on March 25th in 120 U.S. cities as part of the Season for Non-Violence, and then at the end of October as part of a massive, worldwide observance.
Until now, Rosenkranz has been living on his savings, but with his funds dwindling, he is about to apply to foundations to seek funding to allow him to continue his work. This year, he received $10,000 from the World Tibet Day Foundation, to help support his work; this is the first money he’s received since starting the Interfaith Call.
GREG COWAN
Greg Cowan had wanted to be a Big Brother for a long time but decided to wait until his own kids were grown. When the time came, he discovered that Carbon County had no Big Brothers program but many similar programs. In January of 2000, he attended a special training by Utah’s Promise titled “Caring Adult in the Life of Each Child” at the College of Eastern Utah.
The Carbon County Caring Adults Program was created the following month with Greg elected as the chairman. The mission statement being “…to bring caring adults into the lives of all Carbon County youth by assisting other organizations in the development and/or support of mentor/caring adult programs throughout Carbon County.”
The Carbon County Caring Adult Program is now a “results” oriented program with a team of caring adults. Carbon Reads, Youth & Families With Promise, Division of Youth Corrections, Utah Foster Care, Child Care Referral and CASA all come together to work and share information in this program. The CEU Sun Center and the Division of Youth Corrections both contribute meeting space and clerical help for the program. Cowan has made recruiting presentations to several local organizations, educating all who will listen about the benefits of a positive mentoring relationship. Cowan says the main challenge is to recruit more male mentors for the boys in the program who need a male role model in their lives.
Cowan has mentored for the Division of Youth Corrections and found it very rewarding. He feels it has made a positive impact on his life. He says meeting regularly with a mentor will awaken self-esteem, instill values and encourage a purposeful life for youth. He also says statistics show youth who meet regularly with mentors are more trusting of their parents or guardians, less likely to lie and feel more supported and less threatened by their peers.
Carbon County has one of the highest percentages of teen mothers and troubled youth. This program will be a means of solving some of these serious social problems. Bryan Matsuda of the Division of Youth Corrections states “The Carbon County Caring Adult Program ensures that these local volunteer programs work together to pool their knowledge and gives volunteers one phone number to call for a wide variety of programs to serve.”
EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS LITERACY COUNCIL
Since 1970, EMLC has trained and supported more than 3,000 dedicated volunteers who have provided free literacy services for adults (both native speakers of English and new English speakers) seeking to improve their own lives. Volunteers provide services in all current programs including: one-to-one tutoring, small group tutoring, English Conversation Groups and Literacy through Technology.
Statistics compiled for the Massachusetts Department of Education estimate that more than 50,000 adults are eligible for literacy services in EMLC’s service delivery area – 20 municipalities outside of Boston. Only five programs funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education provide services in this area. EMLC’s current waiting list stands at 186 people. EMLC gives highest priority to low-income learners.
EMLC has been affiliated with Laubach Literacy for 30 years, Acton-Boxborough United Way for seven years, and the Massachusetts Department of Education for five years. For each organization, EMLC must address rigorous requirements concerning program planning and service delivery.
EMLCs tutoring program serves students who are unable to attend traditional adult education classes. In Fiscal Year 2000, EMLC’s tutoring program served 213 students including:
- Low-income workers in domestic, food service, or industrial positions (approx. 35%)
- Unemployed primary care providers of the elderly and children (approx. 39%)
- Underpaid professionals, academically accomplished in their home countries (approx. 18%), all of whom lack the written, oral, aural, and cultural literacy required for success in our culture and promotion in the workplace. Many work two jobs for up to 60 or 70 hours per week for economic survival.
- 8% native English speakers; the vast majority of those learners have learning disabilities
- 92% ESOL learners speaking 34 different native languages
EMLC’s 260 current volunteers make a great commitment of time to help students obtain personal goals: job skill improvement, survival skills, citizenship, cultural understanding, increased parenting skills, and enrollment in higher education. Nineteen percent of EMLC learners got a better job or advanced in their current job as a result of improved literacy skills in Fiscal Year 2000. Tutors reported completion of some learning goals for all EMLC students.
EMLC exists due to the loyalty of its volunteers. Twenty-five percent of volunteers have been with EMLC for five or more years. The founder, Mildred Gilman, and her husband, Martin, have been active with EMLC for 30 years.
EMLC has much success using innovative approaching to serving students. EMLC’s most recent innovation, the Literacy through Technology program, provides volunteer mentors for literacy volunteers and literacy students wishing to improve literacy skills through use of the computer.
EMLC was located in Lexington, Mass. for 30 years. In November 2000, EMLC moved to West Medford.
ALLAN LAW
Founder and Director of Minneapolis Recreation Development, Inc. (MRD), Allan E. Law, has dedicated his entire adult life to teaching, mentoring and serving inner city Minneapolis youth. While working as a full-time 40 hour per week Minneapolis Public School teacher for 32 years (1967-1999), Law personally volunteered (after work) more than 65 hours per week in the afternoons, evenings, weekends and all summer long to provide inner city, below poverty level Minneapolis youth (ages 7-17) with free quality, recreational, educational and personal development activities. These youth would not otherwise be able to afford to participate in these activities.
From the time of his graduation from college in 1967 until 1996 he has provided after school and summertime activities for an average of 300 youth per month and entirely paid for these activities himself out of his school teacher salary. The cumulative total of Law’s after tax, personal donation to date is more than $450,000. For 29 years he funded this program entirely by himself. In 1996, it became necessary to register the MRD program as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with no salaries.
Law started the MRD program in September of 1967 to provide inner city youth with free of charge after school, weekend and summertime recreational activities. It has since evolved into just as much of a personal development, educational activity program for hundreds and thousands of youth as well as a recreation program. “Youth Builder” activities provide at risk youth with alternative to bad behavior. No other program in the area reaches out by actually going into the neighborhood to pick up youth at their front door and then deliver them home after each activity. No other program provides a full free meal (usually at McDonalds) during each activity.
Approximately 30% of the youth that Law’s program serves are stranded in emergency homeless shelters. 100% of the youth that participate in MRD “Youth Builder” activities fall below the level of poverty (qualify for free lunch at their respective schools) and 99% have no father figure in their home. Because he truly believe that a higher power put him on this earth to serve others, Law has been passionately and unselfishly working for more than 33 years to instill hope in inner city, at risk, youth and to let them know that at least one adult male cares about them and is always available to talk to them.
Since his retirement from teaching in July 1999 to date, Law’s life has been consumed with helping children, the poor and disadvantaged. He has been volunteering more than 100 hours per week (16 to 18 hour days) to build character and competence in hundreds of inner city Minneapolis youth. He also gives them direction, purpose and hope by providing them with wholesome after school, weekend and summertime activities as an alternative to crime, gangs, drugs, underage sex or idleness. Kids who otherwise might never see professional sports or take a boat ride, pile into his van – emblazoned with “Love One Another” – for trips all over town. Activities include roller skating (every Friday night for 33 years), Camp Snoopy Amusement Park at the Mall of America, Minnesota Zoo, Minneapolis Auto Show, and Minnesota Twins home games, among others. Tutoring and mentoring on topics such as staying in school, crime prevention, higher education, cultural diversity, and family and peer conflict resolution is also provided.
Late at night he personally feeds homeless persons in emergency shelters and on the street. The conservative, cumulative number of hours that he has volunteered over the last 12 months is more than 5,200. His total volunteer hours from 1967 to date, serving exclusively inner city youth and their families, is more than 125,000 hours. Dozens of former participants are currently involved in volunteer work. Law, who has never sought or wanted recognition for his tireless service, received the Minneapolis Award from Mayor Sharon Sayles-Belton for his lifetime and recent, outstanding volunteer service to Minneapolis. He brought 29 excited youth with him to the awards banquet.
