60 Minutes of Art

60 Minutes of Art, a nonprofit located in Miami, Florida, takes the visual and performing arts into inner city neighborhoods that have either lost funding for their own programs, or have simply never had art accessible to them.

In 2013, music student, Jonathan Wynn-Strachan founded the program to address and lower negative outlets in exchange for positive alternatives. Strachan and his 60 Minutes of Art team take their services to parks and other inner-city community venues to deliver free art programs to residents. Thus far, the 60 Minutes of Art team has reached over 500 students and established four ongoing programs in four neighborhood parks. In addition, Strachan has provided art and music students serving on the 60 Minute of Art team an opportunity to become involved in their communities. The student volunteers have also seen a boost in their own grades, behavior, and self-esteem.

Debra Greenhalgh

Debra Greenhalgh of Newport, Rhode Island provides therapeutic in-water experiences for anyone who can benefit, particularly people with disabilities, wounded veterans, terminally ill children, and others recovering from an injury or illness.

For the past ten years, Greenhalgh has been volunteering as a scuba diving instructor providing therapeutic in-water and scuba diving experiences for people with disabilities and adaptive needs. Often, Greenhalgh collaborates with the Wounded Warrior Project, a veteran’s service organization that offers a variety of programs, service and events for wounded veterans of the military actions following the events of 9/11/2001.

In addition, she coordinates and manages a network of volunteer scuba-diving instructors in the New England area that implements programs, events, fundraising activities, and volunteer trainings. For example, Greenhalgh organizes fundraisers and recruits volunteers for an annual New York City event, a free weekend of water sports including scuba diving for wounded warriors and their families. Each year, approximately 1,500 warriors and their families participate, with approximately 40 taking the opportunity to scuba dive in the safety of a pool with experienced scuba instructors.

Another initiative of Greenhalgh’s is to increase awareness about the therapeutic benefits of scuba diving and in-water inclusion for people with adaptive needs. She gives presentations to various organizations including Boston Sea Rovers, the Boston Scuba Show, Beneath the Sea, and local Lions and Rotary clubs. She spreads the message that everyone can make a difference in another person’s life, and volunteering to help people with adaptive needs can have a huge positive impact on their ability to meet everyday challenges.

Greenhalgh’s need to make a difference and help people with disabilities through fundraising and in-water rehabilitation started with her experience with her son who, at the age of three years old, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After four years of surgeries and chemotherapy, her son struggled through recovery, and learned to walk and talk through rehabilitation. He is now 24 years old and cancer free. Greenhalgh sees his second chance at life as a gift. She sees volunteering as a way to help others, much like the way others helped her son.

Tami and Jess Willadsen

Tami Willadsen and her 10-year-old daughter, Jess, both killed in a house fire last month, left a legacy of passion and kindness in their Georgia community.

Jess and Tami Willadsen

When the Willadsens first moved to Avondale Estates in 2011, Tami, who was then a fundraiser for The Nature Conservancy, learned of The Museum School, a new and excelling K-8 charter school in DeKalb County, Ga. Its students were achieving high test scores, and Tami wanted to enroll Jess. At the time, the fledgling Museum School was operating out of prefabricated trailers and needed a better and permanent home. Tami volunteered to help.

Tami became the founding president of the The Museum School Foundation, managed the work of dozens of volunteers and led the foundation’s community outreach efforts. In the years that followed, during which she volunteered thousands of hours, Tami helped to raise more than $2 million in capital funds for the school from institutional investors and foundations, and inspired hundreds of parents to support the school.

Thanks in large part to her efforts, The Museum School was able to move into and begin renovation of an abandoned school building. The Museum School now has its permanent home, and renovations are in the final phase. Jess was a fourth grader there at the time of her death. (Tami’s husband, Dave, was injured in the April 12 fire, and their 5-year-old son, Jack, is still undergoing rehabilitative treatment for serious burns.)

“Tami helped every community she lived in since she was a little girl,” said Andrea Avery, Tami’s sister. “She always wanted to change the world and she always took action. She would set her mind on something and get it done, but she was never stressed. She brought grace and humor to her work, and people liked being around her. Her personality and drive helped her to succeed so much in fundraising.”

Tami’s first passion was for the environment, and over a 15-year career at The Nature Conservancy, she rose to become director of philanthropy in Georgia.

Her dedication to environmental issues influenced Jess, who became an activist in her own right. Concerned about the number of squirrels being hit by cars on her street, Jess launched a petition drive. The Avondale Estates mayor’s office responded, granting Jess the right to place a “squirrel crossing” sign near the road in front of the family home.

“Tami taught me to take risks and that it is OK to go all in and be overly passionate about something, even in the early stages when you are just getting to know it,” said Katherine Kelbaugh, founding principal of The Museum School, in a eulogy for the mother and daughter.

Kelbaugh said she also “learned from Tami the importance of loving your family and putting your children first.”

“From Jess I learned that values such as respect, responsibility, kindness can be modeled and practiced beautifully at any age,” said Kelbaugh.

“Tami created a passion for the school within the local community and in the larger philanthropic community,” said Aspen Kron, chair of The Museum School Board of Directors. “Her relationships here are deep, and her impact to the school is immeasurable. We will miss her enthusiasm, joy and passion for our school. … Mostly, we will miss our friend and her smile, but we are grateful for every moment we had with her and are thankful for her impact on us as individuals, as a board, and as a school community.”

Howard Baron

After retiring from a 28-year career as a financial manager with Chrysler Corp., Howard Baron wanted to give back to the Detroit community. A finance expert, Baron started volunteering last year as a tax preparer for the Accounting Aid Society, which provides free tax help to low- and middle-income families in southeast Michigan.

Howard Baron meets with tax client Beverly Kimble at the Accounting Aid Society.

In Baron’s two tax seasons as a volunteer, he has helped about 90 clients claim more than $99,000 in tax refunds and credits. In 2013, the agency, which has around 500 volunteers, helped families claim around $24 million such credits and refunds.

In addition, Baron was a member of the first group trained by the Accounting Aid Society to work as a financial coach through the Financial Opportunity Corps program, which recruits and trains volunteers as financial coaches who then help people from low- and moderate-income households achieve financial stability.

Since the end of 2013, Baron has worked on an ongoing basis with two clients, helping them to straighten out their debts, set budgets and work toward long-term financial goals.

“My career gave me a good pension,” says Baron, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. “I wanted to help others to have the same kind of secure lifestyle during their retirement.”

Baron also teaches others to become certified as tax preparers through classes offered by AARP.

“AARP was so pleased with the tax preparation work that I had done for both them and the Accounting Aid Society they tapped me to become an instructor,” he says.

On top of his volunteer tax preparation and financial coaching work, Baron has a passion for public education. He volunteers as a member of the Bloomfield Hills School Board.

“School funding is not what it used to be, and I wanted to use my financial skills to help schools improve their budgeting and their advocacy with the state and federal legislatures,” says Baron. “In addition, I am working to help boost the performance of students who are underachieving.”

Though his volunteer schedule keeps him busy, Baron says all of his community activities are gratifying.

“The Detroit area has seen a lot of economic pain, beginning back in the 1980s with the downturn in the auto industry and continuing today with the effects of the nationwide recession,” says Baron. “I want to do my part to help in any way I can.”

Baron says he gets an especially good feeling from helping tax clients learn about credits they have coming to them.

“Many of my clients have pretty low incomes, and they are able to get refunds on the taxes withheld from their pay. But often they don’t realize they qualify for special federal and state tax credits as well,” says Baron. “They need this money to pay bills, and it’s great to be able to help. … I look forward to every day I volunteer.”

Rosie Westerbeck

Rosie Westerbeck of New Bremen, Ohio brings smiles to the faces of children and helps to ease the burden of their stay in hospitals through her Red Wagon Campaign.

Westerbeck joined forces with the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals to start a local Red Wagon Campaign to benefit youth served by Dayton Children’s Hospital. Through Westerbeck’s initiative, she collaborates with local businesses and schools to secure donations of arts and craft materials, toys and other fun items for children staying at the hospital. Westerbeck places red wagons throughout the community and in schools to collect donated items for the patients. In addition, she collects donations of little red wagons that not only help transport the donated materials to patients in the hospitals, but also helps transport children throughout the facility to receive their treatments.

Westerbeck started the Red Wagon Campaign because she had a desire to make a difference. As a result, Westerbeck’s initiative has not only filled a community need, but it has inspired other businesses and students to serve and give back their community.