To millions of NFL fans, Victor Cruz is familiar as a record-setting wide receiver for the New York Giants who punctuates the touchdowns he scores with a trademark salsa dance in the end zone. (He learned the dance moves from his grandmother.)
But to young people throughout the New York area, Cruz is something more important: As a native of Paterson, New Jersey, Cruz is a genuine local hero in the NFL—a role that he carries out admirably. Since 2010—his first year as a pro player and Giant—Cruz has run the Victor Cruz Foundation, through which encourages kids to become physically active and academically engaged and to pursue their goals despite any hardships they face.
Overcoming severe hardship is something Cruz experienced first-hand. As he recounts in his many talks to young people—and in his newly published autobiography, “Out of the Blue”—Cruz grew up in a low-income, single-parent household. Cruz was raised in his grandparents’ apartment by his mother and experienced the tragedy of his father’s death by suicide.
He excelled at football throughout high school, but soon learned that his ability was not a magic ticket out of poverty. He attended the University of Massachusetts, but became ineligible to play football because he was struggling academically. Despite being sent home three times because of low grades, Cruz was determined to successfully balance his studies with the sport he loved, and in his junior year of college he earned high enough grades to achieve full eligibility for football.
Through his foundation work, Cruz emphasizes to young people that his NFL fame is not the result of one great year—2011, when he set Giants franchise records and helped lead the team to a Super Bowl title—but a lifetime of hard work.
Cruz told the Latinos Post that he wants his foundation to be a “vessel of positivity” for kids that will inspire them to be both physically and mentally active. “It's very important to be outside and playing because it's a video game era. . . [and] if I can get kids that are excited about sports as excited about education, science and technology, then I’ll have succeeded,” said Cruz.
Cruz is active in the NFL’s Play 60 campaign, which encourages children to be physically active for at least 60 minutes a day. He also donates food to and serves meals at an anti-poverty center in Paterson. In addition, Cruz has participated in White House events for kids, including a science fair, and was asked by President Obama to help influence kids to pursue STEM-related careers.
Cruz is currently working to establish the Cruz Clubhouse at the Boys & Girls Club of Paterson, the mission of which will be to improve students’ readiness for college. For all his community efforts, Cruz was selected this year to receive the Sports Award from the Big Brothers Big Sisters youth mentoring organization.
Cruz also touched a community and the nation in a special way last year when he learned that he had been the football idol of a 6-year-old, Jack Pinto, who was among those killed in the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Cruz phoned the family to express his condolences. Then he decided to visit them in person. He spent more than an hour at the Pinto’s house, talking to the family and playing a football video game with kids.
“I didn’t want to go in there and make a speech or anything,” Cruz told The New York Times. “I just wanted to go there and spend some time with them.”
Joseph Dean
Joseph Dean of Port Washington, Wisconsin is chairman and founder of Stars and Stripes Honor Flight (SSHF), a Wisconsin based non-profit that flies World War II veterans to see their memorial in Washington, DC at no cost to the veteran. SSHF is comprised completely of volunteers.
Dean’s connection to this organization is personal. His father was a World War II veteran serving in the navy in the South Pacific. As his father’s health declined with Alzheimer’s, Dean traveled with him to a number of reunions of the Land Invasion Operation Navy (LION) and recorded his war stories, growing fascinated with his own father’s story while learning and preserving other World War II veterans’ stories as well.
Four years ago, Dean heard about the Honor Flight program on television, and took the initiative to start the first Honor Flight chapter in Wisconsin. To date, the SSHF team has launched four other Honor Flight hubs in Wisconsin, flying nearly 5,000 WWII veterans.
Dean’s volunteerism has not only solved the need of Wisconsin WWII veterans to see their Memorial in Washington, DC and discuss their service, many for the first time, but has ensured that these heroes, who are in the 80’s and 90’s are not forgotten about by their community. He has inspired his local community to thank these WWII veterans for their service and honor them in ways that have a lasting impact on the WWII veterans and their families. On every trip, Dean lets the WWII veterans know that it is the promise of Stars and Stripes Honor Flight that their service and their sacrifice will never be forgotten. Part of the promise is taking their stories to their families, neighbors, community and state and throughout the nation so that people will know about their contributions. To live up to this promise, Dean has been a mentor to other Honor Flight hubs both in Wisconsin and nationally.
Raisa Martinez
Raisa Martinez addresses the health of the Baldwin County, Georgia community as well as her passion for enhancing the diversity of Georgia College.
Martinez is a founding member of the Boétia chapter of Mu Sigma Upsilon at Georgia College, the first multicultural sorority in the nation. Since only 12% of the college’s population of 6,700 consists of students of color, Martinez’s work to make the college community a more welcoming and inclusive place for all has met an important community need.
After learning about Mu Sigma Upsilon, Martinez decided to work with others to form a chapter at Georgia College. While some sororities on the college’s campus welcome members of color, many do not. With Mu Sigma Upsilon established at Georgia College, she and other members invited all students regardless of race to join. In the process, they found that numerous students of color had never been approached by any other sorority. Thus, her work served an important function of connecting such students to one another and to civic life.
In keeping with her sorority’s emphasis on service, she raised funds for the Keep A Breast Foundation, a nonprofit breast cancer organization. Her inclusive philosophy engaged several sororities and fraternities in a friendly competition to raise funds for breast cancer awareness. She has also led activities to support the well-being of disabled residents at the local Georgia War Veterans Home., including recruiting others to visit with female veterans.
Martinez’s work in helping to found Mu Sigma Upsilon is a self-sustaining legacy that will continue upon her graduation. She has been an active leader among her sorority sisters, mentoring them every step of the way. Her work has laid the blueprint for Georgia College’s evolution into a richer and more diverse student community.
Mu Sigma Upsilon is now a recognized and thriving sorority on Georgia College’s campus that celebrates multiculturalism and diversity with an emphasis on service.
Carl Biery
Since 1969, Carl Biery has been at the scene of floods, plane crashes and fires as a volunteer disaster relief worker for the Cincinnati Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. Currently, he serves as a volunteer disaster-relief team leader for the American Red Cross in Northern Kentucky. He answers the call to assist those in need 24 hours a day throughout the year. Biery helps with everything from single-family house fires to natural disasters.
Additionally, Biery volunteers at Redwood, a service agency in Fort Mitchell, KY, providing enriching educational, therapeutic, and vocational services to children and adults with severe and multiple disabilities. He is a long time member of the Knights of Columbus and has given countless hours in service to their programs to assist people in the Northern Kentucky-Greater Cincinnati community.
Ross Roe
After a fire ravaged a forest near his community of Grants Pass, Ore., in 1988, longtime volunteer Ross Roe had a moment of inspiration. Why not recruit Boy Scouts to help replant the trees? The youngsters would learn the fundamentals of tree planting, and the forest would benefit from the good deed.
Ross Roe stands in front of a planting site.
The county forestry department liked the idea – as did the community – and the 1989 event was a success.
In the years since, Roe’s project has evolved into the annual Josephine County ReTree Plant, a three-day event during which local school children from grades three to five plant an average of 5,000 trees in county forests. Roe and almost 20,000 student volunteers have planted 75,000 ponderosa pine and Douglas fir seedlings across 75 acres in southwestern Oregon.
Roe, who owns a car dealership in Grants Pass, says he was inspired to start replanting forests by the work of the late Frank Lockyear, a fellow Oregonian and founder of ReTree International. (Lockyear won the 118th Daily Point of Light Award in 1990, when his organization had planted more than a million trees worldwide.)
At age 85, Roe devotes himself full time to the ReTree Plant. The event is held each February, and Roe has been present for every planting, even last year, when he was hindered by a heavy cast due to a broken leg.
“It’s a great program, and I think it’s very important, especially here in Oregon, where forestry is still the number one industry,” says Roe.
He sees two major benefits to the event: “First, we’re maintaining sustainable forests, meaning we plant more trees than are harvested. Second, we’re educating kids. Many of these students may end up working in forestry, and we’re giving them their first lessons and hands-on experience at a young age.”
Roe partners with the Josephine County Forestry Department – which provides the seedlings and digs the planting holes before each year’s event – and the public schools, which provide buses for the kids to and from the work area.
Before planting, the students receive a 45-minute orientation presented by professional foresters. As an added attraction, they are taken on an old-fashioned hayride in antique tractors to the planting site.
“That’s another purpose we’re serving: fun,” says Roe. “Most of our schools can no longer offer field trips because of budget cuts. The ReTree Plant offers students a fun outing at no cost to the schools. The kids love it. They come back covered in mud, saying they never had so much fun.”
The students – 1,000 over three days – each plant five seedlings. Of those five, one is tagged with a student’s name and the year he or she planted it. Many students return year after year to check on the progress of their trees. (See a short video of this year’s plant here.)
Community involvement was a big part of Roe’s life well before he created the tree-planting event. While working for a car dealership in Moline, Illinois, in 1964, Roe helped found the Niabi Zoo in nearby Coal Valley. In 1969, while living in Michigan, he helped create the International 500 Snowmobile Race, a 500-mile race patterned after the Indianapolis 500. Decades later, both the zoo and the race are still thriving.
David Tuckman
David Tuckman, a former Red Cross Youth President, is a Red Cross District Youth Advisor for the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of Red Cross. He also serves as the captain of a Red Cross Disaster Action Team on 12-hour shifts where his team responds to fires and floods every week helping a population ranging from poverty level to middle class covering San Fernando Valley, 2 million plus.
Tuckman is a leader and a teacher who ensures Red Cross volunteers are trained and prepared. In addition to leading a disaster action team, he is a Red Cross First Aid Station Team Leader. He trains Red Cross youth ages 16 to 18 to serve on Red Cross first aid teams for community events such as the Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade, where 250 Red Cross EMTs, EMRs, MD and 20 Red Cross Youth Responders help injured band members and the spectators at 12 first aid stations.
In September 2012, the Red Cross recognized Tuckman for his years of exemplary service and dedication.
Jessica Waters
Jessica Waters of Beavercreek, Ohio started Cupcakes for Camp to raise funds for children with epilepsy to attend Camp Flame Catcher, organized by The Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Columbus and Cincinnati.
At age 11, Waters was diagnosed with epilepsy, a medical disorder that causes seizures. As a result, she had to limit her activities including her participation in contact sports, tumbling, and competitive cheerleading.
In 2009, Waters attended Camp Flame Catcher, a camp uniquely designed to provide children with epilepsy the typical camping experience that their peers enjoy with the added guidance of trained specialists to care for their specific needs. Upon her return, Waters remembers wishing every child with epilepsy had the opportunity to attend Camp Flame Catcher. However, she learned from her mother that the camp was expensive and had she not received a scholarship, she would have not been able to attend the camp.
Therefore, Waters started Cupcakes for Camp, and began collaborating with local bakeries to raise money to send kids to Camp Flame Catcher by selling donated cupcakes. Thus far, Waters has sent five children to camp, and she continues to raise funds to grant more children with the opportunity to attend camp next summer.
Additionally, Waters has become an ambassador for epilepsy awareness, helping to wipe out the stigmas and fears associated with epilepsy in her community while enlisting the help of local bakeries, students, and government officials. While raising funds for her cause, she has traveled to Washington D.C. to speak about epilepsy. Also, she works with local colleges including Dayton University, Wright State University, and Bowling Green University to help bring awareness and to teach first aid.
Since starting Cupcakes for Camp, Waters has received much recognition for her advocacy and fundraising efforts. She has received the Joan Schreck Inspiration Award from the Epilepsy Foundation Western Ohio and the Seize Hope Achievement Award from the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. She has been published in American Cheerleader Magazine and many girls and parents have reached out to her to tell her how she has changed their lives.
Michele McGuire
Michele McGuire’s volunteerism focuses on the health of individuals in Georgia’s Milledgeville and Baldwin counties, with specific emphasis on awareness and fundraising for cancer, juvenile diabetes research, and the well-being of developmentally-disabled adults. These three concerns represent areas of critical need in Georgia and the Baldwin community.
Over the past four years, McGuire has put her talent for digital media to work toward improving the health of the Milledgeville and Baldwin community. During this time, she has co-produced a video, which won $5,000 through Relay 4 Life to help fund American Cancer Society research. She has raised funds through “Bras for a Cause,” a support group that funds the annual “Survivors in Pink” event which features speakers, candle-light, music and a slideshow of breast cancer survivors from the Milledgeville and Baldwin community.
Additionally, McGuire co-organized a 5K Diabetes Walk and Run at Georgia College to help fund the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In 2011, she and her sorority members at Gamma Sigma Sigma, a National Service Sorority, successfully raised over $1,000 for this cause. She has also contributed her talents toward addressing the enrichment needs of developmentally disabled adults in the Milledgeville community through her work for the Life Enrichment Center.
Through her volunteerism, McGuire has inspired others to continue along the path of service she has begun. Her work has upped the ante in every endeavor she has chosen to engage in. Her production of the award-winning video for Relay 4 Life has raised the bar for current participants, especially for those volunteers who witnessed her success and wish to follow her example. The same can be said for her engagement in “Bras for a Cause,” “Survivors in Pink” and the 5K Diabetes Walk/Run. Her work with the Life Enrichment Center to exhibit the photographs of developmentally disabled adults in a gala event on campus called the Black and White Gallery set a new standard for the recognition of the talents of this population. Her work helped raise awareness in the college community and break down prejudice against these members of the community. McGuire has passed on her knowledge to the current leaders of this project who are already benefiting from her experience.
McGuire’s uniqueness lies in the fact that she cares about her volunteer service, not for attention or recognition of any kind, but from a far deeper motivation that comes straight from the heart. She is a quiet, behind-the-scenes leader with a stellar talent for digital media, who has found a way to link her education as a student of Mass Communications at Georgia College to her volunteer service every step of the way. She has put her education and expertise to work for the sake of improving the health of the Milledgeville and Baldwin community. Her creativity and talent allow her to produce promotional materials (videos, invitations, flyers, photos) that get noticed by the public, raise awareness and inspire new levels of charitable giving. Those who have had the honor to work with McGuire and learn from her say that she is always willing to think outside the box, and that she gives back more than anyone they know.
Ed Barker
Ed Barker of Chicago likes building playgrounds.
It’s not his job, but Barker enjoys it so much that as of this past weekend, he has helped to build 60 community playgrounds across the US.
It all started in 2007 when Barker, a senior account manager for Fannie Mae, attended a company sales meeting in New Orleans. He learned that as part of the meeting, Fannie Mae was partnering with a group to help build a children’s playground in a neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Katrina. They wanted volunteers. Barker thought it sounded fun.
“It was a great opportunity to help a community, and when I arrived to work on the playground, I saw how badly that community was hurting,” says Barker. “You can’t believe how humbling it was to think about the comfort of my hotel and see the complete devastation. You work that much harder to get this thing done and do it right. You work harder to motivate people. You work harder to have fun, too.”
Barker loved the experience. From the moment he and the other workers showed up to break ground on the project, community members appeared from everywhere to offer help.
“Some of them joined in on the construction, others brought food, and before long, a jazz band set up and started playing,” says Barker. “It helped me to understand that we sometimes think backwards about community-building. We assume that in a strong community, people build playgrounds. But what I witnessed, and have continued to witness, is that when you build playgrounds, you yourself help bring the community together and strengthen it.”
Barker learned the partnering organization he and other Fannie Mae employees were helping was KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit with the lofty goal of building a playground within walking distance of every child in the US. As of 2013, KaBOOM! has built more than 15,000 playgrounds serving more than 6.6 million children—with the aid of more than one million volunteers. Barker decided to stay in touch with KaBOOM!, and six years and 60 playgrounds later, he still loves the volunteer work.
“It’s a great way to take action to take action to help tomorrow’s adults,” says Barker. “A playground teaches many things, and fosters children’s growth in many ways. There’s the physical activity, exercise, and competition, but there’s also fun, play, and learning social skills.”
What Barker especially enjoys about KaBOOM! is that every playground in unique, and local children have a hand in the design.
“When KaBOOM! meets with a neighborhood about a playground project, the first thing it does is ask children to sit down and draw their own images of an ideal playground,” says Barker. “Later on, when the engineers and planners meet to develop a design, the first things they study are the kids’ drawings.”
Barker has worked on multiple playgrounds in his native Chicago area, and recently recruited his wife, daughter and son to volunteer.
“I’m having too much fun to ever stop doing this,” says Barker. “And I’m committed to keep sending out the message that we need to encourage play. I think we place too much emphasis on muscle in physical education. Innovative play encourages the mind.”
Dina Fried
In the Lakewood, New Jersey community, Dina Fried assists families who have a child battling cancer.
As a volunteer Big Sister for Chai Lifeline, Fried personifies their mission of "fighting illness with love – helping the child, the family and the community." Fried has taken the initiative to fill a need in the community. Noticing that the families of children with cancer in the Lakewood community are often overwhelmed by daily household task and tending to the other children in their families, Fried began her volunteerism by offering to take children battling cancer to the park. What began as a one-time outing, developed into a system of trips, entertainment, crafts projects and eventually, a two-month summer day camp.
Through her service, Fried fills a growing need in the Lakewood community that has not been previously addressed.
