Suellen Fried

In 1982, Suellen Fried founded the STOP Violence Coalition in Kansas City, an innovative program dedicated to the prevention of interpersonal and family violence, and devoted herself to collaborations between child, spouse, elder, substance, and sexual abuse agencies. She involved prisoners as volunteers in a community effort to reduce violence, including a self-help program that is now in five Kansas prisons. Volunteers maintain the prison project that claims a 14% recidivism rate for inmates who participate in the STOP Violence program. The program is supported through fund-raising and donations.

Ms. Fried has continued her volunteer work with state and national child abuse prevention groups. At an international conference in 1992, she identified bullying as a form of child abuse. For the past five years, she has made this issue her passion, spending countless hours each week in metropolitan area classrooms helping students change their attitudes and bullying behavior. She also works with teachers and parents on this issue. She even wrote a book to stir up public concern about bullying, and a recent spate of suicides and homicides related to bullying has tragically proven her point.

Ms. Fried was instrumental in developing a Kindness program that is sponsored by the STOP Violence Coalition, involving over 375 schools in Kansas City, more than 225,000 students, and hundreds of volunteers. The program is designed to teach school-age children respect, compassion and kindness through a classroom curriculum, and it is be used in the schools of 31 other states, as well.

Another program that has benefited from her innovative spirit is the Local Investment Commission (LINC). Here, she co-chairs a committee that instituted a project called Walk In My Shoes where citizens spend 16 to 24 hours accompanying child protection staff workers involved in child abuse investigation, foster care, termination of parental rights, etc. This program has captured national interest.

Ms. Fried currently serves on numerous national, state and local Boards, such as the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse Board, while continuing her hands-on work in prisons and schools, and she receives no stipend for her community service.

Caitlin Janus

Caitlin Janus, an eighth grader from Central Vermont, is the creator of a therapeutic horseback riding program for handicapped children. In rural Vermont, a program like this meets needs for children with disabilities and increases the community’s awareness about the need to break down barriers and stereotypes. Because of this program, started in the summer of 1997, children with disabilities are able to participate in a physical activity that increases confidence levels and teaches how to gain control of one’s fears, be it of a large animal or anything else.

Caitlin started the program because she wanted to share her love of horses and riding with children whom she felt were least likely to be exposed to that experience. She spoke with her mentor and riding teacher, Carol Fleck, about her desire to help disabled children. She encouraged Caitlin and offered support for the project. Starting in January 1996, Caitlin undertook all the preparation work herself. She called a therapeutic riding specialist, who provided other names of people around the U.S. who give therapeutic riding lessons. She met with a local therapeutic riding teacher and corresponded with another in Massachusetts. After much research, she made a video on proper care of horses and riding, which she showed to local children with disabilities. After engaging the interest of potential students with her video, Caitlin and her mentor sent permission slips to parents, and then scheduled lessons that coincided with the needs of the students and their families. The riding teacher, with Caitlin’s assistance, gave lessons while their families looked on.

The program now takes place every summer, providing lessons for about 3 kids each year. So far, more than 5 kids have received this one-on-one therapy. The riding specialist that works with Caitlin donates her time and the riding facility where Caitlin gets her own lessons gives her full use of the facility, their horses and their equipment. In order to fund the program, Caitlin holds fundraising activities, such as selling flowers. The community has gotten behind the program and many volunteer.

Excited about the success of her therapeutic riding program, Caitlin has recently taken on another venture. Since her riding program is now established and thus only requires her time during the summer months, she wanted to serve her community in some way during the school year. After researching pet therapy for the elderly, Caitlin and a fellow classmate, Amanda Whitney, organized a group of students who took their pets to a local nursing home to play with residents. So far, the experience has been rewarding for all involved.

Because Caitlin was part of an integrated service learning program at her school, her fellow students learned of the program and that barriers for children with disabilities can be overcome. Her desire to share something she loves with youth who previously had no access to riding lessons benefit the youth served, their families, the school community, the community at large – and Caitlin herself. She continues to enrich the lives of young Vermonters with disabilities who live in an area where they are sometimes isolated, while at the same time showing community members and school staff what a young person with determination and vision can do.

Elton Fenno

Elton Fenno is a retired resident of Walla Walla, Washington. For over 20 years, Mr. Fenno has been volunteering with the Blue Mountain Action Council, a nonprofit action agency that works with low-income people to achieve their self-sufficiency by providing vital self-help techniques, advocacy and financial assistance.

Since March of 1992, Mr. Fenno has contributed over 4,000 hours of service to the residents of a local nursing home. For many years, Mr. Fenno picked up USDA commodities for 45-50-elderly/disabled shut-ins who did not have access to monthly food distribution. He also salvages bread from local grocery stores and distributes it to local food pantries on a regular weekly basis. Mr. Fenno was also a major leader in establishing the Lifeline program in the Walla Walla Valley. The program focuses on assisting needy seniors through telephone assistance for medical and/or emergency needs with the local hospital.

In addition to his work with the Blue Mountain Action Council, Mr. Fenno volunteers with a local senior citizens center and participates in the annual Christmas Bazaar. He also assisted in the reorganization of the board of directors for the Senior Citizens Center. Mr. Fenno spends numerous hours volunteering with The St. Vincent DePaul parish. He and his wife assist with the preparation for the annual community Thanksgiving Day Dinner.

Mildred Bennett

Mildred Bennett, a retired Portland State University mathematics professor volunteers on a more than full-time basis to tutor anyone in math. Her primary emphasis is on children and youth, whom she tutors seven days a week at up to 14 different sites. She also works with college-aged students and adults lacking math proficiency. Her goal is to awaken and enhance children’s desire and tools for learning.

Ms. Bennett began working with Safehaven, a church program providing after-school services in a low-income area, in early 1994. Since then, she has expanded her tutoring to include several more sites, all of which are in largely low-income areas in North and Northeast Portland.

Her older students volunteer to help tutor the younger children and help themselves by doing so. Other community members and friends also volunteer their time with Ms. Bennett. She custom-tailors the lesson plans and games to stimulate within each participant the joy of learning math.

Ms. Bennett tutors every day of the week for the entire year, often inviting students to her home for Sunday lessons. The program is funded by personal donations, mostly done through Safehaven. Through her program, teachers have found that students in the low-income areas of North and Northeast Portland have a renewed interest in mathematics and perform better in school.

Marco Antonio Chavira

Marco Antonia Chavira began his service journey by volunteering to spend time with juveniles who did not have family nearby. Through his interest in art, Mr. Chavira started working on a drawing and writing project. As he observed the frustration the youth dealt with on a daily basis and their artistic talent, he decided to develop a broader program to harness this talent and give the youth an outlet for their emotions.

Mr. Chavira spent months creating his program, “Imagineering:” writing the curriculum, making displays, and collecting materials. He teaches three classes, one to young men with mental health problems and two to young female offenders. Several other volunteers help facilitate the classes. He is currently expanding the number of classes and motivating other community groups to become involved.

Arizona has approximately 1,500 juveniles in correctional institutions. Through the “Imagineering” program, 120 juvenile offenders have learned to channel their emotions into artwork using geometric principles. Correctional administrators familiar with the program say the youth come away not only with marketable skills but with enhanced self-esteem and the discipline needed to lead a productive life and break the chain of crime.

The “Imagineering ” program costs $100 per juvenile, which Mr. Chavira has been paying himself. He is working to broaden the benefits of the program by reproducing the artwork in the form of posters and calendars, selling it to the public, and using the proceeds to make the program self-sustaining.

Practical Parent Education

In response to a series of 13 teenage suicides, a grassroots organization called Practical Parent Education was formed in Plano, Texas. Founded in 1986, Practical Parent Education was conceived on the belief that, ” all parents need community support in order to rear responsible, self-confident, mentally-healthy children in today’s complex society.”

The main goals of the program are to create long term support services, education and learning resources to the parents. A variety of techniques are used to accomplish these goals.

Seminars on parenting are available in many settings such as apartment complexes, churches, jails, and homeless shelters. The lectures focus on many subjects like single parenting, attention deficit disorders, learning differences, teenagers as parents, and drug and alcohol prevention. Judges in Plano now require divorcing parents with children to take a seminar on the effects divorce has on children.

Parents can also turn to the family resources center, a 3,000 book, tape and video library on child development, and a parent help line and support groups. Support groups available include parents with at-risk teenagers, parents with attention deficit disorders, parents with special needs and teen parenting.

Education classes and tutoring are also available from Practical Parent Education. In 1992, an intergenerational literacy program was started. The program was developed for people with limited literacy skills and English proficiency. Families attend the weekly, four hour sessions together. Tutoring, homework assistance, learning enrichment programs and arts and crafts are also available for children.

Practical Parent Education has been used as a model in 300 Texas communities and 14 other states. Funding for the program comes from civic organizations and business donations. Space for classes is provided by schools, libraries and offices free of charge.

Catherine’s House

Catherine’s House was created in response to the growing problem of “children having and raising children” in Little Rock, Arkansas. The percentage of births to single teens in Pulaski County is one of the highest in the nation (12.25%). Arkansas ranks second in the nation for percent of live births to 15-19 year old adolescents. The mission of Catherine’s House is to reach out and provide hope to low-income young parents by organizing and operating a family-oriented development center to serve to health, social and educational needs of pregnant and parenting teenagers.

The program enables teen parents to complete their high school education; to develop life skills; to be effective and responsible parents; to have a meaningful career that will support them and their child; to have access to the best medical care for themselves and their child; to have the emotional support they need and to be productive citizens. Teenagers accepted into the program sign a contract stating that they will not become pregnant again while in the program.

Catherine’s House provides early childhood education for the teenager’s child and a computer tutorial program that evaluates the teenager’s level of education and then designs a program to enable them to progress to their proper grade level. Catherine’s House also works with the business community to identify skills, employee characteristics and the job needs of the community in efforts as job placement and success are critical factors for teenage parents being able to live independently of welfare. Ongoing collaboration with local colleges and universities has enabled assistance and support in opening doors to high education for parenting teens.

The Sisters of Mercy of Mount St. Mary Academy, a high school for girls, and a representative group of citizens developed the concept of Catherine’s House as a way to promote change through education and health for the low-income of the community. In August 1995, it received a grant for $1.5 million from Catherine’s Fund, a funding program of the Sisters of Mercy Health System. The facility is named after and reflects the spirit of Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, who also started an education program for poor women in Ireland.

Since its inception in April of 1995, the program yearly works with an average of 30 teenagers representing grades 9 through 12.

Jan Williams-Mayhew

In 1994, Jan Williams-Mayhew began a program that she has dubbed “Operation Santa”. The main goal of this program is to grant Christmas wishes for the children in the Greater Lansing, Michigan area who fall through the cracks of other social programs.

Operation Santa has several characteristics that make it unique. Perhaps most significant is the fact that the program is essentially a one-person operation that takes a year round commitment. This allows for a greater opportunity for interaction and the ability to eliminate red tape. Mrs. Williams-Mayhew begins the process by contacting local schools in order to identify children who are in need, but are not receiving assistance from other social service programs. She then contacts area businesses to sponsor the purchase of gifts for the children. In the past, businesses have provided such items as computers, books and toys for children. Quite often, the children are also in need of such necessities as winter coats, gloves and blankets. Mrs. Williams-Mayhew is able to provide these necessities to the children who would otherwise go without.

A second area that distinguishes Operation Santa from other programs is the behind the scenes approach it takes. While other programs clamor for media attention, this program has quietly grown into a program that reaches more than 500 children in need. In the first year of the program, 50 kids were helped. The following year, the program had more than doubled to assist more than 100 children. In each subsequent year, the program has more than doubled. In 1997, 550 children received gifts at Christmastime.

Operation Santa gains the assistance of businesses by word of mouth. They all have a genuine desire to help children in need. Mrs. Williams-Mayhew, through her professional work, comes into contact with numerous businesses. The businesses provide assistance while realizing that they are able to make a positive impact on the lives of children. After getting the children’s specific gift requests from parents, the businesses provide wrapped gifts to the parents of each child included in program. The parents then have the option of addressing the gifts to their child, making the holidays a true family event.

Jan Williams-Mayhew receives a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that she is able to help those in need. The parents benefit tremendously from this program because they are able to ensure the happiness of their children on Christmas Day, and the children benefit form Mrs. Williams-Mayhew’s work because they are getting their dreams fulfilled and their wishes granted.

Operation Santa not only fulfills needs during the holiday season, but seeks assistance from the community and businesses throughout the year for area children in need.

Gabriella Contreras

Gabriella Contreras is a sixth grade student at Roskruge Bilingual Magnet School, who has been volunteering her talents and energy since third grade. Roskruge Bilingual Magnet School is across the street from a local high school. At the age of seven, Gabriella became aware of drug dealings and gang violence at the high school. When the high school had a student riot in 1996, Gabriella had seen enough. She and her friends organized a peace march and countered the violence, shouting, “Hugs not drugs!” and “Stop the violence!” Gabriella continued her quest for a peaceful, drug free school and community by founding Club Be Alert Don’t Do Drugs (B.A.D.D.D.).

Club B.A.D.D.D., originally intended to keep kids away from drugs, has blossomed into a program that also encourages community service. The 65 students who make up Club B.A.D.D.D. pack food for the community food bank, and organize community food drives. They also sort clothes for Tucson Unified School District’s Clothing Bank. The club also makes students aware that they can do positive things with their spare time, instead of the things that may get them in trouble.

Through the positive messages Gabriella conveys to the other students, there are fewer problems on the playground during school time and after school. These kids now have another option in the use of their free time, all because of Gabriella’s example. Gabriella’s motivation is not personal gain, but for the good she can do for others when she helps meet their needs.

Club B.A.D.D.D. has been so successful that it is being duplicated in eight other Tucson schools. The club receives funding several ways: through donations from businesses, fund-raisers, and most of all, from grants. The biggest grants, $1,000 and $5,000, came from winning JC Penny’s Crystal Apple, both locally and nationally.

Even with the success of Club B.A.D.D.D., Gabriella’s favorite service is playing her violin for the elderly. Since the age of five she has been visiting senior citizen homes to play her violin, sing or read. Also, in 1995, she helped sell t-shirts for Arizona Unites Heartland Benefit, which assisted the Oklahoma City Bombing victims. To promote Earth Day 1995, she posted and distributed flyers in schools and local children’s shops.

Gabriella’s Club B.A.D.D.D. motto reflects her perception of service: “Even as kids we can make a difference, at home, in the neighborhood, in the school, and in the community!”

Paul Hackman

Since his own nearly fatal health failure from Diabetes & End Stage Renal Disease 20 years ago, Paul Hackman has been educating teens, adults, and health care professionals about organ donation, the effects of diabetes and kidney disease, and the prevention of renal failure.

Much of Mr. Hackman’s time is now spent as a volunteer for the Kidney Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, and the Ohio Valley Life Center. Each year, he gives 150 to 200 presentations on Organ Donation and Renal Health in high schools, nursing schools, fraternal organizations, churches of all denominations, and in area businesses. His talk has become a major community resource for public and professional education in the Greater Cincinnati area, reaching approximately 7,500 to 10,000 people each year.

He speaks to all area high school students about the choice they have to designate themselves as possible organ donors when they get their driver’s license. They are then advised to get their families involved, by to going home and talking about organ donation and the difference that it can make.

He also speaks to 6 and 7 year old elementary school children as part of the “Everybody Counts” program, to teach them that people with disabilities should be treated with respect and understanding.

Mr. Hackman has served on the Executive Board of Directors of the Kidney Foundation of Greater Cincinnati for the last 16 years, and is the founder of the Kidney Patient Council, a support group for End Stage Renal Disease patients and their families. He has served as chairman for Organ Donor Awareness Month in Cincinnati, has served on the boards of the Clovernook Home for the Blind, the Radio Reading Services for the Blind, and had been instrumental in getting House Bill 650 passed, which allows the Uniform Organ Donor card to be a part of the Ohio Driver’s License. He is also a Third Degree Knight with the Glenmary Council Knights of Columbus #5674.

Even though Mr. Hackman has had Juvenile Diabetes since age 17, is blind, has had a renal transplant, and lost a leg as a result of his Diabetes, he has continually channeled his time and energy to educate, motivate, and support other members of his community, while others, who are perfectly healthy, claim that they cannot find the time to volunteer.