Bernadette Powell

Bernadette Powell, an active grandmother of three, has put her efforts toward trying to stop the cycle of child abuse that is responsible for the 4,000 children who linger in foster care on any given day. As a Child Advocates, Inc. (CAI) volunteer since 1992, she has positively impacted the lives of many of Houston’s most severely abused and neglected children by volunteering more than a thousand hours with CAI. It is estimated that more than 85% of prison inmates were abused as children. Powell works hard to lead the children down a productive path that will discredit this statistic.

As a court appointed advocate volunteer, she is appointed by juvenile court judges to speak up for the rights of Houston’s most severely abused children. During her volunteer tenure, she has witnessed abuse in all forms. Powell stands by the children through every step of the judicial process. She has made it possible for children to get into a therapeutic foster home where they can receive individual and group therapy. Because of her willingness to go the extra mile, some even have the chance to be adopted into safe and loving homes.

Bernie has volunteered with children on holidays, including New Year’s Day and Christmas Day. She has sat through therapy with a mother about to lose her parental rights. She has located in-home therapy for children and most importantly, she stands before judges and makes vital recommendations for these children’s futures.

Bernie is able to reach out to a segment of Houston’s society that is often lagging in services because of language barriers. As a Spanish-speaking volunteer, she provides an essential communications link to both the suffering child and the family. Bernie voluntarily takes the time to explain, in Spanish, the foster care and court systems, parenting classes and other family services. She has literally changed the course of children’s lives by reducing the amount of time they spend in foster care and ensuring they receive every necessary rehabilitative and educational services.

Holly Klotz

Holly Klotz has been instrumental in the success of “Community of Caring” at West Vigo High School. A concept developed by Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Community of Caring is guided by five core values of caring, respect, responsibility, trust, and family. Holly has modeled these values in classroom discussions, parental involvement, teen forums and school-based service learning.

A two-year member of the school’s student leadership class, Holly serves as a WinCorps/AmeriCorps volunteer and completed 900 WinCorps service-learning hours last year. As a student leader, she has participated in projects both across the curriculum and extra-curricular activities. Holly has participated as a service volunteer for the past four years during the annual “Make A Difference Day” efforts. She has served as a student leader, organizing over 250 West Vigo students in a major clean-up effort on National Avenue in West Terre Haute. She has also been instrumental in the development of a positive reputation for the school and community.

In addition to these service efforts, Holly has successfully written youth grants to complete Make A Difference Day projects. She developed an elementary forum fostering decision-making skills needed to improve school and community. Three elementary schools participated with the high school on Make A Difference Day. Holly also serves as a volunteer for a local nursing home in their Adopt-a-Grandparent Program visiting her elder friend on a weekly basis. As a result, more students participate in the project.

Teen pregnancy prevention is a goal of Community of Caring and is supported by Indiana RESPECT. Holly has been a vocal about abstinence education, communicating her personal decision-making skills to community youth. She participates in monthly activities promoting abstinence as the best choice for youth. She recently led a school overnight with 24 “Baby Think It Over” babies and 19 eighth grade girls. Her leadership has fostered the rapid growth of students making the commitment to abstinence. WestSide RESPECT is the largest club in the school, thanks to Holly’s efforts.

The work that Holly has done for her school and community has been extensive. She is a tutor in the local elementary schools and supports the America Reads challenge. She is also involved in sports and recently organized a basketball clinic for the local Women’s Special Olympics team. Additionally, Holly has presented the school’s more than 50 annual service projects at regional, state and local conferences. Her efforts help children, youth, elderly and educators by demonstrating the value of learning while serving to meet community needs.

Elinore Wade McCune

Upon viewing the dire situation at Palm View Elementary, Elinore McCune requested to become a volunteer. As a retired teacher, McCune has provided her services to this school helping disadvantaged children get a quality education. She has been a volunteer at Palm View for 25 years.

McCune began working three days a week at Palm View teaching three half-hour classes as well as taking on related duties. Palm View grew and through the years, McCune has taken on more and more responsibilities. With each passing year, McCune continued to volunteer her services. She has held classes at several levels, although most of her work has been with third graders. McCune teaches general education classes as well as phonics as an approach to reading, spelling and handwriting.

During her 23 years of teaching, McCune devised her own phonics techniques, and her extensive travel background allows her to bring a wealth of knowledge to the children that they can’t obtain from textbooks.

McCune skillfully simplifies information and is able to explain abstract concepts of the past and present. The students of Palm View delight in her stories because her lessons are refreshingly calming. She has helped Palm View Elementary grow from a few classrooms to a twenty-acre plot of land, with modern buildings and large playgrounds.

McCune gives the disadvantaged youth of Palmetto, FL a face in this nation. Through her volunteer efforts, children that might not have had a chance can rise up from a disadvantaged situation and become upstanding, educated citizens.

Wanda Purvis

Wanda Purvis is involved in the public school system as a volunteer mentor for kindergarten students. She is also a volunteer for the community day care center and was instrumental in setting up the school's after-school program in cooperation with the public school system. She is a literacy tutor trainer and a trainer for English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Additionally, she tutors students on a one-on-one basis.

Purvis provides visits, books, tapes and big-print magazines for the elderly who are shut-ins at home, in the nursing home or at the Senior Citizens Center. Through her membership in Altrusa Club, she developed a birthday project for the nursing home. A colorful poster was designed to show their name and birthday to place on their door the month of their birthday. Then when the birthday party is held at the home, they are given special recognition with a flower to wear that day. To some, this may seem insignificant, but to see their happy faces makes the effort worthwhile for Purvis.

An influx of people of Hispanic descent has caused the Literacy Council to do more ESL tutoring. Many employers request ESL classes for their employees. Purvis is the one who continually gets volunteers for teaching and conducts the outreach to get the students and keep them excited and interested in completing the classes. To provide a contact place for persons needing tutoring or ESL classes, Purvis established a Literacy Office and Library to hold books, tapes and other materials that tutors and students may need. She also obtained volunteers to man the office and library on a regular basis.

Purvis is always on the lookout for volunteers. She is present at any seminars or fairs on volunteering, armed with materials concerning the Literacy Council. She also works with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program to recruit volunteers. She continues to teach classes for volunteers to learn to become certified trainers. She also tutors her own students and volunteers to teach the ESL classes, which are held four times per week. Purvis is diligent in seeking donations and grants to fund the work of the Literacy Council through contacts with businesses and through private donations.

Sarah Hardner

Sarah Hardner, a senior at Allegheny College, has contributed exemplary service to Allegheny’s campus and to the Meadville community during the past three years. She has been a Peer Project Leader—a student liaison to Bethesda Children’s Home where she has recruited, trained and supported volunteers to work with at-risk youth. She coordinates weekly game days, holiday celebrations and even recruited a student to give singing lessons to interested youth. Hardner was elected by her peers to the position of Peer Project Leader Connections Chair last year and served as the link between the “PPL’s” and the growing service movement at Allegheny.

Highly active in the Allegheny Service Network (ASN), Hardner has been instrumental in assisting this campus group redefine its mission and structure to better support Allegheny students, administrators and faculty with service endeavors. She was an executive officer last year and was one of the primary leaders in this organization’s transition from a contained group to a campus network. A recent example of an ASN community service project that shows her commitment to educating others about human needs is the Hurricane Mitch Disaster Relief Project. Between November 10 and December 5, 1998, a committee formed and mobilized the campus to collect 2,972 pounds of staple foods. Hardner was one of four ASN students who dedicated a great deal of time and effort to make this project a reality. Additionally, she creates the ASN newsletter, which is distributed after each meeting.

Hardner has also served in many other voluntary leadership service roles throughout her years at Allegheny. In March of 1998, she was selected as a student leader for a weeklong Alternative Spring Break Trip in Atlanta, where she co-led 15 other students in service and reflection activities at Decatur Cooperative Ministry, an organization which works with hunger and homelessness issues. Last year, Hardner was the Committee Chair for the March Month of Service Youth and Elderly Week, which organized 12 events at nine different service agencies, including a Panel on Youth Pregnancy issues in Crawford County. She and four other students went on to present a workshop entitled From Our Campus to Yours: A Month of Service at the 1997 Pennsylvania Campus Compact Annual Conference.

As a result of her experience in and “heart” for service, Hardner was actively recruited by the Director of Community Service to serve as the Student Leader Support Coordinator for the 1998-1999 year. Currently, she visits PPL and AmeriCorps sites and serves as a resource and motivator for these student leaders.

Dennis Swanson

Since March 1992, Dennis Swanson has served as Volunteer Mentor and Chairman of the Board for the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media. In this position, Swanson has facilitated the expansion of the Foundation’s Undergraduate Training Program and the hiring of recent college graduates into full-time jobs after completion of the Foundation’s program.

A group of broadcasters, cable operators and communication educators established the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media to increase access to permanent job opportunities in the media for minority high school students with a desire to attend college. Students are selected based on their academic records, school recommendations and interviews with Foundation executives to participate in the six-year program that includes both course work and job training. During the course of the program, students work for companies during summer breaks until they graduate from college. They receive a salary and additional compensation to pay a portion of their tuition expenses.

Under Swanson’s wise tutelage, the Undergraduate Training Program has increased the number of students who participate. In 1992, the number of participants grew from 32 to more than 200 trainees. Since 1994, 75 graduates have completed the program and graduated from college, most of which are working full-time with companies or attending graduate school. In all cases, Swanson continues to be a committed and successful mentor.

In the case of Lizbeth Guzman, a former program participant, Swanson provided support and guidance to this young Latino student. She now is a college graduate and has completed her studies at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University. She has also successfully taken a full-time position with her sponsoring company. With Guzman and many others, Swanson has personally urged corporations to provide summer jobs for youth to prepare them for placement in the workforce. He continues to be a committed and successful mentor for the Foundation.

Scot Pittman

Scot Pittman, founder and volunteer Executive Director of Street Clothes Project, is largely responsible for the well-dressed men walking the streets of Philadelphia today. He has served over 1,200 men by providing them with casual and work clothes, free of charge. He has recruited numerous volunteers from corporations, community members and other interested parties to help him with this endeavor.

Volunteers are essential to Pittman’s Street Clothes Project. Community clothing drives, corporate clothing drives and public appearances attract people to the program who are willing to help to make it a success. The clients are male parolees, men in transition (unemployed, homeless) and men who have completed alcohol and drug rehab programs.

Since the project started in March 1998, it has grown from one small office in a church basement to almost 20 locations throughout the city. The project locations are centered in parts of the city where clients live, work or attend school in order to make the program accessible to everyone. Street Clothes Project can be found in medical centers, state correctional centers, homeless shelters and job training centers where those who are in the greatest need can get clothing.

Pittman is working to bring Street Clothes Project into the next century and expand its services. His five-year plan includes a good program, transitional housing and a camp for kids. There are also plans to put Street Clothes Project into every state correctional center in Pennsylvania and expand the program to the national level, beginning with a partnership with four colleges in New Jersey. But, no matter what direction Scot Pittman decides to take it, his Street Clothes Project is “fitting” the bill.

Ashley Feldman

Ashley Feldman is continuing a program for underprivileged children that she started with her two older sisters eight years ago. A sophomore in high school, Ashley has taken over the “Bikes for Tykes” program and is busy with the task of collecting, cleaning and refurbishing used bikes for donation to needy children. Ashley finds time in her busy schedule of extracurricular activities to keep in touch with the community and give something back to those in need.

A young woman who knows firsthand the joy of receiving her first bicycle, Ashley works hard to make sure that other children have the same experience. Over the eight years the program has been in operation, Ashley and her sisters, Courtney and Barrett, have fixed nearly 200 bikes. The girls have held drives to collect used bikes from community members. Most are in decent shape but some require repair, all of which is completed by Ashley now that her sisters are in college.

“Bikes for Tykes” fills the need of supplying bikes to children who would otherwise not be able to have a bike of their own. Ashley works closely with local agencies to make sure that the bicycles go to the homes of deserving children. She has donated bikes to organizations such as Volunteers of America, Jewish Family Services, the United Way and The Domestic Violence Center.

Since “Bikes for Tykes” has been under Ashley’s sole leadership, the program has evolved significantly from its original operating strategy. She advanced the organization from a door to door soliciting operation, to a large-scale program that relies on the community’s response to newspaper press releases and word of mouth. Ashley has also organized a bicycle drive, from which she received over 100 donations. She has also expanded the “Bikes for Tykes” workforce to include students from her school and from other local school districts. Recently, Ashley was granted the use of a municipal facility to store and refurbish the bicycles.

In settings where there households or group homes with multiple children, Ashley attempts to provide all of the children with their own bicycle in order to maintain the vision of “Bikes for Tykes”—that children benefit socially and emotionally from the ownership of a bicycle. Also, the bicycles provide an opportunity for increased physical exercise to improve the overall health of the children. Ashley’s work with “Bikes for Tykes” is commendable and she plans to continue the program indefinitely.

Paul Watson

In the past two decades, Paul Watson has made a tremendous contribution to efforts to preserve and protect wildlife and the environment. All of his work has been voluntary and without compensation.

Utilizing his Canadian Coast Guard experience, Watson suggested operating zodiacs to intervene between harpoons and whales. In 1975, he led expeditions to protect harp seals on the ice floes off Newfoundland. Watson was instrumental in elevating the issue of protecting the baby harp seals to the level of international concern.

In 1977, Watson founded the Sea Shepard Conservation Society, an organization dedicated to research, investigation and enforcement of laws, treaties, resolutions and regulations established to protect marine wildlife worldwide. From 1984-87, Watson also organized, founded, and led Friends of the Wolf in a successful effort to shut down aerial wolf hunting in British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska.

Today, as the head of the world’s most active marine environmental organization, Watson is still devoted to preserving the ocean’s natural resources. He is the author of “Cry Wolf,” “Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals,” “Shepherds of the Sea” and “Ocean Warrior.” Watson has been a Professor of Ecology at Pasadena College of Design since 1990.

YouthBuild USA

YouthBuild USA is teaching young adults that being young, uneducated and unemployed does not mean that there is no hope. This comprehensive youth and community development program helps struggling youth acquire job training, education, employment skills and a sense of efficacy and control over their own lives. These provisions, combined with counseling and support services, enable them to pursue regular employment and higher education. As a community service project, these young adults also promote neighborhood redevelopment by building affordable housing.

The organization grew out of an effort to help disadvantaged young people in East Harlem in New York City who wanted to create housing for homeless people in their neighborhood. The perseverance and success of those involved inspired support from foundations and later the city. Through this effort, the Youth Action Program quickly spread to other neighborhoods in New York City. In 1988, Ms. Dorothy Stoneman, past executive director of East Harlem Black Schools, founded the nationwide program, YouthBuild USA.

The YouthBuild USA organization has especially enabled youth to recognize their own skills and to gain the self-confidence they need to continue their education and employment. The ability of the program to save youth from drugs and reduce youth unemployment have enabled YouthBuild USA to mobilize the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Corporation for National Service, Department of Labor, local and state government agencies, Habitat for Humanity and local nonprofit organizations to support and extend the program throughout the United States. The program's further growth is limited only by its ability to obtain funds.

YouthBuild USA is a unique combination of education, job training, support and motivation of low-income young people, and the creation of affordable housing for low-income communities, meeting essential needs of all the participants. YouthBuild USA offers disconnected youth a future. It offers the nation a model for constructive action to significantly reduce social problems and to benefit all the participants. Simultaneously, it creates a better living environment for communities and reduces the social costs of inadequate education, unemployment, and antisocial behavior.