Patricia Otstott

“I would rather be volunteering” is Patricia Otstott’s personal motto. Her lifelong commitment to improving her community through effective leadership, vision and undaunted spirit is impressive. That she participates on the highest levels in volunteer organizations despite the fact that she is legally blind is an inspiration.

Her achievements include President of the Junior League of San Francisco, Board Member of the California Board of Cosmetology (appointed by Governor Duekmajian), California Library Services Board member (appointed by Governor Wilson) and member of the St. Francis Hospital Auxiliary Board of Directors. She has lobbied successfully for the passage of The Breast Cancer Act of 1993, a tax on cigarettes to fund treatment for low-income women. She also managed the total renovation and seismic upgrade of the Junior League’s two-story building in San Francisco on time and budget so that the community-funding program was not interrupted.

Otstott has an innovative approach to mobilizing volunteers for lobbying the legislature, designing fundraising opportunities and providing support for community activities and programs. The introduction of new fundraisers has boosted the bottom line of organizations. Upon the request of the Mayor of San Francisco, she mobilized over 100 volunteers for a special project at City Hall.

In the future, Otstott plans to use her Junior League training to become a spokesperson and motivational speaker for handicapped citizens across the United States. Instead of withdrawing from society because of her blindness, Patricia Otstott seems to seek out challenges to conquer. She says, “People ask me about my vision, I say I have insight.”

Anne Judson-Yager

Sexual assault is a serious problem for youth in our communities. By age 18, one of every four young women will be sexually assaulted. In 1997, Anne Judson-Yager unfortunately joined the ranks of those many women. After being sexually assaulted by an acquaintance, she has dealt with her assault in a courageous and powerful way. Through community support, her own volunteer involvement in a peer education program in her community and an abiding inner-strength, Anne has transformed this traumatic and life-changing event into a powerful vehicle for addressing this issue in her community.

Several months after she was sexually assaulted, Anne went through intensive training to become a peer educator on issues of interpersonal violence in the Boulder Valley School District. During the 1997-98 school year, she gave more than 30 educational presentations in middle and high school classrooms, providing information to teens on the prevalence, dynamics and prevention of sexual assault and dating abuse.

In the spring of 1998, Anne started taking her volunteer service a step further by talking to students about her personal experience. To date, she has told the story of her sexual assault to nearly 500 students in the Boulder Valley School District. Anne’s story of being a survivor of sexual assault impacts students deeply, many students, teachers and school counselors have testified. After listening to Anne’s presentation, students repeatedly report that they recognize that it could happen to them, a crucial factor in preventing interpersonal violence among youth.

Anne continues to provide this service to her community even now that she has graduated from high school. She has, without a doubt, touched the lives of hundreds of young people by bringing this issue out in the open. She is breaking the silence about sexual assault on youth by reaching out to others with the express motivation of preventing their victimization and mobilizing her community of peers to look out for the safety of themselves and others.

Mike Nishimoto

While serving as the coordinator for the United States Pacific Command (USCINCPAC) Partnership-In-Education with Aliamanu Intermediate School at Camp H.M. Smith, HI, US Navy Radioman Chief Petty Officer Mike Nishimoto managed a highly successful adopt-a-school program. His enthusiasm and success with the program served as a catalyst that made the program grow from a few dozen volunteers initially to the almost 200 today. The success of the program caught the attention of Hawaii’s KHON-TV news program, which aired a clip of the volunteers at work repainting in the school’s beautification effort on Make A Difference Day.

Tutoring and scholastic assistance are just two of many benefits of the adopt-a-school program. Volunteers served as big brothers and sisters, as well as mentors to intermediate school aged children. The program not only concentrates on division and factoring numbers, but also provides positive role models to the children who often take special interest in their lives. On one occasion, this mentoring meant talking a young girl out of suicide. The students often were not the disruptive children that teachers didn’t want to deal with, but those who really has a desire to improve and looked forward to receiving special attention and assistance.

Nishimoto expanded the program from two school-supported activities to countless supported activities, often providing volunteers on demand. One morning he received a call requesting nine volunteers for an event at noon, this was one of numerous ongoing last minute requests that he was able to successfully pull off. In addition, Chief Nishimoto supervised and personally volunteered in all five of his ongoing sponsored programs, donating approximately 80 hours of his time for the year of 1998 to Aliamanu Intermediate School. The programs that he managed are Wednesday Evening Tutoring, Saturday Scholars, Lunchtime Campus Supervision, Dance Chaperone for all School Dances, and Computer Lab Assistance.

Chief Nishimoto’s support for the program did not end when he transferred to his new Navy Command, APSPAC. In fact, he not only continued to help out with Aliamanu Intermediate School but he also adopted his new unit’s school, Pearl City Highlands Elementary School. He assisted on the receipts of recyclable materials on drop-off day with the school’s recycling program, which has earned second place in the school’s district competition. He also makes himself readily available for any special program with which the school needs assistance.

Rebecca Lee Roberts

Fifteen-year-old Rebecca Lee Roberts, a tenth grade student at Cabot High School, is sold on volunteerism. Rebecca Lee is the youngest female magician in the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM) and currently serves as Vice President of the Arkansas Junior Division of IBM. She uses her unique talent to entice others to use theirs. She believes that we all have something we can give to others, to make the world a better and safer place.

Rebecca Lee’s Magical Mission was formed in 1992 when she was nine years old. She was invited to the Little Rock Veterans Hospitals where she performed tricks for the patients at their bedside. She loved the joy that her performance brought to the patients and their families. Rebecca Lee was hooked on volunteering.

She has since gone back to those hospitals every year. For the past three years, she has helped to kick off Mental Health Awareness Week, presenting her show at the Arkansas State Hospital declaration ceremony. The students at Arkansas School for the Deaf are one of Rebecca’s favorite audiences but she also loves going to nursing homes and other senior related activities. In 1998, she added AARP meetings and a day care center to her performance schedule.

Rebecca Lee was a volunteer entertainer for the Hope House’s annual fundraiser and appeared live on TV, representing Cleburn County Arts Council, as the winner of their 1998 talent search. She was feature entertainer for Christmas in the Country at Gem Theater in Heber Springs, with proceeds from the show going to buy presents for 250 needy children. On a national level, she helped raise funds for a home for abused children in Alabama.

In addition to her magic performances, Rebecca Lee is a member of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Cabot and volunteers in the AWANA’s program as a teacher. She was selected to represent her school, Cabot High, as their outstanding volunteer and recipient of the Prudential Spirit of Achievement Award. The American Cheerleader Association chose her to be their role model, sponsoring her induction into the 1998 Who’s Who in American High School Students.

This amazing young person makes all final decisions on scheduling her performances and keeps a group of five volunteer crewmembers on call. To earn money for causes she supports, she entertains for pay at birthday parties. Her Magic Mission grows with her. Her aim is that her show will raise funds for worthwhile causes, offer hope and cheer and above all, encourage others to volunteer.

Michael MacDonald

A history of tragic events led Michael MacDonald to become an activist in his South Boston community to reduce and prevent violence. He has become a major figure in the Citizens for Safety, a citywide coalition working to reduce violence in Boston, and initiated the Gun Buy Back Program and “Hands Without Guns”. He also works with at-risk youth and founded Southie Survivors and the annual South Boston vigil for families who have lost relatives due to violence. Michael remains dedicated to fighting for the eradication of violence and guns from the community.

As a child, Michael lived in a public housing project in a neighborhood that was plagued by poverty, alcohol abuse and drug related crimes and illness. He lost four of his siblings to violence and lived with the threat of his youngest brother being sentenced to life in prison for a crime he did not commit. Guns and their aftermath caused much of the sadness in his life. Thus, Michael began working with Citizens for Safety to counteract his feelings of grief, rage and helplessness for the tragedies he had suffered.

The Gun Buy Back Program, which Michael began in 1992, focused on getting lethal weapons out of the hands of youth. In four years, almost 3,000 guns were collected and destroyed. The program resulted in a large decline in youth violence in Boston. Several years later, Michael spearheaded the “Hands Without Guns” campaign, which used various media to highlight positive activities of young people. The program focuses on youth that have turned bad situations into positive work to bring peace to the streets. In 1995, Michael organized the South Boston Vigil to preserve the memories of young gun violence victims.

Michael still finds time to lecture to community organizations, high school and university students about the distinction between a “victim” and a “survivor.” According to Michael, this distinction is the key to preventing the self-pity and passivity that can accompany victimization. He prefers to live by the adage that “people who see themselves as survivors can move mountains” and provides a means by which survivors can help stop crime in their community.

Michael Thompson

Michael Thompson has been the Volunteer Disaster Chairman of the American Red Cross Cape Fear Chapter for nine years and has calmly weathered an unexpected heavy snowfall, hazardous material spills, residential and forest fires and several hurricanes. He has served on the State Disaster Committee, is a Disaster Services Instructor and has served on the Cape Fear Chapter’s Board of Directors. He has balanced the delicate act of assuring service delivery to the chapter’s three counties and established solid working relationships with emergency managers, fire departments and his colleagues in Red Cross chapters across the state.

Over the past nine years, Thompson has trained hundreds of volunteers in “Disaster Services Delivery Policy and Procedures” for this chapter as well as other chapters in the surrounding area. He is committed to the mission of the Red Cross and has given up his vacations on several occasions to serve his community. He also possesses a unique ability to lead, rallying forces within the community to attract and train new volunteers while retaining the experienced ones.

During Hurricanes Bertha, Fran, and Bonnie, Thompson led the chapter’s response efforts, which included sheltering more than 7,000 residents, bulk distribution of water and food and establishing first aid and comfort stations. He provided leadership to other cooperating response agencies in the selection and support of sites for mass care activities and service centers. During these three major weather-related disasters, he worked tirelessly with local disaster volunteers to facilitate the provision of vital products and services to those in need.

To date, Michael Thompson remains a calming force under the intense pressures of crisis situations and continually demonstrates the highest level of leadership to volunteers and paid staff. He is an integral part of the management team of the Cape Fear Chapter of the Red Cross and a leader on the Board of Directors. In 1997, his outstanding volunteer efforts earned him recognition as the first recipient of the Elsie Brannon Volunteer Excellence Award.

Ford ACTS Community Service Volunteer Program

Members of the Ford ACTS (Assisting the Community Through Service) Community Service Volunteer Program have been coming to the Dare to Care Food Bank in Louisville, KY since November 1990. Dare to Care is a community agency dedicated primarily to providing food, training and technical assistance to people in need. The work of the Ford ACTS retirees enables the agency to fulfill its mission of feeding over 150,000 people each year.

On May 15, 1998 this dedicated group of volunteers sorted their two millionth pound of food for Dare to Care. They are presently working hard toward reaching their goal of three million pounds. Group members also drive trucks to pick up bread from local grocery stores, help with special events, coordinate mailings and answer the phone.

In addition to the work they do for Dare to Care, they work for New Directions, repairing homes for the elderly. They also work for the Dream Factory, planning dream vacations for critically ill children. Each Christmas, they assist with the Salvation Army Angel Tree. Many of the Ford ACTS members are also members of the Kentucky Truck and Louisville Assembly Plant Crusaders who sell T-shirts to help the Crusade for Children, a local fundraiser for disabled children.

The Ford ACTS retirees certainly do much more than sit around in rocking chairs. On a daily basis, they are giving of their time, energy and talents to the community. They do the work with a sense of humor and have a good time working together. Of the fifty signed up to work with Dare to Care, an average of 25 members assist with the program twice every month. The work the Ford ACTS groups performs goes toward keeping the administrative costs at Dare to Care under 2% of the total budget and helps to solve the problem of hunger and other social problems in our community.

Alan Swendiman

In his 10 years of service to the Board of Trustees of the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, Alan Swendiman has served as an agent of change and pillar of commitment. His leadership has helped the Columbia Lighthouse extend its services and programs offered to the blind and low-vision community. Elected Chairman in 1994, Swendiman’s vision for the organization was quickly applied and has generated strong results. He recognized pertinent issues facing blind and low-vision individuals and spearheaded the development of programs to effectively address those issues.

As Chairman, Swendiman focused on issues such as employment, children’s needs and the emerging role of technology in the workplace. He spotlighted the 70% unemployment rate among those who are blind and sought to address it. In an effort to develop job skills and increase career opportunities for people who are blind or have low-vision, Swendiman led the board to support a career center, which has become a major service provided by the Columbia Lighthouse.

By focusing attention on the emerging role of technology, Swendiman effectively led the Columbia Lighthouse to its status as a pioneer in the field of assistive and adaptive technology. This progressive thinking was responsible for landing the Columbia Lighthouse a national contract from the U.S. Government to train federal workers in new assistive technology and software. Moreover, Swendiman’s interest in fostering the healthy development of blind children resulted in the creation of parenting workshops, quarterly newsletters and activities that allow blind and low-vision children to socialize and develop life skills. A true believer in the importance of personal involvement, each summer he attends the summer camp for vision-impaired children to interact directly with the campers.

Swendiman has also promoted community relationships through business luncheons and encourages involvement in organizations like the Greater Washington Board of Trade. He played an integral role in developing fundraising events, increasing organizational visibility, and has been supportive of creating new revenue streams. He is active in fundraising and recruiting, and has redefined the Columbia Lighthouse Board’s role, encouraging increased involvement and activity both internally and externally.

In his ongoing dedication to the cause, Alan Swendiman continues to serve on the Lighthouse Board of trustees as well as the committee planning the organization’s 100th anniversary celebration. His volunteer service does not end with his dedication to the Columbia Lighthouse. He is active in many education and community-based programs and is on the boards of such organizations as the Boy Scouts of America, Grace Episcopal School and Leadership Washington. His commitment, dedication and leadership have affected many lives and his innovative, proactive philosophy has helped the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind carry its tradition of service to new heights.

Margaret Walsh

Margaret Walsh helps children develop the building blocks they need to grow into adults with compassion, skills and knowledge about the world and their community. She started teaching at the age of 21 in the Spokane Public School System and impacted her students for 37 years. Currently, Walsh participates in the Spokane County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)/Guardian Ad Litem Program as a child advocate for abused and neglected children in Juvenile Court. The 26 children for whom she advocated in the last eight years now utilize the building blocks she set in place as an elementary school teacher.

Without a volunteer advocate, children have no voice in court. Approximately 30 dependency petitions alleging abuse and neglect are filed in Spokane County per month. Child advocates can serve only a few of the children represented by these petitions; there are not enough volunteers to meet the need. Walsh serves to fill this need and has become one of the most highly regarded and widely respected advocates that have served community children in the 17 years since the CASA program began.

Some of Walsh’s most difficult cases have taken up to six years for a permanent plan for the child to be achieved. During the years children are involved in Juvenile Court proceedings, Walsh has monitored court orders and reported to the judge when his/her orders have been violated. She has watched children grow from newborns or toddlers to school-aged children before their lives have achieved stability. She has interviewed parents made incompetent by mental illness or the effects of alcohol or drugs. Her interviews with community professionals and collateral sources have often provided essential information needed to resolve case problems.

Whenever possible, Walsh follows the lives of children and their parents after they have moved from her direct circle of influence. In her cases, there have been numerous times when parents’ rights to raise their child have been terminated, resulting in their child being adopted by a family who can provide a more stable and permanent home. She has maintained periodic contact with some of the parents whose parental rights have been terminated. For example, Walsh meets twice a year with the mother of the first case to which she was appointed, around the child’s birthday and again near Christmas, to share the child’s progress with his birth mother and to assure the birth mother of her child’s good health and happiness.

The action taken by Margaret Walsh on behalf of abused children has often made the significant difference in a child’s life. Without her investigation and follow-through, a child’s life could well have continued on a downhill path.

Mary Hall

Mary Hall manages an outreach office for Baby Find, located in M.A.S.H. Village, a homeless shelter in Las Vegas. The office opened in August of 1998 to serve homeless infants and children, many of whom live on the streets or in cars. Baby Find offers services that are not available anywhere else in the area. From this office, Mary distributes, free of charge, formula, bottled water, Playtex disposable bottles, diapers, baby wipes, zinc oxide (for rash and sun block aide), prenatal vitamins, sanitary napkins for homeless women, juice and snacks for older children, bus tokens, vitamins, blankets and weather appropriate clothing for infants and children of all ages.

Mary offers support and guidance to homeless parents and also gives community referrals. In addition to managing the outreach office, Mary has six long term non-homeless clients that she visits on weekends. Her six clients are young, mothers-to-be who need long term mentoring. Committed to reducing infant mortality, Mary works directly with women who may purchase narcotics rather than care for their babies.

Mary is an amputee with only one leg, but is determined to overcome her many challenges. It takes her two or three hours to commute via bus to and from the Baby Find office each day and she always works 40 hours per week.

Mary is committed in every sense, to improve the quality of life for these children. She selflessly sacrifices to advocate on their behalf. Mary is an extraordinary woman who is admired by all with whom she comes in contact.