Karli Schrider

Karli Schrider is a 26-year old woman living in Damascus, MD who has dedicated her life to raising the awareness of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and providing support and giving hope to those with special needs. Karli lives with FAS and though she faces difficult daily challenges, she continues to motivate and inspire thousands of others by her determination and her story.

FAS is the leading known cause of mental retardation in America and is the most serious consequence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. FAS refers to a pattern of physical abnormalities, irreversible mental impairments, and problems of behavior and cognition, including learning difficulties, poor impulse control and problems in memory, attention and judgement. Each year, as many as 8,000 children are born with FAS and 40,000 children are born with partial FAS or alcohol related birth defects—this more than those affected by other more commonly known health conditions such as Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Cystic Fibrosis, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Karli lives with mental retardation and other cognitive impairments associated with FAS. Despite her obstacles, Karli works a part-time job and volunteers at two United Cerebral Palsy sites where she assists individuals with severe physical and mental disabilities. She also volunteers at the North Hampton Nursing Home. In 1994, Karli began volunteering for the National Organization of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS). NOFAS is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC that is committed to raising public awareness of FAS and developing and implementing innovative ideas in prevention, education and advocacy in communities throughout the nation.

By allowing NOFAS to share her life story and experiences, Karli provides encouragement to others with FAS and the parents, families, caregivers and educators who support them. She also raises youth awareness of the disorder through the sharing of her message on the importance of not drinking alcohol during pregnancy at schools and teen summits.

During the last four years, Karli has appeared on numerous programs such as "The Leeza Show" and NBC's "Real Life" to help people understand the effects of FAS. Her last televised appearance generated more than 800 requests to the NOFAS Information, Resource and Referral Line. As a spokesperson for NOFAS, Karli provides a real life context for the importance of abstaining from alcohol during pregnancy, and the tragic consequences that can result from alcohol abuse.

Karli has created artwork used by NOFAS on its prevention materials and in its publications, and has helped NOFAS disseminate FAS prevention information. Most recently, Karli designed the new NOFAS logo that will appear on the organization's letterhead and other printed materials. Last year, Karli was presented with the NOFAS Achievement Award at the 1998 NOFAS Awards Benefit.

Karli's efforts have been invaluable in the continuing fight to increase the understanding and prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Mel Carter

Mel Carter, an owner of a small business in Spokane, WA, contributes countless hours to more than a dozen organizations, most of which broaden opportunities for young people in his community.

Mel has worked closely with the Spokane Police Department for years in crime prevention and awareness programs and in other programs benefiting the youth in Spokane.

For several years, Mel has worked with the “COPY Kids” program, which is designed to help at-risk young people, many of which are single parents. Mel works with the Police Department’s “PAL” (Police Athletic League) and is a mentor with the County Juvenile Court system in Spokane.

He was the first citizen honored by the Bethel AME Church for his work in bringing together disparate members of the community and finding avenues of communication about such topics as youth gangs, drugs and youth crime in Spokane.

Mel has helped obtain federal Department of Justice grants for Spokane’s Community Oriented Policing programs. He helped create District 81’s Truancy Center in 1994 and is a member of the board that administers the Police “COPS Substations” program, which has created the city’s ten neighborhoods substations, all staffed by citizen volunteers.

Mel is a volunteer recruiter for both the Spokane Police Department and the County Sheriff’s Department.

Mel has been active in the Big Brothers/Big Sister Program, helped to establish the Chase Youth Enrichment Fund, is Honorary Chairman of the annual A Family Affair program and is a member of the Gonzaga University steering committee on race relations.

He is an active member of the African-American Men’s Group, has been a board member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center and is a founding member of the Women and Minority Owned Business Association.

He is the Youth Internship Coordinator for the Spokane Community Colleges and in 1992, cofounded the Libby Teen Center.

Mel Carter has always been willing to help identify a problem, explore its implications, then help design and implement solutions. He follows through with his time, his expertise and his belief that one person can make a difference.

Geneva Hayden

Geneva Hayden wears many different volunteer hats. From tutoring neighborhood children on Syracuse’s south side to turning her living room into a library for children, Hayden gives unselfishly of her time to uplift children in her area. Her efforts have run the gamut from fundraisers to carpools and her work for the children of Syracuse is no small feat. A $1,200 grant from the Central New York Community Foundation enabled Hayden to build a library in her home. In the library, the children have access to 300 books and a computer. During their visits, the kids can get help with their homework. Each child must write a report at the end of the library visit.

With the help of her husband and four children, Hayden established a group called Communities United to Rebuild Neighborhoods. Under Hayden’s leadership, the group has organized a system of block captains that direct a neighborhood cleanup initiative. Hayden makes it her personal mission to revitalize a neighborhood that has succumbed to the pitfalls of drugs and violence. One of the organization’s projects was the beautification of a vacant lot filled with smelly trash and used as a shortcut to a local store. In May 1995, Hayden acquired the lot through a city program and worked with another community service group to clean up the lot. The lot is now called Village Garden, where crops such as collard greens, tomatoes, and broccoli grow, and is the direct result of Hayden’s civic-minded action.

A retired kindergarten teacher, she calls daily upon her desire to end the cycle of poverty, violence, and teenage pregnancy that affects her neighborhood to inspire her service to the community. She takes a young boy and girl into her care every morning as she rides them to McKinley-Brighton Magnet School. She wants to make sure that they are present in school and accounted for when the bell rings. After learning that the boy had 30 absences and was habitually late, she took it upon herself to assume the responsibility for he and his sister’s education.

However, children are not the only recipients of Hayden’s unceasing support. She teaches skills necessary for adults to be better parents. Seven families rely on Hayden to help them raise intelligent, independent children. Her assistance is a form of empowerment for these families. She not only lectures to them about the importance of education, but she also practices what she preaches. Hayden returned to school in 1997 to study for her high school equivalency diploma. Leading by example, Geneva Hayden turns her anger at neighborhood decay into action and results.

Bessie Hunter

The students at Kemp Elementary School who have benefited from her tutoring and guidance all know and love her. The other volunteers involved in the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP)/Kemp Elementary Help One Student to Succeed (HOSTS) Program are thankful for her willingness to substitute for them in their absence. Bessie Hunter is the lady who, as a volunteer in the program since its inception six years ago, continues to make a positive impact on the third and fourth grade students she helps every week.

A tireless volunteer, Hunter devotes a scheduled four hours per week to tutoring eight students in a one-on-one setting. However, her time commitment is generally increased by the countless hours she spends substituting for other volunteers who are sometimes unable to attend their arranged tutoring sessions. In addition to these duties, she actively recruits other volunteers to join the HOSTS program and work to fulfill its mission of providing individual attention to students in need of academic assistance to foster high self-esteem and the desire to learn.

Hunter understands how overcrowded classrooms and teachers with numerous administrative duties can prevent students from receiving the personalized attention that they may require. The success of the children with whom she has worked during the course of her service is a testament to the importance of her efforts. Volunteers and teachers who have worked alongside Hunter also gain insight from her experience and inspiration from her unceasing generosity of spirit. She takes her task of volunteer teaching seriously and attempts to instill the desire to learn in all of her students, most of who have been classified as being low achievers.

One thing is certain; Bessie Hunter carries her deep belief in the worth of all children with her to work every day. This is evident by her dedication to volunteerism and to contribute to quality education for all students at Kemp Elementary. Just ask the students she has helped along the way.

Virginia Kress

Volunteering became a way of life for Virginia Kress over 40 years ago. She actively volunteers at the Dayton Senior Center, the Day Break Shelter and her local church. Virginia founded the Kettering Christmas Day Open House 20 years ago, for which she has volunteered nearly 3,500 hours to ensure that others may have a happy Christmas.

For the past 20 years, Virginia has been a trip coordinator for the Dayton Senior Center. She volunteers her time planning trips for the seniors and accompanying them on those trips. Virginia also spends her time at the Day Break Shelter where she works on committees to form programs to protect the young runaways in her area. She was instrumental in the formation of the Youth at Risk program which provides a safe place, such as a firehouse, for the youth to go to at any hour. From this safe place, Virginia is contacted and then she picks the child up and escorts him/her to the shelter. Virginia’s summer months are spent at her local church where she helps run a summer day camp twice a week for junior high children. This camp provides activities and lunch for the young adults.

Virginia’s biggest undertaking is the Kettering Christmas Day Open House. The lonely in the community are invited to come and enjoy refreshments, decorate a tree and sing carols. This Christmas party is for the elderly, recently divorced, widowed, military personnel, college students, single parents and their children-people who otherwise would have been alone on Christmas Day. The Open House is held at Polen farm, a city owned property that is on a bus line which is handicap accessible. Virginia chairs a committee of volunteers who plan and organize the party, including buying and preparing the food themselves. Santa Claus always attends the party, as well as strolling musicians and clowns. Virginia works tirelessly for four months on the Open House. Through her efforts approximately 300 people have a place to go on Christmas Day.

Partners in Education

The purpose of Partners in Education, a partnership between the Lynchburg City Schools and the Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce, is to provide an umbrella program under which human, material and financial resources can be identified and managed. In addition, the program serves to encourage community interest, involvement and active participation in the educational programs offered through the Lynchburg City School System.

The program provides a structured approach to tapping resources in the community. It is designed to encourage broad community involvement and to raise awareness that a quality public education system directly impacts on the economic development and growth of the community. Each master partnership agreement is specifically designed to target identified goals and objectives of the division, school or specific program area.

The Partners in Education program started officially on September 4, 1990. The joint initiative of the school division and the Greater Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce resulted in a program to expand educational opportunities for students and an opportunity to link community resources with the school system. The program has enjoyed steady growth in the number of master partnerships being developed and an increasing depth of commitment and involvement by each partner.

Agreements are developed by planning committees of school and business/partner representatives and are based on identified needs and resources available. At this time, more than 105 master partnership agreements, each unique in design, have been established.

The wide variety of partnership participants and diversity of activities allows more than 9,325 students in the division to benefit either directly or indirectly from the program. With more than 4,000 hours of volunteer service, parents, college students, business representatives and others take an active role in supporting many partnership-sponsored programs and activities. All parties have reported that being involved in the partnership program has been both a positive and rewarding experience.

Employees who served as mentors, tutors and presenters and in many other roles felt a real sense of personal satisfaction and pride as a result of working with students. Partners proudly displayed student artwork, writing samples, letters and photos of employees with students, and invited students to tour partner facilities and to have student groups perform at partner meetings, socials, and special events.

Teachers and principals feel a greater sense of community involvement and support as they help prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow. This opportunity to work together, to seek creative ways to enrich educational experiences for students, has built a bond of trust and a better understanding between schools and businesses. As a result of the program, teachers, counselors, and principals are better informed about the economic base of the community, how academics are applied in the workplace and are better informed about the needs and concerns of those outside the school division.

Programs are serving a wide range of needs and are offering an opportunity for the community to take an active role in helping educate students. Many goals have been achieved as a result of the partnership program. These include the design and development of a dental careers program and lab facility, playground construction and school site improvements, new technology labs and modules, establishment of a dedicated science lab at an elementary school, after school tutoring programs, development of teaching and instructional units, intergenerational opportunities for children and adults to work together, internships for students, teachers, counselors, increased parent participation, improved student attendance and behavior, volunteers working with students, more than 300 senior partners participating in the Senior Partners Program, full scholarships for students participating in the accelerated learning project, field trips and tours, donations including computers, performing arts presentations, special programs for at-risk children, and a speakers bureau resource for teachers.

The Val R. Christensen Service Center

The Val R. Christensen Service Center, Utah State University’s official service organization, has been in formal existence since 1970.

The award-winning Center is uniquely organized—students direct and volunteer in each of the programs. The student Service Vice President is the director and is elected by the student body. More than 200 staff members and thousands of volunteers make up the Center. None are monetarily compensated in any way, except for the Service Vice President, who receives a small stipend and a tuition waiver. The secret to the Center’s success is recruiting dedicated volunteers. It is indeed an outstanding effort that takes place every year with very minimal resources. The Center is supported by one university staff advisor and a VISTA volunteer. The University provides the staff advisor, office space and other in kind donations to the program.

The Center’s programs are numerous and diverse as well as creative in delivering solutions to serious community problems. It operates 22 ongoing programs. A few are highlighted below.

Adopt a Grandparent
About 80 USU students are matched, one-on-one, with elderly people in the community to provide service and friendship through weekly visits.

Best Buddies
The Center’s Best Buddies chapter is affiliated with National Best Buddies. Forty students are paired up with adults with mental retardation.

Friends of the Elderly
Bingo, dances, caroling, one on one friend shipping and musical performances are just some of the ways that this group serves the elderly in the local community.

Project Pals
About 80 USU students are matched, one-on-one, with local youth ages 6 to 16 who are in need of a positive adult role model. Weekly visits and periodic activities serve to build lasting friendships.

Special Events
This group handles traditional projects such as blood drives, clothing drives, alternative spring breaks, etc.

Students Teaching Arithmetic and Reading (STAR)
The Center’s largest on-going program, STAR is a tutoring program based in elementary schools around the area. Each year, 300 USU students are assigned to specific classrooms where they tutor one hour per week.

Students Together Ending Poverty (STEP)
This is a new program tackling issues of poverty in the area. They are involved with Sub for Santa, Thanksgiving food drives, other food drives, short break trips helping the homeless and hungry, etc.

Students Teaching In the Classroom for Kids to Succeed (STICKS)
This is an after school program integrated into middle and junior high schools in the area, involving about 100 student-tutors.

Special Olympic Fall and Spring Invitational
Twice a year, students in this program create and run an invitational for Special Olympians across the state of Utah. These events require hundreds of hours of service by many USU students.

Volunteer Corp
Every month hundreds of USU students participate in a new, campus-wide service project developed by Volunteer Corp. So far this year, projects have included a leaf raking day, a fund raiser for Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) and a “Giving Tree” for Christmas.

In addition to these programs, the Center is very proactive in community involvement and in cooperative efforts among University and community groups. Each of the students who volunteer has made service a habit of the heart.

David Bresnick

David Bresnick is an advocate for the health of young people in New York City. He dedicated his time to spreading the message, “Don’t Smoke.” Besides helping young people avoid smoking, he also helps those who have, like himself, suffered the ravages of cancer.

After having successfully undergone a laryngectomy in 1983, David was spurred on to find a way to help others fight cancer. His involvement with the New York City office of the American Cancer Society first began in 1989 when he met the Society’s Assistant Director of Tobacco Control and Nutrition at a school where they were both presenting on the effects of tobacco. Ten years later, David is described as one of the most active volunteers in the Society’s education and outreach programs. His visits to schools incorporate facts and figures with personal testimony of cancer survivorship.

As a Society volunteer, David’s participation covers a spectrum of opportunities other than the educational support. It ranges from administrative assistance, to on-site functions at fund-raisers and health fairs, to orienting potential volunteers. However, his main focus is on students, especially elementary age children. Even in his seventies, he travels throughout New York City’s five boroughs and beyond to tell school children the real facts about tobacco. Teachers have reported that when David is speaking, even in the rowdiest of schools, you can hear a pin drop and students come up to him to hand over their cigarettes.

David’s mission does not stop within the classroom walls, he is often found on the subway talking to young people about smoking. His life goal is to reach as many young people as he can before he is no longer able to get around. He refuses to take taxi cabs to speaking engagements, citing expense to the organization and, occasionally, a school will give him a check to pay him for his efforts, of which he always donates back to the American Cancer Society so that it can go back into the fight.

He is often heard to say, “Adults don’t start smoking, adults are just teenagers smoking who couldn’t kick the habit.”

The Sibanye Mentor Program

The Sibanye Mentor Program is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, community-based mentoring and tutoring program providing assistance to elementary school students in the metropolitan Washington, DC area since 1988. The program utilizes the services of more than 40 adult and student volunteers. Its volunteers comprise a wide spectrum of the community, including the government, military and private sector. Its student volunteers are fulfilling their community service requirements and are from the metropolitan Washington school districts. The name “Sibanye” is a Kiswahili word which means “We Are One,” terminology which reflects the philosophy that it takes a village to raise a child.

The program targets elementary school age children, ages 7-14, from the metropolitan Washington, DC area. The program recruits adults and students as volunteers to serve as strong role models to mentor and tutor the students. The goal of the Sibanye Mentor Program is to support the family and the educational process by bolstering the fundamental skills of reading and math in students. This is accomplished by engaging in social and cultural activities geared towards enhancing values, growth and successful living. Training includes concrete skill exercises for mathematics and creativity exercises, as well as conflict management. The program incorporates a variety of skill building exercises which show students how to, for example, critically read a newspaper. As a fundamental part of this process, the program interacts with students in a group environment and addresses issues on a one-on-one basis, ensuring that each student’s individual needs are met. The core mentoring and tutoring takes place at the Bolling Air Force Base Chapel, Washington, DC each Saturday morning and runs from October through June.

The program’s students have consistently tested better and maintained better academic achievement test scores. A sampling of student report cards reveals most perform at the A and B level.

Eugene Doubek

Eugene Doubek has been a warrior in the battle for veterans’ programs for more than 45 years. As a member of VFW Verle Huffman Post 9644 in Englewood, CO, he has sworn to “honor the dead by helping the living.” Throughout the years, he has demonstrated outstanding leadership and commendable service to veterans. During this time, thousands of dollars have been donated to his community and other worthwhile charities throughout the nation.

One of the numerous examples of his concern is helping with the delivery of Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets to needy veterans and their families. He also shops for and delivers the food for various Post dinners and luncheons. He is chief cook, waiter, pearl diver and whatever other job needs to be done. Eugene helps set up for and prepare for bereavement dinners that are then given for the veteran’s surviving family members. On the day of internment, he is a member of the Honor Guard that performs the deceased veteran’s final honors.

Within the community, Eugene assists each year with the children’s Christmas party, Easter Egg Hunt, Halloween party and monitors the Just Say No to Drugs awards. He supports the Post and Auxiliary’s $6,000 Annual College scholarship program. Each year, he helps conduct two senior citizen days, a Thanksgiving Day Dinner and a Sweetheart Dinner on Valentine’s Day. For each of these events, approximately 200 senior citizens are bussed in to the Post home to be the honored guests of the Post and Auxiliary.

Eugene is described as a man who deals with a segment of the community that is not on the front burner in most communities and completely forgotten in others. He is said to reveal the unselfish motivation that causes one to volunteer to serve his country in time of war and then return home and serve his country’s veterans in time of peace.