Kristina Skagen
Kristina Skagen, a graduate of Homestead High School in Mequon, WI, was a delegate to the “Wisconsin Promise” her senior year, fall 1997. The summit brought together young people, corporations, non-profit groups, universities and colleges, local and state government and concerned citizens to assist local communities in implementing the five national goals of “America’s Promise” for youth. This summit inspired Kristina to make a difference in her school.
Kristina began a Volunteer Club at Homestead High School in the fall of 1997 to provide students with an opportunity to give back to their community. The initial meeting was attended by 70 students who wanted to make a difference. The Volunteer Club is involved with many projects, many of which are long-term.
One of the projects that will be continued indefinitely is the tutoring/mentoring program. The idea for the program began when teachers at the junior high level approached Homestead High School expressing a need for tutors for their students. In response, Kristina immediately developed a set of guidelines, held training sessions and implemented the program, which has grown from a simple tutoring program to a rewarding mentoring program.
Additionally, Kristina has organized an AIDS walk for the students and is organizing opportunities for students to work in a local food pantry. Kristina spends her lunch hour handing out a variety of volunteer information to her fellow students to make them aware of how they can get involved in the community. Thus far, she has logged in more than 500 hours of community service.
The Detwiler Foundation Computers for Schools Program
The Detwiler Foundation Computers for Schools Program is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 organization founded in September 1991 by John, Diane and Carolyn Detwiler. The Computers for Schools Program was established to help prevent underprivileged children from being shut out of the world of technology. The mission of the program is to provide schools with high-quality computers and other technology to enhance instruction, reduce the ratio of students per instructional computer to 5 to 1 or less, meet the needs of employers by increasing the technology aptitude of the future work force and facilitate the donation of computer equipment that could be better utilized in schools and nonprofits.
The founders of the program recognized that the lack of computers and computer knowledge affects young peoples’ success in a global economy and that the majority of desirable jobs require some interface with computers. Because schools lack computers, many students who cannot afford home computers get little or no exposure to technology.
Thousands of individuals, corporations and government agencies have donated surplus equipment for refurbishing. A new law provides substantial federal tax credits for corporations that donate used computers that are no more than two years old. The Detwiler Foundation is often able to upgrade donated equipment. The refurbished computers available to schools are very high quality, enabling classrooms to take advantage of today’s multi-media opportunities. The majority of Detwiler Foundation refurbished computers have 486 or 586/Pentium processors.
The Detwiler Foundation is becoming a national clearinghouse to facilitate technology donations to schools and nonprofits. With such a broad reach, corporations can donate used equipment nearly everywhere they have operations. The Department of Corrections assists in refurbishment and transportation. By learning computer repair, inmates also learn marketable skills for gainful employment. Since 1991, the Computers for Schools Program has placed more than 54,000 computers into schools and nonprofit organizations.
Stork’s Nest
Operated out of a local church, Stork’s Nest is a program of the Siouxland District Health Department designed to promote healthy babies and is sponsored by the Omaha chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Stork’s Nest’s goal is to encourage women who have high-risk pregnancies to take good care of themselves and their babies before and after pregnancy. The women are encouraged through an incentive and educational program where points are earned for positive pre-and post-natal care. The points earned by the mothers may be redeemed at an incentive “store” for items such as diapers, bathtubs, bottles, baby wipes, baby clothes, strollers and cribs.
Women enrolled in Stork’s Nest earn incentive points in a variety of ways—by attending Stork’s Nest educational classes, getting regular checkups for themselves and their babies, abstaining from alcohol and drugs and pursuing their education. A woman can earn points until her child is 15 months old and can redeem them until the child’s second birthday. Should a father become the primary provider after a child is born, he may also participate and earn points.
Offered each Wednesday in both English and Spanish, the classes cover the basics of prenatal health, childbirth and delivery, as well as how to care for a newborn baby. In addition to the core prenatal and childbirth courses, courses are also offered on topics such as infant and child safety, how and where to use car seats, classes on oral hygiene, legal issues for tenants, housing issues, speech and language development, poison and burn prevention and more.
Since opening in 1993, Stork’s Nest has served more than 2,000 women who have high-risk pregnancy factors and has made a positive difference in the health and welfare of children in Siouxland.
Stork’s Nest of Siouxland is supported by a partnership of four Sioux City agencies concerned with children’s health. The United Way of Siouxland, Siouxland District Health Department and Sioux City’s two hospitals—Marian Health Center and St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center—are working together to support Stork’s Nest of Siouxland. Through the new partnership, the organizations fund a full-time facilitator position to organize and oversee classes, draw more women into the program, operate the incentive store and apply for grants. The store is stocked entirely by grants and donations from the community.
Kenwoods Learning Center
Dade County, at the Southern tip of the Florida peninsula, is home to 2.1 million people. The natural boarders of the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Everglades National Park to the west limit residential expansion. At the same time, rapid urbanization has resulted in the loss of 98.4% of native forest area. In 1986, a group of parents, teachers and children, began building a native tropical forest, called the hammock, in a barren section of the Kenwood Elementary School grounds. From the beginning, the intent of the Kenwoods Learning Center has been to create a laboratory to foster appreciation of Florida’s native plant heritage.
Kenwoods Learning Center is amply fulfilling its mission. Teachers routinely use the hammock as a curriculum resource. Students, parents, and friends participate in workdays four or five times a year in which they plant new trees, mulch, clean up trash and remove invasive plants. As they do, they learn in a hands-on fashion the difficulties and joys of caring for their own forest. Two picnics every year typically include “adult time” with talks by native tree experts, landscape designers or tree pruning specialists. A guidebook helps schools, families, and visitors learn about the project’s history and scope. Volunteers are producing a videotape series on various aspects of the Learning Center for the school’s closed circuit TV system. Additionally, in the future, a butterfly garden in the school’s main courtyard will provide a new educational aspect.
The larger community is also benefiting. This project has served as a model for similar projects at numerous other schools. Many school groups have visited the center. It has served as a demonstration project for community college native plant landscape classes. It has hosted the Native Plant Society’s annual conference. Scouts have successfully fulfilled nature and public service requirements at the center. Neighbors have landscaped their homes using native trees due to the knowledge they obtained at the center. Additionally, the site has become a favorite bird-watching observation post for Tropical Audubon Society members.
Pipeline Northern Arizona University
Arizona has the second largest percentage of high school dropouts in the nation. Even among those who do graduate high school, poor, first-generation college students have a lower chance of getting a bachelor’s degree. Dr. Cathy Small, an anthropology professor at Northern Arizona University (NAU) responded to a 1996 report on the state of education in Arizona that outlined these problems. Local data showed that intervention programs designed to help first generation college students are often started too late in the school career, lack enough parental involvement and lack enough continuity to make a difference in student lives.
In partnership with Flagstaff Unified School District No. 1 of Coconino County and Big Brothers of Flagstaff/Big Sisters of Northern Arizona, NAU formed the Pipeline Program based on the principles of early intervention, parental involvement and long term mentoring. The program pairs seventh grade students with NAU faculty and administration, who mentor the students in a one-on-one relationship over a period of five years. The program’s goal is to assist these first generation college students in achieving academic and personal success during middle and high school, developing skills needed for them to successfully enter and complete a college education at NAU.
The 1998-99 school year is the first year of the NAU Pipeline Program. The Pipeline currently mentors 10 eighth grade students and will expand next year to include a second cohort of 10 students. Each mentee is assigned a volunteer mentor, who is a university faculty member or administrator and who will work with the same mentee over a five-year period until the student formally enters NAU. Big Brothers/Big Sisters selects the students and screens all mentors, providing an intensive training program for the mentors selected. The mentors and mentees meet at least once a week for 10 weeks, in both the fall and spring semesters. Each student who completes the program will be awarded a full four-year scholarship to NAU, from a scholarship fund created by NAU President, Dr. Clara Lovett. At the present time, the scholarship fund will cover half of the scholarships for 20 mentees and fund-raising efforts have begun to raise funds for the other ten scholarships.
Students chosen for the program must be first generation college students. Because there is a commitment to long-standing local families, all mentees must have been in the Flagstaff School District since kindergarten. Parents must have a commitment to their child’s participation and give their written consent to follow the rules of the program. Mentees have been identified by counselors and teachers as being “academically promising” and having potential “leadership ability.” Most are in the top half of their class. Although most students selected have household incomes below the poverty level, the program considers children from households with annual incomes as high as $45,000. To stay in the program, students must maintain a 3.0 grade point average by their sophomore year in high school and remain in good disciplinary standing.
In addition to their grant from NAU, Pipeline receives money and support services from Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Flagstaff Public Schools and community organizations like the Mexican-American Counsel. Pipeline also does fundraising and is applying for grants from companies such as Coca-Cola Foundation, but has not yet been funded.
Chip Hunter
Chip Hunter is the founder and executive director of Art Share Los Angeles, an organization that serves as an arts incubator. Located in downtown Los Angeles’ artists’ district, Art Share is a 30,000 square foot space dedicated to the performing and visual arts. Art Share is Hunter’s vehicle for linking the arts and artists with the local people and businesses to create a stronger, more effective and creative community.
Hunter started Art Share Los Angeles (ASLA) by investing his entire personal savings and working 12 hour days 7 days a week for the last 18 months. He has personally supported three employees with those savings and is now starting them on salary even before receiving any grants or foundation support. He, however, continues to work without a salary until such time as income allows without adversely affecting the organization.
Art Share’s outreach programs, educational courses, community programs, beautification projects, theater productions, gallery exhibits and other events have served more than 5,000 people during its first year of operation. Volunteer hours in support of Art Share’s mission are estimated in excess of 6,000 hours over the first year and the present year’s population served is expected to double.
Utilizing a background in the manufacturing industry, national retail sales and nonprofit social service management, Hunter has managed to: obtain a full mortgage to purchase the new site, acquire in excess of $1 million for renovation of low-income housing to support the artist in residence program and lay a secure foundation through board development, marketing and sheer persistence.
But with all that has been accomplished to date, Chip Hunter is not planning on resting anytime soon. Art Share is intended to be more than a Point of Light in the Los Angeles community. Art Share is being developed as a model for nonprofits of the next millennium. With the interest and support mounting from individual and corporate potential funders, Hunter is working to develop Art Share incubators throughout the country.
The Grumpy Old Men
The Grumpy Old Men form the backbone of the Wabash Valley Habitat for Humanity home building program in Terra Haute, IN. This group builds low-cost, affordable homes for deserving families through volunteer labor and fund-raising efforts. The men in the group are all retired from a variety of professions.
The volunteer labor of the Grumpy Old Men on a house begins with site preparation and installing the foundation. They frame houses, build and install trusses, attach roof decking, install insulation, windows, doors, fixtures and wiring. These volunteers do all the tasks, big and small, required in building a home. While churches and various service organizations also assist with building activities on Saturdays, the “Grumpies,” as they are affectionately called, work a minimum of two days each week. The Grumpy Old Men work year round enduring all seasons and any weather. In addition to the home building efforts, two of the Grumpies build outdoor storage sheds that are sold to raise funds for the Habitat for Humanity program.
The labor donated by the men enables Habitat to sell a home for basically the cost of construction materials. Thus, a house that on the open market would cost $70,000 can be sold to a recipient family for approximately $35,000.
To date, 21 homes have been built and two more are in progress. In addition, the Grumpy Old Men are now completing a benefit home that will be sold on the open market. Because of the donated labor in this home, it will be an important fundraiser for the Wabash Valley Habitat program.
Friends of the Chicago River
Friends of the Chicago River, a nonprofit organization founded in 1979, envisions a Chicago River lined with homes, parks, cafes, canoe launches, thriving businesses, quiet spots, natural habitats, and historic sites. To make that vision reality, the river needs increased attention, beautification and a good cleaning every now and again.
River Rescue Day was conceived six years ago as one of the many strategies to revitalize the Chicago River. River Rescue Day not only cleans the river and its banks, it raises awareness about the river. The success of the program is evidenced by its rapid growth—from 30 people at one site in 1992, to more than 1,200 volunteers at 35 sites in 1998.
Volunteers are involved in all aspects of River Rescue Day. Site Captains mobilize and supervise clean-up efforts. Volunteers collect trash from the riverbanks and in the river itself, organize a post-cleanup picnic at a river-edge park and take picnic goers on canoe trips on the river. Businesses, government agencies and organizations donate cash and in-kind support.
River Rescue Day is made possible by people who, in survey, often cited that their main reason for participating was “to make a difference.” Many of these volunteers revisit their sites between Rescue Days, acting as unofficial river-edge stewards and becoming active River Advocates throughout the year.
An estimated total of more than 70 tons of trash has been collected by River Rescue Day volunteers over the years. The event draws more than 1,200 volunteers.
George Elle
In 1992, Dr. George Elle, a retired Texas Tech University Associate Dean of Agriculture, approached the South Plains Food Bank to see if its representatives would be interested in having an apple orchard to provide fresh fruit for its clients. Despite the thoughts of impossibility due to the region’s climate, in which the food bank is located experiences record-setting heat, dry spells, the representatives approved the undertaking based on Dr. Elle’s expertise in the area.
The following year, with land from the Kingsbury family and support from the Rotary District 5730, Dr. Elle began the arduous task of planting 1,200 trees himself. He hand watered each tree in the hot July sun one gallon at a time. The following year, he planted an additional 1,300 trees, supervised the installation of a fence around the orchard and a drip irrigation system. Each year, he alone has pruned each tree.
In 1997, he coordinated the first harvest, which netted 30,000 pounds of apples. This year, the crop produced 59,000 pounds. The food bank educates its clients to eat more nutritionally; the apples provide clients with tools to do just that. The apples are used for food boxes, charities and in community kitchens. Eventually, as the trees mature, the orchard is expected to produce up to 400,000 pounds of apples annually, of which a portion will be dehydrated and shipped worldwide.
Many of the volunteers who work with Dr. Elle during harvest are senior citizens. As they return each year for their work, they share a sense of ownership and pride in the orchard and build connections between themselves, the food bank and those who are served by it. Operators of the food bank have expressed gratitude for Dr. Elle and his providing volunteer opportunities to older citizens, who might otherwise be isolated and uninvolved.
Dr. Elle, now 84, continues to volunteer eight to ten hours a day, sometimes seven days a week. He receives no stipend or salary.
Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service
More than 12,000 volunteers from the Philadelphia region participated in 300 community service projects as part of the 4th annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service. The record number of volunteers made it the nation’s largest service initiative on the King Holiday for the fourth consecutive year and Philadelphia is the first city to embrace the service aspect of the federal holiday. Last year the Day of Service drew 7,000 volunteers.
Volunteers from all backgrounds, ages and sectors of the city transformed the federal holiday into a day of active citizenship and service to others, which reflects Dr. King’s life and work. Participants took part in a wide variety of service projects that included, renovating houses at Habitat for Humanity sites, preparing and serving food at homeless shelters, beautifying schools and recreation centers, holding legal clinics, cleaning parks, making quilts with senior citizens, training volunteers as reading tutors, reading books to children, teaching conflict resolution skills and performing plays about Dr. King and non-violence.
Many King Day of Service projects will continue throughout the year.
The organizers of the event have promoted the five-goals of America’s Promise/The Alliance for Youth to provide important fundamental resources for children and youth and encouraged all service projects in the region to embrace those goals.
The Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service has been organized and directed during its four years by Todd Bernstein, founder and director of The Citizenship Project, an organization which promotes active citizenship and volunteer service year-round, particularly among young people. The 1999 King Day of Service has also been organized by the United Way VOLUNTEER CENTER of Southeastern Pennsylvania, with support from the Philadelphia’s Promise/The Alliance for Youth.
