TINKER COOPER

Central Florida has the highest per capita rate of heroin overdoses in the nation, and the death toll continues to rise each year. The communities and families there remain plagued by the consequences of drug use. Tinker Cooper lost her only son to a heroin overdose in 1996, and is an advocate for education and is fighting the war on drugs. She founded Families Against Drugs (FAD) in 1998 to provide support to families who have lost a child to drug overdose.

She has since evolved the entity into an action group that is dedicated to drug education and prevention. The group included those who have lost loved ones to drug overdose, families who have a family member in recovery or still using, as well as recovering addicts. Cooper retired from her career as a teacher to dedicate her life to drug education and deterrence. She spends her days, nights and weekends fighting drugs. In conjunction with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, she produced the emotionally charged video “Overdose: End of the Party”, which included actual crime scene photos of youth found after dying from a drug overdose. She uses the video and other literature when she teaches public, private and alternative schools; rehabilitation centers; drug education centers; churches, middle and high school groups; jails; juvenile facilities; and juvenile boot camps.

Cooper has also worked with the Florida Commissioner of Education to implement the video in all middle and high schools in the state. She continues to work with law enforcement agencies and governmental officials. Her aim is to enact stricter mandatory sentencing for drug dealers, drug treatment in jails, after-care for released prisoners, more beds and funds for treatment facilities and the development of a statewide overdose hotline.

Cooper is a national resource and has spoken at political events as well as testifying at several congressional hearings on drugs, including the Corrections Committee in the Florida State Legislature and in the Florida State Legislature at the Drug Summit. She also provides local, state, and national television and radio talk shows with drug information and families who contribute testimonials.

Cooper’s unwavering dedication to this cause has helped countless people. She donated her son’s brain for drug research after his death, and that selfless act resulted in important findings related to the damage done by certain drugs. The findings were published in the July 25th issue of Neurology.

Tinker Cooper received the Jefferson Award for community service, and she will continue her service in hopes of saving lives. Visit the Families Against Drugs Web site at www.fadinc.org

LARRY AMES

Larry Ames is a full time letter carrier and works between 40-45 hours per week. He is a member of the executive board of the National Association of Letter Carriers local branch #56 and an active volunteer coach in youth sports programs. This would be a full plate for an average person, yet this is just the beginning when you are speaking of Larry Ames. In addition to his dedication to his career and youth, he tackles the needs of hunger and health in the community.

The National Association of Letter Carriers organization is one of the longest running supporters of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. As a local branch, they follow the lead of their national officers with regards to supporting this cause. Ames solely leads the fundraising activities. Annually, he organizes and develops “shamrock sales” during the month of March, a golf tournament in July or August, as well as a softball tournament in September. Each of these events has occurred annually for a minimum of six years. In addition to this, Ames is also in the process of coordinating a Las Vegas night to further boost our donations. The fundraisers also include a 50/50 ticket sale at all of the branch meetings and the annual Christmas party. Under his leadership, the National Association of Letter Carriers has donated $10,000 annually to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Though time is a precious commodity, Ames also uses spare time to do more. He has coordinated another project that has become that largest one-day food collection in the nation. The letter carrier association, with support from the U.S. Postal Service and AFL-CIO, has successfully coordinated the largest annual one-day food drive. This task consists of addressing the advertisement directive to nearly 175,000 deliveries, as well as newspaper and billboard solicitations. Ames coordinates the efforts of nearly 500 volunteers in addition to seven semi trucks and trailers and many personally owned cars and trucks to make this event a success. Over the last five years, this project has collected nearly a million pounds of food to be distributed in the West Michigan area.

Ames receives compensation from the Postal Service for the one day of the food drive, but all the preparation work as well as the time spent on other projects is donated. Larry Ames is a gem in the Jenison, Michigan area and is embraced by all there. He has been nominated for awards through the United Way as well as JCPenney. Ames is also a regular blood donor at the Red Cross, and contributes regularly to the combined federal campaign.

SOPHIE PACKARD

The Natchitoches Parish School System was fortunate to have Sophie Packard as a part of their family for 31 years. During her tenure as an educator, she was active in Phi Delta Kappa and Delta Kappa Gamma, which entailed many service projects. Along with those activities, she also assisted her husband in his pastoral ministry as a church pianist. Now that she is retired, Packard devotes much of her week to the service of others.

Packard initially contacted her local Lions Club after retiring. She began her volunteer “career” there and continues to serve their programs. She accepted the challenge of working in the Lov’n Care Mission along with her husband. After a period of time, she became the Assistant Director, Office Director, and Food Coordinator. She assisted her husband amass and train a staff of volunteers that would reach out spiritually, physically, and emotionally to those in need. Under the leadership of the Packards, the mission was organized and expanded when the needs of the community arose.

In 1999, more than 20 churches were directly involved in the Lov’n Care Mission due to the diligence of Sophie. They now cooperate with the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Goodwill, Natchitoches Literacy Council, RSVP Program, Crisis Pregnancy Center and other service organizations in the area. Both the volunteers and recipients have been blessed through the program. More than 45,500 pounds of food has been dispensed, and over 30,000 pieces of clothing has been distributed. The program has also been able to distribute clothing to burnout victims as well as appliances, furniture, and other necessary items for the home. Those who are abused and homeless have also received the same assistance from the ministry.

In addition, Packard speaks at various churches to promote the cause of the Lov’n Care Mission. She has been featured in several radio and newspaper articles. This also keeps the public informed of what is being done in their community. Sophie Packard has been an integral part of keeping volunteers informed of service opportunities in her area. She has recruited for the RSVP Program, the Literacy Council, assisting with the Census 2000 endeavors, as well as the AARP. She was a leader as an educator and now continues that legacy as a volunteer.

JENNIFER BIRGE

Jennifer Birge has performed volunteer service from an early age. She had worked with the Special Olympics and other venues that benefited developmentally and medically challenged children. During the past summer, she volunteered over 400 hours to work at a special camp for physically and mentally handicapped and medically ill children. This experience crystallized her commitment to working with the disabled and challenged.

Jennifer was selected to serve as a Counselor-In-Training (CIT) at Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults (ASCCA). Participants at this camp presented with a variety of challenging disabilities or medical diseases. Their situations required constant supervision and sometimes intervention. Some of the campers had epilepsy, mental retardation, sickle cell disease, asthma, diabetes, sensory impairment, and a variety of other disorders. The CIT’s performed a variety of tasks for the campers. They were responsible for the personal care of the campers along with general housekeeping and assisting with camp activities. Jennifer has bathed and fed many debilitated campers and helped to take care of the living space. She also had many opportunities to make it possible for the handicapped campers to actually participate in camp activities like horseback riding, swimming, hiking and group games.

Camp ASCCA is a non-profit organization that provides services to people who would otherwise be unable to attend a camp. Many received scholarships from other agencies that made their camp experience possible. Volunteers like Jennifer make Camp ASCCA possible because they could not provide the service it does without them. Jennifer worked 100 hours per week at a CIT. Each day, she only had one to two hours apart from her campers. The position of CIT is physically demanding and emotionally draining. Though being a CIT was a challenge, Jennifer is awaiting next summer when she can repeat the entire experience.

Jennifer had a seizure disorder as a child and has been challenged with a math-related learning disability. Most people agree that a child who is looked at by others as different has to face many obstacles growing up. Jennifer was a camper at Camp ASCCA as a child. For the first time, she learned that she was able to do normal things and gain the same confidence that her peers possessed. Her experience as a camper contributed significantly to her development as an adolescent and her willingness to volunteer.

The achievements Jennifer made are real and lifelong. As she provided opportunities to other campers to gain confidence and new skills, Jennifer also gained the same. As she helped campers face new experiences and fears, Jennifer did also. She also learned about giving time and of herself while facing criticism from her peers for doing so. Her friends thought it was odd that she would give up four weeks of her summer vacation to work at this camp. Despite their initial misgivings, each weekend Jennifer was home; she shared her experiences, and her friends came to understand the challenges of handicapped children and Jennifer and the other CIT’s accomplishments. Jennifer has also volunteered at her school, Decatur High working with developmental students. Her compassion and unselfishness means a lot to those she serves. In addition to that, the youth are excited to see at least one other teenager who accepts them unconditionally and knows their joys and fears.

GUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND, INC.

The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc. was founded in 1946. It is a non-profit organization that provides guide dogs, free of charge, to people who are blind or visually impaired and seek the increased independence, mobility, and companionship that guide dog provides. The dogs are bred for gentleness and sound temperament as well as to be able to maneuver around obstacles and guide their owner to safety.

Most of us have dreams and goals; however, we would be disheartened if we had to attempt to achieve them in darkness. For most people with sight, the thought of becoming blind is difficult to comprehend. There are many citizens who live and have lived without sight all their lives, but they continue to be productive citizens.

The Guide Dog Foundation has small classes and individualized instruction. Each student receives special attention, and the meticulous matching program ensures that each visually impaired person is paired with the guide dog that best suits that person’s personality, lifestyle, and physical needs. Each of the clients is diverse. They range from attorneys and social workers to teachers and homemakers. The men and women served by the Foundation commute by subway, hold high-powered jobs, camp, ski, golf and play instruments. They come to the Foundation from all over America and abroad to train with a guide dog. This helps them in achieving their goals and dreams independently.

The training program is a 25-day in-residence curriculum at the Smithtown, New York campus. The blind person is taught the skills and commands needed to foster a successful team with the guide dog. The team can confidently and independently travel on suburban routes just as they can on city streets during the night or day. It is a challenge to form a successful team, but the Foundation meets it. The breeding and training of one guide dog is $25,000, and the Foundation makes that possible for 70 visually impaired persons annually.

The Guide Dog Foundation continues to provide its guide dogs free of charge. In addition to providing a second sight through the use of guide dogs, the Foundation offers public awareness to broaden society’s understanding of vision, visual impairment, blindness, and disability rights.

LONG TERM CARE OMBUDSMAN VOLUNTEERS

The Ombudsman Program is a nationwide resource that was founded in 1971. It was born out of a need to correct the abuse and neglect in nursing homes. Since its inception, more than 450 similar programs have been created throughout the United States. The first Ombudsman Program began in Missouri in 1978. Since that time, nine other Ombudsman organizations have been developed in the state in various regions.

The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP) was established to serve the St. Louis, Missouri area in 1979. It is the area’s most comprehensive resource that serves residents of nursing homes and their families. LTCOP is a nonprofit, independent, public service agency that supports and informs one out of every two Americans who may spend some time in a nursing home. It is the leading provider of advocacy services and information on nursing homes, regulations, and residents’ rights patients in nursing homes as well as the surrounding community. The volunteers spend about four hours weekly in assigned facilities. They get to know the residents, inform, and advocate for their rights in long term facilities.

The program is organized around four major areas. The volunteers provide advocacy for nursing home residents as well as information for nursing home residents and families. In addition to this, the team provides education for families, nursing home personnel, and long-term professionals. LTCOP also advocates for current and future nursing home residents specifically through legislative and administrative action.

It has been stated that the use of ombudsman volunteers is positively related with routine visitations and number of complaints made and resolved. These people are so important and provide a level of authenticity and grassroots participation that is lacking in many other systems that are designed to protect and support the elderly. The LTCOP team undergoes excessive training and is able to utilize a plethora of tools with regards to service and conflict resolution. They can serve as mediators, they can represent a resident at care plan meetings, and they can sit with the administration of the facility and speak on behalf or be there to support the resident while they speak to the administration.

Some services performed by Ombudsman include communicating regularly with residents, promoting communication among those involved with residents’ care and educating residents on their rights and other services available. Ombudsman are responsible for visiting an assigned nursing home one-half day per week during regular business hours, following up on any complaint and reporting back to the resident on the status of the concern, completing written reports after each visit, and attending quarterly in-service training sessions.

Older Americans need so little, but it is said that they need that little so much. LTCOP has been and will continue to meet the needs of those who fought to make our country what it is today.

SENIOR COMMUNITY CENTERS

Downtown San Diego has many low-income at-risk residents who need assistance. Many of their needs are met by the Senior Community Centers. The Senior Community Centers have been the leading provider of nutrition, advocacy, health, and social services for the underserved population of downtown San Diego for the past 30 years. The recipients are normally over 60 years old and may suffer from poverty, malnutrition, chronic medical conditions, mental illness, homelessness, and isolation. The services provided by the Senior Community Centers promote self-sufficiency and the ability for seniors to live independently for as long as they can. The program teaches healthy lifestyle choices and provides a continuum of expanded nutrition services.

The center serves meals 365 days per year at the Broadway center and Monday through Friday at two additional downtown locations. The center is the only organization that delivers breakfast and lunch to homebound seniors living downtown. By providing healthy and balanced meals in a safe and welcoming environment, the program reduces hunger anxiety, improves physical and mental well-being, and decreases the harm relation to taking prescription drugs without food. In addition to this, the volunteers reduce depression and isolation and improve seniors’ knowledge and practice of good nutrition.

The Senior Community Centers incorporate services that enhance both the physical and mental health of the clients. They have nutrition services as well as nutrition education workshops, medical case management and referrals, social work assistance, advocacy for senior citizens, housing assistance, intergenerational activities, and health promotion programs. The centers’ programs reduce harm and isolation and promote positive live choices. Last year the centers provided services to more than 5,000 seniors.

The efforts of the volunteers save the agency over $150,000 in personnel costs annually. Lunch is served by over 400 local professionals who volunteer through the “Serving Seniors” Program. The center also offers its senior customers the opportunity to also serve in a volunteer position to increase their feelings of usefulness and self-worth.

The Senior Community Centers have been recognized and honored with the 2000 Starfish Award for outstanding program development. As the number and needs of seniors in San Diego continues to grow exponentially, the services and support provided by Senior Community Centers are essential to responding to the challenges faced by these underserved seniors.

THE MEDICAL ACADEMY AT BERT FISH MEDICAL CENTER

Three years ago, The Medical Academy was established through a partnership with Bert Fish Medical Center and New Smyrna Beach High School. The four-year program pairs a painstaking academic curriculum with on-site job shadowing, internships, and research experiences with local medical business partners.

During the 1998-1999 school year, students spent 242 contact days career shadowing at Bert Fish. They also enroll in executive internships with directors, surgeons, and physicians. Bert Fish also regularly provides guest speakers to the high school. This partnership has furthermore developed and implemented healthy community awareness activities. The students in the Academy work with medical professionals to create health education programs for students at all grade levels. They also develop those same educational opportunities for the community at large.

Annually, 120-150 high school students usually are serviced by the Academy. This year, there are 190 students. This program is the highest attended academy for all of the high schools in the area.

New Smyrna Beach High School has been directly affected by the support from the Medical Center. BFMC not only helped to develop the Academy with the backing of high school officials, the related Bert Fish Foundation has provided grants to the Medical Academy totaling $123,000. Bert Fish Medical Center also has donated hospital equipment, established a volunteer program to allow students to volunteer on the nursing floors, provides free vaccinations and physicals to students and sponsors other events. The New Smyrna Beach community also has benefited from the partnership because of the health education programs developed by Academy students working with medical professionals.

The birth and continual growth of the Medical Academy at Bert Fish Medical Center will affect hundreds of students now and in the future. The Academy gives students and in-depth experience of the medical field, which helps them to choose their career path. Volusia County Schools named the Academy as the 1999-2000 Volusia Partner of the Year and they were also nominated for a JCPenney Golden Rule Award.

KIDS-AT-HEART

The Leighton Center for Senior Health is concerned with addressing the generation gap. Their intergenerational programming bridges the age gap between seniors and children. They hope each can better understand and appreciate each other for what they have to offer.

Kids-At-Heart is the umbrella name of the Leighton Center’s programs that are directed to seniors and young adults. There are four components to Kids-At-Heart: Baby Rockers, LaPetite Kids, NO BUTTS ABOUT IT, and School Angels.

Baby Rockers is a program that allows seniors to spend time with infants and toddlers. The children range from six weeks to 12 months of age and participate in daycare programs at the LaPetite Daycare Academy.

LaPetite Kids allows the children from the daycare academy in the four-year-old class to visit the Leighton Senior Center monthly. The visits take place during the entire year prior to the children starting Kindergarten. They have monthly projects where the children and their “foster grandparents” have a learning activity or project that ranges from making pies to visiting the hospital.

NO BUTTS ABOUT IT is a program aimed at educating children on the facts about smoking. Senior teams present a 30-minute program to Kindergarten through third grade students. It proves how a few basic principles and an entertaining presentation can make a lasting impression on children. By the end of 2000, it will have reached about 2,800 students. Each of those children will have been educated about the effects of smoking, and it is designed to prevent smoking among youths before they are ever tempted to begin.

School Angels is the final component of Kids-At-Heart. This programs allows seniors to assist elementary school teachers with projects during the school day and in after school programs. The senior angels are available and able to undertake and assist in any way possible. This program was developed and implemented this year and consideration is being given to expanding it to assist disabled students during test taking situations.

Kids-At-Heart appreciates and utilizes the wisdom of seniors while also exposing younger children to their knowledge and love. The Leighton Center sees the need to bring the two age groups together to nurture and educate each other.

ANNIE TALLEY

Many friends and admirers in the Daytona Beach community know Annie Talley as Grandma Talley. It is impossible to count the number of people she has touched as she has always made her home a place of refuge with a revolving door for hundreds of runaways and troubled children.

Annie Talley was born during the Great Depression. She was very poor, but her family did not realize it because everyone else was also impoverished. Her parents were very giving people and taught her that they never had so little that they could not always share with someone in need. In addition to that, they explained that people instead of possessions are important in life. Talley did not have an easy life; and as an adult, she was in the midst of cardiac arrest and given medication that had adverse affects. Her body reacted to the medication and a blood clot formed in her leg. She had to have one of her legs amputated, but she tirelessly continued her life of service.

The homeless/transient population of Ortona is approximately 70 percent. Families live in the streets or in the woods, and Talley saw that they needed help as well as an advocate. She began to spend countless hours begging for old clothes, shoes, school supplies, toys and bicycles for those in need. In addition to that, she began collecting furniture that was discarded on the side of the road.

Grandma Talley has raised six children and assisted with raising 13 grandchildren based on the life principles set forth by her parents. Since 1955, Talley has been volunteering in various capacities in the Daytona Beach area. She has been active in the P.T.A. of Ortona Elementary School and founded The Family Center at Ortona.

A trailer was vacated on the school grounds at Ortona, and Talley saw an opportunity to fulfill her dream. This trailer was the new home of the Family Center at Ortona Elementary School. Grandma Talley now had a place to keep and distribute all the donations as well as a haven for those who needed other types of assistance. Each week, the center distributes clothing to all family members in need and assists those who are in desperate need of food and lodging.

Indigent, rejected and down-and-out families in Daytona Beach find their way to Grandma’s Family Center. There, Talley makes those who may not have anything at all feel like “ a million dollars”. She has compassion and desires all those who come to the center to keep their dignity. People know that the Center is a place where they will be accepted and can get assistance to help turn their lives around. Many of the families are connected with other agencies that can assist with more permanent solutions.

Annie Talley has taught classes on home safety, CPR, childcare and she has sponsored a GED program. She is a tutor and a mentor to the Ortona students and their parents. Each summer, she takes eight to 12 children to her home in Virginia to experience a different part of life. Grandma Talley doesn’t complain because she has one leg and has to sometimes use a wheelchair. She could make excuses and be down and out herself, but she is a phenomenal woman who is an extraordinary example to everyone she meets.