KAREN TARNEY

There is an epidemic in the United States that kills and injures without a moment’s notice – drug-impaired driving, an issue few in the United States even realize exists. Statistics indicate that between 40 and 60 percent of arrested drivers have one or more drugs in their system. A witness to this epidemic firsthand, Karen Tarney is devoted to waking up the country to this social problem.

In 1989, while driving on the freeway, Tarney and her husband, Dick, were rear-ended by a driver high on cocaine. While her husband received only minor injuries, Tarney received permanent, life-threatening injuries that have required her to endure sixteen surgeries. Ten years later, Karen still undergoes surgeries, hospitalizations, and medical care. Unfortunately, the reporting officer that responded to Tarney’s accident lacked the needed skills to detect the other driver’s drug impairment at the original crash scene.

Determined to do something positive about the use of illegal drugs, impairing medications, and inhaled products that impair drivers behind the wheel, Tarney and her husband formed Citizens AgaiNst Drug Impaired Drivers (C.A.N.D.I.D.) in 1990, to prevent this tragedy from happening to others. The Tarneys have dedicated the last nine years to helping CANDID grow into a national non-profit organization, without pay, and often contributing their personal resources. CANDID’s mission is to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities due to all illegal drugs, prescription and over-the-counter medications, and inhaled products that impair driving. Karen Tarney works daily at CANDID to further the awareness of this issue and to guide and direct CANDID’s unique and trailblazing message.

Tarney works to make CANDID the link between professional groups and the community. Since young adults have the highest instance of fatality in these accidents, CANDID works with youth groups and driver education classes teaching them about drugged driving before they get behind the wheel. CANDID’s goal is self-responsibility for all. CANDID also works to inform workplace drivers, elderly, and the community at large. Tarney gives out annual awards at the Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) conference from CANDID, to those working in the field of drug-impaired driving. She relentlessly pursues funds for CANDID and speaks to the media, corporations, community groups, and individuals to bring this issue into public awareness. She longs to see the Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) programs in place throughout the United States and the world. Recently, Tarney returned from a trip to the Netherlands and South Africa where she talked to officials about putting the DRE program into place.

Recent federal studies show that more than a quarter of all drivers have used drugs within two hours of getting behind the wheel and Tarney continues to live in fear of another crash. This fear drives her efforts to make CANDID a household name, with chapters in every community.

COMMUNITY BRIDGES

In June 1997, Naomi Nim and Mary Freeman decided to address problems facing girls from low-income families in their community. After conducting an initial evaluation, they implemented an effort called “Community Bridges,” a nonprofit organization that takes advantage of the multicultural diversity of both its target audience and community in an effort to empower these girls. Its programs respond to the susceptibility of the girls to poor health development, academic failure, and future economic instability.

In its first year, a once a week after school program called “Jump Start Girls! Adelante Ninas!” was created. The project supported a diverse group of 30 participants, who were determined based on interest in the program as well as risk to the issues the organization addresses. The program provided an alternative to staying home and allowed girls to benefit from an all-female environment. Girls discussed growing up female and dreams for the future, studied dance through local dance groups, gave safety presentations to younger students, and went on field trips, including one to a local newspaper. Furthermore, girls attended several mother-daughter workshops with their female family members, which provided team building and family quilt-making activities. Through the events, participants were able to share about their own cultures and ethnicity as well as learn about others.

In the second year of operation, Community Bridges has expanded their outreach participant-wise, program-wise, and community-wise. The after school program now encompasses three local elementary and middle schools, and mother-daughter events are held every month. Through increased funding, they have enhanced their previous programs to address the needs of both new and returning participants. This year, Community Bridges started a project in which the girls create their own community action projects. In addition, the after school program has forged an alliance with the University of Maryland College Scholars, which taught their science unit. The dance instruction has continued and health and career focus units for the girls are forthcoming. Furthermore, the organization’s support and volunteer base has grown.

By combining multiculturalism with community service, Community Bridges has been able to address its community problems in a unique way. The program serves as a microcosm of American society, encouraging participants to appreciate culture and diversity among themselves and their peers. Volunteers are both male and female, spanning a variety of ages from the college student to the professional. This diversity has benefited both the girls and organization itself. Also, through service for and with their community, Community Bridges has stressed self-sufficiency to its participants and thus created an environment that will sustain programs and ideas.

FAMILIES OF SMA

SMA is the number one genetic killer of children under the age of two. It is a group of inherited and sometimes fatal diseases that destroy the nerves controlling voluntary movement such as crawling, walking, head and neck control, and swallowing. Every day, at least two children are born or diagnosed with SMA and within the first two years of life, one of them die. This disease affects 1 in every 6,000 live childbirths. SMA has no age or ethnic preference and 1 in 40 people are carriers of the SMA gene. Families of SMA funds research, provides patients and family support and information, loans equipment to patients, and sponsors educational conferences and support groups.

Families of SMA is a 100% volunteer not for profit organization. A number of significant research breakthroughs have occurred as a result of the funding provided by Families of SMA including mapping and cloning the gene responsible for SMA, identifying the gene protein, and developing carrier testing, allowing couples to identify their risks before they conceive. In addition, an international compilation of genetic histories of families with SMA was sponsored at the University of Indiana, and supporting research has been done to create an SMA mouse model, which will lead to the testing of various treatments including gene therapy.

In addition, Families of SMA has initiated and supports the collaboration of scientists from around the world through the North American Spinal Muscular Atrophy Research Group. Familes of SMA also maintains an equipment pool with equipment ranging from suction machines to electric wheelchairs, which are available at no cost to members on an as needed loan basis.

In 1998, members of Families of SMA undertook their first “Climb for a Cure.” This awareness and fund raising event involved families climbing 12,575 feet to raise awareness. In addition, the organization’s annual conference is the only place for families and professionals to meet together to discuss the latest information and treatments for SMA. Families of SMA is responsible for including language in both the Senate and House appropriation bills for 1998, encouraging NIH to focus on SMA. This is the only national organization that specifically provides assistance to families in the form of equipment loans, education, conferences, emotional support and research.

In 1998, Families of SMA funded more than $1.2 million in research grants. These funds were not raised through corporate sponsorships or large scale events, they were raised through grass roots efforts, such as: a bicycle ride held by parents in Martinez, California; a gold tournament organized by a family in South Charleston, West Virginia; and a craft show in Belle Mead, New Jersey.

As mentioned, Families of SMA is a 100% volunteer effort. Families of SMA was founded in 1984, by a group of concerned parents, today this group is a major force, with 12 chapters across the United States and abroad and more than 2,500 member families. This group is determined to work until there is a cure for SMA.

CATHY ROBINSON

Since 1992, Cathy Robinson has dedicated her life to educating people from all walks of life about HIV and AIDS. A teacher, with a degree in education from Florida Atlantic University, Robinson is also the victim of AIDS. She contracted the HIV virus as a student when she was robbed and raped while working at a convenience store. Her husband too has AIDS.

After much soul-searching, Robinson set out on a road that has taken her around the state of Florida to educate many different people. She has made more than 4,000 presentations in the last eight years. These include presentations to students in more than 20 school districts and at more than 40 private schools and colleges. She has addressed parishioners in close to 200 churches in the last two years, and has given programs for Seminole Indian tribes, migrant farm workers, prisoners and drug addicts.

Robinson is highly respected by medical professionals. She has made presentations to physicians and nurses at several hospitals, including Florida Hospital Orlando, Florida Hospital Heartland Division, and Holmes Regional Hospital.. All are impressed by her medical knowledge. She has also given presentations to employees at major corporations, including Corning Labs, General Motors, Walt Disney, Digital, Roche Pharmaceuticals, NASA and J.C. Penny. In summary, she has donated thousands of hours.

Robinson is reported as having the remarkable ability to adapt her message to whichever audience she is address. Children learn how important it is not to touch someone else’s blood. Teenagers learn how important it is to practice abstinence. Drug users are urged to kick the habit or to not share needles.

Robinson provides information in an accurate, honest and open fashion. Her programs are interactive and use real life examples. She encourages any and all questions. She shares her experiences, discusses the discrimination that many encounter, and tells what it is like to live with the virus on a daily basis. She also challenges those who attend her programs to go out and educate at least three other people about HIV and AIDS.

In addition to addressing community groups, Robinson holds other volunteer positions. She serves on the Advisory Board of the River Fund, an AIDS Hospice in Sebastian, Florida; and she is the organization’s education director. Robinson also serves as the Education Director for the Central Florida chapter of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Names Project. This project brings panels of the quilt, which was first displayed on the Mall in Washington, DC, several years ago, to increase AIDS awareness.

Committed supporters of Robinson came together in 1998 to form the Cathy Robinson Foundation. The immediate goal was to raise funds to assist Robinson with transportation and living expenses, as she travels the State with her educational message. The long-range goals is to assist children whose parents have AIDS, especially as the parents become less and less able to care for them. The idea would be to provide these children with supportive services and financial aid for their post-secondary schooling. Robinson believes this is a need to which few are giving attention at the present time.

As the mother of two children, Robinson has seen what AIDS can do to the family network. She feels fortunate to have understanding parents who are helping with the care for her children. She knows it is a sacrifice for her parents as they approach retirement age. She knows too that many others who have AIDS do not have this supportive network.

The Cathy Robinson Foundation has raised $20,000 so far, all of it from the community. Part of the money is being used to produce two educational videos, featuring Robinson in her role as a teacher. Profits from the distribution of the videos will be recycled into the Foundation.

SHADOW BUDDIES, LLC

Designed to be a friend “just like me”, Shadow Buddies grew out of the personal experiences of the company’s founder – Marty Postlethwait. Postlewait’s son, Miles, was born with numerous congenital defects. A passing statement, one coated with the innocence of youth, became the impetus for Shadow buddies. Miles let it be known that he really wanted “A friend that is just like me” – a friend to whom he could relate. Together, mother and son pooled their creativity. The first Shadow Buddy – Miles’ Buddy – came to life, a friend to whom he could discuss his loneliness, fears and frustrations. “Heart, eyes for love, and a big smile to make everyone happy” were Miles’ idea for all the faces. The Buddies look alike until you peek under their gown. For example, the heart buddy has the sternum zipper scar with a mended red heart (typical of open heart surgery). All Buddies have Miles’ thumbprint, the Shadow Buddies registered trademark, on the left hand.

With a lot of encouragement, Shadow Buddies, LLC, was launched in 1995. Starting with four Buddies, the Shadow Buddy family has grown to address 20 different conditions. Shadow Buddies are a 12-inch muslin doll designed to help children cope with their specific condition or illness, and to become aware of their appearance in a positive manner. Their new “friend provides psychological support and reassurance that they are not alone, and that there are other special children just like them.

Distributed since November 1995, Shadow Buddies are a regular part of treatment in more than 152 hospitals across the country. Community organizations, hospitals and corporations have adopted these special Buddies to support children with catastrophic and terminal illnesses. The cost of the Buddies are $11.00 each, and are manufactured in the United States. Shadow Buddies are given to children from hospitals, different community organizations and corporations who purchase the Shadow Buddies.

Shadow Buddies are recognized for the benefit and value a Buddy provides. Child Life Specialists, Doctors and Nurses are using Shadow Buddies as educational tools. It is a hands-on method for health care providers to educate children and their families about a particular disease, or condition and its treatment. Shadow Buddies also provide an opportunity for medical play.

The Shadow Buddy Foundation has been established with the goal that every child who would benefit by receiving a buddy, will get one. No child has ever been denied a buddy. As Shadow Buddies, LLC grows, so will the Shadow Buddy Foundation.

JOHN ENDRES

Women In Need Growing Stronger (WINGS) is a transitional living facility for homeless women and their children who reside in the North and Northwest suburbs of Chicago. The program has been in existence since 1985 and the need in the area continues to expand. One of the primary reasons that the agency is able to successfully maintain its growth is because of the investment of its volunteers. John Endres has been actively involved as a volunteer with the WINGS program since 1991.

Endres first became involved with the program on a part-time basis. As a retired electrical engineer, he was very versed in the physical needs of the growing facilities of the agency. After his retirement in May 1993, his involvement with the WINGS program intensified. He became a member of the Board of Directors in January 1994 and remains a very active participant.

The real commitment of Endres to WINGS is evident in his involvement as the unofficial maintenance staff person. Although rarely recognized, he is in charge of all electrical, plumbing, and other repair work for two of the program’s Stage I homes, five Stage II share apartments, and the central office. Each of the Stage I homes house 10-12 women and children, and each Stage II apartment houses 18-20 residents. Endres also oversees the construction of a three-bedroom home. All of these sites are scattered throughout five adjoining suburbs. The financial benefits of his work and pro bono contacts result in the agency saving substantial amounts of much needed funds.

Endres oversees painting and repair projects as well. He is also the contact person for all major furniture and appliance donations. Since people who donate items often lack vehicles to transport these articles, Endres made arrangements for the use of a gratis delivery truck to pick up furniture from any location in metropolitan Chicago.

When residents graduate from the program, Endres makes every effort to set up the families with furnishings they will need to start their new life. Even after they have left the program, he makes repeated efforts to assist the graduates with their developing household needs. Given that Endres also volunteers for the Center of Concern, another housing program in the area, and the Social Concerns Committee of Mary Seat of Wisdom Church, his time is limited. Yet, he is always willing to talk about new projects and developments, and take on extra responsibilities.

John Endres was recently one of 17 finalists for the Golden Rule/Oustanding Volunteer Awards sponsored by the Volunteer Center of Northwest Suburban Chicago and JCPenney. He has also received awards from both Mary Seat of Wisdom and the Center of Concern for his outstanding community service efforts.

MAURINE ROLLER

Maurine Roller is an employee of Curtis & Associates, Inc., a corporation whose mission is to help people who are receiving government assistance to achieve and sustain self-sufficiency. The company encourages its employees to help others through community service. Roller’s service is outside of her responsibilities to her employer, yet Curtis & Associates gives its blessing to her endeavor.

Roller has recently begun her third year of teaching job seeking, job retention, and life management skills to uneducated and undereducated adults in the community. Her work is strictly voluntary, and she has adamantly refused any remuneration, insisting that available funds be used for the benefit of the students. Her service began in the 1996-97 school year, when she initiated a plan with the Adult Basic Education program to strengthen students’ job readiness and life skills through educational workshops.

Roller works with students who are “at-risk.” Many are from home environments that are dysfunctional in the most severe sense, and many are also filled with abuse. The students must overcome many emotional, social and educational obstacles before they can hope to find and keep a job that will sustain them. Roller offers them hope and encouragement through her educational workshops. She has a no-nonsense, effective, and realistic plan for students to move to productive employment. She also addresses social skills needed to maximize their chances for self-sufficiency and independence.

For the past three years, Roller has designed and taught workshops that are held weekly at the Adult Learning Center. They are concrete, hands-on, interactive sessions geared specifically to the needs of the students. She tells it like it is and faces the problems head-on to assist students in determining possible solutions to their predicaments. Throughout her session, she draws on area resources by involving other volunteers in the training, such as employers and other community employees.

The partnership that Roller developed with Adult Basic Education has reached more than 300 students to date. As a result of her efforts, many students who might have had to apply for government assistance have developed the necessary skills to find employment and become financially independent. Many of her students are now working in the immediate or neighboring communities. Other students have gone on to advanced learning situations, trying to secure more marketable employment skills.

JAMES KURZ

James Kurz has been a volunteer for more than 30 years. He has been there when his services were needed for many organizations and continues his work today.

Kurz’s most recent project is River of Life (R.O.L.), a project involving Lake St. Clair, a large lake on southeast Michigan’s shore, which has become gradually contaminated and periodically closed for use during the past several years. This is a particularly significant event given that the lake is a major water supply source to the communities of that area. The pollutants in Lake St. Clair are a result of run-off from the connecting Clinton River. The R.O.L. project is aimed at cleaning up the Clinton River and Lake St. Clair in southeast Michigan.

In October 1997, Kurz answered a request from the Archdiocese of Detroit to begin cleaning up the rivers. Since that time, he has worked feverishly for 20 months to organize the core group for the R.O.L. He has done all of his work on a voluntary basis and receives no salary or stipend for his efforts.

Kurz has been instrumental in several additional efforts, including mobilizing approximately 20 people to form an organization that serves as the nucleus of the R.O.L. project. He achieved the position of President of the R.O.L. Executive Committee and allied the Clinton River Watershed Council, leading 78 area churches to supply 35 percent of the manpower to the Council’s Clinton River clean-up. Kurz also wrote and won grants to the Archdiocese and the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, totaling $7,500.

Currently, Kurz is organizing the 78 churches into a group that will educate others on river clean-up issues and pollution prevention, and organize 5,000 volunteers to influence legislation as necessary. The R.O.L. will soon have the capacity to mobilize the majority of 10,000 families within these churches.

Due to Kurz’s leadership and hard work, the R.O.L. program will soon become a 501(c)(3) status nonprofit organization and will receive extra support through grants, private and corporate donations, and parish assessments. Kurz is responsible for developing an organization that will provide a community of 5 million residents with clean water for drinking, fishing and recreational activities for years to come.

BARBARA MESTLER

More than 25 years ago, a small group of concerned citizens in Rochester, New York, banded together to make a difference in the lives of inpatients at Rochester Psychiatric Center. They recognized that for many of the patients the stigma of mental illness compounds the difficulties of the illness itself, resulting in a loss of emotional support from family and friends, social isolation and loneliness. The outcome was increased reliance on the mental health system — to the point of remaining hospitalized — as a way of obtaining critical social and emotional support. Barbara Mestler was one of the first volunteers recruited to address this unmet need. In 1973, she joined the steering committee to help launch a new program, now known as the Compeer Program, recruiting community volunteers to provide one-on-one friendship and support for psychiatric inpatients.

Motivated by deep compassion, empathy, and an unwavering belief in the value of Compeer, Mestler became, and remains, a driving force to ensure the growth and success of the program. Today, Compeer serves consumers in both inpatient and outpatient setting in more than 122 programs worldwide. In 1998 alone, more than 6,700 mental health consumers received more than 245,000 hours of service from Compeer volunteers and staff. Throughout the history of the program, Compeer volunteers have used the power of their friendship to help more than 20,000 consumers nationwide.

In addition to her direct service, Mestler has provided invaluable program leadership. She was the first Chairperson of the Board, a member of the Board of Directors for more than 15 years, and is a Board Advisor today. She was one of the first Senior Resource Volunteers responsible for training new volunteers and still serves in this capacity. She has also chaired countless committees and remains a member of Compeer’s Speakers Bureau. In this role and on a daily basis, Mestler constantly advocates for Compeer in the Rochester community and continues to recruit many new volunteers.

In addition to her Compeer volunteer work, Mestler is a Junior Achievement advisor, a Career Development Services advisor, a leader in the Rochester Chamber of Commerce Women’s Council, and an active member of the Parkminister Presbyterian Church. Despite all of these demands on her time, Mestler continues to enthusiastically accept new duties with Compeer, carrying them out with a sense of dedication and responsibility.

Girl Scout Troop #1302

For Girl Scout Troop # 1302, the goal of their Hedden House Landscape Project was twofold. This group of 12 and 13-year-old girls has been meeting and working together since they were in kindergarten. They have accomplished several community projects in the past, such as visiting nursing homes and hosting parties for homeless children. For three consecutive years, the Troop has hosted a Halloween Pizza Party for the children at the Wayside Christian Mission in Louisville. In 1998, their leaders and scouts felt it was time for the troop to participate in larger, more meaningful, community projects, such as the Hedden House project.

The project began when one of the scouts heard about the need for cleaning up the Hedden House, a halfway facility for female recovering drug addicts. She in turn informed her fellow scouts, who agreed that this would be a good project for them. The girls were then able to fund their project through a Youth as Resources grant of $1,350. In addition to this grant, the girls sold cookies to generate an additional $200 for the project. Each of the girls in Troop #1302 had just graduated from the Drug Awareness Resistance Education program (D.A.R.E.). The troop leaders knew that the girls had learned all about drug abuse but believed that the interaction with the residents of Hedden House would give them more firsthand knowledge.

In this informal setting, the Hedden House residents shared, freely, about their lives and the recovery process. Even during their lunch together, the girls asked questions and listened attentively to these women’s addiction stories. Plans for landscaping of the Hedden House grounds were developed by the Girl Scouts, with assistance from Lucy Pope, Hedden House Assistant Director and Bob Volpert, owner of Ward’s Landscape. Girl Scout Troop #1302 was awarded first place in the city’s Make a Difference Day Contest on October 24, 1998 for their work.

The young Girl Scouts learned and acquired many life-long skills from this experience, such as organizing a project, funding it through grant writing, interviewing, and carrying out a community project. The greatest benefit, however, was the social contact they made working side by side with the residents of the Hedden House. The girls of Troop #1302 are currently doing follow-up projects, such as raking leaves, and are already planning what seeds to plant next May.