SENIOR VOLUNTEER TUTORS AT KING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

King Elementary is a hub of activity – both in shape and in scope. The award-winning school excels in an atmosphere where the assigned volunteers of the Louisville & Jefferson County, Kentucky Community Action Agency’s Seniors In Service (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Foster Grandparent Program and Family Friends Program) are considered as team members with staff. These 16 senior volunteers are focal points in the school’s ability to plan and implement scholastic assessments and achievements. They provided 4,150 service hours during calendar year 2000!

Over 400 students, K-5, are offered innovative, competitive and creative opportunities that build on the basic educational norms. The volunteers are an integral part of providing the foundation of academic achievements that enable students to reach beyond their initial obstacles to learning. The consistent, caring dedication of the RSVP, FGP and FFP volunteers is also a year-round constant as they move from school calendars to summer programming for an expanded age base that welcomes K-12.

In conjunction with the on-site Family Resource Center, the Big Brothers/Big Sisters, local YMCA and Vista; the senior volunteers continue their tutoring throughout summer months – preventing the normal reading regression experienced by students during their “off time.”

The energetic volunteers may be found in any of the “open space” classrooms. Often they are the safety valve for an emotionally upset child who needs more than just a teacher’s situational judgment.

Principal, Mae Kennerly, proudly proclaims the praises of these volunteers. And, the volunteers return her regard. The on-going training and support the staff gives the volunteers is also evidence of Kennerly’s standards of administrative excellence. The Resource Center Manager, Buddy Lee, shared monthly updates on new teaching and classroom management techniques.

The volunteers eagerly affirm that their duties give them great pleasure and a wonderful sense of accomplishment. They are not glory seeking, but are recognized with pizza parties, certificates, hearty doses of genuine affection from the children and deep gratitude from the parents. In addition, the RSVP, FGP and Family Friends Programs also participate in special days of acknowledgment for outstanding impact.

From an amazing 2nd Place finish against 800 teams of middle and high school students in a statewide stock market studies competition, “field day” rafting experiences on the Ohio River, performing arts groups in demand for public and private ceremonies, as a Kentucky Department of Education “Rewards Status” school, to partnership with a local bank; the volunteers of King Elementary help to make the school and community a better place.

DOMINICAN DENTAL MISSION PROJECT

The year 2001 marks the 20th anniversary of the Dominican Dental Mission Project (DDMP). Begun in 1982 as an individual effort by Dr. Francis G. Serio and continued under his direction, the DDMP has developed to the point where teams of 30-35 dentists from around the country and dental students from the University of Mississippi, University of Maryland, and Medical University of South Carolina volunteer their time each summer to provide a variety of dental services not otherwise available to the rural poor of the Dominican Republic. Over the years, these teams totaling 300 persons have provided in excess of US$6.5 million in dental care to approximately 43,000 individuals. After his first trip, Dr. Serio felt that in the face of the great need his efforts were but a grain of sand on the beach. Looking back, it is apparent that the DDMP has become the beach.

The DDMP is headquartered in the town of San Jose de Ocoa in the south central mountains of the Dominican Republic. The dental teams work closely with nuns belonging to the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph and Fr. Luis Quinn of the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society. The dental teams coordinate their activities with the local development association, Asociation Para El Desarollo de San Jose de Ocoa. In addition to serving the area around Ocoa, smaller dental teams serve the towns of Hondo Valle and El Cercado near the Haitian border.

There are several features that set the DDMP apart from many other dental mission efforts. Dental caries (decay) and periodontal (gum) disease are the two most widespread diseases worldwide. Dental infections are often painful and occasionally may be life-threatening. While many projects focus only on the provision of extraction services to combat these diseases, the DDMP provides extractions, both composite (tooth-colored) and amalgam (silver) fillings, preventive services including the distribution of toothbrushes and floss along with oral hygiene instructions, and the fabrication of removal appliances (partial plates) to replace missing upper front teeth. As it is often difficult if not impossible for many of the campesinos (country people)to get to town, the DDMP is completely mobile. The team heads to a different mountain village each day, converting a school room, rural clinic, or church into a dental clinic in about 45 minutes.

Each day’s activities are truly a group effort between the American volunteers and Dominican volunteers. Both groups are essential to the success of the project. While the American volunteers provide the bulk of the dentists and the equipment and supplies,, the Dominicans are responsible for transportation to and from each village, notifying each village of its appointed day, crowd control, and providing assistants for the dentists. Over the years, eight young Dominicans who started as assistants have become interested in dentistry and have received their dental training at the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo. These Dominican dentists and students then return each summer to provide care to their fellow citizens as well.

The DDMP developed through an evolutionary process, at times with unpredictable consequences. The project grew and developed as more people became interested and more needs were identified. Several volunteers have either developed projects of their own or participated in other projects as a result of their contributions to the DDMP. DDMP volunteers have worked in countries including Jamaica, Belize, Vietnam, Cambodia, Venezuela, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador and Haiti. Three marriages and one engagement are a direct result of the project.

Perhaps the most unexpected consequence is the effect the project has had on the Dominican people themselves. As mentioned, several Dominicans have become dentists as a direct result of their participation in the project. The most profound effect comes from Los Olvidados, the “Forgotten Ones,” who live literally at the end of the road in Hondo Valle. In their Christmas letter from the mission one year, it was stated that because the dentists return every year, these people know that God has not forgotten them. Giving people hope is perhaps the greatest power we have as human beings.

The DDMP is conducted under the auspices of the Catholic Medical Mission Board of New York, Inc. Funding is obtained from a variety of private sources including corporations, churches, and interested individuals. Dental manufacturers and suppliers have been very generous in providing donations of equipment and supplies. Through the generosity of its many benefactors, the DDMP has also been able to support many of the educational and humanitarian efforts in which the missionaries are involved.

COURTNEY COX

Although only 11 years old, Courtney Cox has accomplished extraordinary things. She was just about five years old when she first collected for a drive at church and has now logged more than 100 community service hours last year and nearly 40 hours this school year. She is also trying to surpass her own collection totals for the previous three years and has gathered more than 450 personal care items from hotels and thrift stores for use at homeless shelters so far this school year. Courtney displays her leadership, initiative and caring for the greater good through her participation in activities such as collecting toys and sporting goods for disaster victims, suitcases for foster children, supplies for animal shelters, adopting families and hosting parties at shelters for the holidays, performances for the elderly and helping to build a community playground.

Courtney’s selfless giving and energy sets her apart. Last summer, she volunteered more than 65 hours for a nonprofit agency that funds free or low cost mental health help for members of the community. Last October, Courtney learned the significance of pink ribbons and the importance of breast cancer awareness. She was amazed that a monthly self-exam and early detection could save women’s lives, yet not everyone performs them. Courtney decided she had to do something. She wrote to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and received a generous gift of materials to educate and raise awareness. She recruited volunteers she worked with over the summer and provided more than 150 women with awareness materials. Making our mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters and friends aware of the importance of self-examinations, may have saved a life.

Last November, inspired by the church’s appeal for food donations and to help alleviate hunger, Courtney sought and received permission from her school and church and organized two food drives. Both were successful and altogether collected an estimated 600 pounds of food. Enough to feed one meal to nearly 1,500 people.

Last winter, Courtney organized a drive to benefit the St. Jude’s Ranch for abused and neglected children while at the same time reducing the amount of waste to our landfills. One of the largest fundraisers for the Ranch is to recycle greeting cards into postcards and then sell them. When Courtney learned of this project, she organized a collection drive at her school and at several businesses. Through her efforts, approximately 7,500 cards were saved from landfills and St. Jude’s Ranch was able to raise more than $5,000. It is too early to know the final results of her 2001-2002 drive for the Ranch, but early donations are promising.

In response to the 09/11 terrorist attacks, Courtney made ribbons and distributed them at church seeking donations for the children of the victims of the disaster, raising $1,100 for the American Red Cross.

FLEET COMBAT TRAINING CENTER ATLANTIC PEP FLAGSHIP

The goal of the partnership between Fleet Combat Training Center Atlantic and the five sponsored schools is to assist in improving the quality of education in the community. The purpose of this partnership is to provide a variety of voluntary educational enrichments by assisting both students and faculty. Specifically, this is accomplished through mentoring, guest speaking, assisting in computer labs, improving facilities and grounds, coordinating field trips, and supporting special projects.

This program involves more than 150 Sailors who are committed to improve students’ education and self-esteem. The intent is to give younger students that extra attention and encouragement to work hard for better grades, and to provide older students a positive career minded role model who can inspire them to reach their full potential. At the start of each school year, the command and the sponsored schools sign an agreement outlining the partnership requirements. Although the partnership is formalized after the beginning of the school year, the volunteer work goes on year-round. Volunteers at the schools spent numerous hours during the summer vacation painting the school library walls and assisting the maintenance staff with grounds upkeep.

Volunteers assist the school staff in computer labs to provide the students with all levels of computer skills. At the elementary schools, volunteers tutor children in arithmetic and writing skills. High school students visit the base each February for a job-shadowing day during which they are given the opportunity to see Sailors at work. A special day was dedicated to teaching the children about the importance of voting. More than 25 volunteers donated their time to assist in the “Kids Vote” project. Nearly 300 children voted in two separate precincts in Virginia Beach.

The partnership with the educators of the community finds new volunteers through an on-going and aggressive recruiting campaign. The education coordinator works to pursue volunteers by means of bulletin boards, e-mail notices, and a comprehensive calendar. This personal approach produces an average of 15 volunteers per event. The school principals provide feedback regarding the progress of the partnerships. Based on this feedback, the volunteers are given the direction in which to steer the program.

More than 5,000 non-Department of Defense people directly benefit from this program. Definite improvement has been made with regards to computer literacy at the schools. Reading, writing, and arithmetic skills of the elementary school students have improved as a result of the hours that Sailors spend tutoring children. School beautification and maintenance tasks done by sailors have allowed school faculty to focus more on the students and to spend money on projects, which directly benefit the children. The sailors feel they owe it to society, as well as to the nation, to encourage children to become better citizens. These enthusiastic men and women who donate their time and expertise are determined to raise the standard of excellence in local schools.

JOHN SANDY

John Sandy of Brea, California, is a man that has taken volunteerism to a new height. Sandy’s holiday season begins each year the day after Thanksgiving as he actively begins soliciting donations of toys and clothing for the County of Orange Operation Santa Claus toy drive for the benefit of children who are in foster placement in the county. Sandy’s organizational skills and persistence over the last 30 years have helped the holiday season be a happier and more memorable time for some of the most needy children in Orange County. Due to his dedication, more than 125,000 children have been served since 1970.

Sandy has been a resident of Brea for 35 years. In 1970, as president of the Kiwanis Club, his role in the support of Operation Santa Claus began with eliciting the help of other service clubs within Brea to donate to this campaign. He was driven by a need to assist children that were abandoned, neglected, hurt and not able to be with their families during the holidays. He was troubled when he considered that the disadvantaged children of Orange County, and especially those living in Brea, might not have any gifts during the holiday season. Those initial contacts have turned into a roster of numerous Brea companies that now lend support to his campaign. Collectively, Brea has one of the highest gift-giving totals to Operation Santa Claus compared to other involved cities.

Sandy’s volunteer efforts are expanded each year. Year after year he tirelessly tops the previous year’s donations from the community of Brea. He has been successful in getting one large corporation in Brea to donate $10 in cash for every gift that their employees donate. Last year, Operation Santa Claus received $11,000 from that corporation. He has single-handedly organized volunteers with Brea service organization, Brea City offices, many local businesses that collect toys within their companies, and organizations or offices that help the les fortunate children in Orange County. Sandy does not receive any monetary compensation, he does not wait for a pat on the back or any special recognition – he just wants to help the needy children of Orange County.

The dedication, hard work and time that Sandy contributes to Operation Santa Claus have significantly impacted the toy collection efforts. If every city in Orange County has a volunteer such as John Sandy, Orange County would not have an abandoned or neglected child, nor a child that lives below the poverty level without a gift on Christmas morning. Although Sandy’s intense efforts begin the day after Thanksgiving, he works all year preparing for the next gift collection season, which once again will bring smiles to the disadvantaged children of Orange County.

AL ANDRY

Al Andry wears many hats. You may see him dressed as Santa Claus and helping special children. He can also be seen providing refrigerators or microwaves needed by many of the teachers to serve the need of special food preparations and diets for disabled students. “Mr. Al,” as he is affectionately called, may also be seen taking some of his surrogate children to football and baseball games as well as boxing matches.

Andry has devoted his life to helping the needs of special children for the past 27 years. He and his wife, Elaine, founded Special Children are Privileged (SCAP), and he gives a personal account of every cent donated to the organization. Solely volunteers operate SCAP and no one is paid a salary. There is no need to pay rent as they operate the organization out of their home.

Andry seeks community partners who are willing to help him and SCAP meet the needs of children in Louisiana. Most of the children he works with are limited with regards to their extra curricular activities, but SCAP works to change that. They normally work with a budget of $10,000 to $12,000 per year, but they make each dollar count.

SCAP has made it possible for the children to play putt-putt golf, ride go-carts, have Easter egg hunts and have special holiday wishes granted. Andry has also been instrumental in getting hot water heaters, a washer and dryer, computers, education materials and supplies, and numerous other items donated to Enon Elementary School so they can provided a safer, healthier school environment. He has also assisted the Happy Trails Therapeutic Center. They also serve special needs children, and Andry has helped with fundraising so they can continue to operate.

Andry seems to spend most of his waking hours seeking ways to serve underprivileged children. He also finds clothes for a child and their family, shoes for children at the Agape Children’s Home, and he sells raffle tickets to help raise money for schools or other worthy causes. He believes he shares a rainbow of love through SCAP. Their motto is “handicap is not a defeat, but a challenge to conquer with love, faith, and understanding.”

SCAP has touched the community in so many ways since its inception in 1981. They have received letters of thanks from the Pope, President Ronald Reagan, Sandra Day O’Connor, Bob Livingston, and Mrs. Jim Finks-widow of the late Mr. Finks of the New Orleans Saints. Andry grew up in the Iberville Project in New Orleans, and he knew poverty. However, he is working to help children have a better start than he did. He and Elaine initially mortgaged their home four years ago to get the initial funds to start SCAP. They receive no federal or state help, only donations from other areas.

ETHEL SAMPSON

Ethel Belle Sampson has been volunteering in the New Bern, North Carolina community for more than 50 years. Whatever area has a need is the area in which Sampson assists. She has worked with the homeless as well as the rich, the She does not discriminate when it comes to giving of her time and talents to help someone else.

Ethel Sampson is the proud mother of nine biological children and countless others who have adopted her as their mother. She is a mentor, counselor, and a street minister. Because of her efforts to help everyone be free in every aspect of their lives, whether it is with addiction, abuse, poverty or self-love, Sampson is known as Moses. She has fed many when they are hungry. When there have been members of the community who needed a place to live, she has found a home, room or motel to give them shelter. She has also taken people who are ill to the doctor or the hospital. Some have been in trouble of the law and she has provided them with counseling and also attends meetings with clients and their lawyers along with being character witnesses for some.

Sampson attends many law enforcement trainings and meetings. She is very active in getting the community, family, and church involved in preventing crimes in their communities and homes. She also works to help people in need of spiritual help. She is involved with her church as an associate minister, and she recently began a Christian service for people to attend to uplift their spirits. Sampson shares with others about morals, ethics, honesty, love, understanding, joy, meekness, longsuffering, goodness, faith and values. She believes people need to be whole mentally, physically, emotionally, financially, and most of all spiritually.

Sampson holds a variety of uncompensated positions in her community in order to further assist the needy. She is on the Board of Electricity, works with Relatives as Parents, President of Concerned Citizens, Secretary of Craven County Voters League, and works with Craven County League of Women’s Voters, and the Democratic Party and the Democratic Women. She is the Chairman of the Eastern North Carolina Civic Group, Secretary of Weed and Seed, a hospice Volunteer Minister for 15 years and is on the Craven County Correctional Prison Board. In addition to that, she serves on the jail ministry, the Secretary of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, Chairman of the Outreach Ministry for the Church, Secretary of the West Street/J.T. Barber Alumni Association, a member of Mountain Movers, the Faith Community for Success, the Day Reporting Center, and Habitat for Humanity.

Ethel Sampson lives her life by her motto: “If I can help somebody as I pass this way, then my living shall not be in vain.”

CYNTHIA HERSCHKOWITSCH

For the past 10 years, Cynthia Herschkowitsch has worked with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) of Texas and community leaders to create a program for students that promotes kindness to animals, respect for all living beings, and responsibility for the environment. Cynthia is a veteran of 26 years at South Oak Cliff High School. She has taught every level of English and German and has volunteered to teach preparatory workshops for students in various areas. She has also coached the Academic Decathlon Team and three of their University Interscholastic League (UIL) Teams for nine years. She is well acquainted with children and knows how to relate to them and their needs.

Herschkowitsch realizes that many colleges expect applicants to have community service, so they have established a community service project in her area. In 1989, she founded the SPCA Pet Club. This club raises funds, rescues and adopts animals, and finds homes for others. Since its inception, they have raised over 15,000 dollars for the SPCA, which has enabled them to purchase much needed equipment such as steel examining tables, dental cleaning and bone pinning equipment, thermal cage warmers, ophthalmoscope, and a dishwasher for cleaning implements. To date, they have rescued over 250 animals, some of which were severely abused or injured. The Pet Club also sponsors a cage in the clinic.

Herschkowitsch considers it her special mission to address needs in her community, and she always tries to include the students. When she educates her students about the necessity of helping others, they, in turn, will educate others the same way. They work together to create public awareness about problems like the link between animal and child abuse and the need to spay and neuter pets to prevent unwanted litters. In 1999, the Pet Club worked with the Spay and Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) and sponsored the spaying and neutering of 191 animals in their community. They also created a “Be Kind to Animals Coloring Book” which they distribute to several elementary schools in the area. This is a great teaching tool for young children regarding the care of their pets. Currently, the Pet Club is working with the Education Director of the SPCA of Texas to organize a Coalition of Humane Educators in an effort to disseminate humane information through the school district.

In addition to working with the SPCA, Herschkowitsch participated in other various projects. She participates in the Dallas AIDS Planning Commission as a member of the Education Task Force. She sponsored a Bone Marrow Donor registration drive for a six-year-old girl who needed the transplant to cure her of aplastic anemia. Her efforts added an additional 86 potential donors to the national registry. She also has sponsored a Christmas party for needy children for the past 10 years.

The community has honored Herschkowitsch many times. Two different Rotary Clubs selected her as “Outstanding Secondary Teacher” twice. The Pet Club was selected as “Hometown Heroes” by KDFW-TV for their annual Christmas party for needy children. She was also selected as Dallas’ Teacher of the Year for 1987 – 1988.

UMO “HO” CARE ABOUT RESERVATION ENVIRONMENT

The Omaha Indian Reservation is located in the northeast corner of Nebraska, along the Missouri River. There is a 70% unemployment rate among the Omaha people. This reservation is challenged with alcoholism and poverty in its struggle to improve the conditions of its people. Years of oppression and substandard living conditions have created a culture of low self-esteem and a tolerance for an environment that is unhealthy physically, emotionally and spiritually. There is also perceived dependency on outside resources to provide people with what they want and need.

Through a collaborative effort between University of Nebraska-Lincoln Thurston County Cooperative Extension office and a group of community members from the town of Macy, the Umo “ho” Care About Reservation Environment (U-CARE) grew out of a process that examined the local resources of people, history and space to create a community vision and action plans. Beginning in August of 1999, youth and adult community volunteers decided that after looking at their community, the best way to begin their group was to work on a project that would be highly visible and could draw the wider community in the activity. Through the community visioning process, the concern of the health hazard of trash and litter in the community came up as a priority area for action in the community. Through brainstorming and idea sharing, U-CARE decided to take a simple first step and paint trash barrels and place them throughout Macy.

U-CARE’s idea of creating a place for people to put their trash became one strategy for a larger effort to beautify their community – to show that the community’s space was something that was a source of pride. As team membership grew, U-CARE’s activities became increased in number and in scope. U-CARE planted trees and shrubs at the Tribal Cemetery, the Senior Citizen Housing circle, the Pow Wow grounds and in front of the Tribal Council Building. A large “M” was placed on a hillside so people could see it as they drive into town. In each of these cases, people began to become more involved and take on the responsibility of caring for the new plants. The group has been pleasantly surprised by the contagious excitement of U-CARE’s projects.

The U-CARE team is ready to move the next level of community building and involvement. U-CARE is currently looking to build out the leadership base and create more complex strategic plans that lead the community toward its vision. Macy is a struggling community. By serving their community, the volunteers of U-CARE and Macy are taking actions that actualize and foster the pride that people have in themselves and their homes. And, in this community, young people and adults are working together to make that happen.

DONNA POLLARD

Donna Pollard believes education about mental illness empowers people to handle the challenges these illnesses present. She has been associated with the National Alliance for the Mentally-Ill Orange County (NAMI-OC) since its inception in the early 1980’s. Today, she serves in several important capacities, volunteering her time to benefit others through the Family-To-Family and School Outreach Programs.

She is a member of the NAMI-OC Board of Directors, serving as Education Chairperson. She also continues her work as a teacher for the Family-To-Family program, which is a 12-week course designed to educate parents, siblings, and significant others of persons diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness. As a family member of an individual of schizophrenia, she is able to help others deal with a loved one facing the challenges of mental illness.

Pollard has gone beyond serving as a teacher to become a state trainer for the Family-To-Family program. She and her teaching partner, Bill Harwood, have conducted 1/3 of the classes help since 1996 and have personally trained over half of the 55 volunteer teachers now offering Family-To-Family classes. While NAMI-OC was previously only able to send two people each year for teacher training, Pollard’s willingness to become a state trainer and offer local training sessions has more than doubled the size of the Family-To-Family program teaching staff. The program is now being offered in Spanish to meet the needs of one of Orange County’s fastest growing and largest ethnic groups.

Family-To-Family classes have been conducted in 15 different cities throughout Orange County, helping to meet the needs of local communities. Pollard believes that the requirement that Family-To-Family teachers themselves be family members of a person diagnosed with mental illness is the key to the tremendous success of the program and its unique ability to support these families.

The staff of NAMI-OC credits Pollard with the creation of a growing school outreach program. This began in 1995 as a way to present an overview of mental illness to students in Orange County junior high and high schools. Since its inception, the School Outreach Program has now been presented in every public school district in the county. While the School Outreach Program helped approximately 2,500 people last year, the program has a goal of reaching 6,500 teachers and students during the 2000-2001 school year. It has grown so much that NAMI-OC has successfully obtained a grant from the Orange County Community Foundation to hire a coordinator for School Outreach. Donna Pollard is continuing her work with the program as a volunteer because she believes that the stigma of mental illness will only be eliminated if people obtain a greater understanding of the illness.