SUSAN MORISSETTE

The events of September 11th were seen by all across the nation and even the country. That day was chilly in New England, and Susan Morissette and her family were huddled on their couch watching the grizzly events unfold on the news. They were watching with a quilt thrown over them, and like most families; the death and destruction caused them much sadness and grief. However, Morissette’s four-year old son Christopher asked his mother if a monster did this to the people. This comment caused Morissette to go into action to make a positive out of a negative.

Morissette thought of the idea to make a “healing quilt” as a means of helping children express their sadness over this tragic event. The “Heart of America” quilt started as a project in the Winslow School district. It was designed to help children express their sadness and concern over the events of September 11th.

This project that Morissette began had turned into an international event. Over 36 states in America and three other countries have sent signed 45” by 45” panels. Once it is complete, it should cover more than one acre and will be sewn together in the form of a flag. A completion date of September 11, 2003 has been set. At this time, the quilt will then be taken to New York and presented to the families of the victims.

Morissette is busy as the mother of four children; however, she has used her talents and time in a way to bring some happiness to many who have been overwhelmed with grief. The quilt was available for signing on Make A Difference Day last year and will continue its journey with additions from many places until completion. Morrisette has designed a website, www.heartofamericaquilt.com, so anyone can look at its journey and become a part of the healing also.

MARTIN HADLEY

Teachers at Pathways Elementary School mentioned the idea of a program to help students with their math skills. Martin Hadley was the first parent approached through the PTA, and he thought of an innovative way to help fourth and fifth graders become proficient. Within two weeks of the discussion, Hadley had converted a classroom into a math lab. This lab consists of 16 stations focusing on specific math competencies tested by the state assessment program. Hadley works with more than two hundred students and is at the school daily for at least six hours.

The students visit the lab daily for 45 minutes. Hadley changes the stations each day, grades the children’s papers and charts their progress. He also works with the eight elementary teachers to ensure the areas needing additional instruction are covered in the classrooms. Because of his commitment to the children, Hadley spends about 120 at the school weekly and has done so for the past two years.

This program has proven successful. Last year’s fourth and fifth grade students showed a dramatic improvement in their state math assessment scores, and the teachers believe this is a result of Hadley’s program. The students demonstrate a greater sense of confidence when approaching math due to the personal encouragement and math expertise they have gained in the math lab.

In addition to the Math Lab, Hadley serves with the Boy Scouts of America. He has gone above his duties there and assisted one of the special education teachers in establishing a pac for some of the handicapped students at Pathways Elementary School. He also has run a summer camp program at the school for 50 scouts around the area.

Hadley’s initiative and actions have significantly affected elementary aged children. The need for additional math instruction for fourth and fifth graders was met when he volunteered to establish and operate a math lab.

LEONA SCARTON

When Leona Scarton was growing up in her coal-mining town of Bretz, WV, where life was a struggle, she dreamed of better things not only for herself and her family. When her four children graduated and left home, she began her service as a community volunteer.

The old school house where her children went to elementary school had been abandoned—windows broken, ceiling leaking—vandals destroyed everything. Scarton helped organize a team, which renovated the school building and help community events in it. A mini thrift shop was established to clothe children; children’s activities and parties were promoted. Scarton continues to help the needy families with food, babysitting, and transportation.

Having earned her GED at the age of 65, she recognizes the importance of education and strives to help the youngsters in her deprived community by encouraging children and giving them books.

Despite her lack of formal training, Scarton excels in fundraising for community organizations, especially the Valley Ambulance Association, where she serves as a board member. To help the ambulance squad purchase equipment for her small unincorporated coal-mining town, she almost always sells the most tickets for car raffles. She doesn’t even hesitate to stand by treacherous red lights with her collection box, knowing the money will be donated to a good cause.

Parties and projects for frail elderly, benefits for the fire department, recycling cards for the Children’s Ranch, sending children to camp, mailing thousands of birthday and get-well cards, all at her own expense, are other outlets for Scarton’s compassion, concern, and love.

A 4-H leader for 34 years working with the youth of Preston County, she has also served as a member of the West Virginia Deputy Sheriff’s Association. As a member West Virginia Community Educational Outreach Service for 27 years, the endless source of energy for her community has relished her President, Vice-President, and various committee positions. Not having been blessed with opportunities to travel, she nonetheless gathers information from countries all over the world and, as Continuing Education Chairman, educates and demonstrates.

Scarton’s church recently honored her for 40 consecutive years of service teaching bible school to youngsters. In 1991, Scarton was one of seven honored at the Celebrate Women Awards presentation at the West Virginia State Capitol Conference Center for her work at Hopemont Hospital, visiting patients and directing patient activities. Every patient at the hospital receives a card from Scarton.

KATHY MOREE

Kathy Moree has been a most valued supporter and contributor to the educational needs of the students of W. F. Burns-Oak Hill Elementary since she enrolled her grandson in the school in the summer of 1999.

Moree is not just a volunteer, for her mission is to provide “whatever needs to be done,” so that the essential materials, supplies, decorations, or manpower are available to ensure that the school project or event comes off without a hitch. Her generous gifts of her time and talents, which are immeasurable, have benefited so many of the students and families at the W. F. Burns-Oak Hill Elementary School.

Moree is the volunteer coordinator, whose motto is “we do it for the students” and whose mission is to coordinate the efforts of business partners, community members, mentors and volunteers, to provide a solution to meet the needs of the families. The school is small and located in a rural area, with over 75% of the population on free/reduced lunch. The key support system is the Family Center, which Moree mans daily and stocks with basic home and school supplies. Families redeem “school volunteer coupons” to procure the items they need or want. The students can also visit the Family Center to borrow a toy or game to play, or to shop with coupons that the mentors donate back to the students.

Moree’s accomplishments are many: she provided all the decorated cans for the school’s “Pennies for Your Thoughts” September 11th campaign and the decorations for their Patriotic Celebration; she assisted with the set-up and dinners for FCAT Writes! Parent Night and the FCAT Hands-On for Parents Night; and, she provided the community volunteers for “Granny Reads to Me” Day, along with enough rocking chairs for the Grannies and helping them choose the right book to read; along with running the Family Center and volunteering in classrooms daily.

Moree is the action and involvement behind the effort to find the necessary volunteers, supplies and tools to support the teachers in the classroom, which ultimately focuses to student achievement. If they want accomplished results, they ask Moree to help. She is a sincere, dedicated and positive support for the students. It is through her true commitment to education that they obtain the means to help the students whose families are unable to provide the necessary tools themselves.

COMMUNITY JUVENILE ARBITRATION VOLUNTEER ARBITRATORS

The Community Juvenile Arbitration Program is a community-based diversion program for first time juvenile offenders charged with committing a non-violent crime. Youth are diverted from the juvenile justice system to an arbitration hearing conducted in or near the juvenile’s community. Trained volunteer arbitrators conduct hearings that include the juvenile, his/her parents, the crime victim and the police officer and monitor the juvenile’s progress throughout the program.

During the past year, the Ninth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office Community Juvenile Arbitration Program volunteer arbitrators have truly impacted the Charleston community. These 44 volunteers have held more than 830 hearing and recouped $9,000 in restitution for victims of crimes. They have ordered in excess of $5,000 in charitable donations and ordered 9,700 hours of community service for local nonprofit organizations. In addition, they help keep the recidivism rate of these juveniles to less than nine percent.

The South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice estimated that it costs $200 to prosecute each child through the Family Courts and an additional $180 for follow up probation costs. Using these estimates, volunteer arbitrators have potentially saved the community of Charleston more than $310,000. The impact on the community from the work that these volunteers have accomplished will be felt for years to come.

There were many challenges during the past year of the program. One challenge was to be able to give every juvenile that was eligible for arbitration the opportunity to go through the program. The volunteers stepped up to that challenge, and the number of hearings for the past year represents a 300% increase over the last year. Each juvenile that was eligible for the program was able to become a part of that.

Another challenge was to find community service sites for all of the juveniles to perform their service. To fulfill this need, partnerships were made with churches, nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Volunteers were also challenged to think of creative sanctions for the juveniles. Tours of jails, courts and trauma centers were organized. Programs that gave incarcerated juveniles and victims of crimes a chance to speak with these first time offenders were scheduled and partnerships were also made with the two major malls in Charleston County to provide rooms for these programs. Juveniles were sanctioned to take CPR classes, child care classes, write essays on ways that teens can help on the war on terrorism, give supplies to the homeless shelter, help with community concerts and clean roadways.

Volunteers with this program have given hundreds of hours of their time. In addition to conducting hearing, they attended 21-hour training classes and complete nine hours of yearly follow up training. They are motivated by the desire to help increase the competency and learning of juvenile offenders so they can become productive citizens, restoring the community’s role in ensuring public safety and the victim’s faith in the Juvenile Justice System.

LUCILLE GILMORE

Lucille Gilmore is a Senior Companion in the National Senior Service Corps. During her 11 years of service, she has shored up the faltering independence and dignity of more than a dozen frail elders. Her persistent visits and helpfulness makes it possible for these individuals to remain living in their own homes. What this means to the psychological and physical well being of even one person is immeasurable. However, what this means in terms of savings to the individual and community can be measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars when estimating assisted living care at $30,000 per year and long term care at $120,000 per year.

Over the years Lucille has touched many lives, but special mention must be made of two who counted on Lucille for assistance and companionship for the past 10 and 11 years, respectively. With Lucille’s help, both women lived in their own homes until their deaths in December.

In a letter written last August, one woman describes what Lucille has meant to her. She writes, “I find my Senior Companion very, very important to me. I live in my own home and if it wasn’t for Lucille, I couldn’t remain here. My health is not good. I am on oxygen 24 hours a day. I could not go to my doctor appointments nor do my grocery shopping if I didn’t have help. Lucille makes my doctor appointments. She prepares my portable oxygen tank and helps me to her car. She goes with me into the doctor’s office and listens to his instructions. If I forgot some of them, she remembers. I am diabetic and have glaucoma. It is difficult for me to see to read or write. Lucille keeps an account of my monthly bills and writes the checks so they are never delinquent. We have become great friends through the years and have shared many of our life experiences. It is comforting to have someone come to visit me on a consistent basis.”

Lucille has set aside her own illness to be available to others. She is dedicated and compassionate, hopeful and energetic. She says that it is those she serves that make her life richer, stronger, and happier. One by one, Lucille reaches out to frail elders in compassion and companionship and care.

RACHEL SHIELDS

Rachel Shields, a rising high school senior, has been serving children at Emerald Youth Foundation since May 2000. She began by coming each day and allowing children to read to her during the Emerald Youth Foundation’s summer program. During the school year, she continued to come on Monday night and help children with their homework and problem subjects. Rachel’s quiet demeanor allows children to feel comfortable with her. She will allow them to read for long periods of time. While this helps the children increase their reading skills, it also enables them to have someone to talk to.

Rachel wants to support the children in whatever they are doing. Even though she does not belong to the little urban Emerald Avenue Youth Ministry church, she participates in their Vacation Bible School and attends the Children’s Choir concerts. They know that Rachel is one of their biggest fans.

In September 2001, her commitment was so strong, she was selected to be the student advisor to the Children’s Leadership team at the Emerald Avenue ministry location. While working with this team a project was developed, called Graffiti Busters that has been very effective in the community. Rachel and this team have planned and carried two Graffiti Busters days in which 130 volunteers served, four businesses and two residential garages were painted. This past spring the project was expanded to include Graffiti Busters Club to allow children in the elementary school to participate in reporting graffiti. The six children on the team that she advised were honored this spring with the Dillard News Sentinel Student Citizen Award for their creation and participating in this project. Emerald Youth Foundation has recently received the NIKE, INC. and Youth Service America Youth Action Award for the Graffiti Busters National Youth Service Day project. The $500 will be used to continue this project with the leadership team that Rachel advises expanding its impact on the community to include research into the areas most likely to be vandalized, penalties for vandalism, and what needs to be done to eliminate graffiti in the neighborhood

Rachel was awarded the Youth of Excellence Award by the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority in the Community Service category. She was also selected as the overall winner in the High School Division, which included Academics, Community Service and Extracurricular Activities.

Since she began serving the children of Emerald Youth Ministries, she has completed nearly 300 hours of service and has received the President’s Student Service Gold Award in 2000 and 2001. Rachel continues to serve the community by coming two days each week to let the children read to her and will continue her advisory role to the Children’s Leadership team in the fall. Her unselfish commitment to urban children is genuine and unsolicitous. She seeks no award or recognition for her volunteer work.

VOLUNTEERS AT THE PASADENA SENIOR CENTER

The Pasadena Senior Center has more than 125 volunteers who served 24,000+ hours in 2001. They are averaging in excess of 2000 hours monthly for 2002. The Pasadena Senior Center is open 365 days a year to assist seniors in computer and fitness training, pro bono professional legal and tax advice, podiatry, and health screenings. The Center also has birthday parties and special events, classes and grocery shopping for and delivery to the homebound and disabled.

Many of the senior volunteers are mature. Most of them are in their nineties, but they are still dedicated to coming to the Center to help less fortunate seniors who are isolated. Service is a way of life for them, not just something to do. They desire to make a difference for other seniors, and they are the reason the facility is able to be open seven days a week.

The volunteers at the Center feel useful, needed and appreciated. They, in turn, make the members at the center feel comfortable, cared for and no longer alone. One young lady staffs the front desk at the center two days a week, arriving before 8:00 a.m. Another gentleman makes telephone reassurance calls to homebound seniors one day a week. Though his eyes are failing him, and his wife has to dial the phone for him; this volunteer still serves. His wife also comes in one other day each week to take grocery orders for those who are not able to shop for themselves.

Other examples of volunteer service at the center are seniors teaching seniors computer technology twice a week, English as a Second Language once a week and helping staff with computer technology updates. One volunteer is only able to come to the Center via the Dial-A-Ride senior service program, but he comes each month to register low-income seniors at the Center for food distribution. A volunteer that is a nurse oversees the fitness room and performs blood pressure screenings once a month.

The Center also has a library service that is run by seniors and has helped over 3,000 members. In addition, the “Tap Chicks,” who are women over 50, train in the fine art of tap dancing to perform as entertainment at the Center.

NORMAN NEMROW

After a successful business career in Southern California, Norm Nemrow decided to “retire” to a career as a volunteer teacher at Brigham Young University (BYU). Since 1992, Norm has been energizing thousands of introductory accounting students in the university’s School of Accountancy and Information Systems. His volunteer service allows the salary allocated to his position at BYU to be reinvested into the school’s endowment fund and a variety of curriculum development projects.

Across the BYU campus, Nemrow has become the ambassador for accounting. For years he has taught the large class sections of introductory accounting, which sometimes number in excess of 800 students. In spite of these large masses of students, Nemrow still somehow makes each student feel like a personal friend. It’s amazing that, as an accounting professor, Nemrow is one of the most popular professors on campus; both in 1997 and 1998, he received the BYU Alumni Award as The Best Overall Teacher on campus. Enrollments in accounting programs are slumping at universities across the country. A big reason that interest in BYU’s accounting program has bucked the national trend is that Nemrow inspires introductory students with his enthusiasm for accounting as the foundation for a variety of business careers.

In 1998, Nemrow embarked on an immense project to transform the delivery of introductory accounting at BYU. After two years of development, Nemrow introduced the “Introduction to Accounting” CDs, which present over 50 hours of learning materials, via computer, in a video-lecture format with synchronized graphics. Student reaction to the CDs has been overwhelmingly positive with over 93% indicating that they learn more efficiently and effectively through the CDs than through a traditional textbook/lecture approach. With the learning efficiencies created through Nemrow’s CDs, he now has time to introduce his students to real world topics that can really make a difference. Presentations on career choices, personal financial planning, investing, taxes and other areas of application and interest greatly enhance the student’s educational experience. In fact, Norm’s current course receives some of the highest student ratings ever achieved at the university.

In addition to improved educational tools for the students, this new approach also allows for more efficient use of valuable university resources. Nemrow currently services all 3,000 students taking the introductory course at BYU each year. At other schools up to a dozen full-time faculty members might be required to handle such numbers. No wonder many universities across the country are in the process of implementing Nemrow’s effective new teaching approach.

In addition to his contribution to the School of Accountancy and Information Systems, Nemrow has also been active in a number of BYU alumni and advisement boards as well as the founding board of Habitat for Humanity of Utah County.

LEARN AND SERVE NIAGARA

Niagara University, a four-year, comprehensive, independent, nonprofit, liberal arts college, was founded in 1856, by the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers who take their name from their founder, Vincent de Paul, a French priest, devoted to serving the needs of the poor and helpless.

The creation of the Niagara University Community Action Program (NUCAP) in 1965 formalized the involvement of Niagara’s students in community service projects and currently places more than 1,000 students annually in community service settings. In 1994, a grant from the Corporation for National Service enabled the University to expand community service efforts by establishing the Learn and Serve Niagara program, designed to enhance academic skills and life-long learning by promoting and advocating social change and by attempting to instill in students the value of service to others. It also ensures the continued provision of necessary assistance to the poor, infirmed, aged and youth of the Niagara community. The Learn and Serve Niagara program focuses on education and human needs.

Learn and Serve Niagara offers tutoring and mentoring to high risk elementary and secondary students in 37 sites in 10 Niagara and Erie County School Districts and 14 private and after-school sites. Over 700 Niagara University undergraduates and graduate students annually help an average of 10,000 school-age students. Each tutor contributes between 18 and 20 hours per semester. Social and cultural activities, in addition to tutoring, are provided at after-school sites. All tutors/mentors are required to participate in training provided by Niagara University’s Learning Center or the College of Education.

Learn and Serve Niagara addresses a variety of human needs such as domestic violence prevention, homelessness, hunger, help with tax preparation and financial planning. Students work at soup kitchens, hospitals and nursing homes. Students and faculty in the College of Business have been working with a group of community women teaching them the skills to start their own businesses. This project is in collaboration with the Center for Joy and Center City Neighborhood Corporation.

The Learn and Serve Niagara program promotes service learning by encouraging faculty to either revise existing courses or develop new courses, which have service learning components. During the 1998-99 academic year, more than 30 classes with a service-learning component were taught. The courses were offered in each of the five colleges of Niagara University and involved 1,900 students in excess of 40,000 service hours to the community.