BETSY VATAVUK

Since her childhood, Betsy Chandler Vatavuk has been dedicated to helping the youth and disadvantaged in her community through the 4-H Club and other humanitarian programs. Mrs. Vatavuk, 58, has volunteered thousands of hours over the last 50 years to serving others.

At the young age of 10, Mrs. Vatavuk began tutoring at her school and she has not stopped since then. Most recently, she tutored at one of the lowest performing schools in North Carolina, helping many at-risk students improve their grades and self-confidence. She has also aided the youth in her community by serving on various committees that include but are not limited to the Durham Youth Management Board.

Mrs. Vatavuk teaches children at 4-H camps and classes. Today, she is the 4-H Community Resource Development Volunteer and President of the 4-H Advisory Board. Mrs. Vatavuk has also served as a volunteer 4-H Leader and on the Board of Directors of the State 4-H Development Fund, where again she helped deserving youth. She has been a very diligent and successful 4-H Club fundraiser at the local and state levels for the past 40 years. Mrs. Vatavuk has raised thousands of dollars for the needy youth to enable them to attend 4-H camps, conferences and classes. She has helped provide money for nine scholarships for needy outstanding youth through a 4-H scholarship fund she and her family established in memory of her parents.

Mrs. Vatavuk single-handedly organized and prepared for “Make a Difference Day” activities at Durham’s Opportunity Place, a home for abused and homeless mothers and their children. For this event, she helped provide clothing, books and toys for all the residents. She also helped obtain contributions for necessities for the residents from local businesses. Also, she is the precinct volunteer for “Kids Voting – Durham,” a program that teaches youth about democracy and the voting process.

For many years, Mrs. Vatavuk has assisted with relief efforts, many of them international. She has collected and organized many “Operation Christmas Child” donations for children around the world who live in poverty. She has also provided hundreds of toys to needy children at Christmas from her own funds. Moreover, Mrs. Vatavuk has organized many drives to provide warm clothing to the homeless.

Despite having been diagnosed with cancer eight years ago, Mrs. Vatavuk has dedicated her life to helping the youth and the needy in her community. She believes and lives the fact that one person can truly make a difference. Through her selfless service, she sets an example for others.

VINCENZA CARRIERI-RUSSO

As the founder of the nonprofit literacy association, Success Won’t Wait, Inc., Vincenza Carrieri-Russo strives to reduce Delaware’s illiteracy rates by gathering donations of new and used books and redistributing them in the community. Though Vincenza is a teen-ager, she has accomplished more than many adults.

Her community service efforts to improve literacy began in 2002 when she taught a family friend’s daughter to dance. Her friend’s young son would wait in the lobby and Vincenza thought a basket of books would give him something to do while waiting. The basket was so successful, that she placed several other baskets in nearby karate studios, hair salons and a doctor’s office. The program grew due to requests for additional baskets.

Since the inception of Success Won’t Wait, Vincenza has organized dozens of statewide book drives, calling on residents to donate used books for redistribution in the community. To date, Vincenza has collected more than 8,000 books. She has also expanded the organization’s mission and has developed four major project areas of children’s book baskets, expanding existing permanent, residential libraries, assisting local libraries “Friends” groups and creating “Independent” libraries.

Upon request, children’s book baskets are placed in any lobby or office where a child might wait free of charge. Some examples of placement locations include doctor’s offices and auto repair shops. Vincenza has already placed more than 50 baskets in various locations that have held approximately 2,000 books. Success Won’t Wait has also expanded existing libraries that are greatly in need. Some of the locations are the Ferris School for Boys, Baylor Women’s Correctional Institute and Gander Hill Prison. Vincenza has distributed approximately 1,000 books to these facilities.

Vincenza has also assisted the local “Friends” of the libraries with donations for library improvement projects not covered by state or federal monies. Recently, the Friends of the Hockessin Library lost 25,000 books to Hurricane Isabella and Vincenza was able to donated more than 1,000 books to help them out. Finally, Vincenza has created independent libraries throughout the state. She recently installed a 1,000-book library at The Bayard House in Wilmington, Delaware.

Vincenza’s future plans include more book drives. She has a goal of 10,000 books for donation by June of 2004 and 20,000 by the end of the year. She is also busy with an expansion into the surrounding states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. Eventually, she hopes to have a presence in all 50 states.

JOSÉ WOODHEAD

José Woodhead and her dogs, a yellow lab named Ginger and a black cocker mix named Midnight, are Pet Partners volunteers with Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA). The service required of these volunteers can be difficult and emotionally taxing because all the patients ITA visits are hurting in some way; whether physical (through accident, injury or stroke) mental (Alzheimer’s patients, children with disabilities), or emotional (children suffering from sexual abuse and abandonment). Some volunteers can only stand exposure to this kind of pain for a year or two. But it has not daunted Ms. Woodhead; she was one of only three people in the organization who has maintained constant, uninterrupted volunteer service for more than nine years. She also works full-time at the University of Utah directing a research laboratory, so in addition to the challenges of raising her family while working full-time, she puts enormous effort into juggling all her commitments and responsibilities to leave enough time for the volunteer work she treasures.

One of Ms. Woodhead’s grandchildren is multiply impaired following a premature birth. She felt that his survival was in large part due to the endless hours of love and care he had received from volunteers, so her interest in children at the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind was born of a desire to repay that volunteer time. She has also noticed how pivotal to ITA’s establishing a program at the school, becoming the Program Coordinator there. She has now served there for more than nine years. She has also worked with abused children at the Primary Children’s Medical Center Residential Treatment Facility since 1996, and with rehabilitation patients at the University of Utah Hospital since 1999. Each of these assignments she does weekly.

Ms. Woodhead works with the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind (USDB) school staff to develop strategies that will help each individual child reach his goals. One important need for multiply challenged children is to increase sensory awareness by providing tactile, visual, emotional or physical stimulation. The animals are also great motivators for getting the children to work on strengthening and relaxing their muscles and developing coordination. For children who are visually impaired the animals help develop nurturing skills, they teach cooperation and build confidence and self-esteem.

Ms. Woodhead’s work with a little boy named Chase started at the USDB. He was afraid to communicate and would scream at the dogs. After a month with the dogs, Chase stopped screaming and at age four he now anticipates the dog’s visits. They have helped him lose his fear of communication and he is learning how to communicate because of his interaction with Ms. Woodhead’s dogs.

Ms. Woodhead is also a mentor for dozens of other new Pet Partner teams, teaching them through demonstration, example and guidance. At her own expense, she has traveled to Delta Society conferences in New York City and Phoenix and paid for course training to become a certified Animal Evaluator and a certified Workshop Instructor so that she can help screen and train new volunteers. She also has made significant presentations for the organization, such as “Paws Helping Little People” at the 1995 and 1996 Utah Early Intervention and Preschool Education Conferences and “An AAT Program for Multiply Challenged Children” at the 1996 conference of the International Delta Society.

FEDERATED DEPARTMENT STORES INC.

“Partners in Time,” the employee volunteer program of Federated Department Stores, Inc., is active in Federated’s 450 stores and has been in existence for 14 years.

Partners’ nationwide initiative, Bag Hunger, begun in 1998, collects food and provides service for hunger relief beneficiaries. Last year, Federated donated 1.5 million pounds of food throughout the country. Each division also gives time – delivering, sorting, packing, cooking or serving. Macy’s West was honored by America’s Second Harvet as sponsor of the year for its leadership against hunger.

Federated is involved in a Mentoring USA partnership with Bloomingdale’s, spearheaded by Chairman Michael Gould, with 67 mentors this year vs. 42 last year. From 100 “pen friends” in the northwest to “Power Lunch” reading with New York students, volunteers are exceedingly committed to making a difference for children. Federated met and expanded its America’s Promise commitment – the Earning for Learning “dollars for doers” initiative – in which volunteers are encouraged to give service through grants for schools. Last year alone, 466 participants gave 7,000 hours and earned $126,000 for local schools.

Partners is open to family and friends, not just employees. It is estimated that 1/3 of Federated’s total employee base of 113,000 is active in Partners’ time-giving projects. However, many more participate in collection efforts – such as the Bag Hunger food drive. Several divisions have programs such as Bloomingdale’s, where trainees create projects and volunteer as a class for efforts such as Ronald McDonald House variety show skits or city park clean-ups.

Nearly all divisions support Making Strides Against Breast Cancer or the Komen Race for the Cure with major sponsoring and hundreds of volunteers as project organizers, walkers or water station staffers. Further support is given through bag stuffers and in-store pick up of race registrations. In Florida, support was so great – managers flew in from outlying regions to participate – that Komen is now the sole recipient for that division’s holiday “Thanks for Sharing” customer fundraising/marketing drive.

TERRY MCELHONE

Terry McElhone is a caring, dedicated volunteer who continually goes above and beyond to help others in Louisa County. When Ms. McElhone relocated to Louisa in 1988, she recognized a serious problem in the county. Studies showed that 25% of the adults were functionally illiterate and many were living below the poverty level. In an attempt to positively impact these problems, Ms. McElhone started a local program of Literacy Volunteers in Louisa. Her program had three students during the first developmental year.

Initially using her own resources, Ms. McElhone found ways to begin recruiting other volunteers and to spread the word that there were good options for adults who wanted to learn to read. She provides a safe, confidential, free service to those who want to improve their basic reading or math skills, learn to use a computer or obtain their GED. While teaching her students, Ms. McElhone also provides them with critical information regarding other services that are available to them. Until they can read and understand the information presented, they are often not aware of available assistance from local agencies such as social services, medical outreach and others.

Over the years, her program has grown, with some minimal funding from the county and donations from local individuals and companies that Ms. McElhone has approached for assistance. She is a one-woman dynamo who handles nearly all aspects of managing this program. She is responsible for recruitment, training, fundraising, bookkeeping and other administrative responsibilities.

Because of her efforts and perseverance, the organization has grown substantially. Ms. McElhone now manages the program with 40 students and 28 volunteers. Her volunteer spirit and teaching has directly affected the lives of hundreds of students and indirectly reaches hundreds of others through student and volunteer interaction with family members and people in the community.

Her continuous dedication to improving the program also resulted in obtaining national accreditation for the local organization in 2003. This entails additional responsibilities that include online reporting, which Ms. McElhone effectively manages. She also is actively involved with the Friends of the Library and currently serves as their president.

ORPHANETWORK

According to UNICEF and U.S. AID statistics, there are approximately 100 million orphans worldwide. ORPHANetwork is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was established in 2000 with a mission to help orphaned children in third world countries fully realize their potential. They work with established, indigenous partners to build and strengthen the capacity of orphanages in third world countries. These homes provide shelter, food, medical care, clothing, education, vocational training and a loving community for hundreds of children. In addition, ORPHANetwork is committed to creating real and lasting change in the communities surrounding the orphanages they serve through community development and self-sufficiency programs.

As a result of their donors’ generous giving, ORPHANetwork financially supports Casa Bernabe orphanage in Vera Cruz, Nicaragua where they are building a holistic model of ministry that cares for orphaned children from infancy through early adulthood. They go beyond meeting the children’s basic physical needs to also give them the education, loving support and tools they need to successfully leave the orphanage, enter the workplace and change their local community and country. The organization also helps fund VERBO School onsite at Casa Bernabe, which currently educates more than 300 orphans and impoverished children from the local community. VERBO is the only high school for hundreds of miles outside the capital city of Managua. They also sponsor orphanage graduates who attend University of Managua.

Their community development and self-sufficiency projects include a bakery in Vera Cruz that employs older women in the community and provides bread for several of the nearby orphanages. In addition, their organic model-farming project at Casa Bernabe provides the orphans with agricultural skills and job training, as well as much-needed fruits and vegetables for the orphanage.

In addition, ORPHANetwork is involved in relief work in Nuevo Vida, the largest Hurricane Mitch disaster relief site in Nicaragua. They are currently working to re-open the children’s feeding center onsite and providing vocational training for women in the community with cooking, typing and sewing classes. With an unemployment rate of more than 60 percent, many Nicaraguan families simply cannot afford to raise their children and are forced to give them up to orphanages where they can receive care. By providing parents with steady jobs that provide stable income, ORPHANetwork is helping to break the cycle of “social orphaning” that threatens Nicaragua’s future.

Last year through their Christmas Wish Program, 12 participating churches in the state of Virginia helped ORPHANetwork raise $42,000. This enabled them to take more than 2,000 orphans and impoverished children in the Ukraine and Nicaragua to their local marketplace for the shopping trip of a lifetime. With the funds raised, they were able to purchase clothes, shoes, a backpack, school supplies and a toy of their choice. ORPHANetwork volunteers make approximately 10 annual trips to Nicaragua and Ukraine where they care for children, take them for medical appointments, distribute critically needed supplies and help build and renovate buildings on site.

VOLUNTEER TEAM INC.

The spirit of Allegany County, Maryland is alive and well. One of the greatest examples of the community working together is the year-round volunteer work done by the Volunteer Team of Rocky Gap State Park, Dan’s Mountain State Park and Greed Ridge State Forest. Throughout the year, a dedicated group of volunteers works on tasks ranging from maintenance to special events at each of the three facilities.

The Volunteer Team was founded in 1992 in response to budgetary cuts throughout the State Forest and Park Service. A handful of individuals began to volunteer their personal time and effort to maintain resources and preserve programs at the three parks. Since then, hundreds of volunteers have participated in the program, logging in excess of 200,000 hours of service.

Volunteers are involved in many aspects of operations and maintenance at the three sites. The maintenance work includes but is not limited to maintaining campground and day-use facilities; trail maintenance, gardening, building picnic tables, creating fish habitats, cleaning and construction projects. In 1998, the Team sponsored a playground construction project in the Rocky Gap campground. Another was installed in the spring of 2000 as well as a basketball court. Adult swings have also been added to Rocky Gap’s day use area and campground as well as Dan’s Mountain. In 2002, The Team built a game room at the Rocky Gap campground and completed the construction of a group camping facility.

The Volunteer Team also sponsors and provides assistance for numerous special events for the public including the annual Easter Egg Hunts at Rocky Gap and Dan’s Mountain, mountain bike races at Green Ridge, Independence Day activities and a Memorial Day Children’s Fun Fair at Rocky Gap. They also serve at the Youth Fishing Derbies, car shows, the Labor Day Corn Roast and the Annual Rocky Gap State Park Haunted Campground. Most recently, the Team has been involved in the Mountain Reflections Christmas light display at Rocky Gap, working in cooperation with the local chapter of the American Red Cross. They are also setting up a schedule of events for the local parks for the spring, summer and fall.

The Volunteer Team also plays an integral role in ongoing public education and recreation programs at the parks. They participate and lead campfire programs, canoe trips, hikes and the Junior Ranger, Camp Host and Volunteer Ranger Programs. On a weekly basis, the Team operates a snack bar as a service to campers at Rocky Gap’s Campground for 8 to 10 hour shifts at a time. This service is performed entirely with volunteer labor, and the profits are then returned to the park in the form of new computers and equipment that could otherwise not be afforded.

The Volunteer Team provides support to park and forest visitors on a continuing basis through the Camp Host and Volunteer Ranger programs. The Team is diligent in its continued efforts to provide events and services to the community of Allegany County, Maryland and the surrounding communities through service at the local state facilities.

EAT’N PARK HOSPITALITY GROUP

Eat ‘n Park was founded in 1949 as a carhop restaurant. Eat ‘n Park is a family restaurant and bakery chain with 79 restaurants and more than 8,000 employees (called team members) in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Every year, 5% of Eat ‘n Park’s pretax dollars are donated to nonprofit initiatives in the communities they serve. The donations are focused in four areas through Corporate Giving: Health and Human Services, Education, Community & Civic Affairs and Culture & Art. Through the Community Relations Department, Eat ‘n Park supports more than 200 events, groups and organizations annually by providing a financial contribution, donation and/or providing employee volunteers who contribute to the success of the special events and activities.

Eat ‘n Park’s employee volunteer program, “Here to Help and Proud of It,” is open to all 8,000 employees, who always make a point to volunteer for all community service projects, including fundraisers. Every year a group of Eat ‘n Park employees participates in a “Roof Top Campaign” for the Caring for Kids fundraiser, which raises money for children’s hospitals. These volunteers sit on the rook of the restaurant for three days, calling upon customers, friends, family and anyone who notices to make a donation. This event draws a lot of media attention. This year a group of volunteers at the Swatara location raised a record breaking $8,113!

Eat ‘n Park voulnteerism began many years ago when team members were asked to walk in community parades, spend a Day of Caring for the United Way (since 1994), become mentors on Job Shadow Day and many more. Although these opportunities were available, it wasn’t until 1997 that the efforts were formalized into an Employee Volunteer Program. Since then, there has been an increase in volunteers (120 to 336) in all divisions.

United Way Day of Caring/ “Read Around Pittsburgh” Day of Caring is an annual volunteer event hosted by the United Way agencies in many communities Eat ‘n Park serves. This day features projects designed to make an impact such as physical labor, painting, and clean-up projects – raising the awareness of the critical needs facing the neighborhoods where Eat ‘n Park does business. In 2002/03, Eat ‘n Park asked all of its restaurants to become team leaders and call their local United Way to get details regarding their Day of Caring events. More than 82 employees volunteered in 11 market areas. “Read Around Pittsburgh” is a new initiative from the United Way of Allegheny county to tackle the dire need for improved early childhood reading skills for low-income families in the Pittsburgh area. This event gathered more than 250 volunteers countywide at 27 early childhood centers and homes. Eat ‘n Park provided 20 volunteers for this project at a local day care near the headquarters office.

Eat ‘n Park is the title sponsor of the Hope Network Classic, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament that benefits the Hope Network’s Healthsports program, offering sports, fitness and recreation activities for children and adults with physical disabilities. This is the 13th year Eat ‘n Park has served a title sponsor. It is one of the biggest sporting events in the Pittsburgh area and attracts more than 3,500 spectators and players.

MARTY KENT

Hospice of the Valley provides compassionate end-of-life care designed to meet the physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of the patient and family. This enables them to experience life and death with grace and dignity. The volunteers at the agency are the heart and soul of their organization. Currently they have 140 volunteers, and Marty Kent is one of those outstanding individuals.

Mr. Kent primarily volunteers his service in the office. Each Friday morning he appears to answer phones for at least three to four hours. During 2002, he volunteered the most hours of any other volunteer in the agency, and he continues to give an extraordinary amount of his time each year. The first contact is vital when someone calls an agency, and Mr. Kent displays a cheery and informed attitude that conveys to the caller they are important, as are all of their questions. He is able to service the callers with information and compassion.

Mr. Kent has been serving with the Hospice for almost five years. While retirement for some means to withdraw and live at leisure, Mr. Kent has decided to use his days and hours to help others. Besides his office volunteering, Mr. Kent has worked with some of the patients. He does for them some of the chores they are no longer able to handle such as grocery shopping. Even his errands are done with care and concern, and he is an example to the other agency volunteers.

Mr. Kent not only impacts the Hospice and those utilizing their service, but he impacts the entire community. When answering a question helps families or running errands, everyone benefits. Because of Mr. Kent and other Hospice volunteers, the community friends, neighbors and citizens of Morgan and Lawrence Counties would not be provided the choice to remain at home during the last days of a life threatening illness. This is a gift given to the community at large.

In addition to these activities, Mr. Kent works with the Hospice Family Survey. He calls the families to check on their satisfaction with the hospice services. He creates an atmosphere where families feel the freedom to express positive as well as negative thoughts. Whenever there is negative feedback, Mr. Kent does not become defensive, but he remains an active listeners. He then lets the family know the issue will be addresses. This entire process is comforting to the families.

Annually, the Hospice has a memorial service as a part of their bereavement program. Family members who have experienced the death of a loved one are invited to the service as a celebration of the life of their loved one. Mr. Kent has taken an active role in planning and participating in these services, which are healing for all the families involved.

Mr. Kent does all this while being an incredible husband and caregiver at his home. His wife has multiple sclerosis, and he can only volunteer in the mornings as the afternoons and evenings are devoted to his wife. He is dedicated at home but still gives of himself to help others who are in need.

AMY, ALLIE & DAVE STEINMETZ

Amy, Allie and David Steinmetz have been committed volunteers for the past seven years. Though Amy and Allie are only 16 and David is 12, they have co-authored a book entitled “Our Dad Died” and have established the “No Butts About It” Litter Campaign.

When the children lost their dad eight years ago, they were devastated. The books on grief were written by adults and reflected an adult point of view. In their small community, there were no other children with this type of loss to form a support group. They communicated their feelings and experiences in journals and after the tragic events of September 11th when everyone in the nation wanted to do something to help. They realized that their best contribution was to share their thoughts with the kids who had also lost a parent. They put together their journals and donated it to various charities for distribution to the children. The letters of praise they received motivated them to help other children who were feeling isolated and in need of support but who had not access to counseling services or another means of a communication outlet. Their book was published and they are donating a portion of their proceeds to Hospice to help create stronger children’s grief services.

In 1996 the Steinmetz children were doing a beach clean up and noticed the large amount of littered cigarette butts. Because of that, they started the litter campaign. Since then, they have reached many individuals or groups in 48 states and several countries. The campaign is aimed at raising awareness of the problems caused by cigarette butt litter, such as destructive fires, sickness in toddler who accidentally ingest littered butts, harm to animals and marine life and the harmful pollution effects, which are the highest form of litter in roadside and beach clean ups.

The “No Butts About It” campaign has motivated other efforts and has been used in the impetus for proposed legislation in Connecticut for three years by Senator Joseph Crisco. This campaign has also raised awareness of this often-unconscious habit. The youth spend many hours every week reaching out to different facets of society, asking that their posters with the slogan, “The Earth is Not Your Ashtray, No Butts About It” be hung in order to alert smokers of the effects of littered butts. They have been an example among their peers that children can make a difference. As a result of their efforts, Keep America Beautiful has now launched an initiative on this environmental hazard. The Steinmetz children have vowed to continue on their quest until the world is butt-free.

Both of these projects have had and will continue to have far-reaching impact. They will result in a cleaner environment for our global community and in helping grieving young children to be able to smile again.