THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

The Walt Disney Company has a long history of community involvement dating back to the days of Walt Disney. That tradition is not only still alive today, but continues to be an ever-increasing part of the company’s culture. The formal employee volunteer program, Disney VoluntEARS, provides opportunities for Disney employees to contribute their time, expertise and effort to make a positive impact in the community. Since the program’s inception at Disneyland in 1992, Disney VoluntEARS projects have taken place in more than 200 cities, 47 states and 24 countries on six continents. In 2003, Disney VoluntEARS around the world participated in 1,050 projects and programs and contributed in excess of 400,000 community service hours, filling 67,328 volunteer opportunities.

DisneyHand, worldwide outreach for The Walt Disney Company, established a companywide global “Dollars for Doers” program, EARS To You, in 2002. They continue to extend Disney’s commitment to volunteerism into their ongoing relationships with The Make-A-Wish Foundation®, USO, Special Olympics, Take Pride in America, Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross and numerous other non-profit organizations.

For more information about Disney VoluntEARS and DisneyHand’s outreach initiatives, please visit www.DisneyHand.com.

BRANDIE KOORS

Brandie Koors’s sister, Sheri, was born with spina bifada. Brandie sees first hands the needs of children who have disabilities and she works to help her sister and others.

In 2000, Brandie met Linda McClendon. Ms. McClendon has her own business that is called Full Circle Therapeutic Horse Back Riding. Brandie works there to help disabled children of all ages while on and while off the horse. Some of the children are affected with autism, spina bifida, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, downs syndrome, and blindness.

Brandi helps children from age one to teenagers. She also serves some adults. During the last four years she has seen much improvement in the children like walking, talking, sitting, opening their eyes, and much more. She has been volunteering with Full Circle since May of 2000 and continues to serve today.

Brandie comes in every Saturday from 9am until 5pm. She helps the children and teacher, Linda by grooming and assisting the children in learning grooming skills. She plays with the children and keeps them occupied while they are waiting for their session. She works with side walking , leading the horse, cleaning up after the horses and teaching the children about the horse in general. She also assists the children in feeding the horse a carrot after their session.

Brandie has also volunteered at the Nursing Home with her mother and sisters. She sang for the elders, visited with them and brought goodies to share with them. Brandie has amassed more than 650 hours of service during the past several years, and she continues to spend time with those who need her by giving of her time and energies to the staff and clients at Full Circle.

BACKPACKERS

More than 40% of children in Providence, Rhode Island live below the poverty level. These children do not have access to healthy food or stable living environments. Some of the children are even living in cars. This problem has far reaching consequences, since a student who is worried about where his next meal is coming from cannot concentrate in a classroom to learn the skills needed to break the cycle of poverty.

Last year, Sodexho cafeteria workers noticed high school students waiting outside the cafeteria on Friday afternoons. These students depended on the school breakfast and lunch programs for their weekday meals and faced a weekend with inadequate food for their families. They were hoping to convince the cafeteria workers to give them leftover food they could take home to feed themselves and their siblings for the weekends.

Providence Sodexho School Services saw this as a major problem and in March 2003, the Backpackers weekend food distribution program was born. Backpackers is now a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides weekend food supplies for students in high schools and middle schools. There are plans to expand the program to the elementary schools also, as soon as the program has enough support and funding. Other Rhode Island districts as well as some Massachusetts districts have begun to develop programs using the Backpackers as a model.

Sodexho employees voluntarily oversee the program and contribute the funds necessary to provide the food. Each backpack cost $5 per month to support. Guidance counselors, teachers or principals identify students in their schools who need assistance. Each student is assigned an identifying number and given a survey to determine their likes, dislikes, sibling and access to kitchen equipment like can openers, refrigerators, etc. Each week, June DiLorenzo, Production Manager for Sodexho School Services in Providence, goes to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and shops from the items available for nonprofit organizations. There, she picks out food based on the students’ preferences and needs, remembering that not all of them have access to a stove or microwave and that she may need to include a can opener in the backpack that week. The food for each child is placed in a backpack identified with the child’s special number.

From there, the food, as well as information on area shelters, soup kitchens and other assistance available to the teens, is sent to the schools and given to the guidance counselors. Each Friday, the student goes to the guidance counselor and picks up their backpack filled with food, which gives them supplies to survive the weekend. The backpacks provide scholarly camouflage – the students can blend in and avoid the stigma of being poor and needing to carry home a visible box or bag of groceries.

At this time, individuals, most Sodexho employees, who choose to adopt a backpacker for $5 a month, fund the Backpackers program. Sodexho School Services is hoping to expand their program to reach the elementary schools as well as to reach more students who need the help.

JONNIE AND BROOKIE ALLEN

Jonnie and Brookie Allen decided to volunteer when their brother, David, wrote them from Iraq and asked them if they would start an Adopt-A-Marine program in their schools. He is a Marine and is in the 15th MEU. There are over 1,500 marines in the 15th MEU. David advised his sibling that they were hungry and in need of personal hygiene products. They needed kits with snack foods and hygiene products such as toothpaste, nail clippers, soap and more.

First, they brought the idea to their classroom for help. Then they went to the community for additional assistance. They went on radio and TV stations and asked the public to buy their music CD, Let Freedom Ring as they are in a singing group in Arizona. They also appeared at many rallies so they could sell as many CD’s as possible. In turn, 100% of all the sales of the CD’s were donated to this program. Next, they went shopping to all the 99-cent stores so that they could purchase as much personal hygiene products as possible. Finally, they put together the Adopt-A-Marine kits.

The kits were full of more than just hygiene products. They also sent the Marines portable cameras, snack foods and letters from the public, supporting our military. They also packed newspapers from home and lots of recreational items, especially rubix cubes. They donated in excess of 100 hours on this program, and it was worth every minute. At times, they remembered wanting to go out and play; however, they remembered all the people fighting for freedom and decided to continue to work.

On July 12th, the Allens were able to see David and the other Marines who retuned safely to Camp Pendelton. They received a warm reception from their brother and the other Marines they had adopted. The men came up and hugged the girls and said “you’re the two little girls that sent us the packages.” The young ladies raised in excess of $6,000 in money and product to send to Iraq.

This was not the first or only volunteer service for the Allens. Their family has always emphasized the importance of giving back to the community. Their first service project was when they were only three and five years old. The girls participated in The Big Help. They drove around in their Barbie jeep with a wagon attached and would collect canned goods for the homeless. They went to 1,000 homes in 30 days and collected an entire truckload of food. They participated in The Big Help for two years. The sisters have started and completed more than 10 major projects since The Big Help. They feel they have been blessed with so much that anything they can do to help others is important.

Currently, Jonnie and Brookie are working on raising money to purchase new shoes for the children of the Thomas J. Pappas school for the homeless. This is an ongoing project they started two years ago when they were able to present each of the 76 children with a new pair of shoes.

SULLIVAN CALDWELL

Sullivan Caldwell is on a personal crusade to service, nurture and prepare our young children for the tough challenges of today’s fast-paced world. He realizes that the traditional family is no longer the typical one. Families are often made up of single parents, stepparents and siblings or grandparents raising their children’s children. However, one caring person can have a tremendous impact on a child’s life.

Most of his work is centered on helping at-risk youth. Many of these children have no social skills and are often terrified and angry. Some of them have been hungry most of their young life and have rotten teeth due to malnourishment. He also works with mentally challenged children, hearing impaired youth and children born with AIDS.

Mr. Caldwell has been a part of Big Brothers Big Sister (BBBS) of Broward, Inc. for the past six years. This is a chapter of the preeminent national youth-service organization serving boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. During this time he has mentored two young boys, and his involvement has led to improved academic performance for them. He was also a Board Member, a part of the Fun Vision Committee, has coordinated the Adopt-a-Family program and he has orchestrated the school supply collection and donation of BBBS Broward, Inc.

He has also served with Kids in Distress (KIDS) in Ft. Lauderdale for the past one and a half years. KIDS is an emergency shelter that caters to children aged 8 months to 12 years old who have been removed from their parents care due to sever neglect, abuse and/or abandonment. In some cases, parental rights have been terminated. Mr. Caldwell’s initial contract required a commitment of 4 hours a month for one year. The next year he renewed his commitment to the agency and increased his volunteer hours to 4 per work. According to Independent Sector, if Mr. Caldwell were paid for the time he volunteered, his rate would be about $18 per hour. During 2003, he contributed 120 hours or $2,160 to KIDS.

In addition, Mr. Caldwell has volunteered with Covenant House Florida, Inc. This organization is the largest privately funded childcare agency in the United States that provides prevention, outreach and direct care including emergency and transitional shelter to runaway, homeless and at-risk youth under the age of 21. He has served with them for the past two years, and during that time Mr. Caldwell has introduced the Money Smart Program to the agency. This tool helps adults outside the financial mainstream improve their money skills. The curriculum helps individuals build financial knowledge and use banking services more effectively.

Mr. Caldwell is driven by an inner desire to bring attention to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of children. He is unconditionally committed to the success, growth and well being of others. If there is work of any kind to be done, Mr. Caldwell is there to help.

CLOTILDE DEDECKER

On March 8, 2002, International Women’s Day, Clotilde Dedecker, then a freshman at Nardin Academy, attended a program on Women in Afghanistan at the local YWCA. This panel of speakers introduced her to the tenets of Islam as well as the plights of Afghan women and girls in a post September 11th Afghanistan. One of the speakers, Susan Safi-Rafig, Executive Director of Atlanta Afghan Women’s Association, gave an impassioned plea for assistance in educating Afghan girls.

Clotilde attends an all-girl high school. While attending the program, she had a response to Ms. Safi-Rafiq’s call and approached her after the presentation to see if there was some way she could help. She informed her that there were eight girls’ high schools in the community, and this may be a great opportunity for them to be a part of rebuilding Afghanistan by doing what they do best, support the education of girls. Clotilde then spend the second half of her freshman year developing a project proposal and presenting it to the eight principals of the schools.

All of the Administrators were supportive of her proposal and five of them agreed to have their schools participate. The Western New York (WNY) Girl Schools Coalition-Afghanistan Project was then created. This group is comprised of a delegation of four students and a moderator from each of the participating schools. They have met monthly since September 2002 during the school year at the various school to plan and implement strategies that support their goals, which are to raise awareness of Islam and Afghanistan within their school communities and to raise money to build and adopt a girl’s school in Afghanistan.

Their first goal of raising awareness resulted because of the traumatic events on September 11th. There are more than 3,500 students that attend the participating schools. They have all addressed the stereotypes and learned about Islam and deepened their understanding and appreciation for Middle Eastern cultures.

One year after the tragic events at the World Trade Center, the WNY community was faced with ethnic profiling challenges as the “Lackawanna Terrorist Cell” was implicated. These girls were able to have a very different dialogue about this challenging situation, as they understood the difference between extremist groups and the rest of the Middle Eastern community.

The Coalition is now completing its second year of operation. To date, they have raised and sent more than $15,000 for the rebuilding of the Zarghona Middle School for Girls in the Kandahar Region. They are now in the process of raising additional dollars to furnish the school and library. Their fundraising has included school drives, an all schools dance, grants and in-kind support from the community. The Coalition’s in-country partner is Afghan’s for Civil Society. They have been e-mailing photos of the school’s progress and of the students that are being served. The WNY Girls Schools Coalition-Afghanistan Project is excited to be a part of raising consciousness and awareness about the Middle Eastern community while promoting peace and education.

SEWARD COUNTY BRIDGES INC.

BRIDGES, Inc. was implemented as a coalition to bring communities within Seward County together. Their goal is to provide better communication amongst community members, gather data on the needs of the county, provide grant writing for programs that would enhance the lives of citizens within the county and provide programs for families and youth that enhance the lives of county citizens. BRIDGES began their grassroots effort six years ago, and has gradually built upon the needs of the county. A survey was done five years ago in the county to obtain information on what the citizens top concerns were. The findings of this survey showed the number one concern to be alcohol and tobacco use among teenagers in the county. The solution was to provide more prevention and intervention programs for youth and their families in the area.

BRIDGES then began partnering with county schools, organizations, businesses, churches and community members to build upon existing programs and implement new ones. This collaborative effort brought together entities that had never been together before in Seward County. Volunteer opportunities gave community members of all ages the opportunity to work together. Youth and the older generation have found each other through mentoring and tutoring programs.

A Seward County Interagency Council was built to bring together various agencies that can communicate with each other monthly. A Pre-Trial Diversion program was researched and developed alongside the County Attorney to provide an intervention program for youth and adult first time offenders. Educational classes were implemented alongside the Seward Cooperative Extension Office and Rural Region V Prevention Center to reach parents and youth that participate in the Pre-Trial Diversion Program. BRIDGES works alongside the Seward Cooperative Extension Office to promote and provide educational opportunities for schools and community members within the county.

A Family Nights and Good Beginnings Program was implemented to bring families with younger children together for educational and mentoring activities provided by the Seward Cooperative Extension Educator, who works with the BRIDGES coalition. BRIDGES implemented a mentoring program for new parents and their babies two years ago. This program has connected with the hospital and organizations in the communities to provide support and educational opportunities for these new families. A group of Quilters in Seward County provided blankets for the new babies in the mentoring program. BRIDGES helped establish a new Board of Directors and assisted with hiring Co-Directors at the Seward Youth Center. A grant was written by Bridges to provide After School Programming at three schools in Seward County. A BRIDGES committee started a suicide prevention task force that was implemented in the county. A BRIDGES Task Force was formed to raise $25,000 in funds for the TeamMates Mentoring Program in Seward County. Another task force, Safe Communities, has educated the county on seat belt safety.

Through BRIDGES, many collaborative efforts evolve as a result of the spirit in community members, businesses, schools, churches and organizations. BRIDGES has built the foundation and has found a response from county members.

EDISON INTERNATIONAL

Edison International’s family of companies develops, acquires, finances, owns, operates and maintains reliable and efficient power systems around the world. Although the company has had a volunteer program in place for over a decade, recent changes were made to make the program more enticing, appealing and user-friendly. The new program is called Energy in Action.

Energy in Action was launched worldwide in March 2003. Employees in the U.S., Asia, Australia and Canada received a volunteer starter kit containing a letter from the CEO, a brochure detailing the new program, a Volunteer Rewards card listing incentives, a user guide for the online tracking system and an Energy in Action t-shirt branded with their own company signature.

Edison International employee volunteers plan, organize and staff team volunteer projects, called Follow Your Heart events, throughout the year. Follow Your Heart ideas are conceived by employees themselves and benefit nonprofit organizations that they choose to “adopt.” Last year, 65 different Follow Your Heart projects took place, which totaled 259,000 hours of volunteer service.

Edison International’s heritage is based on its three core values: integrity in dealings, excellence in service, and respect for all we serve and with whom we work. As one of the company’s cornerstone values, Edison demonstrates respect for communities by supporting volunteerism that benefits children, education, the disadvantaged, the environment and disaster relief.

Edison has partnered with the Anaheim Angels baseball organization to hold food drives and collections of school supplies at the gates of Edison International Field. Energy in Action volunteers man collection drop-off sites at every Tuesday night home game during the baseball season. Volunteers have collected 12 tons of food and pallets of school supplies for America’s Second Harvet and low-income, Title I schools in Orange County, Calif.

Edison also partners with VolunteerMatch, a web-based volunteer referral service. VolunteerMatch has created a customized site interfaced with the company intranet to ensure that employees anywhere in the world can find a way to make a difference in their local community.

LAUREN AND CORY BOLDON

Though Lauren and Cory Boldon are only 13 and 14 years old respectively, they believe the old adage, “there by the grace of God go I” must never be forgotten. Their parents spoke this to them many times while growing up, and now it is a part of their lives. Lauren and Cory take pride in helping people who are less fortunate than they are because they believe that is their responsibility.

There is an ever-growing Hispanic population in the inner city of Minneapolis. It is one of the largest in the country. Lauren has been taking Spanish for seven years at school and wanted to use this knowledge to help others. She has a 4.1 GPA and her sister, Cory, has a 3.4 GPA, so they decided to help children who were having difficulty in school, as well as adapting to our English-speaking culture.

Lauren spoke with her mother and decided they could tutor/mentor a Hispanic family in the social system of Hennepin County. They contacted Hennepin County and were connected with the Ready Program leader for mentoring a child. Their idea was a new concept for Hennepin County so they had to receive approval from the Hennepin County Board. Once approval was received, the Ready Program leader matched the Boldons to a family of Hispanic and Native American heritage. They work with the oldest seven children of a sibling group of eight, ages five to thirteen. Lauren and Cory have been working with them for over two years now and are very proud of their progress. The girls have learned to understand differences in culture, education and life experiences and been able to make a difference for this family. As a result of Lauren’s idea and example, many families have also started mentoring “family to family.”

In addition to working with the Ready Program, the Boldons sponsor several children in other countries through Children’s International. They are also counselors at Church Bible School and have collected clothes for Mary’s Place, a homeless shelter. They collected more clothes than all of the other participants at their school combined. Lauren and Cory raised money for Cystic Fibrosis, “Hoops for Hearts,” raked leaves for the elderly, delivered dinners for the elderly and sing at nursing homes. Lauren and Cory also have fed the homeless at The Family Place and have made desserts for the homeless at the Simpson Shelter.

Because of their community service, the Lauren and Cory have become more mature. Their father is Chief of Construction for the Corps of Engineers, and he was asked to be the senior civilian Engineer to help rebuild Iraq. Their dad asked them to take someone else because they had just adopted Cory two and a half years ago, it was not fair to make her relive her fatherless childhood with a drug-addicted birth mother. They were Cory’s 8th family in foster care and her third adoptive placement. When the government said that there was not anyone else to go and they needed their Dad, as a family they decided that he must go and help the Iraqi people. They are very proud of their father’s commitment to our country and to the Iraqi people. He sets a good example of service in his everyday life, and because of that, the Boldons know they will continue their future volunteering.

CHILDREN’S HUNGER ALLIANCE YOUTH PROGRAMS

Children’s Hunger Alliance Youth Development Program partners with existing after school programs in Franklin County, located in churches, community centers and schools, to offer USDA meals essential for proper growth and development. Food alone, however, will not attract the children to an after school site. Enrichment encourages kids to attend after school programs that keep them safe, provide a way to get good nutrition into their bodies and continues the work that teachers have started in the classroom. Many of the programs are offered through the use of community volunteers and agency AmeriCorps members supervise their participation. A hot nutritious meal, coupled with quality enrichment programs offers a long-term solution in the fight to break the cycle of hunger.

Little Chefs is a five-session collaboration with the American Culinary Federation. It involves cooking experiences and career development. Children work with an accredited chef who volunteers to teach them about nutrition, food preparation and careers in the culinary field. For the last session, the children are allowed to wear chef hats and uniforms to prepare a fun meal for invited family guests.

Cook with a Book is a program where a community volunteer reads a book to the children in the after school program. They then assist the children in preparing a meal or snack that coordinates with that book.

Bright Futures involves Columbus area professionals as volunteers who share their careers and vocations with the children at an after school site. The children learn about life beyond their immediate surroundings, the importance of staying in school and have fun all at the same time. Speakers have included a judge, a police officer, a mayor, a photographer, a member of the Columbus Symphony, a local Creole Funk bandleader, a writer from the Columbus Dispatch and an animator.

The Ohio State University’s Master’s thesis reported that youth participating in the programs are more likely to meet minimum USDA requirements for all key nutrients. Ongoing outcome measurements show that the participating youth arrive at school on time, attend school more regularly and are more likely to pass on to the next grade than their peers. In addition, a University of Cincinnati evaluation reported that the youth in the Children’s Hunger Alliance Youth Development Program are more likely to pass 4th and 6th grade proficiency tests than their peers.

Children’s Hunger Alliance Youth Development Program provides nutritious meals and engages community volunteers to provide enriching experiences to youth between the ages of 5 and 18 in Franklin County. In 1995, the program started with 12 after school sites and 300 children served each day. It has grown to more than 1,300 youth at 45 after school sites. Youth Development is a program part of Children’s Hunger Alliance, a statewide nonprofit agency that has been working to feed hungry minds and bodies all over Ohio since 1970. The agency’s mission is to break the cycle of childhood hunger through education, leadership, advocacy and service.