BEST BUDDIES OF MCMAHON & NORWALK HIGH SCHOOLS

The Best Buddies Chapters at Brien McMahon and Norwalk High Schools are student-run mentoring initiatives that match high school students with developmentally and intellectually challenged students in the same school in order to relieve the social isolation felt by many students with special needs.

Best Buddies is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with mental retardation by providing opportunities for one-on-one friendships in order to decrease the social seclusion felt by students with special needs. Founded in 1989 Anthony K. Shriver, Best Buddies has grown from one chapter on one college campus to a thriving international organization that actively operates on more than 750 middle school, high school and college campuses in the United States, Canada, Egypt and Greece.

The City of Norwalk is unique in that it has two high schools. Both Brien McMahon and Norwalk High School have successfully launched very active Best Buddies chapters. While each school does its own fundraising and runs its own chapter, the two Best Buddies chapter will often join together for larger events such as a year-end picnic June and the annual trip to neighboring Westport for their Best Buddies Ball in March.

The Best Buddies chapters have held raffles with concert tickets as the coveted prize, have held a bake sale to support another Best Buddies State chapter officer who tragically experienced a fire in his home and have traveled to a neighboring community to assist with another Best Buddies fundraising activity. Buddies and peer buddies have, in addition to the above, attended school athletic events, toured a local artist’s studio, attended a holiday tree lighting event, gone bowling and hosted an ice cream social. They regularly spend lunchtime together and typically meet monthly to discuss progress and plan future events. Pizza and soda get-togethers are enjoyed by buddies and peer buddies alike, and the friendships that have developed are genuine and supportive.

Most recently, buddies and peer buddies of the Best Buddies chapters worked in collaboration with the Lower Fairfield Regional Center in Norwalk on a clean-up day at Lower Fairfield in preparation for the opening of the facility’s new Respite Center. An ongoing relationship is being forged with the mentally retarded residents of the Lower Fairfield Regional Center to the delight of the Center’s Director, Patricia West. The collaboration has not gone unnoticed by Peter O’Meara, Commissioner of the Department of Mental Retardation for the State of Connecticut.

Best Buddies Chapter members have created a new awareness and have put new emphasis on inclusion of those with special needs at both Brien McMahon and Norwalk High Schools. Their dedication to those with developmental and/or intellectual challenges in exemplary, and they; are creating a more welcoming environment at their schools in which all students can grow and progress. Their successes are simply the result of the love and commitment that they bring to their relationships with their special needs buddies. Best Buddies has become and will continue to be a welcome addition to Norwalk.

CENTER FOR SERVICE & LEARNING

Brigham Young University’s (BYU) Center for Service and Learning, formerly known as the Jacobsen Center for Service and Learning, was formed in 1998 as a means to promote lifelong service and learning among BYU students. The Center has grown since that time and now sponsors 31 community service programs, a peer tutoring program and a tutor outreach program, with more than 9,000 students volunteering their time and talents annually. In 2003, students donated in excess of 55,000 hours to organize service opportunities and give back to their community.

The service programs run with the help of 55 student volunteers fulfilling leadership roles. These students organize the programs, plan service activities, recruit students, train and mentor volunteers and effectively carry out meaningful service within the community. Examples of service rendered by volunteers include mentoring, tutoring, literacy education, community clean-up, visiting the elderly and assisting the physically and mentally disabled.

The Center has 10 mentoring programs, which partner BYU students with children and youth in the community. These students provide the children and youth with a positive role model and encourage them to reach their full potential. This year, a new program entitled Project Youth will bring 1,100 underprivileged fifth and sixth grade students to campus. The children will experience a day of college life in hopes of encouraging them to pursue higher education. Another program is Youth Detention, which facilitates volunteers to befriend and mentor youth at one of the state’s only youth correctional facilities.

Each year, the peer-tutoring program relies on hundreds of BYU student volunteers to assist their peers in their classes. The Center also facilitates a Tutor Outreach to Provo School District program, which typically has 900 students volunteer to tutor children and youth within the Provo School District (PSD). These volunteers assist local teachers in helping PSD students learn. BYU students also fulfill literacy needs in the community by teaching adults, youth and children to read at local literacy centers.

Adopt-a-Grandparent student volunteers go to care facilities on a weekly basis to brighten the days of the elderly through music and friendship. As part of the Adaptive Aquatics program, students can volunteer at the University’s pool to swim with local elementary and junior high school students who have special needs. This allows the children to receive needed physical therapy in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.

The BYU Center for Service and Learning is a resource that has had an extremely positive impact on both BYU students and the community. The Center assists BYU students in making meaningful contributions as they fulfill real needs within their local community.

LISA KARBON

Lisa Karbon heard someone say that when it is cold, no one should have to go without a coat. In April of 2003, this 13-year-old Glendale, California youth took this statement to heart and began her “One Warm Coat” campaign.

Lisa identified charities to which she would give the coats. She found the Hillsides in Pasadena, Elizabeth House in Pasadena, the Foothill Unity Center in Monrovia and the Walking Shield-American Indian Society in Tustin. Lisa then outlined a plan to collect as many clean and reusable coats she could to donate to these worthy organizations.

Lisa made presentations to Glendale Elementary and Middle School faculties. She also spoke to her church membership and the local Kiwanis Club. As a result, collection boxes were placed in local businesses, in her church office and in school offices. She was also able to collect the unclaimed “lost and found” coats from a number of these same schools.

Lisa also contacted friends and relatives and received donations from as far away as Texas. She contacted the organizer of the local Arts and Crafts Festival and was given a booth from which to collect coats and hand out flyers advertising her collections points for future donations. This was the first time a complimentary booth was given for charity purposes during the history of the Festival.

During 2003, Lisa made weekly trips to her collection points, sorted all donated coats and jackets and washed those she was able to. She then boxed them for storage in preparation for delivery in the fall and winter. She started her distribution in October and the heaviest coats went to Walking Shield American Indian Society to be shipped to North Dakota. Deliveries continued to the Foothill Unity Center for their holiday distribution party. Lisa and some of the members of her Girl Scout troop handed out One Warm Coat to each child who attended. Collections and donations have continued and Lisa last distributed in February of 2004.

Lisa spent in excess of 104 hours planning and carrying out One Warm Coat. Her efforts to date have resulted in the collection of more than 1,300 donated coats, jackets and sweaters. Many who would have otherwise been greatly affected by the winter weather were able to feel warmth due to their One Warm Coat.

SANDRA IRLE

Since June of 2000, the Blind Boone Park Renovation Group has worked to renovate Blind Boone Park in Warrensburg, Missouri. Full-time volunteer Sandra Irle, along with her husband, Mark, founded the group. Originally built during segregation for the black community, it is being renovated as a community park with a sensory walkway for the visually impaired. More than 1,500 volunteers from all walks of life have worked to make the once neglected spot no longer a place to keep people separated, but it is now a place that brings people together.

The park is in an area in the older section of town. This portion was once looked down upon. However, because the project is in the “Historic District” and is mentioned in the State Tourism guides new attention is being paid to this once desolate area. As a result of this project, other historic buildings are being saved and there is a revitalization occurring. There are new apartments replacing antiquated dwellings and a renewed pride of ownership in the community.

Mrs. Irle and her group are often referred to as the Blind Boone Park Family because of their closeness. Many new relationships have come out of the volunteer opportunities. This project has crossed all barriers by inviting volunteers to express themselves in a healthy manner. Those who come to work pick an activity that best suits them. They can plant flowers as well as aiding in building a gazebo. As a result of the renovated park, the Blind Boone Music & Arts Festival was born out of a continued desire to bring people together. That will soon celebrate its fourth annual festival with more than 100 volunteers working the event each year.

The impact of this project is wide reaching. The area of town in which the park is located has a renewed feeling of inclusion and pride with improvements and respect to historic sites. The support from the City Council, Parks Department, area civic organizations, schools and churches shows the new sense of community that Mrs. Irle has fostered. In addition, tourism has flourished with area, regional and national recognition for the park and town.

Mrs. Irle and her team of volunteers have worked for more than four years in activities associated with building the park and raising the money to keep it maintained. The Group has the annual music festival, ongoing volunteer projects and educational school trips, seasonal events in the park, annual children’s garden project, music mentoring project, walk for health path, church services and other events.

The Blind Boone Park Renovation Group has crossed all barriers by gentle but persistent invitation to be included in something that has caused only good feelings. Friendships and bonds have been formed and now replace animosity and fear. This has been an accidental education and renewal process that has occurred naturally as a result of restoring the park. What began as a “park project” has become so much more to the town and each of the volunteers as well as the community-at-large.

BELLSOUTH

BellSouth has a rich tradition of community service, highlighted by its significant charitable investment in its communities, including monetary contributions, sponsorships, and in-kind donations totaling more than $42 million annually. The BellSouth Pioneers, a volunteer organization of more than 100,000 active and retired employees are the primary community service arm of the corporation. Pioneers are organized into nine chapters (one in each state the company serves), 75 distinct groups of active employees and 91 groups of retired employees known as Life Members, spread throughout the entire southeast region.

Focusing on teacher support, recruitment and retention, the Quality in the Classroom program is designed to build on BellSouth’s commitment to education and provide a comprehensive, targeted effort to address these important educational issues in the Southeast. It includes a partnership with a nonprofit or educational institution in each state in the BellSouth region, reflects the diversity of BellSouth’s employees and the customers served, includes a strong volunteer component and leverage BellSouth’s expertise in technology.

BellSouth and the American Red Cross have joined forces on Together, We Prepare initiative in which BellSouth employees participate in training that will give them the resources and knowledge to educate audiences on homeland security issues, how to build disaster preparedness kits, how to develop a family disaster response plan and volunteer response to a disaster. Hundreds of BellSouth employees and retirees are also being trained in emergency preparedness and rapid response activities to assist Georgians in the event of a disaster.

BellSouth has also taken a leadership role in Business Strengthening America (BSA), President Bush’s community service initiative. Throughout the region, thousands of employees have participated in community projects that fall under the BSA umbrella. In Georgia, BellSouth teamed with Habitat for Humanity to create a “Community of Dreams,” in which hundreds of employees and retirees built new homes for low-income families.

Pioneers distribute A Book About ME personalized readers to elementary school children in an effort to encourage reading and instill self-confidence in young children. To date, more than 87,000 books have been distributed throughout BellSouth’s region.

In Florida, BellSouth addressed a serious need in the Palm Beach County School District. The school district had Net TV and Presentation Stations that sat idle in the classrooms because the current wiring was incompatible with the new equipment. BellSouth Pioneers took on the project and wire more than 60 classroom, placed over 150 jacks, giving Net TV connections to 1,685 students.

ERIN ROSEN-WATSON

Erin Rosen-Watson is the director of her own nonprofit organization, Erin’s Helping Hands. With more than 500 volunteers, she has impacted thousands of needy children in Massachusetts. She has two ongoing projects and many one-time projects.

Her ongoing projects, Erin’s Afghans and The Essential Care Packet Project, have impacted more than 9,000 people. The afghan program has supplied 5,390 Afghans to children in need, and the care packet project has given more than 4,961 emergency placement bags to foster children and others in transition. Some of the one-time projects include: Winter Warmth – gave hundreds of hats and mittens to children in New Bedford, Spring Treasures – donated 30 gift baskets to teen moms for Mother’s Day, Backpacks are Cool for School – supplies 200 fully stocked backpacks to needy area school children, and the 3B;s-Blankets, Bears and Books – saw 1,618 handmade blankets, books and stuffed animals delivered to 51 emergency shelters.

As the director and creator of these projects, Erin has been involved in every aspect of their success. She has made blankets, gathered supplies, solicited donations, delivered the finished products, picked up and delivered materials for the projects. She has also written a newsletter, sent thank you notes and maintains her own website, www.massyouthincaction.com, to keep the public informed about every aspect of her project. Erin is personally responsible for both the quantity and quality of the donations and has never taken a salary or material compensation for her thousands of hours of community service.

Since the state of her project in October 2000, Erin has made a difference in the lives of thousands of children and volunteers. In many cases, through no fault of their own, these vulnerable children have found themselves in difficult situations and they need to know that they have not been forgotten. Directing this multi-generational project has created a community of people to help care for these children. Erin has spent hours with the elderly and learned the value of meaningful work in the elder years. She has mentored other youths as they helped with her projects or assisted them in setting goals for their won projects. Erin has lectured to church, school and other volunteer groups spreading the mission and message of Erin’s Helping Hands.

As a result of her volunteer service, Erin has been the recipient of the National Georgia Pacific Angel in Action Award, the Guardian Life Girls Going Places Scholarship, the Boston Celtic’s Heroes Among Us Award, the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, Paul Newman’s Cookin’ Up a Better World and citations from the Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift, the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives and the Department of Social Services.

DR. MICHAEL LITOW

Dr. Michael Litow has been helping save young lives for more than 30 years. He has helped children and teens that are disconnected from the larger community face their challenges head on and find solutions and success that will make them productive. His work leads to a positive long-term solution for each of the youth and parents as well. The children he serves acknowledge Dr. Litow as being the one person that took the time and interest to make their situation matter.

As a child, Dr. Litow had a learning disability. His difficulty in processing information made him frustrated and more than a handful in school. However, the adults in his life stuck by him and encouraged him. With the help of his parents and teachers, Dr. Litow, was able to overcome his disability and as an adult, has been nominated for the Walt Disney American Teacher Award, which honors creativity in teaching. Dr. Litow has been a leader of the cooperative inclusion program between Sullivan and Buckingham Special Education Center, a school for students with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. Buckingham students who improve significantly can be transferred to mainstream classes at Sullivan. Though he is part of Buckingham’s staff, he works closely with the students and Sullivan’s teachers to help the transitioning special education students into a mainstream school.

Dr. Litow teaches and counsels special education students at Sullivan Elementary on Chicago’s southeast side. He is also the founder of a 20-year old nonprofit counseling center, The Education Center, for children and young adults. What he endured as a child drives what he does now. He realizes all children can learn, but they all learn in different ways. He also advises before you can teach a child, you must reach that child. He states you should be accessible and spend time with the youth; listen to them, and do not be so easy to judge or condemn them.

The Education Center is an organization that has helped turn thousands of children’s lives around since its inception more than two decades ago. Established out of a profound sense that all children have the ability to succeed, Dr. Litow has created a unique life-coaching program at the Center. It includes tutoring, mentoring and vocational training. The vision of the Center is to help children discover their dreams and pursue them against all odds. Dr. Litow has received recognition for his lifelong work of advocacy on behalf of children that include honors from the Illinois House of Representatives, the United States Department of Justice, Phi Delta Kappa, the Chicago Jaycees, the American Bar Association, the American Medical Association and the National Junior Women’s League.

Dr. Litow has affected young people from all walks of life. He has been a mentor and a coach that helped give youth a second change in school and in life.

RUDY HAZEN

Rudy Hazen is a very empathetic and compassionate child. About four years ago,she became very concerned for other people who did not have the kind of life she had. She realized some people went withouth shelter, food, a safe home and other things that many people take for granted. Sometimes Rudy would get so moved by the plight of others that she would literally cry. Her parents told her if she felt so strongly about something that she should think of a way to change the situation and help to make it better.

One Sunday in church there was a message in the bulletin about the Women’s Shelter in the area. They needed some assistance, and Rudy believed this was a sign her there to serve. Rudy thought of creative ways to help the shelter and decided to have a party for her friends. The “Have a Heart Benefit for the Women’s Shelter of Pittsburgh” was soon scheduled. When Rudy’s dance teacher heard about it, she loved the idea and volunteered to host to party at her studio, Dance Workshop by Shari. Rudy scheduled the party and asked each of her 24 friends to bring an item for the shelter. Instead of the participants bringing one item, they brought in boxes and bags. They filled the entire dance studio the first year the party was held.

The first party was such a success, Rudy planned to continue it annually. During the second year, the particpants from all classes at the dance studio were invited. Approximately 60 children came and brought an enormous amouont of donations for the shelter. By the third year, the community college in the area got involved. Rudy decided to make the party a performance and 75 dancers, several singers and some speakers came and performed during the Valentine’s Day weekend. The benefit performance was held at the Community College of Allegheny County, South Campus Auditorium. Friends, family and the community joined Rudy and her friends at the dance studio in an inspiring show. The “party” was a message of hope, love and caring and raised $1,900 and collected another extraordinary amount of donations for the shelter.

Rudy is working to hold the event each year now, and she plans for it to continue to grow so their support of the shelter can grow also.

AMY SOLOWAY

Recordings For Recovery is a community service project that Amy Soloway, a junior at Harvard-Westlake School, started two years ago. This program provides age-appropriate stories and poems on taped cassettes to children recovering from surgeries in local hospitals. These children are often compelled to recover alone, without friends or parents to entertain them. So Amy’s project was created to fill the void left by the absence of these familiar voices.

Amy has been actively involved in volunteering since elementary school. She has participated in walk-a-thons for children’s charities and worked at food banks along with other service projects. A couple of years ago, she decided she wanted to start her own program and went to a local hospital. She spoke to the administrators there and inquired what was most needed for the young children recovering from surgeries. The staff advised her there was a need to comfort children in the recovery room. Shortly thereafter, Amy began recording her favorite bedtime stories on cassettes. She knew the children at the hospital deserved the opportunity to fall asleep with a comforting voice, and Recordings For Recovery was born.

She was excited and wanted to get the word out about her new program. Amy began recording stories and poems, created and distributed fliers to solicit donations from others and contacted local hospitals offering the services of Recordings For Recovery. She also delivered the cassettes to the recovering children.

Amy’s intent was to make less overwhelming the often-traumatic experiences of young children who were recovering from surgery. Recordings For Recover, however, did even more than that. One parent at Cedars Hospital reported that it made them feel good as a mother to know there their child could be entertained and comforted even when they were unable to be in the room.

Amy even took the time to assess her project to see what could be done differently or better. She realizes she needed a bilingual component and began to record in Spanish also. She then took another step and contacted elementary school and encouraged them to adopt her program as a pet project. Her previous elementary school did just that, and they have helped Amy by recording tapes of their favorite stories. This partnership makes it possible for children who request to keep a tape they are particularly fond of when they leave the hospital.

ROBERT BECKETT

Robert Beckett is an amazing and dedicated Foster Grandparent volunteer whose love for knowledge and community giving has evolved to a very high level of volunteering. He currently volunteers five hours a day each week as an English language and math tutor at Whitney Avenue Elementary School in Carmichael, California.

Three years ago, after receiving a three-way bypass and recuperating, Mr. Beckett needed an activity to stimulate his mind and boy. His wife of 69 years, Julia, heard about the Foster Grandparent Program and suggested he check into it. Mr. Becket checked into it and he has been hooked on volunteering ever since.

At the age of 94, Mr. Beckett volunteers in a Dale King sixth grade class with about 35 youth in a Title I school. There are many refugees from Mexico, China, Vietnam and the former Soviet Union. One of Mr. Beckett’s most significant contributions is working with the youth to teach them English as a second language (ESOL). With the direction of the teacher, Mr. Beckett utilizes a method called Total Physical Response. He put together a box of about 75 – 100 common items, words and phrases such as pencils, erasers, paper, cups, combs, candy, the days of the week, month, colors and numbers that we use in language. He quietly sits in the back of the room with a small group of 5 – 6 children. Mr. Beckett picks an item from the box and each student must pronounce the name of the item, write it down and try to use it in a sentence. He then repeats the process for a couple hours. In his desire to help them succeed, he allows them to help each other with the spelling until they learn it from memory.

One of the 6th grader teachers at Whitney Avenue Elementary School advises that Mr. Beckett is very kind with the students; he is patient, and he helps the students utilize their learning much better. He said, “I couldn’t do it without him.”

Mr. Beckett is one of 100 Foster Grandparents in Sacramento that offer meaningful volunteer opportunities for low-income seniors age 60 and older to provide love and support to children with special or exceptional needs. All Foster Grandparents receive an hourly stipend of $2.65 to reimburse some of the costs incurred while serving at least 15 hours per week. Thousands of children have been helped by Foster Grandparents in the 30 years of the program. Some of the children are mentally, physically or emotionally disabled. Others are abused, neglected or in the juvenile justice system. Each child is special, but many lack the presence of that special someone who could make all the difference in the world. Robert Beckett is one of the special people in Sacramento.