GERARD BOWLES
In one moment on a dark night on the Interstate, Jerry Bowles’ life changed forever. He witnessed a horrible automobile collision. A body was flung into the highway. He stopped to help. As he was getting a flashlight from the trunk of his car, another car plowed into him and both of his legs were crushed, requiring amputation above the knee. He also suffered a broken hand, shoulder and wrist. After many months of hospitals, surgery, therapy and trying to reconstruct life, some people would have become sedentary and bitter, but not Jerry Bowles.
Each week, Mr. Bowles comes in his power wheelchair to the Methodist Rehabilitation Center where patients deal with the effects of stroke, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury. His actions are a shining example of the true spirit of volunteerism, sharing his time and talents to improve the quality of life for patients whose lives have been altered by severe injury or illness. Everyone at Methodist Rehabilitation Center knows him and looks forward to his upbeat attitude and happy smile. Mr. Bowles says, “Life is too short for me to think about what happened in the past.”
Isolation and depression are severe problems for anyone suffering from a disabling incident. Many believe that life is over for them. Mr. Bowles visits patients’ rooms, and tries to make the transition into the hospital easier. He delivers mail, newspapers and greeting cards, and sometimes he just talks to them – or simply lets them talk to him. When they meet him and see how he has not only survived, but also thrived, they know that they too can have hope.
Mr. Bowles discovered that the patients at Blair Batson Children’s Hospital need books, so he regularly goes to book fairs and buys books to donate to the hospital and to Mustard Seed, the local home for mentally disabled adults. He also spends time combating the isolation and loneliness that is so common for the elderly. He visits, takes goodies and just makes the day brighter for the residents of the area nursing homes. He said, “I am so blessed! I have the privilege of meeting and visiting people I would have never met if I had never had my accident and never had to change my life.”
Mr. Bowles helps to give people the desire and ability to return to an active life. He does not try to tell patients that life is still worth living, he shows them – with his attitudes, his actions, and his body language. Sometimes he brings a special book for an individual or goes to the coffee shop and buys special coffee or other treat for a particular patient because he learned that they would enjoy it.
Jerry Bowles has been volunteering his time at Methodist Rehabilitation Center since April of 2002, as soon as he was able after his accident. Jerry was a representative in the wholesale clothing business before the accident and still is involved with the business and the people he met there. Recently he bought two wristwatches and gave them to the hospital to raffle and raise money. He also serves as President of the homeowners association in The Villas, the subdivision where he lives. Before his accident he was an avid square dancer and round dancer, and he still coordinates the clogging and square dancing exhibitions for the MS Square Dance Association at the MS State Fair even though he is unable to dance now.
MISSION OF MERCY PROJECT
According to a 1999 study published by the Joint Committee on Healthcare, Virginia has 43 underserved areas where the dentist to population ratio exceeds one dentist to 5,000 or more individuals. To respond to this critical situation, the Virginia Dental Health Foundation launched the Mission of Mercy (MOM) Project in 2000. Three times a year, approximately 150 dental professionals give up their weekends and travel to rural areas of the state to help patients with their dental problems.
For many in these rural areas, there is a lack of resources to address their dental health issues. Since it’s inception, the MOM Project has provided an increasing number o Virginians with cleanings, fillings, extractions, dentures and other dental services that they otherwise would not have access to. Through the endless hours of planning and involvement by these volunteers, the Mom Projects have broken records for the biggest dental outreach clinics ever conducted in the United States.
These dedicated professionals have devoted their time, energy, resources and whatever else is needed to ensure that the MOM Projects are hosted every year and the number of people served by them increase. Without their diligent planning, coordinating and ability to get all of the resources required, the MOM Projects have the potential to be chaotic scenes and ending up as just another good idea that was not realistic to implement.
Because of the untiring commitment and dedication of this group of dentists, specialists, dental assistants, hygienists and staff, these projects continue to be successful in providing much needed dental care to those served by them. The number of uninsured and underserved Virginians receiving dental care has increased with each year that the MOM Project is held. Thanks to the nine MOM Projects that have been hosted, in excess of 7,111 people have been provided with desperately needed dental treatment. Without these clinics, most of those served would have continued to leave their dental needs unmet. Overall, because of this team’s belief that everyone is entitled to dental care, $2,587,274 worth of dental care has been donated to those who need it most.
Without the different resources and backgrounds that each member brings to the table, this project would not be possible. Some members are responsible for visualizing the project and work towards getting others on board. Other members have the resources to get funding, supplies and donations. There are also members who participate in the planning of the projects and treat those very people they have envisioned the project helping. Without each member of this team, the MOM Projects would never be able to have the impact on these areas that it currently does. It is through their efforts that the dental community came forward to volunteer their time and services to improve the lives of those in greatest need. The MOM Program recognized a need, mobilized the appropriate resources, came together and still continues to make a difference.
VISION CULTURAL MENTORING INITIATIVE
The Vision Cultural Mentoring Initiative is an outstanding community service effort by the University of Maryland to connect college students to the local community to effect change in the educational achievement of disadvantaged youth. The yearlong program pairs college students with high school students in the Prince George’s country area to expose high school students to college and to engage them in learning about multicultural communities.
The Vision Cultural Mentoring Initiative was created out of an identified need to expand the experiences of local public school students, so that they have greater interest, capacity and preparation to go to college. On the other hand, the program also expands college student understanding of civic and social needs in the community surrounding their college. For example, Bladensburg High School has one of the lowest SAT school average in Prince Georges County Maryland. Students at the school are struggling to achieve collegiate entrance. A lack of exposure to college, lack of mentorship, and lack of preparation all contribute to the students in this school not pursuing higher education. The Vision Cultural Mentoring Initiative was created to change this reality.
The program brings students to the University of Maryland campus on a regular basis to demystify the college experience. Students shadow their college mentors in their classes, they attend campus cultural and social events, they participate in collegiate workshops, and they are guided through the college admissions process. What is most creative about the program is that students are simultaneously engaged in learning about their cultures and history. They are provided enhanced opportunities to affirm their cultural identity through reading culturally focused books and then engaging in scholarly discussions on the books with their mentors. The program was created with the belief that students must see college not only as an opportunity to gain a degree but to grow personally and culturally—to learn about themselves in ways that were not offered during their k-12 experience.
The program’s first year produced outstanding results: all of the high school students that participated in the program went to college. The Vision program has made an impact in the local community of Prince George’s County Maryland and positively impacted the lives of its high school and college leaders.
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF FLAGSTAFF
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flagstaff (BBBSF) has served thousands of people in the Coconino County region with its mission, “to help children succeed by matching them with appropriate adult mentors.” They provide youth with tools to develop important life skills, as well as mentors with the training and support necessary to serve as role models to the “littles.”
Big Brothers of Flagstaff was founded in 1968, and Big Sister of Northern Arizona was founded 1976. They merged in 1999 and became BBBSF. This agency is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that is associated with the United Way of Northern Arizona.
BBBSF addresses children’s need for positive relationships with caring adults. The majority of the little sisters and brothers are from single parent homes and may have other potential risk factors. Seventy percent of the mentees and 22% of the mentors represent minority populations. Mentoring is one of the best-known activities for building children’s confidence, competence and caring, and they do it with four successful programs.
Community Based Mentoring (CBM) is a 35-year old mentoring program serving 350 community members in 175 matches with 56 children on a waiting list. Little brothers and sisters are between 6 and 15 years old and meet with their adult mentors for at least two hours each week.
Vision in Progress (VIP) is a 15-year old mentoring program involving up to 30 court-referred youth and children on the BBBSF waiting list, in an after school recreation program with adult supervisors. VIP provides a safe place with structured activities for the participants, and has an outstanding track record for reducing recidivism; to date, only one participant in/from the VIP program returned to the juvenile system while in the program. The VIP activities include but are not limited to hiking, sports, art and creative writing.
Pipeline NAU is a seven-year-old mentoring program that matches 20 seventh grade students from first generation, college-bound families with 20 Northern Arizona University faculty members. This started in 1997 and the first class began this fall with GPA’s of 3.0 or better. These mentees will become big sisters or big brothers themselves when they are sophomores in college.
School Based Mentoring (SBM) is a five-year-old program that partners adult mentors with 1st through 6th grade students in an after school program where matches meet for two hours a week for 20 weeks each school. Currently, the program provides a safe place for more than 100 children in seven elementary schools who participate in structured activities that are recreational, health-based, community-based or academic.
COPALIS COMMUNITY CHURCH FOOD BANK
The Copalis Community Church Food Bank has been in continuous operation since the early 1980’s and the families served has grown from several to more than 125. It is the place those up in the beach go to when times are tough; it is a port of safety during the storm in troubling times. Many people say this house was built on love.
Betsy Rothchford was helping her husband at his medical office and she saw a great need to help provide local people with food and clothing. Times were hard and Ms. Rotchford had a soft place in her heart for those in need. She took the opportunity to meet the community’s need and founded the Church Food Bank.
As the needs of the community have grown and changed, so have the food bank and the serviced they offer. It is open the first and third Wednesday of each month from 9am until 1pm. Each Wednesday they are open from 12:00 pm to 1:30pm for bread and produce distribution. Every Saturday, food is taken to those who are homeless and living on the streets of Aberdeen, and on the fourth Friday of every month, a meal is provided for the Gospel Mission in Aberdeen. This summer the food bank had their first Summer Feeding program and served an average of 17 children free lunches daily. They are looking to greatly expand that program next summer to other surrounding areas.
The food bank meets a need in the community; there is a high rate of unemployment, and families need help with food. People are thankful there is a place to go for help, and when things get better for them; those clients give back to the food bank to help someone else. People from the community are involved at the food bank in many ways. There is the interaction of food distribution, clothing distribution, summer feeding programs and community appreciation days. There are also the people who get involved by giving regular donations of both money and goods.
The most noticeable impact seen at the food bank is the overwhelming appreciation the clients have for the services offered to them. It is not just food dispensed but a warm and friendly outreach to those in need. They offer help with housing, transportation, child care and have people available for religious counseling if requested. They also help to get school supplies for the children in the fall, and they assist in getting parents involved with organizations to provide Christmas presents for the children. The food bank volunteers are non-judgmental and make the experience of coming to the food bank less stressful and more of a personal shopping experience.
CNA PUBLIC AFFAIRS TEAM
Throughout 2002, CNA employees across the country opened their hearts and showed their generosity by supporting a number of important causes in their communities. In addition to their time, employees also were extraordinarily generous monetarily, as the CNA Foundation Matching Gift Program matched a record amount of donations.
Between December 2 and December 13,CNA ran its annual holiday drive for employees in the corporate headquarters. The company’s headquarters is located in downtown Chicago and is home to approximately 2,500 employees.
The 2002 Holiday Drive program focus was on CNA’s Neighbors in Need (Chicago Gives Adopt-A-Family, Carole Robertson Center Holiday Angels and Skinner School Letters to Santa) and the Starlight Children’s Foundation Holi-Bear sponsorship. The program kicked off with coffee in the building’s main lobby. Several hundred names of program recipients were creatively and prominently displayed and representatives from CNA’s Public Affairs Department and partnering agencies were on hand to provide program details. Employees also garnered information from flyers, articles in the online newsletter and Holiday Drive Web site.
Once again, CNA employees met the challenge and showed their generosity. In less than two weeks, CNA employees made a record number of contributions:
- More than 43 special needs’ children from Skinner School had their letters to Santa wishes filled
- More than 20 needy families were adopted
- More than 450 children from Carole Robertson Center received holiday gifts
- 500 children received a Starlight Holi-Bear.
CNA’s has an ongoing relationship with the Carole Robertson Center, a multicultural nonprofit partnership among parents, youtha nd community that hosts a variety of child care and development programs. The relationship began in 2001, when CNA Technology employees built a playground at the Center. That same year, the Technology team provided holiday gifts for 200 of the Center’s children. In 2002, CNA extended an invitation to all employees to share their good fortune with the Center’s children and, as a result, more than doubled the previous year’s reach.
The Chicago Department of Human Services (CDHS) is the lead sponsor for the Chicago Gives program. Their Adopt-A-Family program provides employees with an opportunity to help make holiday wishes come true for families in need. In 2002, CNA employees adopted more than 20 families, ranging in size from two to 12 family members.
For more than two decades, CNA has partnered with Skinner School in the Chicago Public School’s Adopt-A-School program. This holiday season, employees from across the company, fulfilled the wishes of almost 50 of the school’s special needs children. And the giving didn’t stop there; CNA hosted a holiday party at the school where a dozen employees acted as gift-bearing elves and distributed the gifts to the students.
In addition 500 hospitalized children received an early holiday gift when a 12″, light brown bear arrived at their hospital bedside, thanks to the generous donations of CNA employees.
To learn about CNA and what the CNA Foundation is doing in communities across the country click here.
DR. FAITH SAMPLES SMART
Dr. Faith Smart has been an active mentor in the Mentoring Moms Program of the Volunteer Center of Bergen County since May 2000. Since July 2001, she has mentored a young single mother with two special needs children, seeing her through educational and behavioral crises with her son, a serious family illness, two moves, loss of a job, a domestic violence incident and numerous other challenges. During this same period, Dr. Smart has served as a mentor for a teenage girl through the Harlem Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (HAPPI) at Harlem Hospital in New York City.
One of 13 children and a survivor of incest and date rape, in college, Smart found a facilitator and created a support group for women of color who had experienced incest and sexual assault. While still a student and very much in the throes of healing, she adopted a niece’s infant. Now the mother of three children aged two, six and ten, Dr. Smart holds a joint appointment in the School of Public Health and the Center for violence Research and Prevention at Columbia University. Despite her own demanding family and professional responsibilities, she has been a dependable, involved mentor.
Mentoring Moms, a program of the Volunteer Center of Bergen County, recruits, trains, screens, matches and supports volunteers who serve as friends, mentors and role models to isolated overwhelmed mothers referred by New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services, the state child welfare agency and the welfare-to-work program. Mentors develop trusting supportive relationships with mothers experiencing serious personal and family problems. They offer support, guidance, encouragement and advocacy as well as information on resources available in the community.
Dr. Smart exemplifies the qualities of a Mentoring Moms volunteer. She helps enhance self-esteem, improve parenting and life skills and strengthen parent/child relationships. She focuses on being a supportive role model helping her mentee set and work towards her own goals and cope with the stresses and demands of being a working single mother of special-needs children. The past winter was very difficult as her mentee’s mother and major emotional support was in a coma for weeks. Dr. Smart’s mentee had to oversee care for her multiply handicapped sister, handle her mother’s affairs and cope with significant stresses in her own life, including the loss of her job. At the same time, her teenage mentee was moving back and forth from home to foster care. Dr. Smart managed to be there for both of them – including a crisis food delivery and supportive visit to her Mom’s mentee, while the teen mentee was staying at her home. Her mentee’s life rarely goes smoothly, but Dr. Smart is available for support and guidance.
Dr. Smart’s mentee is now working part-time while preparing to take her GED. She has arranged for appropriate school placements for her children and they are involved in therapy. Dr. Smart attends almost every Mentoring Moms event and has provided valuable insights and guidance to other mentors.
TANNA BAXTER
Tanna Baxter has been a major part of the Davis County 4-H program since 1978. She is a wonderful example of fulfilling the 4-H mission that is to assist youth in acquiring knowledge, building character and developing life skills in a fun learning environment that will enable them to become self-directing, productive members of society. She is a devoted wife, mother of three and foster-mother of one; however, she makes volunteer work a priority.
Baxter has worked to help every club in Davis County to become a Club of Promise initiative. That means the organizations must provide each child with a caring adult, a safe place to learn and grow, a healthy start in life for a healthy future, marketable skills and opportunities to serve and give back to the community. She has and continues to work tirelessly to improve the lives of children and strengthen service programs.
With regards to the Davis County 4-H program, Baxter has worked in varied capacities in both the local and state programs. In 2002 she was the chairperson for state leadermete that was hosted by Davis County. This is an annual program for all volunteer leaders throughout the state, and there were approximately 400 leaders in attendance. She has also served several years on leadermete planning committees.
Baxter has also served as 4-H leader council president, council member and camp director for several years during her 4-H career. Annually she also plans and serves the food to the youth from the Japanese Exchange program as a 4-H fundraiser. She also plans the food for most 4-H events.
Currently, she serves as president for the state volunteer council. She was appointed to this position as a result of many years of volunteer service working through all of the offices up to the president. She shares her time and talents mentoring and training new leaders. Baxter has a unique ability to bridge the ideas of first time leaders with the more experienced leaders, and she is encouraging; she does not make anyone feel their ideas will not work or are not important.
In addition, Baxter serves actively in the church. She currently mentors several families that are having difficulty. She not only helps the family, but she also brings their children to 4-H activities. She has impacted the lives of countless young people and was recently recognized for volunteer service through her job at JC Penney. As part of the award, she received a check for $250, which she donated to the Davis County 4-H program.
WILLIAM CULLOM
Mr. William Cullom is someone who has had a profound and lasting impact on the Greater Miami community. Mr. Cullom has been the President of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and is retiring after 23 years in that role. Mr. Cullom has impacted all area’s of civic and business life. Besides growing the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce to one of the largest membership organizations in the southeast he has reached across the community to engage many in the non-profit world. In fact, with Mr. Cullom’s strong support the Greater Miami Chamber is the first to recognize the importance of the non-profit sector by creating a board level committee at the chamber.
Among his many civic activities, Mr. Cullom has been involved with the United Way of Miami-Dade County, he currently serves on the board of trustees, is a member of the Orange Bowl Committee and was a member of an important business/ civic group called the non-group for over 18 years. Besides many other business groups in which he has served, he has also found time to serve in leadership positions with the Florida Historical association. Salvation Army and Goodwill.
He has received numerous community recognitions and awards. A graduate of Florida State University, Mr. Cullom is a past president of the schools National Alumni Association. He is a former paratrooper and past lay leader of the Kendall United Methodist Church.
Mr. William Cullom has been at the epicenter of every important business and civic decision that has been made in this community in the past quarter century.
MOLLY RENALDS
Molly Renalds has demonstrated outstanding effort in sewing and providing quilts to many people and organizations. What started out initially as a simple project for a church in Watsonville, has grown to serve multiple groups in the Bay Area. Renalds makes quilts for babies and small children – handmade quilts – that are used to wrap babies as they are carried home from the hospital, small children from needy families, and victims of accidents and emergency situations.
The first set of quilts was made in 1986. Since that time, nearly 1,000 quilts have been made by Renalds are her volunteers. She has personally sewed more than 400 quilts. Among the groups served by Renalds is the Dublin office of the California Highway Patrol, St. Patrick’s Church in Watsonville, and St. Joan of Arc Church in San Ramon. Although many of the quilts are made from simple patterns, they have love and compassion sewn into every one.
Renalds has been making quilts for more than 15 years. Many of the people who benefit from her quilts cannot afford to purchase something like this for their children. The other benefactors, accident victims, are given the quilt as a symbol of love and caring during a stressful time and are very grateful for this small act of kindness. Both of the primary communities served by Renalds’ volunteer effort are disconnected from the community – one by their economic situation and the other by special circumstances.
A very unique aspect of Renalds’ volunteer work is that she sees very few of the people who use her quilts. Other groups distribute these gifts of love to needy people and organizations. The separation between Renalds and those she makes the quilts for does not temper or slow down her efforts. Through her contacts, she learns about the gratitude of those that receive quilts and the benefit the quilts provide.
Although Renalds sometimes asks for contributions or donations of materials, she is committed to producing the quilts at any cost, even if the money comes from her own pocket. She has never sought recognition for her work – it is simply a labor of love for people she will never meet.
