CHRISTINA KWONG

Christina Kwong is an 18 year-old senior at Desert Vista High School who established a tutoring center at her church to help immigrant students improve their English skills in a friendly, supportive environment. Aware of her mother’s struggles as a young immigrant student from Taiwan, Christina discovered one day that there were high school students in her own church that were experiencing the same difficulties.

To Christina it was impossible to imagine how hard it is to be in a foreign country without the ability to fluently speak the language. Because of this, she thought of creating a tutoring center. She did more research and then obtained permission from her Chinese church to use its resources. Christina then called immigrant students personally to invite them to her new center, posted fliers in supermarkets and schools, and recruited native-born American students to serve as tutors.

The center now provides one-on-one tutoring for immigrant students to help with homework, public speaking skills, conversational communication and socialization. The tutoring has fostered a significant improvement in the students’ English skills, and as a result, many parents have also joined the center. Christina hopes to expand her program soon to include Hispanic and other immigrant students in addition to Chinese youth.

DANIEL CAYCE

Daniel Cayce is a 16 year-old junior at Bearden High School. Daniel started a nutrition program that provides night and weekend meals to more than 60 needy students and their preschool siblings in his school district. He also distributed donations of school supplies; dental care products and food to the children of poor families as well as organizing an effort to provide fashionable, fun hats for mothers with cancer.

Inspired by President Bush and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s initiatives to “leave no child behind,” Daniel decided he could help by working to keep poor children from going to bed hungry at night. “I wanted no child in my school district to be left behind in nutrition,” he said. After compiling a list of the neediest students in his school district, Daniel solicited donations of food and backpacks through speeches to church and civic groups, letter-writing campaigns, and an appeal to the Arkansas State Food Bank. Donated food was then stored in a school gym, sorted and bagged with help from Daniel’s Boy Scout troop, and picked up by recipient students at the end of the school day.

Daniel also held a free give-away of baby food, school supplies and dental care products to more than 500 children last October, and delivered 2,000 pounds of baby food to human service agencies in three counties. And when his mother lost her hair during chemotherapy treatments, Daniel organized a group of seamstresses to make hats for more than 200 young mothers with cancer. Daniel won a Prudential Spirit of Community Award in 2003, as well, for a project that distributed blankets and cooking utensils to needy individuals during the winter.

Daniel has now delivered over 10,000 pounds of baby food and over 600 hats for moms with cancer.

Daniel was inducted into the Hall of Fame for caring Americans November 2004 Washington D.C. and today at the opening of the Clinton School for community service. Daniel was honored by David Pyor with a Daniel Cayce Award given each year to a student at the school.

KOREH L.A.

KOREH L.A. the Los Angeles Jewish Coalition for Literacy was created by the Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Committee in 1999 as the Jewish community’s commitment to the literacy movement. Koreh is the Hebrew word for “read”. Inspired by the national literacy movement initiated by President Clinton, KOREH L.A. is non-sectarian, with both volunteers and the children they work with coming from every ethnic and religious group.

The mission of KOREH L.A. is to recruit, train, and place “reading partners” with elementary students, who are experiencing difficulty learning to read. While great readers aren’t always born, we know that they can be encouraged. When close to 80% of Los Angeles’ fourth graders are not reading at grade level, we know that we have an overwhelming problem. KOREH L.A.’s vision is that individuals in Los Angeles, from secretaries to lawyers, from business executives to students, can volunteer their time to help children love to read and develop necessary literacy skills. The volunteers are trained by a qualified literacy trainer in a three-hour training session and commit to work one-on-one, one hour a week, for the school year with a student chosen by the teacher. Over 3000 volunteers work as KOREH “reading partners” with 2000 students in 75 LAUSD schools throughout Los Angeles. Principals, teachers, and volunteers all share the real impact that KOREH L.A. volunteers have on the reading abilities, classroom participation, attendance, and self-esteem of the children.

An active Task Force has also developed a series of new initiatives. The first is a corporate partnership, which seeks to involve L.A. businesses in KOREH’s literacy efforts in a non-sectarian framework. KOREH L.A. has already trained employees of eight corporations, including Staples Center and MiniMed, to become KOREH reading partners. A second project is a book initiative to restock elementary school libraries. Four libraries have been restocked so far, with two more ready to go this fall. A third project, called Pre-K KOREH, plans to reach pre-school children. Working closely with Head Start, volunteers will work with 3 and 4 year olds to prepare them to enter kindergarten ready to learn to read.

The success of KOREH L.A. has been acknowledged in may different ways. In order to secure the continuation of KOREH L.A. after the completion of the seed money provided by the Jewish Community Foundation, KOREH L.A. applied for and received a generous five-year grant from the Winnick Family Foundation. In addition, generous funding from Verizon, Toyota, and the Amado Foundation, United Way, and the Riordan Foundation has also helped.

The idea that children are not learning to read and that therefore their expectations in life are severely diminished, has fired our community to real action. The result has been a program of more than 3,000 volunteers trained and working as “reading partners” for children who need that extra assistance in becoming literate individuals. The goal of helping children learn to read is an effort to create justice and opportunity for all.

SOUMYA KANTAMNENI

Soumya Kantamneni is a seventeen year-old senior at Randolph School in Huntsville, Alabama. Along with excelling as a student, she has made the time to help create and develop a summer camp to educate children of Indian descent about their heritage. This project began three years ago as an idea after a conversation between Soumya and an adult family friend about the fact that many young Indian people in northern Alabama have very little knowledge of their ancestral culture.

She was sad to know that there were other children her age who were ignorant of their rich heritage. These youth were sometimes confused and perplexed about their identity. Soumya and her friend gathered a small group of teens and adults and put their ideas on paper. The core group then began to let others know about their project and recruit other participants. In the following months, Soumya and her team campaigned for community support and raised nearly $3,000 to fund a summer camp.

The camp has now been operating for three summers and has grown to include close to 100 campers, 25 youth counselors and 15 adult directors. Soumya is still very involved in the camp and serves as one of its head counselors. Through her dedication and commitment, many young people’s lives have been changed and others minds have been opened in a positive way. She hopes that programs similar to hers can be instituted in other states so the country can truly take advantage of its diversity.

TRINA BOICE

Trina Boice’s efforts to serve others are not limited to only one program; She reaches out in as many ways as she can.

Last year Boice created a character-development program for Aviara Oaks Elementary School that she named “Quest for Character.” She has involved community vendors to support the program by donating prizes each month to children who reach their goals. Children are asked to write about how they have demonstrated the selected character trait or leadership skill that the school is focusing on during each month. Parents and school staff are also involved and participate in service projects, communication exercises and a special presentation each month. Since she speaks Spanish, she has translated all of her materials to be able to involve the Hispanic families at the school. She also started a reading program for the school that is being used again this year.

Boice is very involved in both Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts as a Den Leader, Committee Chairman, and Merit Badge Counselor. Two years ago, she received a “Godsend Award” which was created just for her by the district. She has helped scouts ear their Eagle Scout Award by offering guidance for several service projects involving community clean-ups in parks and beaches, reforestation efforts, painting over graffiti, and setting up a library for a Boys & Girls Club after school program.

Because she now lives close to Camp Pendleton in California, she has expressed her thanks to military serviceman and women in deed; she was instrumental in gathering Easter baskets and Mother’s Day gift bags to the families of soldiers serving overseas. Boice’s family volunteers annually at the Military Appreciation Day in town and organized children’s activities at a “Welcome Home” picnic for battalions returning from Iraq.

When she lived in Utah she coordinated volunteers to help at Oakridge Night School for handicapped adults. College students were recruited to help teach students and offer support and encouragement. She directed a “Sub For Santa” program for the low-income community for two years there.

Boice is also very active internationally, organizing volunteers and supplies for orphanages in India, as well as for a school in Mexico. She recruits help from scouts, churches, schools, and American Mothers, Inc., who selected her as the 2004 California Young Mother of the Year. She volunteered as a full-time service missionary in Spain for 18 months and is in the process of distributing 1000 water filters overseas that were donated by an international water filter company (Multi-Pure). Boice has received the President’s Call to Service Award for over 4,000 hours of volunteer service over her lifetime.

BAKER AND HOSTETLER, LLP

Baker’s BEST program is a program designed to focus on the firm’s many community commitments to benefit Orange Center Elementary School. Through the Baker’s BEST, they have developed a partnership initiative that includes volunteer services and financial support from Baker and Hostetler.

The program first began in October of 2001. Since then the firm has done a number of advantageous projects for the children of Orange Center. The firm has provided educational field trips to the Orlando Ballet, the Orlando Science Center and the Orange County History Center. The firm has also funded in teacher appreciation parties and 160 recorders for the music program. They have also worked with the COMPACT program to assist in providing mentoring for the children of Orange Center by Jones High School students.

The 2003 – 2004 academic year began at Orange Center Elementary School with a Kick-Off function at the school for parents, students and teachers to get to know each other. The firm provided school supplies, which were donated by Orlando Magic and Payas, Payas & Payas. Baker and Hostetler also provided dinner and fun activities.

Some of the things the Baker’s BEST program provided to the Orange Center during the past school year are: 90+ Pentium – II computers and funds to purchase the necessary software for the computers. This was done in hopes of helping in FCAT preparations.

In honor of the firm’s 25th Anniversary in Central Florida, a donation of $25,000 was made to the Orange Center. In addition, there were 30 volunteers from Baker and Hostetler who provided one-on-one mentoring to the students this past year. They also participated in morning readings and Junior Achievement.

During the last holiday season, the firm sponsored a school/holiday card contest. The winner’s pictures were scanned to the front of their client holiday cards and sent out as the firm’s holiday card. In addition, the winner was given art supplies. They also sponsored an adopt-a-family project during the last holiday season. Baker and Hostetler adopted two families in need and provided food and gifts to them for the holidays. Orlando Magic tickets were also given away to teachers as incentives.

Baker and Hostetler not only bring their resources, but they also recruit others to volunteer. They reach out to their clients and friends and ask them to join the firm in their efforts to positively impact the lives of Orange Center students. Because of their tireless efforts in the community, Baker and Hostetler has been honored by the Orlando Sentinel for Outstanding Contributor in Newspapers in Education three years in a row. They also have been recognized by Orange County Public Schools, received the Children Must Count Finalist Award by the Citizen’s Commission for Children and were honored as the Outstanding Partner in Education in 2004 by the Orange County Public Schools.

FLORIDA’S HOMETOWN USA PROGRAM, INC.

Florida’s Hometown USA Program is a non-profit educational youth organization that reaches beyond the borders of its own hometown of Fruitland Park, Florida to nurture and inspire burgeoning volunteer-spirit within youth across the state. Seventeen years ago, a local educator had a vision and developed a grassroots, community youth program that focused on linking youth with volunteer activities. Today that vision has grown into a broad statewide model that continues to make a difference in the lives of children and youth of Florida, primarily through a professionally supported volunteer program aimed at assisting children to achieve their highest potential as they grow.

The mission of Florida’s Hometown USA Program, Inc. is to make a positive difference in the lives of children and youth Florida, primarily through a professional supported volunteer program and to assist them in achieving their highest potential as they grow to become more confident and caring individuals who show a commitment to volunteer work, leadership and standards of excellence. The purpose of Florida’s Hometown USA Program is to educate the youth of Florida on the values of volunteer work and inspire them to make a difference in the lives of their neighbors through volunteer commitment. The focus of the program’s volunteer work is with children, youth and the elderly offering support to those who have been abused or neglected.

The effect of Florida’s Hometown USA is of great importance because of all the good things a young person can learn from volunteering. Many of the students that have been a part of this program will continue to volunteer for years to come because of what was instilled in them at an early age. This program has worked hard to improve the gap between the young and the old and to let the elderly know they are not forgotten. It has also been a very important part in abuse shelters through visits; sharing with others and making a child feel better. There is an “Adopt a Grandparent Program” in nursing homes throughout Florida that provides care and concern for the elderly who have been abused, sometimes through neglect or those who are forgotten. Each student is assigned an elderly person to visit monthly who has not family nearby or needs special attention.

The benefit of Florida’s Hometown USA Program is to instill in young people to give back to their community. The students in this program are elementary through high school. If children are involved in volunteering at an early age and are taught to show love and concern for others, it will stay with them forever. The visit s to the elderly help brighten the day of many lonely people. Some have no family or visitors and just a smile and a hug are all they want. The entertainment for the elderly is always enjoyed and they love to sing along. Some of the residents at the nursing homes are happy just to see and talk with a young person. Giving of the gifts to the children’s hospitals teach the students to share and have compassion for others less fortunate. In this program, the youth are encouraged to take time to visit and give of their time to make someone else’s day a little brighter.

Florida’s Hometown USA Program develops, evaluates and disseminates programs that foster young people’s ethical, social, and intellectual development. While nurturing the importance of volunteer work, there is a deepened commitment of values such as kindness, helpfulness, personal responsibility and respect for others – qualities that are essential to leading productive lives in society. Many of the students that have been a part of this program have continued to volunteer for years because of what was instilled in them at an early age. Florida’s Hometown USA Program has received recognition for the positive impact and outcomes it has achieved in local communities.

MAUREEN MACMACKIN

During the past four years, Maureen MacMackin has volunteered by providing guidance and support to teen mothers in Boulder, Colorado. She works to help them graduate from high school and pursue higher education. MacMackin is a volunteer with the YWCA of Boulder County’s Teen Parent Graduation Project, which is collaboration with the Fairview High School Teen Parent Program.

MacMackin’s involvement with the Graduation Project stems from her concern and desires to help young women facing multiple challenges. She recognizes the significant responsibilities that teen endure as parents when trying to complete high school. She admires their ability to perform their everyday tasks such as taking care of their children while getting ready to catch an early morning bus to school. She is also sensitive to the hurt they feel when frequently ostracized by their peers and even their own families.

She shares in roundtable discussion groups where mentors and teen mothers explore issues such as the challenges of parenting and future goals. She introduces them to career paths and helps them to understand the educational requirements for each. She has invited program participants to her place of employment to learn about various career options in the banking industry and how they can become prepared for these various opportunities.

MacMackin has also set up mock interviews for the participants. This helps to develop their interviewing skills and build their confidence. In addition, she continues to assist by helping to find them employment.

Because of MacMackin’s volunteer service, she is demonstrating to teen parents that there are people available to help them in achieving their goals. In many cases, teen mothers do not receive support from their parents or the fathers of their children; therefore, she is providing much needed encouragement. Her program also gives the young women and opportunity to support each other.

MacMackin has been working with the Graduation Project for the past four years. Since that time, the graduation rate among participants has increased from 10 percent to 47 percent for the participants in the Project. MacMackin’s work has been a factor in this dramatic increase.

GARY BECKS

Gary Becks is the Special Assistant to Congressman Duncan Hunter. He currently works in the California District office. Becks served in Viet Nam with the Third Marines as a Med-Evac corpsman. His decorations include seven Air Medals for performance in over 140 combat missions. He is a former Fire Department Battalion Commander.

Becks is the President and founder of Rescue Task Force, a non-profit organization that has provided food, medical supplies and support to victims of natural and man-made disaters since 1988. He has personally led over fifty missions to conflictive and natural disaters zones around the globe. In addition to his extensive work in Honduras and Nicaragua he has served in El Salvador at the request of that country’s President. His service additionally has taken him to South Africa and most recently into Iraq, Burundi, Africa, Cambodia and deep into the interior of Afghanistan where he had also worked during the Soviet occupation.

Becks also sits on the Board of Trustees of World Emergency Relief – US, and he is the President of World Emergency Relief C.A., a Honduras based ONG that has delivered over $18 million (US) in manufacturer donated pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to Honduras during 2004.

Becks has worked in Washington D.C. on Congressman Hunter’s personal staff and he has served as a Senior Research Analyst for the United States House of Representatives – Republican Research Committee.

Becks is listed in the prestigious Heritage Foundation Guide To Public Policy Experts. His articles have been published in numerous magazines. His book, “But I Can Still Carry Half A Load”, narrates his exploits during the cold war.

He twice traveled to Albania and Kosovo where he delivered 14 ocean freight containers of support and help to refugees. Using ‘trains’ of burros he was a first responder with aid for isolated victims of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, and often leads volunteer medical teams into isolated villages on the Miskito Coast that have never had contact from outsiders. Through RESCUE TASK FORCE he has delivered over $800 thousand worth of medical supplies, food and household items donated by manufacturers to medical clinics, orphans and needy families in Baja, Mexico. He has personally delivered over $2.8 million in relief aid to victims of the El Salvador earthquake. Becks’ current projects include the construction and equipping of full service medical clinics and maternity clinic deep in the jungles of La Moskitia, Honduras, providing regional Indian villages their fist ever-medical care. He also operated four Literacy Learning Centers for women inside of Afghanistan.

Gary Becks lives in Imperial Beach, California. He has three daughters and one son, and he is the proud grandfather of four grandchildren.

JENNA REED

Jenna Reed, 18, a senior at Manitou Springs High School in Manitou Springs, rescued and rebuilt a failing literacy tutoring program after it was cancelled by school officials. “Over the last 12 years I have been challenged by dyslexia, so reading has been a main part of my life,” Jenna said.

After two years of volunteering at a local site of the Children’s Literacy Center, she learned that school officials were abandoning the project. “When I began to see everything that I worked on so hard going to waste, I had to save it,” she said.

Jenna sought funding and support from community groups, attended school board meetings and lobbied for permission to restart the program. “It was hard for them to understand that a 16-year-old could accomplish this.” Finally, Manitou Springs Elementary School agreed to a trial period of one semester. Jenna persuaded the school librarian to help, then recruited 20 adult and teen volunteers to work with 15 elementary students. After one semester, tests showed that the students had advanced an average of 1½ grade levels in reading.

The program has continued and Jenna hopes it will find a permanent place in the school. “Every child that cannot read needs the same type of help I received so many years ago,” she said.