LT. COL. LEES BROOME, USAF RETIRED

Following Col. Lees Broome’s retirement from the USAF, in 1974, he has spent most of his time helping Air Force active duty personnel, military retirees, military veterans and their families.

He is a member of Barksdale Air Force Base (BAFB) Louisiana committee, “Friends of Family Support,” that meets four times a year. The committee promotes quality of life issues and activities for all the 7,800 Barksdale active duty and reserve personnel and their families. They plan and conduct fundraising activities, make requests for funds from charitable sources, determine expenses not covered by appropriated or non-appropriated funds. Lees is also a member of BAFB’s Volunteer Advisory Council (VAC), which meets twice a year. VAC is responsible for base funding and policy recommendations for all base volunteerism, maintains a forum to address base volunteer issues, recognition of all base volunteer efforts, and provides local, regional or national and logistical support to the base volunteer resource program.

He is a member of Barksdale’s “Base Exchange (BX) Advisory Council” and is also a member of Barksdale’s “Commissary Advisory Committee.” The BX and Commissary Committee each hold 4 meetings per year to improve quality of life service, solve suggestions and complaints from Active Duty, National Guard, Reserve, Retired Military and their families, who utilize these base facilities. Lees is the representative for over 19,500 local military retirees and their dependents on these committees.

Lees is a member of the Northeast Louisiana War Veterans Home Ancillary Committee that meet at the Home in Monroe, LA which is about 115 miles one way from his residence. The War Veterans Home has accommodations for 156 male or female patients living in 4 different wings: Maximum Nursing Care; Alzheimer’s; Ambulatory; and Limited Nursing. The committee meets 4 times a year to assist in setting policy, obtaining donations, plans and supervises all the Home’s activities. During 2004, we arranged for a local elementary school art class to make Valentines and local JROTC Unit to address these valentines to all the Home’s patients. He also got local individuals to donate 124 pieces of all types of men’s clothing in large and extra large sizes, plus a United States Flag, POW/MIA Flag and the Louisiana State Flag.

As a member of the Northeast Louisiana Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Advisory Council, he served as Vice President for the last two years. This local RSVP has 837 volunteers over age 55, who contributed 154,000 hour at 93 volunteer stations in 2004. Lees established an RSVP volunteer station for BAFB Retiree Activities Office, base’s Family Support Center and Air Force Association (AFA) local chapter at the base. The RSVP Advisory Council meets 4 times a year to develop, assist, advise and evaluate all volunteer programs for the local RSVP. The Council works directly with the RSVP director on all RSVP projects each year. During 2004, Lees performed 2,589 volunteer hours and drove 6,335 miles at his own expense to perform his volunteer service locally and around the state.

DON L. RONDEAU

Don L. Rondeau is an asset to the Heart of America Quilt and the community at large. He has been a volunteer with the Heart of America Quilt since March 2004. His enthusiasm, work ethic, and positive attitude have been exceptional. Currently, he serves as our organization’s security advisor. Don works hard to provide the security for our events and to make sure all who take part are safe, along with the memorial itself.

Don’s work in the field of security has affected our country in a positive way. He works hard to bring together all walks of life for the security of all. He diligently spends his time working for our national security on a day-to-day basis with much effort to give back to his community in anyway possible, including his work with our organization in the focus of not only protecting it, but helping to create a sense of unity within our organization and with the public we serve to educate children on working together to solve problems in their community. Don’s belief of giving is in his pride of a person, the great return of the larger picture, the betterment of our community and country.

In addition to providing the Heart of America Quilt so much time and dedication, Don has worked as board member of Africa Mix International Charities (African relief) and was recently recognized as Homeland Security Executive of the year 2004. His accomplishment was recognized by former DHS Secretary, Tom Ridge. He also served on the county partnership advisor board against hate crime and violence. He is not one to support ‘accepting being a victim.’ He is proud to have educated a few on how not to let hate and fear stop them from embracing all that America has to offer.

One of Don’s noted accomplishments that has gone without recognition was during the siege on the DC Metro Sniper, he lead a patrol of citizens throughout Aspen Hill, Maryland. He knocked on doors of complete strangers asking them to patrol with him. His neighbors and himself patrolled a stretch were three people were killed. They wanted to make sure that the kids felt safe going to school. They were black, white, Jewish, gentile, Hispanic, young and old. One neighbor who since has passed shed tears at the sight of this “young black man leading this multi cultural brigade.” The neighbor could not walk with them as he was having kidney trouble but he said he would pray.

The recent release of his book was just another reason for Don to give more, including a donation from the proceeds. Don’s altruism is amazing and he clearly demonstrates that an individual’s actions can make a huge difference in our country. Don is a father, husband, executive, volunteer and outstanding member of our community and country.

KATIE LUMPKIN

The tragic loss of her brother due to underage drinking has made Katie Lumpkin an activist and advocate for reducing underage drinking in our society. Katie created and implemented an underage drinking awareness program for 5th through 12th grades in various schools throughout Georgia and at no cost to the schools recently introduced this program in Alabama, Florida, New York, and South Carolina.

Katie is now expanding her program to reach college level students as well through a 15 minute video that she produced and directed called “Think Again.” This video tells the story of how her brother lost his life because of underage drinking and gives current facts about the effects of alcohol on the teenage brain.

This video has aired on two local public access channels reaching thousands of homes during prom season, which is an especially tempting time of the year for young adults to drink. The video has been introduced to all 50 states and is being implemented in five of those states so far. Katie’s goal is for “Think Again” to be a part of every middle and high school in the United States. Her passion for this cause has motivated her to speak to over 1,000 students in schools, clubs and after school programs throughout the state. She has also filmed a Public Service Announcement that has reached thousands of homes locally.

In April 2003, she authored a keg registration bill that was adopted by the city of Thomasville to make it more difficult for minors to obtain alcohol. As a statewide spokesperson, Katie would like to ensure that Georgia’s Keg Registration Law is implemented in every city and county of Georgia. She has contacted the State School Superintendent of every state in the United States to help to spread her message nationwide. She is working to place more responsibility on merchants by advocating for more compliance checks to help decrease the number of minors that are able to purchase their own alcohol.

Katie Lumpkin is an excellent role model for today’s youth and she stands strong in her belief that one person can make a difference. Katie has taken a personal tragedy and turned it into a mission of hope, dedication, and community service.

VON E. WHATCOTT

Von Whatcott is a unique volunteer in his area. Though he is only 23 years old, he volunteers 20-30 hours every week. Whatcott was injured in an accident when he was young, which sent him into cardiac arrest, and caused some injury to his brain. However, through great determination, Whatcott relearned all the skills he lost in the accident. He was in special education classes, worked hard, and later, received his high school diploma. After high school, Whatcott spent six months serving a mission for his church. He then attended culinary arts school and received his Food Handler’s Permit.

For the past two and a half years, Whatcott has volunteered at the Pahvant Senior Center, spending at least 20 hours a week serving the seniors. He helps as kitchen aide, preparing food for the seniors, cleaning up after meals, and putting away groceries. He also helps in the center foot clinic, where he assists the nurses in taking care of the residents’ feet by making sure they have enough water and supplies, and helping with clean up. Whatcott also accompanies the seniors on shopping trips called Senior Trips. On these trips, he helps them get around in the stores, and serves as a companion.

Whatcott loves volunteering at the Pahvant Senior Center. Whatcott has a smile and kind word for all the seniors he works with. He is a willing worker and is quick to accomplish any task he is asked to do. Often he will notice that things needs to be done and will do so without any prompting. Virginia Josse, Administrator of the Pahvant Senior Center says the seniors “love him-he fits right in and he’s willing to do anything.”

In addition, Whatcott volunteers two afternoons during football season helping out at football practice for the Millard High School football team. His father has instilled a work ethic in him so Whatcott works hard at whatever he sets out to do. As a hobby, Whatcott also grows a garden and shares the produce with others during harvest time.

BEN FRANDSEN

Ben Frandsen, currently a senior at La Canada High School, was appointed to the Youth Council by our City Council, from a competitive field of candidates. Subsequently, he was nominated by his Youth Council peers to chair the Youth Council this past year. The honor of chairing the Youth Council is fitting, as Ben constantly is the first to volunteer to take the lead on projects, and is always present at community volunteer events. As the city staff liaison to the Youth Council, I’ve had the pleasure of watching his efforts during the past year. He has taken the expectations of Youth Council members to a new level during his two-year term, which expires on May 31st, 2005.

Ben is an exemplary young individual who has mobilized his community in a positive direction. He has identified youth needs in La Canada Flintridge (LCF) and has initiated and actively participated in programs to address those needs. A description of some of his programs that he’s been instrumental during his Youth Council tenure include:

Teen WORCS Fair. He represented the city at the LCF Work Opportunity Resources and Community Services (WORCS) fair, which the Youth Council co-sponsored with the local YMCA and Roger Barkley Community Center. This fair show cased community service organizations and local businesses, allowing local youths to identify volunteer opportunities with local organizations. Ben and the Youth Council, as well as local community groups, identified a need for this program as youths were having trouble finding such opportunities. This first time fair, that will become an annual event, included over 30 community service groups and was well attended by the local youths.

FlintFest. This first time teen film festival, held in May 2005, allowed local youths (ages 13-19) to enter their student produced films for showcasing and awards competition. Ben, who is active in his high school arts department at La Canada High School, was instrumental in securing the support of his high school’s drama department in the film festival. FlintFest was a great success and drew a crowd of over five hundred. Ben has also stated that his drama arts teacher felt the event was such a great success that his teacher is now motivating his students to do their best work on their semester projects and submit them to the up.

Youth Master Plan. Ben serves on the Youth Council Master Plan Sub-Committee. He is in the continual process of revising and improving the Youth Master Plan – a plan that lays out short and long-term goals to facilitate programs, events and activities to improve the quality of life for the youths of LCF. The sub-committee enlisted the input from over 40 community groups and a survey of over 2,200 local students; this input was used to revise the plan for which Ben presented before the City Council for adoption.

Youth Talent Show. Ben and his fellow Youth Council members are in the process of implementing the first city sponsored Youth Talent Show. The show will be held in conjunction with the city’s Music-in-the-Park Summer Series, which is organized by the city’s park and recreation commission. Ben has played a substantial role in developing the program and also received a positive reaction from his presentation of the concept to the parks and recreation commission.

Not only is Ben Frandsen an exemplary Youth Council Member, he also excels in his academic efforts. He received the highest SAT score at his high school and is a straight A student. Beyond academics, Ben is also a valuable member of his high school’s soccer and water polo teams. Additionally, he is an active member of his school’s Math Club, German Club and KEY (Kiwanis) Club.

SARA E. WAGNER

Sara E. Wagner’s leadership encompasses her school, the East Pennsboro Township Community, and the South Central region of Pennsylvania. She has been a student volunteer and a leader in the high school service program during her four years in high school. She epitomizes the concept of the “Renaissance” person. She is multi-talented and is able to multi-task very effectively for a young lady.

Sara is the Student Coordinator for the high school service program that includes approximately 300 students from 9th through 12th grade. The program successfully completes between 16,000 to 30,000 hours of volunteer service per year. She administrates the program, recruits for the program, and coordinates the program’s many requests for student assistance as a clearinghouse for the region. She coordinates seven ongoing high school volunteer programs: Classroom Companions, Special Friends and Office Helpers at the middle school; a senior citizen program at the community center; a student assisted Head Start Program; as well as fulfilling many requests for students at numerous events throughout the school year and summer.

While successfully accomplishing the above, Sara is a very accomplished and well-rounded individual. As a sophomore, she received the Hugh O’ Brian Youth Leadership Conference Award. She has received high scores on her Advance Placement Honors course work. Sara assisted in finding volunteers and providing a young person’s point of view for the successful completion of the township’s October weekend pumpkin festival that attracted nearly 20,000 people. She has been the President of the Tri-County Youth Alliance for the past two years. The organization this past year had a toy drive for the Easter Seals of York, Pennsylvania and collected 3500 toys and raised $1,500. She is a student member of the Governor’s Office of Citizen Service-Youth Advisory Board. She was awarded the opportunity to attend the Rotary Youth Leaders’ Conference. She has been the Student Council Treasurer and a peer mediator, both since the 9th grade, a member of the Principal’s Advisory Council, as a senior, the treasurer of the local National Honor Society, works part-time, and plays two varsity sports. Sara has been a Who’s Who’s Among American High School Students for three years. She accomplishes all the preceding and ranks first in her class with a GPA of 101.69%.

Sara’s future plans are to earn a Business Degree and work for a nonprofit agency. She serves as an inspiration to all who come in contact with her. She is an optimist that establishes no limitations upon her present and future. She encourages her team regardless of capacity to work towards successful solution and will try over and over to achieve the best results she is capable rather than quit or give up on a task.

DORRIE MOON

Mrs. Dorrie Moon is a teacher’s aide at Marion Sarah Peyton Elementary School (MSP) in Marion, Maryland. In the fall of 2003, there were 10 boys at MSP who were taking up approximately 80 percent of the principal’s time for discipline reasons. Dorrie volunteered to start an alternative suspension program for these 10 boys, known as the Boy’s Club. Her work with the Boy’s Club has gone above and beyond the typical duties and working hours of a teacher’s aide. Many of the original members of the Boy’s Club have moved on to middle school and she finds time to visit them each week to make sure they are doing well in school. Each day they meet with her for morning homeroom where they set daily goals. At the end of the day, they meet to assess how they did and what they can do to improve. Over that school year, she saw a steady increase in progress and a decrease in office referrals. The love and care that Dorrie showed these boys made them realize they can strive for more and reach success. Their whole lives, they were targeted as the “bad kids” and they continued to see themselves as that. Once she made them realize they can work towards losing that stigma, they began to turn their lives around.

Community Needs and Solutions Many families in the Marion area are of low-income status and broken homes; the 10 boys in the Boy’s Club are perfect examples of this. One student was homeless and often did not come to school; other students are living with aunts or grandparents. A major community concern in Marion is working with these types of families. Dorrie has started a unique program that addresses some of these issues and makes the kids work towards the long-term goal of graduating high school.

Connection Building Dorrie has volunteered her time to do community service projects with the kids. It is very important to her to show the kids how to give back to others.

Ongoing Involvement This is the second year for the Boy’s Club and due to the success of it, she has started the Rose Buds for the girls at MSP.

Impact The impact Dorrie has made on these students can be seen on the schools’ graphs and charts. It shows where the increase is on progress and a decrease in failures.

Innovation Dorrie has implemented a new and unique sub-program into her two programs at MSP, known as Kids of Honor. Kids of Honor encourages youths, especially those a risk of failing, to reach for success and seeks to have more young people successfully complete high school. Our mission is to instill in young people the will to finish high school through a simple rewards program that reinforces positive feelings of achievement, encourages personal success and helps establish habits of responsibility to last a lifetime. Unlike stand-alone programs, Kids of Honor links and leverages community resources to enhance existing programs and work with struggling kids.

MARY PAMELA HUME

Mary Pamela Hume is one of the most selfless and kind women I have known. She works for the downtrodden and for those most in need within our community. “Pam”, as she prefers to be called, was a Roman Catholic nun who after many years of service to her church, as a nun/social worker in Mississippi, to helping the neediest in our country, had to leave her vocation to take care of her elderly mother and her infirm aunt. But leaving her position as a nun has never stopped Pam’s zest for life, her love of humanity and charity towards others.

Pam is herself debilitated with a terribly painful illness that would render most bedridden and, despite and maybe because of this disease, she stills continues to give 1000% of herself to the indigent and bereft in our community. Our community lost hundreds of human lives on 9/11 and because of the horrific personal losses to so many families in our community and surrounding areas of Brooklyn, our parish community had a real need for social service help. We as most were ill prepared and unsuited to deal with so many losses of young mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. As a community, we were really at a disadvantage to help the bereft families with so many looking to their faith based communities for assistance and guidance during the days after 9/11 and years later.

Through the guidance of our parish priest, Father Kenneth Calder, of Our Lady of Angels Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Pam began the Ministry of Consolation; an all volunteer ministry that provides consolation and guidance to all who experience the death of a beloved friend or family member in our community. It is Pam who does the outreach and helps friends and family members plan funerals, attending funerals with the family and friends, sometimes being the only other person in attendance if an elderly person has predeceased all other living relatives. When the family is often too overwrought, her ministry prepares a mass booklet in memory of the deceased, or does the aftercare for the families and friends when they need to file insurance papers or get death certificates.

Pam is the beacon of sunshine who gives total love with no judgment. She truly goes the “extra mile” on a daily basis and because of her determination and compassion, she has inspired so many on our community to want to be like her. She has a good group of volunteers who attend to the needs of the grieving with her, but Pam does most of her work voluntarily and on a daily basis. Hers is not a ministry of sorrow but one filled with love, offering a guiding heart and loving smile to those most vulnerable and in need. She runs a quiet, compassionate and unassuming group.

I lovingly nominate Pam Hume for this award not because she would ever want the recognition, but because her life of service to others can be held up as an example for others to strive for in this great country of ours.

CHIRAG BIHESH PATEL

During Chirag’s 1997 freshman orientation, his dorm arrived to a service project, only to find out that it had not been planned. Being the self-starter that he is, Chirag created the Freshman Day of Service (FDS) to mobilize students into their new home away from home. Unpaid but also uncompromising, Chirag worked throughout summer 1999 to actively explore community needs and solicit financial support for FDS. From distributing supplies to recruiting project leaders, Chirag was able to single-handily accomplish the work of several individuals. More impressive was Chirag’s inventive use of each community agency’s resources. For example, rather than purchasing wheelbarrows and pickaxes for a tree-planting project, Chirag borrowed them from the Parks and People Department. What a creative and powerful way to build lasting connections throughout the community!

When I entered John Hopkins University (JHU) in 2000, I experienced first-hand the fruits of Chirag’s continued labor. That summer, Chirag arranged 27 service projects and mobilized 600 freshmen to actively engage in their new community. From playing cards with nursing home residents, to building houses with Habitat for Humanity, to painting a mural on the side of a freeway on-ramp, Chirag’s goal was to expose each participant to the unlimited possibilities for community action around JHU.

In order to ensure the sustainability of FDS, Chirag created a guide that documented all of the steps he had taken to plan projects and solicit funding. As a result, subsequent FDS organizers were able to build on the success of previous executions of FDS. Since Chirag founded FDS in 1999, it has become an annual orientation event and more than 3,000 JHU students have volunteered as a result. Because of my experience during FDS, I have developed a passion for community service. I know Chirag’s innovative approach to making community service fun has led to countless students volunteering throughout their time at JHU, leaving a long-term impact both on campus and in the community. Chirag is convinced that volunteerism and service-learning should be the norm amongst the youth of today, who will grow up to be the conscientious, responsible, and engaged adults of tomorrow.

Even though he is now a busy medical student in Houston, Chirag continues to take part in programs that mobilize young people to volunteer. Last year, he helped organize the United to Serve (U2S) volunteer day in medical school, where 235 volunteers interacted with patients at the nine participating hospitals. Chirag is on the Steering Committee again this year, determined to make U2S another sustainable volunteer day. Chirag also makes time to personally volunteer with young people, in his capacity as a medical student. Whether educating kids about the current epidemic of childhood obesity of visiting local underprivileged high schools to motivate the students to aim high, Chirag’s passion for mentoring is clear.

NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES

Our program encourages a strong partnership and participation between government, business and volunteers to enhance the quality of life within our community. Through our city’s support and coordination of this program, through the monetary support of our local businesses in funding and providing necessary materials, and through the efforts of our citizen volunteers and nonprofits, our program exemplifies a “community of caring for those in need.”

The “Neighborhood Initiative Program” was started in January 2004. This program was spawned from our City Council’s desire to start a program that would assist in achieving their local goals of “quality development,” “redevelopment” and “quality of life amenities.”

In developing this program, we did away with the conventional code enforcement techniques of issuing citations to residents who often cannot afford to pay them. Code officers and Neighborhood Initiative volunteers now identify those in need within neighborhoods and help them with basic property maintenance, while enhancing neighborhoods beyond minimum standards.

Since the inception of the “Neighborhood Initiative Program” we have completed over 50 neighborhood projects. Approximately 16 businesses, Texas State Senator Jane Nelson, and 200 volunteers have contributed money, supplies and time to assist the elderly, low-income, single parents, handicapped, and those who just need a little helping hand. Projects we have completed include removing junk and debris from properties, replacing rotting wood and painting homes, demolishing substandard structures and simple yard maintenance. All of the work is completed at no cost to the recipient, and all time spent on each project are volunteered hours. Helping those who cannot help themselves has drawn our community closer together and has improved the quality of life for everyone.

The Neighborhood Initiative is an excellent example of a successful public-private partnership. By working together we have provided real cost-effective solutions to code enforcement problems. We have not only helped individuals in need, we have made neighborhoods safer and more livable. There are very few cities that have pulled together the support of their business community, citizens and nonprofit organizations to work together in helping those who are in need.