KATHRYN STEWART STOKES

Choosing whether or not to smoke is one of the first choices a teen will make. Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U.) is a nationally recognized organization and health campaign sponsored by the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and the American Cancer Society.

For the past five years, Stewart has been a spokesperson for the Teens Against Tobacco Use program in the North and Central Alabama areas. In 2002, the Huntsville City Board of Education received a $22,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Public Health for tobacco free youth. This grant was made possible because of the work Stewart did with the T.A.T.U. program in the city of Huntsville.

Stewart has impressed many with her ability to reach out to teens. She realizes that tobacco use is not a popular topic of discussion among adults, however it is a main topic of discussion among teens. She shares her knowledge by speaking to students in elementary and middle schools. Stewart discusses with these students the peer pressure they will face in life and how to deal with it. However, the most important issue she speaks about is making the choice not to smoke. She has designed and continues to maintain an informational website, www.TATUonline.com, for others to access information pertaining to the T.A.T.U. campaign. On this website you will find everything from articles about smoking, to pictures from all of the schools that she has visited.

As a young person herself, Stewart has been able to reach younger children more effectively, serving as a role model for them. She also uses her commitment to be tobacco-free to encourage youth to make the healthy choice not to smoke. Stewart realizes that these teens are old enough to make their own decisions, however they are not old enough to understand the consequences and long term heath risks of these decisions. It is her desire that this anti-smoking campaign will help our youth believe in themselves, accept responsibility, and feel confident about the choices they will continue to make.

Stewart believes it is important to have a positive message that counteracts the negative influences that our youth are being exposed to today. Her message is simple, “Through my efforts, I hope to empower the youth of Alabama to make healthy life choices. I want them to understand that they do not have to smoke to be ‘cool’ or accepted.”

If you spend five minutes with Stewart, you will find that she is genuine and committed to making a difference in the lives of teens. Stewart embodies the qualities of a true role model. She is experienced, dedicated and has given over 1,500 hours of community service, while holding two jobs and being a full time student.

FREDERICK & PATRICIA DOUBLEDAY

For over 50 years my father was a volunteer fireman for the Woodstock Fire Department. My mother volunteered for a wildlife center. For the past 20 years, together they have volunteered for the program “Meals on Wheels,” often providing service to people much younger than they are (my dad is 90 and my mom is 88). They continue to volunteer even though their age and health seem to creep up on them.

“…know that they don’t feel they need to be recognized, but it would (be nice)…”

“Fred has been a mainstay asset to the Woodstock Area Council on Aging, Edwin J. Thompson Senior Center. He has been delivering meals to citizens of our community for as long as this Center has been offering Meals-On-Wheels. My best estimate would be twenty years.

It is amazing to realize your father delivers meals to individuals who are younger than he is. Your father has been a faithful volunteer. I cannot recall a time when he missed his weekly route. He is always willing to switch or fill in for another volunteer who cannot do the route. He is an amazing man with an amazing wife, who accompanies him on his weekly route.

It is important to note that this is not an easy task, especially with the inclement weather Vermont is known for (mud season, snow, ice and subzero temperatures.) There have been times when he is the only one to do the route, which takes a minimum of three drivers. He never complains and handles the route single handedly, which is over 86 miles long. There is no reimbursement for mileage or gas. Yes, he is an amazing man and he always has a smile on his face.”

DOROTHY K. ROEDER

Dorothy Roeder continually impacts others in Southwest Montana through volunteer service with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). She frequently promotes RSVP by explaining through volunteer work she has, “a reason to get up each morning” and others can experience the same. She especially seeks out those who have recently moved to the area to assist these individuals in developing a network of social support. She embraces each individual encouraging volunteer service with several organizations. Dorothy is in charge of the RSVP Handcrafters. This group of volunteers make baby caps for newborns, caps and scarves for Head Start Children, small quilts for animal adoptions, quilts and afghans for local families displaced from their homes, lap robes for nursing home residents, and caps for troops overseas. Dorothy delights in sharing the community with others. Each summer she staffs the Chamber of Commerce Information booth educating tourists who come through the area enlightening them about unique attractions. Dorothy delivers meals on wheels each week and impacts those she visits with friendly greeting and familiar face. She delivers senior commodities for the local food bank and she is always available helping Big Brothers Big Sisters with fundraisers, assisting medical students in experiencing personal interviews with seniors, contributing to special events for numerous nonprofit organizations, and calling to see how someone is feeling, or recovering, or why they haven’t been around in a while.

Dorothy has been a member of RSVP’s Advisory Council for six years. She has a unique perspective since she is RSVP’s most prolific volunteer, continually recruits new volunteers, and checks in with volunteers to assess their experiences. Dorothy oversees a group of about 30 women who produce handcrafts. This group of “Handcrafters” is a wonderful, inclusive, very productive bunch. Dorothy assigns tasks as needed and arranges sales at the local farmer’s market, fair, and craft shows with proceeds going to benefit local organizations. Dorothy takes every opportunity to tell others about RSVP and the benefits of being meaningfully occupied in the later years of life. Tourists from around the country have placed special orders for hand embroidered dish towels and Dorothy sees that each one is filled! A member of “Handcrafters” suffered a stroke and Dorothy kept encouraging her to return to the group which meets each week. Recently this woman and her daughter shared that this encouragement from Dorothy was very significant in her recovery and socialization even though her speech is now limited. Dorothy persuades each volunteer with “Handcrafters” to learn new things and to contribute according to their potential.

Dorothy is a “people person!” She seeks out others and draws them out of their shells. Dorothy’s organizational skills shine as she oversees the weekly booth at the farmer’s market and other shows throughout the year. In addition, Dorothy’s skills of knitting, embroidering, crocheting, quilting and sewing are vital to “Handcrafters.”

HAZEL GOODING

Choctaw resident Hazel Gooding is a true champion. If you observed her active lifestyle and deep involvement in her community, you’d probably be surprised to learn that Hazel recently celebrated her 82nd birthday. Hazel has been a member of RSVP of Central Oklahoma, Inc. for more than 21 years, and has contributed over 7,600 hours of volunteer time. Hazel could easily be a candidate for all three categories of this award. She inspires others with her unwavering commitment to her projects, and it is safe to say that the community of Choctaw would not be the same without her.

Hazel was instrumental in reviving activities at the Choctaw Senior Center. She organized and promoted new activities at the center, increasing attendance and providing socialization opportunities for the aging. She also successfully initiated a congregate and mobile meal program in the Senior Center. As a result, volunteers prepare and deliver meals to lower income and homebound elderly individuals five days a week. As a member of RSVP of Central OK, Inc. Hazel participates in many activities, including the TRIAD program in Choctaw, a cooperative effort with the Sheriff’s Department and local law enforcement agencies to address to address crime prevention strategies for seniors.

Hazel continues to provide leadership for the citizens of Choctaw. Over the past 20 years, Hazel has brought 24 new members to RSVP, and countless others to different volunteer opportunities. Recently, Hazel saw a new need in her community and took it upon herself to address that need. Children are often found at homes where “meth labs” are present, and taken into protective custody by police officers. Before the kids can leave the home, they must remove all of their clothing and be washed to insure they are not contaminated by any of the dangerous substances from the meth lab. Hazel has recruited several volunteers, including the mayor of Choctaw, to make over 200 cloth bags to be filled with supplies and given to these children by the police. Hazel’s group is also making blankets to put in the bags, as well as securing donated toys and clothes.

Hazel is constantly looking for different ways to give back to her community, and her energy level is envied by people half her age. When she tore a knee ligament in January, she called the RSVP office to request extra projects that could be done in her home to “keep her busy during the down time.” Hazel sees her work as an opportunity to help those in her community who are less fortunate. Her days are filled with tasks that are geared towards helping others, and she shows no signs of slowing down. Hazel’s enthusiasm is infectious, and her persistence unwavering. She has made a tremendous difference in the quality of the lives of Choctaw’s senior population, and is an inspiration to all.

WISHFUL THINKING

Wishful Thinking was formally organized in 2002 as a nonprofit organization. All funding is though private donations and grants. “All volunteers all the time” correlates to close to 97 percent of all money that comes in is earmarked for direct use to our clients.

Wishful Thinking’s current projects:

Sole Support collects and distributes new shoes and sneakers to kids in foster care throughout Los Angeles County. Since its inception Sole Support has distributed thousands of pairs of shoes. Additionally, over 100 new prom dresses were distributed to dependency kids last year and just under 100 this year. Kids come with their caretakers and get to choose a gown of their liking from the collection we are able to amass each Spring. We are looking forward to repeating this effort again in 2006. Over 24,000 trendy t-shirts have been distributed to kids over the last two years.

The Starfish Project grants wishes to kids in foster care, simply because they ask. There is no need for sickness or imminent death to get something, These are kids who have had very little opportunity in their short lives. Some of the experiences the project has been able to offer are: limousine transportation for a kid’s birthday while hospitalized at Metropolitan State Hospital, tickets for Disneyland, tickets to meet and greet stars at NBA games and WWF Wrestling, participating in a high school band’s trip to the Rose Bowl, a foster youth’s reunification with an adult sibling in India, computers for high school achievers and visits to TV and movie sets to meet the stars and see a behind the scenes look at filmmaking.

The Education Advocacy Project has a core group of volunteers helping low income and foster youth who have been denied access to an appropriate education. Training workshops are held to help broaden knowledge and empower child welfare professionals and parents. This project receives referrals from local mental health providers, and agencies such as, Court Appointed Special Advocaates, Public Counsel, schools, Department of Children and Family Services, Deparment of Mental Health and others aware of Wishful Thinking’s effectiveness.

The GAL Work – Legal Advocacy represents the interests of children in a variety of matters not related to Dependency Court where the appointment of a lawyer is not necessary. Some services offered include representing kids education issues and settling trust account issues ranging from five hundred dollars to over six figure amounts.

The Founder, Michael Ludin, is a member of the Los Angeles Superior Court’s 317E Tort Reform Committee and the 317E Panel For Educational Matters is pictured above.

SAL UCCELLO

Sal Uccello joined the Disabled American Veterans in 1955 and became a lifetime member in 1961. As a DAV member he volunteered in Connecticut for many years prior to retiring in 1987. Upon his retirement he started volunteering full time for the DAV – many times spending his days off, weekends and money. His wife and two sons now speak fondly about the many times they waited for their father to finish helping a veteran.

In 1987, he was appointed Hospital Service Coordinator/DAV Service Officer at the VAMC Newington Connecticut facility. Word quickly got out in the veterans community about the new DAV service officer. They knew he would never take a break, have lunch or leave at the end of the day if a veteran was waiting. If a veteran had a problem, he would not hesitate to make every effort to correct it or contact the Medical Center Staff.

During the winter of 1987 he started the first “ Disabled Veterans Skiing Program” in Connecticut. For the first time 19 disabled veterans from Connecticut went skiing in Vermont. This was not easy. He had to convince VA Medical staff to support the program and he had to raise funds from the community. For the next seven years, under his supervision the veterans skiing program in Connecticut grew. Many of the veterans now state how this program changed their lives for the better.

During the time he served the DAV at the VA Newington he received many awards, honors and recognition. The Medical Center Director gave him a plaque in 1998 for his dedication to the veteran patients. At the 1989 fall meeting of the Department of Connecticut, DAV he was recognized as DAV Member of the year. Again in 1989, the VAMC Newington presented him with an honor of outstanding volunteer.

His biggest honor came after he resigned and moved to West Palm Beach. The Governor of Connecticut invited him back to the state to go skiing with him. And the Governor presented him with a proclamation for his service to the veterans with special recognition for the “Connecticut Handicapped Ski Program” that he started and had chaired for seven years.

In 1994 he was appointed the first DAV Hospital Service Coordinator to the new VAMC West Palm Beach, Florida. Over the next months he set the standard for new VAVS representatives by attending DAV Chapter meetings in the seven counties serviced by the soon-to-be opened Medical Center. Before he arrived in 1994, the veterans’ transportation for the VA Rivera Outpatient Clinic consisted of one 15-year-old station wagon and a few veterans driving their own cars carrying veterans. By attending chapter meetings and speaking with veterans he found out transportation was a big problem. With only 10 months before the opening of the Medical Center, he started the DAV Transportation Program.

In just a few months working with DAV Chapters, Veterans Organizations, volunteers, VA staff and officials in the seven counties, he had several DAV vans donated. He recruited, signed up and trained volunteer drivers, established routes, pick up times and set up safe places in each county to park the vans. When the Medical Center opened some veterans without transportation took Tri-Rail. The train station is several miles away from the facility and many veterans could not afford the cost of a taxi. From early morning, to the last train leaving, every week day, each train that arrives or leaves the station has a DAV van waiting with a DAV driver on the platform. His goal was “ No veteran or patient will be without transportation.”

CONGREGATION BETH TORAH

Many religious organizations require their congregation’s youth to volunteer for several hours. However, the youth of Congregation Beth Torah have a totally different idea. They volunteer in their community on a regular basis not because they have to, but because they want to volunteer.

Congregation Beth Torah’s school curriculum is based on three core values: God, Worship, and Acts of Loving Kindness. Through these values, youth feel a balance in their life. Beginning in pre-kindergarten and continuing through college, youth are given countless opportunities to serve their community.

The youth of Congregation Beth Torah serve their community in many ways.

A few of these include: Organizing fundraisers to provide financial assistance to people and organizations, Being counselors at children’s camp, Collecting and donating things such as games, art supplies, socks and more than two tons of food, Hosting holiday parties, Performing plays, Lobbying for social justice causes, Making and delivering cookies for working firefighters, every year on Christmas Day.

It’s true that Congregation Beth Torah benefits from the service that these youth provide, as do many organization in the community.

A handful of these organizations include: Pets for Life, Jewish Family & Children’s Services, Hadassah Hospital, Tsunami Relief, Camp Rainbow, a camp for children with serious illnesses, Grand Avenue Church, Rose Brooks Domestic Violence Shelter, Village Shalom, Yachad Kosher Food Pantry, Harvesters, Start, a homeless shelter for families.

For the 350 youth in Congregation Beth Torah, volunteering does not seem like a big deal. It is just a part of life. However, between fundraisers, collect and donated projects, performances, and lobbying, the youth of Congregation Beth Torah have done and continue to do amazing things in their community. Beyond any group I have ever met, they are most deserving of this award.

RUTH ANN BLAIR

Ruth Ann Blair has been with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) since July 2000. Her positive outlook, amazing energy and giving spirit takes her from one end of the county to the other, volunteering at several agencies and helping with many programs throughout the community. In her four and one half years with RSVP, she has donated over 1,792 hours of volunteering service tutoring elementary children, assisting staff and senior clients at an Area on Aging agency and supporting the local arts by ushering during community theater and symphony events. Ruth Ann has greeted patients and visitors at one of our major hospitals, sold coffee and rolls at our county airport to raise funds for special programs, planted petunias along our main thoroughfare and assisted many other nonprofit agencies with bulk mailings, fund raisers, senior fairs, health fairs and other community events. When Ruth Ann is not out in the community volunteering, she is at home knitting items for our Helping Hands program, which area agencies distribute to people in need.

Ruth Ann’s enthusiasm and ambition has inspired others to get involved in volunteering through RSVP and she can often be found volunteering in the community with these friends. Ruth Ann continues to be a proponent for volunteerism by serving on the Retired and Senior Volunteer Advisory Committee. Her invaluable insight gives direction to RSVP, helping create new programs to address the needs of the seniors in our community, such as our Senior Safety Trio. Her creative imagination also lends a fun and innovative slant to new ways of recognizing our volunteers at luncheons and our annual recognition events.

Ruth Ann has a talent of bringing light into any room she enters and a smile to every person she meets. Her illuminating outlook heartens the same response from others, which served as a vital element during a community mock disaster she recently worked. The one skill of Ruth Ann’s that has personally touched many people is her knitting ability. Her specialty is layettes for premature infants however, as with her community volunteering, the items she creates addresses a variety of needs. She regularly contributes slippers and sweaters for children; lap robes for the sick and elderly; afghans for shelters, displaced homemakers and families in transition; baby blankets, bonnets and booties for newborns; and angel blankets for mourning parents to wrap around their little ones who have passed away. Ruth Ann also supports annual Helping Hands drives by knitting hats, scarves and mittens for our Hat and Mitten Drive; slippers for Muskegon County Head Start children to wear in the classroom in the event they forget their shoes; and creates outfits to dress up Teddy Bears which are distributed during the Christmas season. Ruth Ann also made lap robes in a recent Helping Hands initiative for wounded soldiers returning from Iraq. The collection of lap robes was sent to the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. who delivered them to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for distribution.

EUGENE BRUDNO

Eugene Brudno’s JFSA volunteer career began almost four decades ago while parenting a daughter with mental illness and grand parenting a grandson with disabilities. Because the mental health field had not offered Eugene the necessary support, he realized that he needed to find and connect with other families who were parenting children with mental illness to offer emotional support, as well as to seek out and provide the best quality of programs and services available for their children.

Eugene is the co-founder of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Metro Cleveland (AMI), a local branch of the national organization dedicated to providing referral, educational, support and political advocacy to people and families experiencing mental illness. His desire to reach out to this special population makes him accessible to parents twenty-four hours a day, who struggle with the fears and uncertainties of having a child diagnosed with mental illness. He is a requested speaker at AMI-Metro programs, and in the community. For the past seventeen years at JFSA, Eugene has led a weekly support group for parents of adult children with mental illness. He is also co-founder of LINKS Clubhouse, a consumer drop-in center; the Wieder-Silver Manor, a subsidized apartment building; and PLAN of Northeast Ohio, an organization designed to continue to meet the needs of adult children with mental illness when their parents or caretakers pass away.

Eugene’s passion, vision and commitment to remove the stigma associated with people with mental illness permit him to be outspoken about his quest for helping people with mental illness, overcoming such challenges as connecting with families in the community that had children with mental illness and purchasing a house with his own money where children would have a caretaker to provide for their special needs.

Social policy arising from a lack of parity in mental health benefits led Eugene to network with the state chapter of NAMI in Wisconsin to lobby in Washington, D.C. for better health services and laws for people with mental illness. Through his unceasing efforts, the number of lobbyists grew from the initial twelve to 1,500 individuals that work hard to provide the best care for their children with mental illness. To address the ongoing nature of dealing with relatives who have adult children with mental illness, Eugene is the support group facilitator at JFSA, where he directs his energy towards giving positive reinforcement and confidence, understanding and compassion to everyone. Eugene and his wife, Irene, established a JFSA staff scholarship program for graduate study.

Eugene continues to defy age and health issues as he rises each morning accepting that his life will always revolve around seeking the latest information about mental illness and implementing state-of-the-art programs and services for families experiencing the daily struggles of mental illness. That challenge is what keeps Eugene sharp, focused, outspoken, passionate, respected and loved by all who know him. At eighty-six years young, Eugene truly exemplifies the true spirit of volunteerism in every facet of its definition. Without fail, he offers genuine support and guidance to families who ask him for assistance. Always with humility and with an ever-present humanitarian commitment, Eugene consistently goes way beyond his service description of helping people overcome obstacles, building bridges between people of all backgrounds and mental/physical status, and encouraging community organizations to embrace mental illness with compassion and understanding.

ALISON CRAIG

Most of us look forward to our Sunday afternoons to recuperate from the week while taking our Sunday naps, but not the “Reading Lady”! Alison Craig finds herself at the Observation and Assessment (O&A) Unit of Utah’s Juvenile Justice Services in Springville, Utah with her “kids,” encouraging them to read and write.

About five years ago, Alison, along with her daughter, volunteered to do a book drive that would start a library at the O&A Unit. Alison and her daughter had a very successful book drive, collecting over 900 books. When Alison brought in the books, she was so excited by the teens’ reactions to the books that she wanted to continue volunteering. For the past three years, Alison has been a weekly volunteer at O&A. The staff at the O&A center states, “Alison is one of the few volunteers that comes regularly each week with a smile, and when she can’t make it, she actually gets a substitute.”

Alison shows up every Sunday to spend several hours with the youth she calls her friends. She spends 10-12 hours on a monthly basis in the center, and she spends time each week finding books to use for the Sunday activity and for the kids to read during the week. Her weekly visits include a fun activity that involves reading and writing, and she writes a personal note to each of the youth every week and encourages them to write back to her. One Sunday will be Dr. Seuss Day, with each of the teens choosing a Dr. Seuss book for the group to read aloud together. Another day the kids will learn about Braille, the writing system for the blind. After reading aloud a picture-book biography of Louis Braille, the youth will try writing in Braille. Still another day will be poetry day where the kids choose a poem to read aloud, and each teen will be encouraged to write a poem.

Alison’s background is in reading and writing. She has always been a voracious reader, and she has taught writing for 20 years at Brigham Young University (BYU); for the last six years, she has taught legal writing at BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her family, she enjoys traveling, and she has recently earned her first-degree black belt in taekwondo, Korean karate.

In November of 2003, Alison began Heifer International’s Read to Feed program with the youth in O&A. Heifer works to alleviate world hunger by providing animals and training for families in need to end the cycle of food shortage and build self-reliance. The Read to Feed program encourages children to raise money through sponsored reading to purchase the animals. Alison’s extended family and other community members donated $1,000 to sponsor the teens in the Read to Feed program.

When Alison introduced the Read to Feed to the teens, they were excited to learn that they could do something that could save the lives of people in other parts of the world. The youth chose to pool their efforts and set a goal of purchasing four milk-producing animals to help families in need. Alison set up the program so that each of the youth could participate to the same degree. All teens can earn $10 during the week by reading for 100 minutes, about 20 minutes a day for 5 days. Those who read more are praised but don’t earn more money.

Alison and her family have sponsored the kids in the Read to Feed project again this year with exciting results. Even the teens who are reluctant readers join in because they want to help families in need. When a new girl came into O&A some weeks after the Read to Feed program had started, the girl reported that she hadn’t read during the week, apparently not having understood the program. One of the boys chided her, “You won’t even read to help a poor family in the world be able to get an animal?” After Alison explained the program to her again, she began reading every week.

Recently Alison applied for grant money to continue the Read to Feed project. She would like to be able to have the kids do the Read to Feed program all year round. Not only does it motivate the teens to read, it helps their self-esteem so much—they learn that they can do something good in the world.

Several times a year, Alison and the youth clean out the library, sorting the books, labeling any new books (as part of a simple cataloging system), fixing books, and getting rid of ruined books. She continues to donate books to the center and encourages others to donate as well. She tries to find out each teen’s hobbies and interests to direct them to books they will enjoy.

One of Alison’s nephews has created a website where the teens’ poetry, drawings, and short stories are published: www.hoodles.com/writestuff. The kids are motivated to write by the opportunity to publish online and are also motivated by the idea that what they have to say is valued and of interest to others.

Alison loves her Sunday afternoons and enjoys getting the kids reading and writing. She cherishes a note from a boy who was leaving the center after his 60-day stay. He told her that before he came to O&A, he hadn’t read two books in his “whole life.” He left O&A having read seven books and comments, “now I don’t hate reading I really like it and its interesting thanks a lot.” What better thanks could she receive? Her thanks is knowing that by teaching a child to read, she is helping change the world.