JOHN “JJ” JOHNSON
John “JJ” Johnson has been committed to volunteering to help children through little league sports and education for twenty-five years. His volunteer efforts have been in numerous capacities; from coaching in grassroots voluntary community programs to volunteering his time in high-level administrative capacities for non-profit community based programs. Mr. Johnson was responsible for single handedly starting the Southeast Michigan Pop Warner Football League (SEMPWFL) in 1997. At that time, he had a dream of building quality and competitive little league football & cheer programs under the banner of Pop Warner Little Scholars.
Mr. Johnson’s volunteer history began when he organized a little league baseball program in 1980. He later transitioned to become a voluntary little league football coach from 1987. In 1997, he saw an opportunity for the organization to grow and become part of something much larger and nationally recognized that placed emphasis on education and scholastics. As a result, he established a chapter of the National Pop Warner organization in the southeast Michigan area now known as Southeast Michigan Pop Warner Little League Football (SEMPWFL) and Mr. Johnson has served as President of SEMPWFL since its inception.
The SEMPWFL is made up of nine non-profit associations that are based throughout the Metropolitan Detroit area. For the 2004 season, the associations’ total 968 boys and girls. In addition to his role as League President of SEMPWFL, in 1999, John was appointed as the Mid-America Regional Pop Warner Vice President and two years later in 2001, he was offered the voluntary position of Mid-America Pop Warner Regional Director. In his dual role as Regional Director and SEMPWFL president, Mr. Johnson is responsible for the management and oversight of the entire Mid-America Pop Warner Region, which is one of the largest Pop Warner regions within the country. The Mid-America Region is made up of eleven Midwestern states. Counting the number of leagues and non-profit associations in the Mid-America Region, it is safe to say the Mid-America Pop Warner Region totals more than 15,000 youth; 1,500 volunteer coaches and more than 8,000 adult volunteers who all make it possible. Mr. Johnson is responsible for making certain that every coach and volunteer as well as his league (SEMPWFL) adheres to the Pop Warner principles. The driving force behind this remarkable man is his life long dream to provide the youth of Southeast Michigan with an enriching little league experience that does more than just teach sportsmanship and team play, but also recognizes and encourages youth to excel academically.
As a result of Mr. Johnson’s heavy emphasis on academics there has been significant increase in the overall grade point averages for children participating in SEMPWFL. Mr. Johnson has contributed to improving the life of others in the community through the league by developing and presenting positive coaching training modules for little league coaches. The trainings teach coaches how to positively motivate children and teach them that playing the game or cheering is not all about winning. The result of his passion for academics led to two of the league’s youngsters being recognized as scholastic first teamers and eight youngsters as second teamers within three years at the National Pop Warner level.
Mr. Johnson has left life-long impressions. Mr. Johnson continues to be the backbone of SEMPWFL. From my perspective, the challenge he’s faced on the local level (SEMPWFL) has been recruiting, training and retaining adult volunteers who possess the qualities and background that would make them excellent coaches. As a Regional Pop Warner Director, it has been a challenge for him to travel hundreds of miles to resolve issues within other states and at the same time to try to stay healthy, maintain a household, hold down a full-time job, and get some quality time to spend with grandchildren. Mr. Johnson’s volunteerism takes up as much as 35 to 40 hours each week. This means balancing much of his personal life around SEMPWFL and Mid-America Regional Director activities. This man has had a tremendous impact on my life. He has shown me by example how to manage volunteers, how to motivate people, and how to achieve big goals with only the desire to make it better for our youth. In my opinion, Mr. Johnson is the ultimate volunteer who has been on the front line for a very long time. Ever since I have known him, little league football and cheer has been Mr. Johnson’s passion.
PEER PARTNERS
“Peer Partners”, is a youth volunteer group founded in 1997 to help others, while inspiring other youth and community members to share in the rewards of volunteerism. Peer Partners has organized community based service projects that have mobilized hundreds of community members as they work together to meet the needs, health and well being of others in need. They have collected toiletries for the homeless, hats for children with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, books for children who lost theirs during disaster, quarters for breast cancer research, and more. They have handcrafted valentines to remind our veteran’s that they are loved by today’s youth and created “pillow pals” to provide comfort to hospitalized children over the holidays. They even organized the first ever community talent show to raise money for the children of the victims of September 11. Inspired by a photo of a five frail children from an impoverished village in Ghana West Africa, they also set out to raise awareness and subsequently provided those children and their community with basic necessities including educational supplies, clean water, sandals, clothing and a building for them to learn in! This past July they organized a wonderfully successful bake sale to raise funds that are now earmarked to prevent child hunger in our local community and across America! In addition this past month they raised desperately needed funds to help build a “field of dreams” so that handicapped youth could enjoy the game of baseball.
In an effort to deliver the anti-tobacco message to teens and community members throughout our county and state, they enlisted the support of all New Jersey Little League Presidents. Those Little League Presidents have since posted the “tobacco-free/smoke-free” signs that they designed, funded, and distributed, on their ball fields to send the message that tobacco affects the health and well being of our youth!
Their entrepreneurial skills can be recognized in their ability to succeed with raising awareness, funds and merchant support. They have written and received grant monies, organized bake sales and lemonade sales, and even washed cars to help in funding their efforts. Their “Autographs from the Heart” program designed to support children and adolescents who experienced a personal illness or trauma has generated signatures of famous people to include Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, the Back Street Boys, Ricky Martin, LeeAnn Rimes and many others. Their “Talent Benefiting Others” fundraiser to assist the children of the victims of September 11 resulted in donations of signed sports memorabilia from the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Penguins. Our “Quest for Education” efforts in support of the rural children of Ghana West Africa received sponsorship support from Swiss Air Cargo, The Ghana Embassy, Ventnor VFW, the Ghanaian Times, and Harcourt Publishers to name a few! Caesar’s Casino and Oral B, as well as local medical groups to include dentists, dermatologists, ophthalmologists and podiatrists donated toiletry supplies to Atlantic City Rescue Mission homeless projects. Their recent bake sale caught the attention of actress Masiela Lusha from the George Lopez show, who flew to Ocean City to join us in our fundraising effort to help end child hunger in America. And, just last month they had their wish granted by the Oscar Mayer and subsequently had the Weiner mobile at their fundraiser event geared to raise funds to help build the Field of Dreams for local handicapped youth!! The list goes on, as they enlist the support of others to help those in need!
Peer Partners motto of “volunteering together and making a difference’ has allowed them to advocate healthy youth lifestyles locally and worldwide by serving both the immediate and long-term needs of their community. Their program has empowered other in volunteerism, while improving community awareness and developing a stronger sense of self in their peers. They have become role models to their peers, positions they respect and do not take for granted. In fact, they are recipients of the 2004 Service to Women and Girls Award issued by the Atlantic County Advisory Commission on Women.
NORTH KOHALA COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER
North Kohala Community Resource Center is a three-year-old non-profit organization operating in the very rural northern tip of the Big Island of Hawaii. The community there is called North Kohala and is large in land (133 square miles) and small in population (6500 people in 1800 households). They are isolated by ocean, mountains and desert and are a blend of seven diverse cultures- Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Portuguese and Caucasian. Like all small communities, opportunities for community development abound. This volunteer driven Center was founded on the premise that many of the community improvement projects have been successfully organized by volunteers. To put it simply,they help volunteer groups plan successful projects, teach them how to write successful proposals and find appropriate funders. In addition, they sponsor thirty-three projects to date–far exceeding initial expectations.
This past year has been exciting and busy for the Resource Center. The number of projects they support has grown to 33. During the year, they have worked with 38 project coordinators on a wide range of issues, and have witnessed the work of over 2,500 volunteers giving their time and energy to the community through these projects. All of this is made possible by the people, businesses and grant funders who support the Center.
Keeping the community informed about the Center’s work is very important. They talk to people who live in the community almost every day to give information about the Center and what they do. They also plan a newsletter with the hope that the community may stay current with the Center’s opportunities and projects.
One such project is the Kohala Country Fair. There were over one hundred volunteers and attendance was in excess of 5,0000. The 20th annual one day fair was a huge success during the its 2004 run. In addition to being a great day for the community, the fair raised more than $11,000 from the business community to help support the center. The Center also has a Read to Feed program where the Heifer International Curriculum is taught to eighth graders and fifth graders to learn more about world hunger as they improve their reading skills. Kohala Senior Citizens Club is where Kohala High School Seniors interview the kupuna to record their oral histories. This project culminated with a holiday luncheon at the Orchid Mauna Lani. Students were honored for their volunteer efforts. This collaboration was a milestone in bringing youth and elders together in the community.
Some other projects that the Center participates in are the Kukui Garden Restoration, Kohala Coalition Against Drugs (KCAD), Kohala Art Academy and the Kind Kamehameha Statue Maintenance.
KENDALL CIESEMIER
Kendall Ciesemier is an 11-year old girl, working to raise money to help AIDS orphans in Africa through World Vision, an international Christian relief and development organization working to promote the well being of all people – especially children. Kendall’s goal is to support a project in Musele, Zambia with an annual budget of $60,000. To date, Kendall and her supporters have raised approximately $13,000 through garage sales, lemonade stands, bake sales, and outright donations.
After viewing an Oprah Winfrey special in the winter of 2004, Kendall decided that she had to do something to help the 14 million AIDS orphans of Africa. She began by adopting a child through World vision with her own annual contribution of $360. In June, as Kendall faced an upcoming liver transplant, she organized her effort, Kids Caring for Kids, asking friends and family to send donations in lieu of flowers or gifts. Through the help of World Vision, Kendall has adopted a project and set up a Web page for on-line donation (www.justgiving.com/pfp/kendallc).
In her own words Kendall states: I’m just and 11-year girl who wants to make a difference for other kids. I first became aware of the African AIDS epidemic and the orphaned children when watching an Oprah Winfrey special last winter. I couldn’t believe that there were so many children living alone. I couldn’t believe that when their parents died there was nowhere for the kids to go! Kids, I realized, were caring for kids. I knew then that I wanted to do something to help. Kendall knows firsthand how fragile and challenging life can be and how important love and care are. Kendall does not want attention for herself and her trials, but wants people to focus on what millions of kids in Africa are going through who don’t have the benefit of a loving family, supportive friends, and superior medical care.
Kendall has become an example for so many people. She underwent not only one, but two liver transplants during the summer of 2004. Even as she was struggling for recovery, she began making and selling dog necklaces (Bow Wow Bling Bling) to support her effort. Kendall ahs inspired kids on their own and in groups to actively work to raise money in a variety of activities. Kids have set up lemonade stands, washed cars, cleaned housed, donated their allowances, etc. By watching Kendall thinking of others during her time of need, many kids have been inspired to look at how they too can be a kid caring for kids, seeking to make their own positive impact on the world.
THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA “BIG EVENT”
The Big Event is the University of Oklahoma’s official day of community service, as well as the largest student-run volunteer effort in the nation. Beginning on the Texas A&M campus in 1982, The Big Event has since spread to 72 other universities across the nation. What stands out about The Big Event, however, are the students, faculty and staff involved. On many of these campuses, no other event brings together people from so many different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities, hometowns and majors to work together for one common goal: to make their community a better place in which to live.
This past year, The Big Event at OU alone sent more than 4,800 students into the Norman and Oklahoma City communities to paint, remove litter from roadways, plant fresh flowers and visit with senior citizens on Saturday, March 27. We sent our volunteers to schools, animal advocacy centers, city parks, veteran’s centers and social service agencies. We also sent over 1,000 volunteers to the Oklahoma City Zoo to help build a brand now playground, and we sent another 35 students to build Norman’s first off-leash dog park—a project that had been planned for over a year but had never begun because of the large number of people needed to build it. These volunteer centers and non-profit groups do so much for our community that we want to give back to them because of what they have done for us.
The sixth annual Big Event on April 2, 2005, will send an estimated one out of every four OU students into our community. Because of the tremendous response we have received from the people we serve and university officials, we have decided to focus more efforts of bringing together all The Big Events from across the country and expanding the event to more college campuses. We believe that The Big Event can do so much for the student community, as well as the college’s community, so we are eager to make it a more nationally recognized day of community service.
Seeing so many students give up a Saturday morning and seeing the looks on their faces when they see thousands of their fellow Sooners is a feeling to which few words do justice. Knowing that dozens of organizations eagerly anticipate the next year’s Big Event helps us realize that all of the work we do actually does make a difference. We take pride in this event because we know that it shows that the next generation is not apathetic and lazy. It shows that we care, that we have compassion and that we will not hesitate to get our hands a little dirty to help out someone in need.
JIM BRYANT
In the five years that Grandpa Jim has been a Foster Grandparent he has left a huge imprint on the School, teachers and especially the second and third grade students that he has assisted over his five years at Alyce Norman Elementary School, a Title I program in West Sacramento, California.
This school has a large immigrate population that has students that speak English as a second language (ESL). This is where Grandpa Jim comes in. Although he works with all students that are assigned to him several require assistance with reading comprehension.
Jim meets with each student who should have read at home with parent etc. However, many parents don’t speak/read English and therefore the assignments do not get done. Jim meets with these kids and has them read to him.
He informs the staff that at the beginning of the school year these kids can not read! But, with little steady assistance and attention they become avid readers. He teaches them to “learn to love to learn”.
The kids love reading to Grandpa Jim. His teacher/supervisor notes: “Jim reads on a daily basis. These students do not have anyone to read with them at home. His students have an adult to bond with as well as read with to help them.
Students look forward to their time with Grandpa Jim. The school think he is wonderful. He takes the ball and runs with it; he can be counted on with minimal interface. He works with students in different classes listening to them read.
Being with a caring person is wonderful for children-some who have only Grandpa Jim to pay attention to them. Grandpa Jim is a blessing to the staff and the children he meets with. Jim loves working with his students and regularly volunteers during summer session.
When asked about his volunteer service he states “I work with ESL (English as a Second Language) students in two 2nd grade and three 3rd grade classes. I work with the students individually in a quiet area of the library. One of the classes has all ESL students. In the other classes I help with math, English and test taking skills. Occasionally we have a chance to just sit and talk. I am fortunate in that I am able to select my classes myself. I have a good relationship with the teachers. I enjoy want I do.”
Grandpa Jim recently received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for volunteering over 4,000 hours in a lifetime. Though he has served so much, he expects to continue his tradition of volunteering.
FE’ SEVA
Fe Seva is an amazing and dedicated Foster Grandparent volunteer, whose love for children, knowledge and community giving has evolved to a very high level of volunteering.
She currently volunteers five hours a day, five days a week for a total of 25 hours a week volunteering with three different teachers at Tahoe Elementary School in Sacramento, CA, a Title 1 school, and has been doing so for the past six years. Fe opts to also volunteer each summer for six weeks at the same school. At her young age of 81, she remains as enthused about tutoring as she did during her 40 years of teaching in the Philippines during her career. She utilizes many of the same skills she always had and is a great aid to her teachers. Academically, Fe helps the students by providing quick and positive feedback to the children. She helps them to slow down and check for careless mistakes. Her teachers feel that she is very helpful and wonderful to work with. She has helped to bring students together as a community. Emotionally, Fe offers the much-needed knowledge that someone else truly cares about them and their academic progress.
Mrs. Tiffany Westenburger writes, “I eagerly await the beginning of each school year to find out if I am going to be lucky enough to have Fe Seva volunteering in my room, Her deep commitment to the students and myself is made clear by her consistent and thorough job performance. She provides total feedback to the students and myself about their daily assignments. She diligently corrects and puts helpful comments on their reading and math assignments and tests. With Fe’s help I am able to review the students’ progress with them in a much more timely manner. I deeply value and appreciate the amount of effort Fe puts into her work. I do not know how I would make it without her volunteering in my classroom”.
Last year, Fe received the President’s Lifetime Achievement award by volunteering over 4000 hours. Fe wears her pin proudly.
Fe’ is one of 100 Foster Grandparents in Sacramento, California that offer meaningful volunteer opportunities for low-income seniors 60 and over to provide love and support to children with special or exceptional needs. All Foster Grandparents receive an hourly stipend of $2.65 to reimburse any cost while volunteering a minimum of 15 hours a week. Thousands of children have been helped by the Foster Grandparents in the 30 years of the program. Some children are mentally, physically, or emotionally disabled; others are abused, neglected or in the juvenile justice system. Every child is special, but many lack the presence of that special someone who can make all the difference in the world.
TERESA BERGERON
Terry Petzar Bergeron devoted 16 years (1978-1994) to caring for her husband Paul who suffered from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Even during her care giving tenure, Terry turned her attention to helping other caregivers endure the agonizing struggle characteristic of dementia diseases. She volunteered at the Brevard Alzheimer’s Association, assisting in may capacities and served a term on the Board of Directors (1982-1984). She was there to support staff and caregivers on their long and arduous care giving journeys. She shared her experience willingly to help others—she spoke to groups, called on caregivers and care receivers at home, shopped for them, accompanied them to doctor appointments, provided respite, assisted them in making placement decisions, visited them in nursing facilities—she became an “expert” willing to assist anyone, anytime, anywhere! She often took late night calls from frazzled caregivers who needed comfort, support, and care suggestions.
As she uncovered more and more families coping with dementia diseases, in 1991 she responded by starting a monthly support group at her church, Holy Name of Jesus in Indialantic, Florida. Thirteen years later, the support group continues. As regularly as her kind, compassionate hear beats, she is present the second Tuesday evening of every month year round. Her support does not end with patient placement or death; caregivers become a part of her extended family forever! (She regularly visits caregivers who are now in nursing homes themselves.)
Once Paul was placed, she began her day at the nursing home, feeding him and other residents who needed assistance, followed by a stop at the Brevard’s Alzheimer’s Foundation office to see what she could do to help. She worked on fundraisers, mail-outs, represented the organization at health & wellness fairs, community events and was instrumental in advocating for community education to reduce the center to volition. Then, she volunteered to help in that center! She has adopted a dementia specific adult daycare living facility, and has racked up a long resume of volunteer activities and support including relocating residents during recent hurricane evacuations.
In 1995, she advocated for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation “Faith in Action” Grant that would provide free respite for caregivers in Brevard County. Church volunteers provided her breaks during her desperate years of caring for her husband and she wanted respite to be available to all caregivers countywide. Hence, she became, and 10 years later still is an active volunteer in Space Coast Interfaith Respite Program. She assists all volunteer orientation/training workshops throughout the county education and preparing volunteers who provide temporary relief to caregivers and companionship for care receivers. Nearly 1000 persons have attended trainings.
Terry remarried 6 years ago and before her new husband’s stoke, they did respite together. She has added stroke support to her resume, assisting, educating, and encouraging caregivers with the same enthusiasm and energy as she continues to do in the Alzheimer’s disease arena!
MARGARET MCGLYNN
Margaret McGlynn has the quiet humility and confidence of a leader who leads by consistent example. She is a remarkable young woman, who literally change peoples lives and in so doing makes the most difficult tasks appear natural.
For example, while volunteering at the Don Bosco Children’s center, she met a young abused boy named Charlie. Because of the abuse Charlie had turned within himself and could not be reached. Margaret combined her love of animals with her compassion for Charlie and taught Charlie how to love by teaching him how to train dogs. This effort changed Charlie’s life.
Margaret’s commitment to others is not limited to her consistent work at the Don Bosco Children’s center. If there is a job to be done, Margaret is there without having to be asked. Margaret helped collect over 2,000 books for the Smith Lake Elementary School in Smith Lake New Mexico because she and her sister heard of the school’s need for books. Margaret has a love for reading fostered by her parents, and spontaneously was moved with her Sister to provide books to those who had none.
Margaret has made community service a seamless part of a life filled with both scholarly excellence and athletic achievement. She is ranked first is her High School class of 181 and earned a letter in Junior Varsity Soccer. Indeed, her days at school are also filled with activities including the school newspaper, the school play and library to name but few.
Margaret is community leader not because her parents want her to be, but rather because she thinks that this is the best way to live the Gospel of Life that she has learned from her parents. This is not something, however, that Margaret would ever say herself. When I asked why she does so many things she simply smiled and went about her work. That is Margaret-quiet and consistent care for others under taken with great humility.
Margaret is one of those rare points of light who leads and inspire others. She exemplifies all that is good about today’s youth. She is a normal teen who has chosen to live the teaching of the Gospel that we are happier when we give that when we receive.
THE SEEING EYE/4-H PUPPY RAISERS
The Seeing Eye(c) is the oldest dog guide school in America. For 75 years, they have provided Seeing Eye dogs to people who are blind or visually impaired. The organization recently matched their 14,000th dog. Today there are more that 1,800 active graduates of The Seeing Eye around the world.
The Seeing Eye has been recognized due to all their work in the community as the 138th Point of Light through Fomer President Bush’s Administration, in honor of the volunteers at the organization’s headquarters, who walk the dogs, greet guests, guide tour groups, run errands for students, and complete any number of the daily tasks needing attention.
However, The Seeing Eye believe another group of special volunteers also deserve recognition…the puppy raiser families who set the dogs on an early course toward their eventual destiny.
Since 1942, The Seeing Eye has partnered with 4-H clubs to provide volunteer puppy raisers. These volunteers provide future Seeing Eye dogs with a foundation of love, trust, and gentle guidance the dogs could never receive growing up in a kennel.
At about seven weeks of age, a puppy goes to its volunteer puppy raiser’s home where it lives for the next year to fifteen months. Puppy raisers attend regular Puppy Club meetings, organized by local 4-H programs. There, they learn how to teach their puppies basic obedience: sit, rest and come, lessons crucial to the dog’s formal training when it returns to the school.
A large part of the puppy raising experience is exposing the puppy to a variety of social situations it will encounter as a working dog. Regular outings coordinated through the Puppy Club provide many of these experiences, but families plan other activities on their own.
Not only do the puppy-raising families make an extraordinary commitment in terms of time, since the puppies must accompany the puppy raiser virtually 24-hours a day, but also in terms of their personal property. It is the puppy raiser, after all, who teaches the early lessons about chewing, digging, and housebreaking!
About half or the puppy raisers are between 9 and 19 years old. One person in the family has primary responsibility for the pup’s care. Providing love and companionship is the easiest part. The hardest part proves to be returning the puppy to The Seeing Eye so it can pursue its special destiny. However, many puppy raisers view the return of their puppy as a most rewarding part of the experience, knowing that their generosity of spirit will give another the gift of independence and dignity. Parents tell the organization that being a puppy raiser teaches their children the value of compassion and altruism. Many of them ultimately become nurses, teachers, or animal care workers.
There are currently 820 families in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware raising more that 850 dogs. This dedicated corps of volunteers is an invaluable part of The Seeing Eye program. It is because of the volunteers that the organization can continue to provide graduates with high quality Seeing Eye dogs; dogs that change people’s lives.
