ELK MEADOW 4-H

The Elk Meadow 4-H members, ages 5-18, saw the need to do community service at their village parks. The club has 43 members with numerous parent volunteers.

In May 2003, flowers were planted at The Mound Hill Park. The community’s response was overwhelming. The Mound Hill Park has been a part of the community since 1938 and has an observation tower on it. It is visited not only by the local people, but also people traveling on Interstate 94 and Intrastate Highway 29. The flowers were not only selected and planted by the youth, but were watered and weeded throughout the summer and fall. Tulip bulbs were planted in the fall. The 4-H also donated money to help replace the flag pole at this park.

Several community members approached the 4-H and asked if more improvements could be done. Youth and parents met with the village board and public works director to discuss plans. It was decided to make improvements not only at The Mound Hill Park, but also at The Elk Mound Village Park. Both parks were widely used by the community. The village park is used by softball and soccer teams, family and school reunions, receptions, and summer church services. The youth did the planning and implementing with the help of parent volunteers.

On June 5th, 2004, tow sugar maple trees were planted, flowers planted, a park bench constructed, a youth-made birdhouse was mounted on a tree and the picnic table and outdoor grill were scraped of old paint at The Mound Hill Park. It was raining, but all were determined and enthusiastic to see the plan through. On June 6th, The Elk Mound Village Park sign was re-stained and 13 shrubs were planted. The picnic table and grill were re-painted at The Mound Hill Park. The 4-H was able to fund $1200, which was one-half the cost of retaining wall around the flag pole at The Mound Hill Park. The wall needed to be built by a professional and was completed on June 22nd. The flowers, trees, and shrubs have been weeded and watered throughout the summer and fall. Fund-raisers as well as donations by area businesses made it all happen.

The impact and response was a great success. The village board was especially please with the communities response and verbalization of the beautification of the parks. The 4-H plans to continue to work with the village board and public works director. The 4-H would like to trim down overgrown grass and put in rock and wild flowers, as well as landscape a hillside.

The youth are very proud of their work and have great pride in their community. This small community has many big hearts and helping hands.

ROSEMARY SMIH

Rosemary Smith is a program director’s dream volunteer. She is 72 years young and has boundless energy. Rosemary has been a Chaves County RSVP volunteer since October 1991 and has accumulated 17,879 hours of service to the community. The bulk of her voluntary activity centers on the Good Samaritan Food Program in Roswell, New Mexico.

Over a six-month period of time, Good Samaritan has served nearly 384 families and 1162 individuals. Rosemary is tireless in her dedication to her clients, spending anywhere between 72 and 199 hours monthly to assure that hungry people in Chaves County do not go unfed.

Rosemary, acting as director of St. Peter’s Eucharistic Ministers, is in charge of assigning and making visits to Eastern New Mexico Medical Center patients who request communion or a friendly visit. She has been attending to the needs of the sick since 1993, first as an auxiliary member and now as a Eucharistic Minister, and has given 1352 hours of her time on this project.

In February 2003, Rosemary started volunteering at the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center Thrift Shop. According to the shop chairman, Rosemary works as a cashier, sells merchandise, helps clean up at the end of the day and makes the bank deposit. She has volunteered in this position for a total of 486 hours.

Rosemary is a board member of Lend-A-Hand of Roswell, Inc. The specific purpose of this organization is to organize, coordinate and expedite the funding and delivery of services desired by its member organizations, to those in need of various basic services. Some member organizations are Good Samaritans, Presbyterian Outreach, Roswell Outreach, Salvation Army and the American Red Cross. Summer Soiree 2004, a fundraising dinner, was held in July to augment the monies needed to help feed the hungry of Roswell and Chaves County. Rosemary was active in the planning of this event.

In June, Rosemary was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness that kept her from volunteering during part of June and July. She is back on the job now and continuing her good works.

LIFE CONNECTIONS PROGRAM MENTORS FMC CARSWELL

The Life Connections Program was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in response to the President’s Faith Based initiative. Although there are five programs in the federal system, FMC Carswell represents the only Life Connection Program for female inmates. Chaplain Beverley Ford has served as the Program Manager since the activation of the program in October 2002. Working along with her to recruit and train volunteer mentors is Denise Walker, the institution’s Volunteer Coordinator.

The 76 inmates participating in the Life Connections Program are involved in numerous intense activities designed to prepare them for successful community re-integration. They are assisted in the program by a multi-faith team of spiritual guides and a program facilitator who tracks their day-to-day activities. The spiritual guides lead the participants through a set of workbooks designed specifically for the Life Connections Program. These challenging classes confront the participants in critical areas of their lives and encourage them to make changing decisions.

Each participant meets twice a month with a personal volunteer mentor from the community. These mentors are versed in the components of the program and help to strengthen the principles taught in the classes. The mentors provide a valuable link to the community and assist the participants as the move toward home. Currently the program at FMC Carswell has 78 volunteer community mentors who are dedicated to this task.

To visit the mentoring program on a Tuesday evening is an exciting experience. A mixture of laughter, serious conversation, and tears permeate the room as mentor and protégé talk about the issues facing the Life Connections Program participant. One gets the distinct impression that something special and life changing is happening. The mentoring component of Life Connections moves the inmates out of the workbook and into real life with real and meaningful communication. The goal of the mentoring experience is to assure the participant she is not alone and that there is someone there who believes they are a good person who can contribute in a positive way to society. Whether the issue is emotions, relationships, parenting, or personal spirituality, the mentor joins with the Life Connections participant on their life journey.

The dedicated volunteer mentors in the Life Connections Program are the catalyst to a life changing experience for the participants. The first life connection program class graduated in May 2004 and during the graduation ceremony several of the participants shared how the program had positively impacted their lives. All of them mentioned the enormous impact that the mentors have had on their spiritual journey. Under the capable leadership of Chaplain Ford, the enthusiastic recruitment and training by Ms. Walker, and the wholehearted support of the Executive Staff of Carswell, the Life Connections Program volunteer mentors are a shinning example of people making a difference.

GREATER LAS VEGAS INNER-CITY GAMES/AFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARS

Hundreds of volunteers devote their time and energy to the children of Las Vegas and have done so for the last 10 years through the Greater Las Vegas After-School All-Stars/ Inner-City Games. During the 2002-2003 season alone, dedicated volunteers logged almost 5,000 hours to serve more than 6,500 area youth. These service hours took place between the months of March through August.

The volunteers in this program are extraordinary. During the many sporting and cultural arts activities, they are there to let each and every child participate and know how important they are. The volunteers do this by building self-esteem with encouraging words, skill building techniques and being the extra eyes and ears for the organization’s limited staff.

Without the volunteers, the Greater Las Vegas After-School All-Stars/Inner-City Games organization could not exist. Volunteers perform jobs that include, but are not limited to, coaching assistants, staff support during the games, office support, special events and fundraising. The organization asks a great deal from the volunteers, and the volunteers always gladly accept the challenge.

Serving in this capacity is not an easy job for the volunteers. They are interacting with youth whose needs are great. These children are exposed to frighteningly dangerous choices. Many times these young people feel angry and forgotten in this world. Reaching out to them takes patience and compassion. The volunteers have the ability to break down the walls the youth have raised for protection. They also understand that the young people must feel needed and “worth” their attention.

The volunteers are priceless and their service and time cannot be measured. Their patience, dedication and kind words go a long way to show the sometimes forgotten children of Las Vegas that they are special. These volunteers are there for the youth week after week to help the staff continue its mission to provide positive choices and opportunities for the youth of their city.

FOURTEEN PINES NEIGHBORHOOD NETWORKS/KIDS CLUB

Fourteen Pines Neighborhood Networks Kids Club is unique because it is not about kids alone. It is about community, neighbors and open to all ages.

The wonderful programs and the affect they are having on the community can only be attributed to the people living here at Fourteen Pines. It has taken time, but this has become a self-sustaining community. All the programs and programming is done by the community volunteers; themselves.

The turnover in volunteers is becoming faster each year. This is wonderful, though some coordinators really get stressed over this situation, often called attrition. We here at Fourteen Pines call it relationships and lives, outside the low-income community.

Janice Berry, Julie Jankowski, Becky Fisk, Laurie Butler have all just been awarded and recognized for their community service here at Fourteen Pines; by the Oregon Multifamily Housing / Housing and urban Development office in Portland. However, this is not an individual effort, or even a small group effort. Nearly everyone at Fourteen Pines contributes in some way.

Our goal is to establish four more centers with kids clubs by the end of 2005.

WINNIE WINTERS

For more than 20 years, Winnie Winters has volunteered at Opportunity Village, making a major contribution to the organization’s phenomenal growth. In addition to her many years of service, she has provided a home to people with intellectual disabilities who have no families to depend on. Ms. Winters feeds and clothes them, takes them to special events and introduces them to a concept of love that they many never have experienced.

Ms. Winters has participated in countless Opportunity Village activities. She supervises the mailing of thousands of pieces of literature monthly, countless volunteers in the office and she works at special events. Ms. Winters has also directed the Opportunity Village Gift Wrap Booth at Boulevard Mall and raised in excess of $500,000 for people with disabilities. Because of Ms. Winters, thousands of disabled people in Las Vegas know the improved financial and emotional quality of life that comes with active employment.

WACO CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

For the past twelve years, the Waco Police Department has been supported by an active group of volunteers from the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (CPAAA). Since January of 2003, this group has volunteered 6,412 hours in direct and indirect support of the Police Department’s community policing programs.

One of the major focuses of the CPAAA is raising funds throughout the year in support of the Citizens Police Academy, Waco Police Department, and local police officers. In 2003, the CPAAA provided over $7,400 to the Department for the purchase of equipment and training of police officers. The equipment purchased ranged from a Rescue Randy training dummy to child fingerprint/ID kits. Funds were donated to the Police Memorial Run, Crime Stoppers Pig Trot, and the Blue Santa program, as well as to provide officer training in topics such as criminal profiling and hostage negotiation. The Association also donated $1,000 to the McLennan Community College scholarship fund for students enrolled in the College’s Criminal Justice program.

Members of the Association also directly support the Department by providing manpower during special events and projects throughout the year. Members regularly assist with crowd management and traffic control during the 4th of July and Cruise-Fest USA celebrations, help with the day-long civil service testing of police recruits, provide crowd management for the Police Memorial Run. Last year, the Association helped distribute over 1,000 “goody bags” at the Halloween event held at a local mall. This year Association members began assisting with the Police Department’s telephone “warrants call” program. To-date, over 150 persons with outstanding warrants has been contacted through this program. This spring, Association members provided security/courtesy patrols at the 2004 international Viking Fest, which was held in Waco for the first time. CPAAA members also work as scribes at the quarterly child safety seat checks sponsored by the Police Department and Safe Kids Coalition. Twenty-nine of the Association’s members are part of the Police Department’s emergency response volunteer teams which are used to search for missing children and adults. Members also augment officers during natural and manmade disasters.

The Waco CPAAA program is one of about 900 such programs throughout the country that is registered with the President’s Volunteer in Police Service program (VIPS). The Association is also registered as a “certifying organization” for the President’s Volunteer Service Award program, which began in 2003. Ten members of the VIPS program are also CERT qualified – and were the first to be qualified in the city.

Members of the CPAAA truly embody the spirit of volunteerism by putting their commitment to building a better community into one of involvement and action.

MIKE COSENTINO

The Volunteer Center of Manatee County established a Volunteer Reception Center in Arcadia, Florida one day after Hurricane Charley ravaged the area. They operate 7 days a week, registering thousands of volunteers who are doing amazing and generous tasks to assist residents impacted by the storm.

Mike Consentino is a roofer from Sarasota, Florida. He registered to volunteer during the first day of their operation. Since that date, he has spent an average of 8 to 10 hours a day to help fulfill more than 50 residents’ request for temporary and permanent roof repair.

Daily Consentino drives 140 miles round trip. He arrives with his dog Money at the tent outside of Wal-Mart ready to work. There he looks for the requests from the elderly and low-income DeSoto County residents who are awaiting insurance adjustors and/or have no insurance to make the necessary repairs.

Consentino exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism. He shares his time, skills and talents with those most in need when they need him most. He is an inspiration to all and the benefits of his commitment increase each day. He has already repaired more than 50 roofs at homes and churches and relieved the stress of an excess of 100elderly and low-income residents whose lives were forever changed on August 14, 2004 as Hurricane Charley devastated De Soto County.

Consentino embodies the compassion, commitment and philanthropic spirit of a volunteer. He has a genuine desire to help those who are less fortunate.

EL PUEBLO, INC./FIESTA DEL PUEBLO

El Pueblo, Inc., a non-profit statewide Latino advocacy organization, nominates its Fiesta del Pueblo volunteers, whose dedication and loyalty is vital to the coordination of the two-day cultural event. La Fiesta del Pueblo began as an all-volunteer effort in 1994 when a small group of diverse individuals got together to organize a Latin American festival. The effort was so successful and came at such a needed time, that by the next year its volunteers launched a full-fledged non-profit. Today the non-profit is a leading organization dedicated to strengthening the Latino community of North Carolina through advocacy, education, and the promotion of cross-cultural understanding. La Fiesta is now in its eleventh year and continues to bring Latinos and non-Latinos together to enjoy Latin America food, music, traditional dancing, arts and crafts, children’s games, and educational affairs.

The festival was created out of the need to connect the rapidly growing Latino population of North Carolina with the larger, more-established communities across the state. These new immigrants who are making such an economic impact on our state often speak little English when they arrive and encounter numerous barriers upon entering their new home in the United States. Resources available to most Americans such as food, shelter, education, civic participation, and health care are denied and with such a difficult beginning in this country, many Latinos have found support and strength through the rich Hispanic cultural networks and communities around them.

In its first year, La Fiesta del pueblo attracted 2,000 participants. By 2003, over 60,000 people attended, suggesting both the incredible growth of North Carolina’s Latino community as well as the increasing interest in cross-cultural understanding. But perhaps even more impressive than the number of attendees is the dedicated group of nearly 600 volunteers who come together every year to make La Fiesta possible.

Our volunteers begin planning for La Fiesta over 8 months before the event. A volunteer kick-off is organized five months before the festival to sign up volunteers and create the year’s volunteer committees. And even after La Fiesta del Pueblo, volunteers spend over two months evaluating the festival’s success, thanking stakeholders and sponsors, and getting ready for the next year. Although the event itself is only two days, the planning and mobilization of volunteers required is a yearlong process. Every year in September, as soon as one walks into La Fiesta, our volunteers can be seen hard at work selling soda, picking up trash, directing parking, coordinating the four performance stages, offering health screenings, and even co-chairing the festival itself, Men, women, and children from all backgrounds, Latino and non-Latino, even former drug addicts from a non-profit recovery center, are behind the scenes (and in front!) making La Fiesta happen. It is truly an event that connects people from all walks of life.

Our volunteers return year after year and many of the committee co-chairs have been with La Fiesta since its inception. Some of our volunteers who chair the Fiesta committees devote over 15 hours a week in the months leading up to La Fiesta del Pueblo. Our Fiesta co-chairs work from 7am until midnight in the days leading up to La Fiesta as well as during the event. And one of our volunteers even pays out of his own pocket for an internationally renowned clown from Puerto Rico to perform!

The volunteers get involved for many reasons-from a desire to keep a particular form of cuisine alive to a passion for learning about other cultures-but non of them get active to get recognition. Indeed, Fiesta volunteers are the first to highlight the other aspects of Fiesta-sponsors who provide the funding, the artists who perform, and the food vendors who cook. We are so grateful to our volunteers whose sacrifice and dedication is immeasurable and instrumental to La Fiesta.

The loyalty of the community that we work with is only one way to measure the impact of La Fiesta. Many of the approximately 200 organizations that participate in La Fiesta do so in order to learn about Latinos. The festival has served as an innovative tool to integrate Latino issues into the “mainstream” North Carolina population. Further, La Fiesta offers capacity building to its vendors, providing training sessions for the first-time Fiesta participants and allowing family-run businesses to expand their exposure and market.

La Fiesta del Pueblo is an event that actively engages and connects a diverse group of volunteers, performers from all over the United States and Latin America, and festival attendees in an opportunity to strengthen not only the Latino community but also the greater communities of North Carolina and America.

JEFFERY D. LAMBIN

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a super hero, or princess waiting for he knight in shining armor to save her? What about if you could single handedly use your powers to save the world from destruction? Yes, it does seem like a fantasy, one that we all shared in our youth. What’s really neat is, to see how children and their families react when they start to play with the Kids Kart, Express Yourself! It takes them away from reality, into different places and times, and mostly takes their hurts away!

Both the kids Karts & Kids Karts. Express Yourself!, offer hospitalized children , along with their families, to be those heroes by dressing up and allowing their minds to take them to different places or by using their hands to design, create or learn to do something new!

Jeff and his team of builders have created over 12 kids Karts & Kids Karts, Express Yourself! For pediatric hospital wards as well as children’s centers in Nevada and California. They continue to build, stock, and deliver the donated Kids Karts & Kids Karts, Express Yourself! They are expanding to many other states, and internationally to Peru, South America, just for the asking.

Jeff and his team spend 20+ hours a week on the project and it’s success, over the three-year period totaling well over 3500 hours!

Jeff has also started a newspaper column entitled “Everyday Heroes,” that highlights youth and their achievements, from superstars and those who show exceptional courage in those quiet moments. With much success, Jeff’s expanding team will be presenting a cable talk show, featuring spotlighting youth, their accomplishments, plus the things that make them special and unique.