Talia Leman

In September of 2005, while watching cars whiz by a lemonade stand set up to help hurricane survivors after Katrina hit, Talia Leman decided there had to be a better way for children to help. With Halloween just around the corner, Talia decided to focus her hurricane relief efforts in that direction when everyone is in a giving mood.

“Why not ask children EVERYWHERE to ask for a quarter instead of candy? ” She did and Talia called her campaign Trick or Treat for the Levee Catastrophe (TLC). Her goal was one million dollars, and she took her message to children, corporations, government officials and the media. She soon saw the project grow.

Talia met with Hy-Vee, a privately owned Midwest grocery chain, who responded by printing her message on 8.5 million trick-or-treat bags and four million print ads for distribution to all their 221 stores in seven states. At her beckoning, government officials across the nation began to support her also. Local, national and international media organizations began to help her spread the word about TLC. Over time, her project grew into a national rally and tally for all children’s hurricane relief efforts.

Not only did this effort provide meaningful relief to hurricane survivors, it also provided meaningful and empowering opportunities for children to help make a difference in a hands-on and rewarding way. After having witnessed 9-11, the tsunami and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, children need to know that they can be a force for good in a world where disaster is no stranger. Talia established that awareness in a profound way.

The lasting solutions for the hurricane survivors are developed by the charitable relief organizations. The lasting solutions for the children who raised funds are found through the knowledge that when they work together, they can make a significant difference. Through Talia’s project, 4,000 schools unified their efforts. They reported 5.2 million dollars in just three months, during a nationwide media conference call.

UNICEF, the United Nation’s Children’s Emergency Fund, having been aware of Talia’s work through the media, named her their first National Youth Ambassador. Through UNICEF, Talia continues her hurricane relief efforts, and her efforts to empower children to make a difference. In November of 2005, Talia went to Houston, Texas to meet with hurricane survivors on behalf of UNICEF, and learn about their condition and needs. She keeps an on-line diary for UNICEF about her experiences, hoping to educate and inspire readers about how they can offer valuable support.

She also sits on the Board of an Iowa nonprofit organization called RandomKid that empowers children nationwide to solve real-world problems. This organization, born out of TLC, works to help children to help others in meaningful ways, beyond hurricane relief. Recently, Talia designed a modular charm bracelet with flags on it of nations in turmoil, and in between she put peace and harmony signs. She calls it a “Peace Bracelet” and proceeds from sales will go to help children caught in disaster zones.

Mary Bates

Mary Bates has made the Kaiserslautern Military Community a better place to live through her selfless service and willingness to provide a helping hand. Despite her spouse’s frequent TDY’s and raising an active family, she still makes the time to give back to the community.

She is the vice president to a local association. She dedicates over 200 hours per month volunteering and is still able to provide her family a hot meal every night. She has exhausted over 40 hours repainting, reorganizing and cleaning Kaiserslautern’s headquarters building. The building is now transformed in a “community” building for organization and military groups to utilize at no charge. Bates is also responsible for hiring and managing six paid employees, as a key member of an executive panel. She also mediates between employees, volunteers, and board members; she meets these issues with untiring energy and unfailing wisdom.

Bates also restructured the organization’s business plan to incorporate paid, part-time staffing improving customer service and continuity in all the stores. She rewrote the Stand Operating Procedures and Consignment Policies that opened the doors to allow I.D. cardholders from remote posts the ability to consign at their boutique. Her fresh and innovative ideas for displaying merchandise have increased the store’s revenue by 20% over last year.

Bates single-handedly hosted a welcome barbecue for the Kaiserslautern American Middle School incoming students and parents. She is a member of the Parent Teacher Student Association fundraising team generating $200 a month in sales. Bates organized a parent schedule to scan books and learning aids into an electronic system that reads back to learning impaired students.

Bates also volunteers with the Boy Scouts of America. They know her as an avid volunteer and fundraising chair. Whether its bake sales, car washes, providing transportation or issuing their much-deserved badges, she does it all.

Bates’ character is one that always displays a high spirit of cooperation, willingness, and attentiveness to helping people. In addition to her energetic dedication to the association, she steps in for any soldier, airman or family member who is TDY, out of town, or working late. She is frequently seen walking many dogs throughout the neighborhood—although, she does not own any of them. Her caring disposition does not stop with the canines, she is also quick to step in for parents who might need help due to deployments or work schedules.

Bates is a great source of information and a master at introducing newcomers to the KMC. She is frequently credited for matching families with houses, households with house cleaners, shoppers with markets, and couples with restaurants. Bates also delivers flowers or preparing meals for those who have been hospitalized or ill are common actions for this person.

The fruits of her numerous volunteer hours have helped soldiers, airmen and family members. She has proved to be outstanding among her contemporaries with her dedication to this community. Thorough, reliable, trustworthy and quietly capable, she accomplishes more good deeds than most people even have time to think about. Kindness is second nature for this individual.

Amol Narang

During Amol’s freshman year at Yale, his roommate Richard approached him with the idea of starting an organ donation awareness organization. Richard had experienced the unfortunate reality of the organ crisis in America as his aunt had passed away after years of waiting on the national transplant waiting list. As Amol learned more about organ donation, he realized the gravity of the shortage. Annually, approximately 6,000 patients with organ failure expire from lack of available organs, and only 35-50% of candidates’ families consent to donation, serving as the most common reason that possible transplants fail to materialize. What really struck Amol were studies that over 70% of Americans support organ donation when fully educated about the donation process. Realizing that this discrepancy largely results from a natural, yet unfortunate, disinclination towards discussing organ donation, Amol and Richard soon formed a clear mission: to educate the community about organ donation and to register those wishing to be donors. During the spring of 2004, Students for Organ Donation (SOD) was born.

SOD held its first ever “Donate Life Week,” at Yale in April of 2004. The goal of the on-campus registration drive was to educate the Yale community about organ donation, distribute donor cards to those wishing to be donors, and notify their families of their decision by sending postcards home. The event proved vastly successful as SOD signed up over 1,100 students as donors. “Donate Life Week” is now an annual event that represents the culmination of educational drives and speaker series throughout the year.

While SOD at Yale has grown to over 50 members, more impressive has been the 70 chapters at colleges and high schools across the country with a committee based at Yale that oversees their operation. Total membership now exceeds over 1,000 students. In addition to campus drives, SOD has also expanded its educational campaigns to raise awareness in local communities. Working with organ procurement organizations and religious networks, SOD has shown much success in disposing of preconceived notions concerning an organ donation.

SOD is an inspiring example of how a coordinated effort among students, utilizing only limited school funding, can result in significant returns. SOD has grown to become one of the largest student run volunteer organizations, and it will only continue to expand in the future. Indeed, when SOD becomes officially incorporated in the State of Connecticut this spring, Amol will be serving as one of four Directors on the national Board, and he is committed to maintaining an advisory position after graduation. SOD has been a driving force for creating a pervasive social conscience among students concerning an issue that affects a vast number of people, and Amol’s involvement with the organization truly reflects upon his character. It shows his dedication to health issues as a premedical student and his leadership as a citizen, both of which are exhibited not only through SOD but through all of the work that he does.

Martin Counterman

Chaplain Counterman is a fixture in the Port Charlotte, FL community. He has served in numerous capacities in many civic and nonprofit organizations and is always willing to lend a hand.

When the hurricane season hit hard, he found another opportunity to serve and immediately went to work after Charley had struck Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte area. He coordinated and delivered personally a truckload of disaster relief supplies to the reserve officer’s needing them. Items included chainsaws, gloves, tarps, safety equipment, food, water, snacks etc. Chaplain Counterman also visited with residents of a severely damaged mobile home park in Punta Gorda providing both physical and spiritual comfort.

He returned the following day to the same area to go lot by lot passing out water to elderly residents clearing debris. He also spent time at one of the comfort stations providing a listening ear and spiritual assistance where needed. He also manned the stations phones to give regular workers a break. One particular day Chaplain Counterman was getting ready to depart for the day when a person came in with an address and a request for a “Check on the Well Being” of an elderly couple. No one was available to do this so Chaplain Counterman Volunteered and immediately departed to the area.

Disaster Relief Benefits received by the many reserve officers who were already volunteering their time and efforts included the personally delivered materials to their homes or to their patrol cars where they were working. Benefits to the community included distribution of supplies and spiritual comfort given as well as assisting them to receive the assistance available from other agencies. Chaplain counterman assisted in locating families who did not have contact with her relatives and assisted them in making the contact.

Chaplain Counterman is disabled and in a wheelchair. He does not let his disability deter him from his concern and care of others. Despite being a victim of the hurricane himself, he placed the needs of others before his own. Chaplain Counterman has been involved in many different volunteer organizations in his life. American Red Cross, Charlotte County Sheriff’s Reserve Unit Road Patrol, Police Reserve Association of Florida Chaplain (PRAF), Florida Southern Baptist Disaster Response Chaplain, AWANA Youth Organization, International, Police Officers for Christ International (POFCI).

His desire to help others is what sets this man apart from the rest. Despite his disabilities and illnesses he continues to care for others.

Go FIT, Inc.

Go FIT is a simple program based on an innovative concept that yields powerful results. The innovative concept is engaging formerly sedentary women and youth into a walk-to-run program dedicated to empower, educate, and motivate inner city women and youth to set their lives on a healthful track by promoting education, exercise, and supporting healthy decision making. The program is free to all participants and includes weekly exercise sessions and guest speakers on the topics of nutrition, fitness, drug prevention, and self-motivation. As incentive for completion, most participants receive free running shoes, socks, t-shirts, water bottles, snacks and most importantly, lasting positive mentorship.

Go FIT is an organization that works to improve the lives of young people in Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut. The focus on academic achievement is apparent but Go FIT also recognizes that academic success is not enough to lead a healthy life. The Go FIT program has sought out opportunities to expand the experience of the participants and improve their lives along the way. For this reason, collaborating with Go FIT is a natural extension into further enhancing the experience of the participants.

The Go FIT program serves boys and girls from ages 3-19. In order to qualify for this program, students must receive free or reduced fee lunches, or come from an underserved population.

In terms of key achievements, Go FIT has successfully implemented collaborations using a four to six week clinic program throughout the region at many community sites including Girls Incorporated of Holyoke, Bay State Health System/Spirit of Women, The Massachusetts Career Development Center, Alternative Skill Center High School in Springfield, Springfield’s YMCA and the Agawam School System. Go FIT has recently finished working with the Martin Luther King Community Center in Springfield, Step Ahead/Step Forward Program from the Elms College in Chicopee, and Bay Path College in Longmeadow. Though these programs differ often in delivery or the particular group served, the Go FIT model with its unique combination of relationship-building or mentorship with a walk-to-run fitness program to sustain behavior change in physical activity and nutrition has been able to meet and exceed expectations of collaborators.

At the beginning and the ending of each six week program, all participants fill out a survey designed to measure the impact the program has on each participant. Our continued contact with administrators and often times, participants enables the organization to continue to track the success of individual experiences, even if this would be primarily anecdotal.

Reverend Merwyn Davidson

Certain people in a community make a difference, not only by contributions, but as role models, leaders and instigators for others. Dr. Merwyn Davidson is one such person.

Davidson’s first career was minister and missionary, serving congregations in Nebraska and Japan. Retiring in 1995, he and his wife moved to Aurora, NE.

The strength of Davidson’s contributions is impossible to measure. The youth of Aurora have benefited from his commitment, values, direction and leadership.

Reverend Davidson’s strong presence in the Aurora United Methodist Church has involved him in the spiritual needs of the youth through Sunday School and devotion groups. Merwyn and his wife offer inter-denominational Bible study/support groups to all youth of the community where they minister to over 100 young people during any one week.

At the Aurora Middle School, Davidson volunteers by monitoring halls and tutoring in classrooms. He has implemented a Jr. Optimist program involving over 60 youth promoting community involvement. His influence and presence are relevant connections for the youth.

Davidson’s greatest influence is in MOVING the community. His tangible accomplishments are the youth center and theater, created, established, and directed by him and now led by him through the Hamilton Recreation Foundation.

More than that is the loyalty and commitment he leads and inspires. Like a Pied Piper, Davidson recruits volunteers and support. There was no community movie theater or youth center when he came, but now is run by volunteers. New facilities for the youth center was brought about by donations and various support.

For 10 years he has addressed the needs of Aurora’s young people with time and devotion. His passion for providing safe, positive opportunities for growth and service for the youth has mobilized the community of Aurora, establishing a foundation for future success.

Claudia Davis

Claudia Davis has been a volunteer at the Audio Studio for the Reading Impaired since April 2000 and a member of the Board of Directors since 2001. The Audio Studio records printed material onto cassette tapes for people who because of a physical disability cannot read for themselves. The volunteers work in teams of two, one person reading the material and the second person (Monitor) operating the tape recorder. Davis is both a Reader and a Monitor, which makes her doubly valuable. On any given day they will have volunteers cancel and Davis can work in either capacity.

In addition to reading books and magazines for the clients, Davis has become friends with one special client, Inam Shalati. Inam sends her birthday and Christmas cards, and the printed material from her music CDs and tapes for Davis to read. Davis always has a personal greeting for Inam and takes great care in describing the cards in much detail.

Davis volunteers four hours a week at the Studio and for the past four years has been honored at their volunteer Luncheon for donating more than 100 hours of her time at the Studio. Davis has been a definite asset to the Audio Studio and is always willing to work extra hours if they need a last-minute replacement. Davis delights in getting to know the clients personally and developing relationships with them.

Arthur Losher

Arthur Losher has been a role model to the community because of his philanthropic contribution and voluntary services. Losher has served as a Local Director for Community and Local Director for Chapter Management for the Peoria Jaycees, and he personally chairs and implements both new and old projects. During his time with the Jaycees, Losher has chaired in excess of thirty projects. Dale has brought Jaycees National Projects to the Peoria Jaycees; Project 10 Pin, Love Letters and Jaycees Against Youth Smoking are just a few programs Losher has brought online to the Peoria area. Jaycees Against Youth Smoking is a program that is brought into middle schools and teaches the negative effects of smoking and is an excellent early intervention program Losher has brought to scores of children in the Peoria area schools. The program is currently expanding its reach.

Losher received Outstanding Prairieland Jaycee for the 3rd Quarter 2004, Runner-up Jaycee of the Year 2005, and many state awards for projects as well. He has brought new members into the organization and cultivated their skills to chair projects. Under his guidance many rookie Jaycee members have been awarded some of the largest honors the Jaycees offer. Losher’s dedication to the community can be summed up as outstanding, well known, and a benchmark for others to follow.

Losher also serves with the American Diabetes Association and developed a new project called “Darts for Diabetes” last year. This program helped raise more than 2,000 dollars for the American Diabetes Association. In addition to this work, Losher has brought to the area and chaired Pepsi Pitch, Hit, and Run, which is a community-based project that tests kids’ skills and sends the winners to Wrigley Field for a national competition. Losher also raises money for the American Cancer Society through Silent auctions, runs independent self-development projects such as cake decorating, candy making, fund raising, and chairs some of the Peoria’s most important community service projects. Because of Losher’s service there is a new, higher standard for community projects such as T-ball, Night Golf, Bergner’s Community Days, Jaycees Easter Egg Hunt, Firecracker 5000 and more.

What was once summed up as “beyond normal limits” can describe Losher’s impact on the community. The Multiple Sclerosis Society gave Dale the Outstanding Volunteer Award. He has been in the news several times promoting or describing his community efforts. He has been nominated as the WEEK Hometown Hero and mentioned several times in local papers. He also contributes to the government in many ways. As a Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of Optometry and an Emergency Medical Technician for the 182nd Illinois Air National Guard, Losher has excelled in his department and updated his department to maximum efficiency in many ways. During the ongoing war campaign, Losher has enhanced mobility by offering a variety of options for troops to receive their equipment. He has ensured that the 182nd is 100 percent ready for every contingent and equipped in every deployment. Dale has received NCO of the Year for 2004 and 2005 for the 182nd.

Joseph Quiros

Joseph Quiros has a distinct ability to address community needs and this ability has benefited the Seaford, New York community greatly. Joseph created The MacArthur Generals Safe at Home Charity Softball Game in hopes of helping community members who are affected with tragedy or crisis. Many, including school administrators, peers and community members, have recognized his innovative and unique approach.

Sports have always been a huge part of Joseph’ life. He currently plays baseball and golf for MacArthur High School, and his love of the game is evidenced by being part of the team. Community service has also been integral to Joseph. He gets great satisfaction knowing that community members benefit from his volunteer efforts. In April 2005, Joseph decided to combine the two things in is most fulfilled by, and he founded The MacArthur Generals Safe at Home Charity Softball Game.

Joseph’s goal was to have the MacArthur High School baseball teams (JV and Varsity) play in a friendly/competitive softball game against their coaches and fathers, as well as to raise money for a local worthwhile cause. He succeeded in his mission by suggesting that each player contribute by making a donation, and the response was overwhelming! Over 100 of his teammates and their parents participated.

Joseph’s time management skills were definitely challenged putting this together. Baseball season was upon him, and he had to get the proper permits, obtain umpires, set up the field and publicize the event while studying for AP and final exams. This proved to be an exhausting task; however, it was still a task that he completed.

Upon learning of the unexpected death of a teammate’s father during the planning of this softball game, Joseph knew who the recipients would be. This father of five was a lifelong Levittown resident and an avid community volunteer, and Joseph wanted to help his family. Community members and spectators were amazed as the bleachers were full of enthusiastic fans, and after three hours of good-natured bantering between teams, over $1,000 was raised. What initially began as a challenge to Joseph is now an ongoing annual school event.

Jean Peyton

Jean Peyton is blind and travels with her guide dog, Lander. Since moving to Nevada in 1994, Peyton has served as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), a volunteer mediator with the Clark County Neighborhood Justice Center and as a Board member and officer of Mediators of Southern Nevada. As a blind individual, she currently represents the disability community on the Nevada State Workforce Investment Board, Nevada State Rehabilitation Council and the Interagency Transition Advisory Board. She chairs the Regional Transportation Commission’s Older American/Disability Transportation Advisory Committee. She also worked during the 2005 Legislature to strengthen the Nevada statutes regarding the safety of guide dog teams.

In 1998, Peyton founded Blindconnect, a nonprofit organization that provides information, referral, and peer support to blind and visually impaired adults in Clark County. Its genesis was in the lack of coordinated information and access to blindness services. Working collaboratively in the community, Blindconnect became, in many ways, the one-stop for those with vision loss. It has become a premier organization as it has met its mission to connect blind people to other blind persons, to available services and resources, and to their community at large.

During her presidency, Blindconnect has grown from 5 to more than 80 members, has a fully-equipped office where those with vision loss may try accessible equipment and talk with blind volunteers, and offered educational programs both in elementary schools and in senior housing facilities. Peyton developed the concept of Camp Independence, the first-in-Nevada overnight confidence-building program for blind seniors. She secured funding, developed collaborative partnerships with State agencies and other nonprofits, and provided onsite leadership for three sessions.

Peyton developed the idea to create Vision Forum, a one-day conference for blind and visually impaired adults and children. She invited public and private agencies to partner in the planning and implementation of this inaugural event. This project will reinforce the collaborations within the blindness community that allow limited resources to be maximized to meet needs.

Peyton is proud that under her leadership Blindconnect has been a long-term United Way accredited agency. Peyton’s volunteerism has had a positive impact on the lives of many blind and visually impaired adults. Though deeply involved on an organizational level with Blindconnect, she takes time to mentor those who seek independence. Moreover, she educates the community-at-large on the abilities of blind persons, the value of service animals, and the rights and responsibilities of blind and sighted individuals as they interact in daily life.