Lester Cypher

As a volunteer, Lester Cypher started Shepherd’s Cupboard in 1992 and only one person came for food, within six months Shepherd’s Cupboard was feeding over 200 hot meals and giving out 5,000 pounds of food to the nutritionally challenged of Pasco County.

As Shepherd’s Cupboard started to reach out to more of Pasco County’s most needy, Shepherd’s Cupboard needed more food. Lester started Reaping the Harvest, a recycling program that recycles food from supermarkets and other food handling businesses. This helped with meeting the need for food for about one year then Shepherd’s Cupboard found themselves with more requests for food than they had.

In 1997, Lester started The Volunteer Way, Inc. Food Bank and started to receive U.S.D.A. Commodities and found Shepherd’s Cupboard had too much foods he shared the food with other food pantries and soup kitchens. Lester resigned from leading Shepherd’s Cupboard in 1999 because The Volunteer Way was growing rapidly.

In 1999, Lester rented a store to house The Volunteer Way Food Bank and started to share the food with 60 food pantries throughout central Florida. In 2002, The Volunteer Way Food Bank distributed 3,000,000 pounds of food to their partnering non-profit agencies. They were cramped for space, so Lester wrote a successful grant for $150,000 to purchase a 5,000 square foot warehouse located on Congress Street in New Port Richey, Florida.

In 1999, Lester started a program to assist low-income homebound elderly to assure the elderly they did not need to go without food in order to purchase medication and that there were people in Pasco County that cared what happened to them. The Brown Bag Program started to partner with government agencies that could not handle the number of elderly in need, such as Cares of Pasco County. The Brown Bag Program brings 40 to 60 pounds of food to the low-income homebound elderly each month. To those elderly that cannot clean their homes. Another very important part of what we do is to visit with the homebound elderly because this may be the first live people they see all month.

In 2002, Lester started a new program called the Little Angel Program. This program helps the mentally challenged to be the most they can be. We have their providers bring them to our Little Angel program while we help them learn life skills such as counting money, computer skills, cleaning our offices and much more.

The positive effect that Lester Cypher has had on the communities is that there are thousands of low income and hurting that people that are no longer food insecure, lonely and have a better outlook on life. People’s self-esteem has changed from low to promising. Lester has been an advocate for volunteerism throughout Florida. In 2005, people volunteer over 195,000 hours and distributed 5,000,000 pounds of food.

Julianna Colon

Julianna Colon is a third grade student from Egg Harbor City, NJ. She began volunteering with disabled children in South Jersey when she was only four years old. She joined an organization that her older sister helped out with and really enjoyed playing with all of the kids.

Last year she visited Lucy the Elephant in Margate City, NJ. Lucy the Elephant is a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public. You enter Lucy through one of her legs and go up into her belly and then up more steps to the top of her to look out at the ocean, Atlantic City and the rest of the island. Julianna thought it wasn’t fair that children and adults alike who were handicapped or disabled would not be able to go inside Lucy just like she did so she made a plan and presented it to the Director of Lucy Elephant. When the board members decided it was okay for her to hold a fundraiser, Julianna set out to raise money for Lucy to make it handicap accessible.

In September of 2005 she sent letters to the schools in South Jersey asking that they copy her applications for the students so that they could enter a poster contest. The theme of the contest was “Why should we preserve national historic landmarks and make them handicap accessible”. Each student that entered had to pay a $5.00 entry fee. Four winners were picked from the entries and each received a basket full of great things like a gift certificate to the mall, t-shirts, a stuffed toy Lucy the Elephant and more!

Julianna also went out and collected items to hold a Chinese Auction to raise additional monies for Lucy the Elephant on Make a Difference Day. She sold tickets for the auction items and kids were treated to balloons and free tattoos. Julianna raised over $1,000 towards making Lucy handicap accessible and hopes to raise more money this year. Currently she is helping by selling 50/50 raffle tickets for Lucy’s big 50/50 raffle.

Julianna goes above and beyond the call of duty for young girls her age by looking out for those with disabilities and trying to find ways to make their lives better. She knows many children who have disabilities and realizes how hard it is for their parents on a daily basis and knows that they can’t enjoy a lot of the things that she does. She also wants to make the world a better place for those with disabilities, whether she will actually meet them in person or not. When Lucy becomes handicap accessible in the future, not only will the disabled in South Jersey be able to enjoy her but also the millions of visitors who may be disabled that visit the Jersey Shore each year.

Colonials Community Volunteer Corps

This program is designed to increase adolescent’s awareness of their community and help them to feel a part of it. Our experience has been that through inclusion, the natural adolescent feelings of being disenfranchised can be dramatically impacted upon. By including students in the planning and implementation of this project, we have given them a unique ownership, which they have responded to enthusiastically.

It continues to be Colonial’s philosophy to respond to community needs by instituting innovative and effective programs to meet these needs. By utilizing Community Development funds to train youth as volunteers and working closely with community leaders, a multitude of needs have begun to be addressed. An essential component of this project continues to be for young people to work with and see adults as positive role models willing to volunteer their time to help their community.

When seeking funding, Colonial asked for support from community groups. When funding was secured, we invited representatives from each group to meet and discuss projects they felt were important. Since its inception, the Volunteer Corps has worked on 41 projects for a total of over 33,682 combined volunteer hours through August 2005.

Student volunteers have worked on many projects including: ongoing community clean ups, a mural contest, graffiti removal, writing and distributing volunteer newsletter, food pantry, PTO childcare, holiday assistance, tutoring, Spring Egg Hunt, Flowers For Friends, community Gardens, Snapper derby, Walk to Fight Breast Cancer, and many other special community events.

To date, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and the community has embraced this project. Student volunteers report a feeling of greater self-esteem and pride. Local residents, merchants, and community leaders have supported efforts of the Volunteer Corps. Current School Board President, Vincent Pascale said “As past president of the Chamber of Commerce and President of the Board of Education, I strongly support this much needed program. The volunteers have done an exemplary job throughout our community.” Rotary Past President Bob Davis reports “The community volunteer program has been extremely important to our community.” Linda Ferucci, past President of Lioness stated “Keep up the good work and thank you!” Mary Buffa, past volunteer coordinator of the food pantry said “What a great help. The kids are very enthusiastic. They can’t do enough. Officer Pat Hyland said “I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and Colonial Youth for your continued help and involvement in the smith Point Beach Youth Program”. Beth Wahl, President of the William Floyd Community Summit stated “We appreciate the help and it is wonderful to know that whenever we ask for assistance the Volunteer Corps is ready, willing and able to help”.

Through this project, it is evident that our community has great untapped resources and potential. We must find more ways to harvest these resources to create symbiotic relationships within our community if we are to meet the challenges of the future.

Aetna Group Insurance Employees

In 2004, more than 100 of Aetna’s Group Insurance employees put in more than 850 hours of hard work building the first Habitat for Humanity home in Hartford designed specifically for an individual with disabilities.

Rain or shine, they waved off pesky honey bees and teamed up to raise walls, paint ceilings and hang drywall to complete a three-bedroom house in time for the holidays.

“This project was a wonderful opportunity for us to tie Aetna’s tradition of being a good community partner with our business lines,” said Caren Kittredge, who oversaw the endeavor. “It was very gratifying was for us to help people achieve the dream of owning a house and to help their disabled family member live a full and comfortable life. It worked out so well for the family and our employees.”

For Sue Sweeney, Life Products and Services, the volunteer project was enjoyable on many levels. “It was a team effort with the people we worked with day to day, but it was a different type of work, and it was a pleasure to see tangible results and the positive impact we could have as a group.

“But far and away my strongest memory of the experience is emotional, the difference we made in the lives of a family with special needs. I’ll never forget the open house, with the family members running around looking into every nook and cranny. It was just fabulous.”

With this rewarding experience under their (tool) belts, Group Insurance employees decided to partner once again with Habitat, broadening their charitable support this year to build homes around the country.

With charitable contributions made through the Aetna Foundation, Aetna Group Insurance is the lead sponsor for four new houses to be built specifically for low-income families with a disabled or mobility-impaired member.

Kathy Lilley, Marketing Programs Manager, reports that Aetna Group Insurance employees completed homes in Portland, OR and Dallas, TX in the fall of 2005 and that work is currently underway on another home in Hartford. Additionally, employees will soon begin working on a home in Portland, ME.

She said the partnerships with Habitat for Humanity provide volunteer opportunities for Aetna employees as individuals or teams, depending upon each site’s construction schedule. Employees with no special skills can participate since volunteers work under the guidance of experienced construction supervisors.

Benjamin Statham

Ben Statham is President of the Friends of the Alpharetta Library, a nonprofit volunteer organization, who has been volunteering with the Atlanta-Fulton Library System for more than 20 years.

Many years ago, an annual book sale was organized by the Friends to raise money for the Alpharetta Library. The sheer volume of the books donated and the extreme popularity of the sales caused it to burgeon into a monthly event. These monthly book sales have now occurred for about fifteen years, with Ben at its helm. Ben, strictly as a volunteer, has created a hard working team of about thirty other dedicated volunteers who work throughout the month to collect, categorize, stock shelves, price books, research books on the internet, and then work at the Saturday sales. The volunteers include all ages of individuals from high school students to two 80+ year old women. Many of the volunteers have been working at the sales since the sales first started.

Ben has been in charge of the logistics of the sales since their inception, a job that includes collecting book donations from various sources (including a recycling center that currently yields an entire pickup truck load of books every single day), sorting countless boxes of books by genre, moving those boxes to a storage facility, and working the monthly sales which includes set up during the week before the sales and clean up after the sales. Each sale day is a grueling 12 hour day which he actually finds “relaxing.” He tirelessly volunteers an average of 140 to 150 hours per month.

When elderly individuals want to donate books but do not have transportation to bring them to the donation sites, Ben picks up the books at their homes. Ben receives great joy when he is able to place a book in someone’s hands that will enable them to broaden their own horizons. The Friends have set up a book cart at the local City Hall and he frequently visits a large grocery store that employs many international people and he joyfully gives them books to help them learn English. Also, a book cart with books for sale is continually at the library so patrons throughout the month have an opportunity to purchase books.

The proceeds from the books sales are used to supplement the budget of the Alpharetta Library in the form of books, videos, magazines, tapes, author’s programs, children’s summer programs and staff appreciation tokens. Several thousand dollars are donated yearly to supply these much needed supplies. Any of the circulating items purchased by the Friends for the Alpharetta Library are accessible upon request throughout any of the thirty-four branches of the Library System. Along with the many items purchased, the Friends yearly give three scholarships to graduating high school seniors. They also participate in the Books for Soldiers program where several thousand paperbacks are mailed to our servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The work that Ben does with the book sales and the many directions in which he has extended that work provide important public services to the community; they enable books to be recycled and re-loved, they promote literacy and goodwill among all age groups and nationalities, and they set an example for the community in the importance of volunteering and how volunteer work can impact a community. Ben does all of this with a joyful heart. He is an unselfish, dedicated volunteer who, through his tireless efforts, is making a difference in many people’s lives. Besides the library work and his full-time job, he devotes many hours per year to environmental issues, particularly water quality issues.

He was awarded the President’s Call to Service Award in 2005 for donating over 4,000 hours of volunteer work for the library. He never expects more from others than he is willing to give. He would be the first to say that volunteering does more for him than he does for it! He does not volunteer for personal gain. He does not volunteer for monetary reasons. Ben volunteers because he wants to make a difference in people’s lives. He is truly an example of an unselfish, compassionate and dedicated man who IS making a difference in the lives of many people.

Phillip Hubbs

Attempts to address the illegal drug problem in the United States range from stricter laws to education programs. In addition, while harsh penalties may be a deterrent for some, the truth is it’s often too late for many who travel down that dark road.

It is believed that through awareness, the use of illegal drugs will diminish. Warning kids early remains our best option at long-term success. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program was introduced 22 years ago to educate students at the elementary school level to the dangers of illegal drug use. Police officers teach the program because they possess the knowledge, experience and credibility in this area.

Due to a number of factors, including budget cuts, D.A.R.E. nearly has been eliminated from most school programs within San Diego County at the middle and high school levels. To fill the vital need of drug prevention education, the non-profit education organization Proactive Network Against Substance Abuse (PRONASA) was founded and established by Philip D Hubbs, an officer with the San Diego Police Department.

Hubbs is motivated by having witnessed up close while working various stints in vice and narcotics the ugliness of wasted lives and the residual devastation upon society. He used his knowledge and experience to steer his two teen-age daughters clear of this trap and aim to help other parent do the same with their children through his programs.

The mission of PRONASA is to provide organized drug education at t he middle and high school levels to teach awareness to adult leaders, and to assist in finding help for those afflicted.

There are four steps to the presentation. First, it identifies the illegal drugs that are available in our community. Second, it explains the delivery system for each drug and its associated paraphernalia. Third, it educates on the objective symptomatology and shows shocking examples of the extreme harm illegal drugs cause. Finally, it identifies and provides community resources that are available to assist families dealing with a drug user.

Hubbs founded PRONSAS [501 (c) (3) Non-profit Educational organization] three years ago. He is not provided with a salary and volunteers 15 to 20 hours a week of his personal time meeting with organizations, attending committee/committee/community/school meetings and making presentations throughout San Diego County. He started the organization with his personal assets and equipment before seeking funding through grant and donations.

One of the special features of Hubbs’ programs is his partnership with local law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. He also networks with various intervention, prevention and education organizations throughout San Diego County. Because of his efforts and achievements, these organizations have nominated Hubbs for several community awards, including the Channel 10 Leadership Award. He was the recipient of the prestigious Law Enforcement DEA Enrique “Kiki” Camerena Award and the California Lieutenant governor’s Cruz M Bustamante Commendation during the Red Ribbon celebration on October 19, 2005. The Red Ribbon Campaign symbolized the nation’s support for effort to reduce demand for drugs through prevention and education programs.

On Nov. 23, 2005, Hubbs received a certificate of recognition for his community service from Soroptimist International of La Mesa. He also was recognized by California Assemblyman Jay LaSuer and was presented with an award for his education programs.

Hubbs’ vision is to generate sufficient funding for his organization to provide schools with cash incentives to subscribe to his programs. The incentive for school principals to host the community and student presentations would be twofold. In addition to valuable substance abuse education an awareness they already enjoy, they also would receive money to enhance school projects or purchase needed equipment.

Kate Margolis

Kate Margolis has dedicated the past three years to children, teens, and families impacted by domestic violence and dating abuse through her volunteer work at Jersey Battered Women’s Service (JBWS). It was in 2002, when Kate first completed the JBWS 40-hour domestic violence training. Like most JBWS volunteers, she began her volunteer work in the Helpline program. However, what is unique about Kate is her desire to keep adding more challenges to her volunteer experience. In just three years at JBWS, she is now a help line volunteer, a Crisis Response Team volunteer, a Dating Abuse Prevention Program (DAPP) school educator and manages additional volunteer projects as the need arises.

It is fair to say that Kate is involved in every area of JBWS’ mission, which is “the prevention of domestic violence through the protection and empowerment of the victim, the rehabilitation of family members, and the advocacy of social reform to help these families and the education of the public about domestic violence and its consequences”. Kate’s on-going involvement in various programs at JBWS demonstrates her strong commitment to this mission statement.

Kate Margolis is a dedicated helpline worker, she consistently reports for her help line shift every Monday morning from 9 – 1 pm. She provides help line services including information, crisis intervention, and referrals. She responds to crisis situations in a professional manner and is skilled in the area of providing empathy and emotional support to helpline callers. When the Helpline is quiet, Kate is responsible for helping the staff counselors to meet the needs of the women and children who live in the shelter. When asked to describe Kate, the counselors say she is “a reliable volunteer whom often goes above and beyond what is expected.” She is willing to take on any tasks ranging from providing childcare for children in shelter, setting up shelter rooms, to completing administrative assignments. She willingly provides transportation and advocacy during her scheduled volunteer shift as well as on additional days during the week when needed.

Kate is a CRT member for Chatham (Township) since 2004. Crisis Response Teams consists of a group of volunteers who provide information and emotional assistance for victims following a domestic violence police call. As a CRT volunteer, Kate is called to meet a victim of domestic violence at the police department to provide emotional support, information on the dynamics of domestic violence and the laws available to protect victims, social services referrals, access to shelter, and help with developing a safety plan. As a member of a CRT, Kate received additional training and makes a commitment to be on-call for 12-hour a day, seven days a week.

This school year 2005/06, Kate began as a DAPP educator substitute. The DAPP program is and educational preventative program that reaches middle school, high school and college students throughout Morris County. As a DAPP educator substitute, Kate provides coverage for scheduled DAPP engagements that the DAPP educator could not attend due to an illness, or to fulfill the demand for the programs. She trained for one and half years to be able to present programs to students in middle schools, high schools, colleges. She read many books on the topic of dating violence, viewed educational videos on dating violence, observed other staff doing the presentations, co-facilitated DAPP engagements, and met periodically for training and supervision with the coordinator of the dating abuse prevention program. Kate’s efforts are endless as she attends the DAPP monthly staff meetings. Additionally, in 2004, Kate mentored the Key Club at Chatham High School in a project where they put together more than 300 goodie bags for the JBWS Safe Date Challenge walk/run.

For one full year, Kate took on the responsibility as monitoring the JBWS donation line. She picked up voicemail messages on the donation line, returned phone calls, and determined how the donation might best be used. Kate is highly knowledgeable in the area of community resources.

Jami Harper

For ten years, Jami has actively protected the world’s water supply, especially Nebraska’s underground aquifer. Following the discovery of industrial solvents in her neighbors’ wells in 2003, Jami organized a program to teach water protection to prevent similar tragedies from happening. To make learning fun, Jami created H2Owood Squares, an educational version of Hollywood Squares. In Jami’s version, the questions are related to water protection.

She compiled her questions from publications s and websites, then built a life-size game structure, reserved space at the 2004 Children’s Groundwater Festival, recruited 34 volunteers from Hall County’s seven high schools, arranged for a National Earth Force Youth Advisory Board member to serve as game show host, and presented workshops to several hundred fourth and fifth graders, parents, and teachers from across the state. Jami also designed a booth to teach water principles to nearly 1500 attendees. Both activities were hits and organizers invited Jami back in 2005.

To reach more people, Jami designed and runs the website, “Water Wizard,” where visitors answer a “Question of the Day” about water protection. The questions and game structure plans are available on request. In 2005, Jami enhanced H2Owood Squares by decorating the classroom in a Hollywood theme, including a “Hometown Celebrity Walk of Fame.” To assist with the workshops, she recruited local high school celebrities including 2005 Miss Nebraska Teen USA. H2Owood Squares 2005 was featured on the NTV evening news. Jami also made a flyer featuring colored photographs of the steps her project entailed. She distributed the flyer to youth and adults from across the country and as far away as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. She also discussed her project with Gen. Colin Powell in May.

To further protect the environment, Jami founded Operation Clear Air to curb teen smoking and institute a smoke-free environment.

Reba Sorrells

In 1980, Reba Sorrells and her late husband, Cleo, sought a volunteer organization to help them fulfill a simple goal: spread the Gospel to detached communities. Their church recommended Word Bible School, a correspondence Bible study course aimed at third-world and impoverished communities. Essentially WBS Teachers, like Reba, guide students through a five chapter Bible study program. As a retired teacher/principal, the educational component of WBS appealed to Reba. “This program improves literacy and teaches the Bible, truly worthy causes.” To date, Reba has taught over 2,500 WBS students, mostly children, in the U.S., the U.K., Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and the Philippines, to name a few. She also recruits and mentors new teachers for WBS.

“Many students are third-world villagers, so course completion is difficult for them. Receiving completed lessons, correcting them, and returning them takes about five months. In that time, villagers frequently move, or worse pass away. My promise is to correct papers and mail certificates of completion within five days. In their lives, days make a difference.” For 26 years, Reba has kept her commitment by dedicating 20 volunteer hours each week.

To her students, Reba is both teacher and pen-pal. “Children ask for my picture. I guess there’s a shortage of garden scarecrows out there. I don’t send photos, but with each lesson I send encouraging notes or various pamphlets I collect from my library and church.” If you ask Reba how much material she donates yearly, she modestly replies: “Whatever it takes for each child to receive a treat with every lesson. I send books, commentaries, pamphlets, and, of course, Bibles.” In reality, Reba’s donations of reading materials are vast. One community in Nigeria actually turned her donations into the Ebonyi School of Preaching.

Her one regret is not saving the countless letters from her students. “My room at the living facility is limited, so I don’t keep letters. I’m inspired to watch my students’ reading/writing skills improve with each letter they send me. For many, English is a second language and education isn’t a priority. These lessons help.” More than anything else, her students ask her to visit. Her reply: “Lead a good life, and I’ll meet you in heaven.”

Reba is not paid for her time and refuses to boast about her service. “I can’t claim 26 years. We had a car wreck that took my husband’s life. I didn’t return to WBS until I could walk again. You should subtract those months.” In addition to 26 years as a WBS Teacher, in 1993 Johnson St. Church of Christ presented her with a plaque recognizing 50+ years as a Bible Class Teacher. Reba and her late husband, Cleo, received the 2006 Texas Lonestar Lifetime Achievement Award from Governor Perry for their life of service.

The Volunteer Way, Inc.

The Volunteer Way, Inc. (TVW) is exactly what America is all about; a group of dedicated humanitarians volunteering to help those that are less fortunate in their communities. Started in 1997, TVW are people helping people the volunteer way. TVW’s warehouse distributed 5,000,000 pounds of food free of any cost in the year 2005 to food pantries, food banks, women’s shelter, homeless shelter, soup kitchens, Hospice, Teen Challenge, Down’s syndrome residential program and low-income residents. TVW assists approximately 15,000 nutritionally challenged families each month. TVW promote volunteerism throughout Florida.

The warehouse also donates new clothing, shoes, toiletries, diapers, depends, personal items, toys and much more. The Volunteer Way’s goal is to meet the needs of people caught in poverty and to help lift them out of poverty and get them back in the main stream of society with dignity and hope. We believe that all people should strive to be the most they can be and we try to give them that hand up not that hand out. We have found that if we give people a hand out, it only make them dependent on us to help them the rest of their lives. With a hand up we teach them to take pride in themselves and work and support themselves and their families. For those that can not help themselves because of handicap or because their age, we believe they should have the opportunity to live with dignity and respect and to have the most basic things of life.

TVW’s Brown Bag program delivers 40-60 pounds of food to low-income homebound elderly every third week of each month which is when our seniors run out of money to buy food. While delivering this food, we have found that many of our seniors that are disabled, they can not clean their homes. We usually send out a cleaning crew once a month to clean their homes. We also visit with our senior participants because they tend to isolate and feel lonely.

The Street Gang program and Our Little Angel program are examples of other successful programs. The Street Gang program partners with the local Sheriff’s office by donating bags of non-perishable food for the deputies to carry in their patrol cars. When the deputies come across a homeless person or other low-income people the deputy give them a bag of food and personal items. With the Our Little Angel Program, providers of mentally challenged people bring their clients to our location to learn life skills. We have them make boxes of food for the nutritionally challenged, learn CPR, learn to clean and much more.