STEVEN COHEN
After six-year-old Daniel Heidenberg lost his life to leukemia in December 1996, Steven Cohen created Friends for Life of America to help other patients living with pediatric cancers. He recognized the important contributions that students could make in their communities by serving others.
Working diligently to garner school and community support, Steven designed a website (http:/www.friendsforlife.com), organized community-wide fundraisers, and lectured on bone and tissue donation at high schools and Hispanic agencies throughout South Florida. A fluent Spanish speaker, Steven also traveled to Mexico to interview hospital administrators to learn more about the quality of programs and services offered to cancer patients; he wanted to make an impact both nationally and internationally. In February 1997, Steven established the first chapter of Friends for Life of America at the University School of Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but that was just the beginning.
Steven has spearheaded a variety of dynamic programs to improve the lives of pediatric cancer patients and their families. Foremost among these programs is the Hearts for the Holidays Campaign, an innovative Friends for Life of America volunteer service program that encourages students, faculty, staff, and community members to design inspirational holiday cards for pediatric patients undergoing treatment during the holiday season. Steven did not just think of this idea, but also participated in every facet of the program – from promoting the campaign to helping package the cards for distribution. This year alone, Friends for Life of America members distributed in excess of 30,000 cards to hospitals worldwide.
Over the past decade, Friends for Life of America, now a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, has transformed into the largest global student organization that serves pediatric cancer patients and their families. Growing at a rapid rate, the organization has attracted the support of more than 50,000 students in thirty-five high schools, colleges, and universities throughout the United States, Australia, Italy, and Nepal. Under Steven’s leadership, Friends for Life of America has raised more than $100,000 to fund research grants, patient services, and community programs. And because of Steven’s desire to extend the organization’s reach to as many pediatric patients as possible, members have sent holiday cards, hats, and teddy bears to patients undergoing cancer treatment in almost every state and in more than twenty countries. At just twenty-three years old, Steven has made a dramatic difference in the lives of others.
Steven is a powerful inspiration and a wonderful role model. Not only does he approach every day as a fresh opportunity to impact others through Friends for Life of America, but he also displays outstanding time management skills. Steven recently graduated from the University of Florida with a perfect 4.0 GPA, summa cum laude, while also spending over twenty hours a week managing Friends for Life of America programs. Steven is a young visionary who is a role model for adults and youth alike.
BANCO POPULAR NORTH AMERICA
From its humble beginnings in 1893, Banco Popular North America (BPNA) has committed to the social well being of the communities they serve. For 112 years, the core of their institutional values, Social Commitment, is the compass that guides their mission and community philosophy as they serve those who need it most. Community service is part of their corporate DNA, a key pillar of their identity as an institution.
BPNA is committed to “Make Dreams Happen” for their Communities. That’s one of the reasons they call their employees “DreamMakers.” Not only is the bank like a family to their customers, communities, and DreamMakers, but the families of the DreamMakers join in supporting their contributions and commitment to community service.
The best examples of this joint commitment occurred when DreamMakers and their families joined hands to celebrate Make A Difference Day on Saturday, October 23, 2004, and completed 64 community projects, involved 571 employees and their families, totaling approximately 2,400 hours and reaching in excess of 5,000 people. This past October 2005, Banco Popular employees and family members came together again and executed a tremendous effort during their second bank-wide Make a Difference Day: Over 500 DreamMakers and their families volunteered at 40 Sites and contributed 2344 service hours.
BPNA’s company wide volunteer and community service initiative is called, It’s in Your Hands. This powerful call to action to make a difference in people’s lives reflects the flexibility offered to DreamMakers and their families, drawing them together to respond to an array of projects that address many pressing community needs. Employees and their families selected the cause or project most meaningful to them and made their contributions of time and talent. They reached out to create strong partnerships with local organizations as they donated hundreds of service hours to strengthen local communities and bring needed relief and support to those at risk: Children, the elderly, mentally and physically challenged individuals, families in extreme poverty, community schools, the homeless, terminally ill patients, teenage moms and many more.
With each project, volunteers grew stronger in their commitment to improve the overall quality of the communities they serve. All around the country, DreamMakers and their families continued and expanded their efforts with chosen service projects, many of which represent an ongoing commitment from BPNA and its staff.
Among the initiatives was Northern Illinois-based Clearbrook. Clearbrook is a nonprofit human services agency and advocate leader creating opportunities for developmentally disabled children. BPNA enjoys an ongoing relationship with Clearbrook, with a member of their senior management team serving on the Board of Directors. On Make a Difference Day, thirty-six DreamMakers, friends and family members volunteered more than 216 hours of service sprucing up their space. Moved by the volunteers’ initiative, local retailers (i.e. Home Depot) donated paint, rollers, brushes and pans to support the project.
For three consecutive years, BPNA DreamMakers and families in the Orlando region partnered with Seniors First to provide an array of services and support for the elderly. On Make a Difference Day, “It’s in Your Hands” teams worked on two senior citizens’ homes by painting and remodeling their facades.
Throughout the year, BPNA DreamMakers volunteer with community organizations in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida, Texas and California. Banco Popular North America is about community, neighborhoods and people. We believe in the dreams that rise from our communities and aspire to partner in order to help those dreams pass into the reality of action.
THE JUNIOR LEAGUE OF MONTGOMERY
Since 1926, The Junior League of Montgomery (JLM) has been committed to promoting volunteerism and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. The JLM consists of nearly 1000 women, 25 years and older, who donate an average of 20,000 hours of service to their community annually.
Over the past two years, the JLM spent hours of extensive research to incorporate their purpose as an educational and charitable organization into a Signature Project that would have a lasting and positive impact on the community. After months of study and brainstorming, the JLM chose the construction of a “Discovery Village” which would be a hands-on interactive, science-theme playground that stimulates, educates and entertains children in Montgomery and the River Region as their Signature Project. The JLM would engage the services of an architectural firm from New York, purchase the land, and partner with the City, local businesses and thousands of volunteers to bring this project to reality.
On October 12, 2004 architects and JLM representatives met with children at local elementary schools to gather ideas for the design. Once blueprints were complete, preparations began, PSA’s were written, television spots developed and volunteers recruited. With an estimate of 2,800 volunteers needed to complete the playground, the JLM began to recruit business partners and volunteers from all walks of life. In excess of 118 local churches, nonprofit organizations, schools, colleges and businesses partnered with the League to support this mammoth undertaking. National organizations with a local presence supporting the project included Home Depot, Charter Communications, Cracker Barrel, Wendy’s, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Wal-Mart, Nextel, and Aqua Springs just to name a few. Thousands of multi-generation volunteers, individuals and families alike, participated in the scheduled nine-day build from April 21, 2005 to May 1, 2005 to complete the playground, from the ground up. Children as young as 10 worked with their parents/guardian, making the age range of volunteers 10 to 80 years’ young. Children under the age of 10 were able to attend the “free” on-site daycare service provided by the JLM and volunteers, making this event a true family adventure.
During 2005, League members found time to volunteer additional countless hours to numerous agencies and important causes in the River Region. League members promote and participate in areas, some which include parenting skills, health and well-being, early childhood prevention, life skills development, domestic violence, education and children and youth.
The JLM continually works to improve the lives of others. Proceeds raised annually support their work in the community through projects that improve the quality of life for families and children. The JLM’s Signature Project, Discovery Village Playscape, imagined by children and built by the community, provides the City of Montgomery with a lasting and positive impact. Due to the efforts of this remarkable group of local women joining forces with the common interest of making a difference in the lives of others, they have been nominated for numerous awards.
RICK CRYDER
In January 1997, Rick Cryder, a retired advertising agency artist, wanted to make a difference in his community. In accomplishing this goal, he recruited several volunteers and initiated the “Angels of Love” program. Some of those original volunteers include Keith Griess, Harry Rogers, Ken Serapin and Willy Zoeller. Over the years, Angels of Love volunteers have handcrafted thousands of stained glass angels and distributed them to families of children with life-threatening illnesses. The angels provide a sense of love, hope, peace and comfort for dealing with the potential loss of a child.
While continuing to serve hospitalized children, the angel project has expanded its outreach to families who have lost loved ones in the line of duty, be it law enforcement officers, fire fighters, and most recently, members of the armed forces who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend our great nation. The handcrafted angels help console the families of these fallen heroes.
As interest in the Angels of Love program grew, it became obvious that the six volunteers who initiated the project needed to expand their numbers to better serve the community. In responding to this challenge, a proposal to generate volunteer support was submitted to the Correctional Programs Unit of the James A. Musick Facility.
The Musick Facility is a minimum-security jail operated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. It is unusual for a jail facility to undertake a project as described above due to the materials utilized to produce the angels, but after careful consideration, the proposal was approved in February 2001. Two Correctional Programs technicians and the founder of the Angels of Love program, Rick Cryder, were assigned to instruct classes for the male and female inmates, teaching them the art of creating stained glass angels. In serving as volunteers, inmates are offered an opportunity to contribute to the betterment of the community and to become a positive force within society. Over the years, more than 960 inmates have volunteered their time, talents and efforts to handcraft 6,800 angels that have been delivered to local hospitals for distribution to seriously ill children and their families.
On May 31, 2004, in observance of Memorial Day, 1,057 angels were dedicated to the men and women of our armed forces who died in the line of duty serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The families of each deceased service member received an angel with their appropriate service insignia. In addition to working with Musick Facility inmates, Cryder has implemented the Angels of Love program at the Orange County Probation Department’s Joplin Youth Center (JYC) and Youth Guidance Center (YGC). JYC is a juvenile correctional institution that provides residential treatment for teenage boys ages 13 to 17. YGC offers rehabilitation programs for both girls and boys, ages 11 to 18 years of age. Under Cryder’s guidance, troubled teens create “Angels of Love” and personally deliver them to families whose children are receiving treatment at local hospitals. The experience has been life changing for teens in the probation system that have discovered the importance of volunteering and learned the value of reaching out to help others in the community.
TRICIA GLORIOSO
Generation after generation of Tricia Glorioso’s ancestors have left for her a legacy of quiet determination, work ethic, and the recognition that there is stewardship in one’s ability and opportunity to help others. In 1942, Glorioso’s grandfather Salvatore Glorioso volunteered as a conscientious objector in the U.S. army. As a field medic, private Glorioso saved many lives and was awarded the Bronze Star as he was critically wounded in battle. In 1952 Salvatore and Lila Mae Glorioso’s 4th child, Robert, was born and had contracted Polio. Thus began an opportunity to volunteer for a new cause.
Salvatore spent many years of his life fighting the effects of Polio on children through the Pennsylvania (PA) Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and to work for an end to Polio in the world through Rotary International. His wife Lila Mae lead the local Mothers March of Dimes and volunteered to help in their son Roberts rehabilitation. In 1975 at age 52 Lila Mae was diagnosed with final stage colon cancer and spent her last 2 years of life volunteering to instruct nursing students at Mary Hardin-Baylor College, Belton, TX, on the perspective of a dying patient toward health care.
Robert’s service activities include being a camper at Easter Seal Society camps for crippled children when he was 7,8, and 9 years old. He then at age 15, spent a summer as a volunteer camp counselor for another crippled children’s camp. His disability was often on par or more severe than that of his charges. As an adult, Robert dedicates much of his time as a volunteer advocate of recreation for the disabled through golf.
Service has been instilled in the lives of the Glorioso children. Robert’s daughter, Tricia Glorioso has been volunteering since age 13. Tricia volunteers with Big Brothers/Big Sisters (school sponsored), is a pier mediator at school, and with Rock Da Vote 2004. Tricia has also stepped up to help Tsunami victims, prepare baskets for soldiers, help for local flood victims, and being an integral part of her area’s earth day clean-up. Tricia is also a small group leader at her church, a part of the greeters ministry, and the back to school angels ministry.
However, Tricia’s most profound volunteering accomplishment this year follows in the family footsteps of helping the disabled. Tricia initiated, developed, sponsored, and hosted a disabled students golf outing for children who attend her middle school, West Allegheny Middle School, Imperial, PA. Disabled students participated in the basics of golf and a “miniature golf tournament.” Every participant received a trophy and certificate of excellence. At the heart of this project was Tricia’s desire to help create an environment for the participants to feel the joy one gets from succeeding. Tricia believes everyone deserves to know the feeling of being accepted and the feeling of being a winner; that trophy may be the only one they will ever receive. In 2005 Tricia won a regional essay contest and her school was awarded a $250 cash prize. She has requested these funds go toward the school creating an outing for next year’s students so they can have a joyful experience to look forward to in 2006.
NATHAN ADELSON HOSPICE
When thinking of family volunteer opportunities, a hospice does not immediately come to mind. Nathan Adelson Hospice (NAH) defies that limited thought process on two levels. First, it is a nonprofit treating end-of-life issues and actively encouraging family volunteer participation. Second, this is accomplished in Las Vegas, Nevada, a city most do not associate with family values.
NAH was founded by a family and has always promoted a familial concept. The opportunities for family volunteers are as diverse as the city’s population. Hospice patients represent all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and histories. Volunteers can choose to be with patients in their homes (which may be a nursing home) or the two inpatient facilities. For those who choose to give their time in non-patient related ways, clerical duties and the thrift store provide the chance to help keep down operating costs and thereby increase the funds available for direct patient care.
Twenty families share their commitment to community with NAH. The youngest is an elementary schooler who comes to hospice every week with her harpist mother, who provides musical diversion to the patients. The oldest is an 85-year-old grandmother, who volunteers with her 13-year-old grandson in the inpatient unit and nursing homes. Married couples, brothers and sisters, grandparents and grandchildren, parents and children make up the traditional family teams. NAH also expands the family definition to include over thirty pet therapy volunteers. These families consist of the trained volunteer and his or her certified dog. They visit patients and provide canine companionship. Many patients who do not respond to human visits will brighten at the sight and touch of a friendly dog.
Volunteers sign an annual commitment pledging three to six hours a week of their time. Some choose to do this by taking a patient out to eat and shop. Some take their children to the thrift store to help stock shelves. Grandchildren help with clerical tasks while grandparents visit inpatients. Families have helped build storage sheds, organize an elderly patient’s belongings, rock and walk babies in the inpatient unit, and help patients write memory journals.
The 25-year-old volunteer program at NAH officially added family volunteers five years ago, to provide added support to the dying and their families. Their presence is an assurance that the patients are not alone in the final stages of life’s journey. There are those who would wager that a hospice in Las Vegas is not a place for families to spend their volunteer time; however, that is a bet they would lose.
KAYE FRATACCIA
Kaye Frataccia is a Spanish teacher at Ben Franklin Middle School in Valparaiso, Indiana and has been an active volunteer in the community for the past 20 years. Whenever there is a project in the community that needs leadership and direction, Frataccia is called upon, and always answers with an enthusiastic yes!
Her involvement with youth presently includes sponsoring the Ben Franklin Builders Club where she has spearheaded youth volunteerism for the Opportunity Enterprises Pack-a-thon team for the past 3 years, an animal shelter drive for food and supplies, and annual leaf raking for elderly/disabled for the past 4 years. Frataccia has also been involved in fundraising to buy food for the Food Pantries and student shopping and delivery of food to the Food Pantries, recycling of printer cartridges and pop tabs at Ben Franklin School, and Ophelia Project Mentor/Facilitator to decrease relational aggression in the Middle Schools. In addition, she is a recipient of Character Education Grant to further Service Learning at Ben Franklin and Frataccia is currently developing a collaborative “Back to School” project with the Builders Club, VHS Key Club, and Delta Kappa Gamma sorority to prepare backpacks filled with school supplies for needy children in Valparaiso.
Frataccia currently serves on the United Way of Porter County Board as well as the United Way Executive Board. She and her husband, Ric Frataccia, have been named as next year’s United Way Campaign Chairs. She is the past chair of the Volunteer Development Committee, which acts as the board for The Volunteer Center and is internal to The United Way. She worked to facilitate Kaitlyn Cook’s placement as the first youth board member on the United Way of Porter County Board of Directors.
Frataccia is also a Tri Kappa member and has chaired the Taste of Valparaiso and the Tri Kappa Children’s Program. She was the Greater Valparaiso Volunteer Center President prior to the merger with the United Way of Porter County and the Peace Village Community Day organizer. Frataccia is well known in her community and lives service daily. The aforementioned information is just a sampling of Frataccia’s “gift” to the community of her time and talents.
THE VOLUNTEER FAMILY, INC.
The Volunteer Family (TVF) is a startup nonprofit, founded in May 2003, to assist Boston area organizations address a growing need for volunteer assistance through family volunteering. Their mission is to encourage, facilitate, coordinate, and support family volunteering activities in order to strengthen family values, while simultaneously helping local nonprofit agencies achieve their respective goals of serving our community’s most needy and indigent neighbors.
The volunteer activities differ based on the interests and age of the family members, and are as numerous and varied as the families themselves. TVF has compiled a list of existing organizations, helped them develop new and innovative projects, and brought them enthusiastic volunteers who want to help others while discovering and developing the spirit of charity in their own children.
TVF has received an incredibly positive response, both from organizations who need volunteers as well as parents who want to volunteer with their children. Their focus centers on organizations that serve underserved populations and disadvantaged communities. There are countless ways families can contribute to these organizations, in categories such as understanding the poor, the elderly, the handicapped, animals, education, and the environment. Examples include a mother and her newborn educating a pregnant teenager about baby care, a father and his son coaching an inner-city sports team, or a grandmother and her granddaughter bringing homemade get-well cards to hospital patients.
Children benefit by family volunteering, as the experience helps them feel valued, acquire new skills, understand anti-materialism, build an appreciation for other family members and strengthen familial bonds. In a volunteer setting, children have the opportunity to see their parents as role models for proactive social behavior, while developing their own talents and building an orientation towards helping others that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
As a parent, unless you know exactly whom to contact, it is currently extremely difficult to find a volunteer opportunity that you can do with your children. Without an easy, organized, coordinated system, adults are not only missing a chance to grow with their children, teach important values, and share the experience of helping others, but many local organizations are failing to recruit an entire sector of valuable volunteer assistance.
TVF addresses this need through two goals. The first goal of The Volunteer Family is to recruit and retain more volunteers for nonprofit organizations. The second goal of The Volunteer Family is to promote, encourage, and expand family volunteering to strengthen relationships among family members. Since its inception just over two and a half years ago, TVF has addressed the need for family volunteering in the Greater Boston area. They have become a complete, personalized resource for families interested in volunteering.
YASMIN ASSAR
Yasmin Assar launched a very special program as a result of a family tragedy. Yasmin’s grandfather went to the doctor’s to receive surgery; however, due to the physician’s error surgery was performed on the wrong eye. Because of this, Yasmin’s grandfather lost all sight in one of his eyes. Yasmin created her “Gift of Sight” project when she found out what had happened to her grandfather. After her family helped her grandfather heal, Yasmin became more thoughtful about eyesight. She wears glasses and wanted to find a way to help others in the area of vision.
Yasmin began her quest with research. This led her to the Georgia Lions Lighthouse for the Blind. She wanted to make a difference in the community and found the mission of the Lighthouse is to foster sight conservation and restoration and hearing conservation, with a particular emphasis on youth. Yasmin felt like this would be a perfect place to start, so she contacted The North Decatur Lions Club. After various phone calls and discussions regarding her project, she was introduced to Ms. Goldenburg, past President of North Decatur Lions Club. Yasmin was soon provided with a letter introducing as well as authorizing her to collect used eyeglasses for the Georgia Lions Lighthouse for the Blind. In collaboration with them she launched Gift of Sight Project in July of 2004, where she acts as a Project Manager. Yasmin designed flyers and collection boxes to be distributed to the neighborhood and also contacted numerous banks, law firms, Lasik Surgeons, and eye doctors for their support.
Gifts of Sight collects old, used, discarded, broken eyeglasses and frames. Once collected, they are sorted, logged and donated to the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation for further distribution worldwide by their members. Badly scratched glasses or broken frames are recycled for their metal content and the money is used for sight services. Of course, eyes are checked and proper prescription written by their staff before donating.
Yasmin is thinking of long-term goals for Gifts of Sight. Her vision is to collect 5,000 pairs of eyeglasses before her high school years are over, and because this project can make a change in so many lives; she may never stop her collection efforts. To date, Yasmin she has collected in excess of 2,000 pairs of glasses. While she may never meet all the donors or recipients, simply knowing that this project is changing peoples’ lives gives her a sense of immense joy.
Yasmin has also approached her church Youth Council for the youth to join hands and be active participants in Gifts of Sight. If this is approved, it is then possible that the project become either a Southeast Regional or a National Project within the Church Youth Council. In addition, Yasmin made a presentation to her school Volunteer Officers to garner more support for Gifts of Sight. As a result of her efforts the school published her story in their Pantera – November 2005 issue.
LYNNE CHRISTIANO
Lynne Christiano demonstrates the heart and passion of a community volunteer. She has never been one to shy away from hard work and responsibility; however, Christiano has a special commitment to helping make life better for the women and children in her community.
Christiano is one of the founding members of 100 Women Strong and a long-time co-chair of the Steering Committee. She was also one of four key volunteers involved with the re-organization effort in 2002-2003 to ensure the survival of 100 Women Strong, as it continues its mission to assist women in Berrien County.
In addition to her volunteer service to 100 Women Strong, Christiano is also an active member of many other nonprofit organizations. She has been on the Board of Directors of the Readiness Center since 1995, the WCA for 6 years, two terms as President, and a member of the Women’s Service League since 1992, where she served as President for two terms and Treasurer for two terms. Christiano has been an active Board Member for the Krasl Art Center and a member of the Center’s Fair Core Committee. She serves with the United Way Day of Caring, American Heart Association, Twin City Players and the Harbor Habitat for Humanity, where she served as Family Advocate for Jimmy Carter Work Project in 2005.
Through Hospice at Home, Christiano has been trained as a Grief Facilitator, and she volunteers at Lory’s Place. There, she works with youth who have suffered the loss of a significant person in their life. Christiano has also recently joined the Foster Care Review Board for Berrien and Cass Counties.
Service is a lifestyle for Christiano. The staff members of the various nonprofits she works with look at her service as an integral part of their organization. Her volunteering allows them to free up other resources for additional projects. Christiano is admired by those she works with because of her dedication, organization skills and compassionate attitude. As a result of her extraordinary community service, Christiano has been nominated for numerous awards and was chosen as the 2005 Margaret B. Upton Volunteer of the Year award for Berrien County Michigan.
