Jessica Diamond

Jessica Diamond, a seventh-grader at West Brook Middle School, started a community service club at her school that has attracted 140 student members, raised more than $10,000 for a variety of causes, and taken part in numerous other volunteer activities.

“As the daughter of a very active Rotary Club member, I have seen first-hand the impact that people working together can make,” Jessica said, “I thought about how great it would be to have a service organization like that at my school.”

Jessica wrote a proposal to form a React Club affiliated with the local Rotary Club, and presented it to school officials. Once approved, Jessica began recruiting members, leading meetings, and brainstorming club activities.

During its first year, the club raised more than $2,400 and prepared more than 100 backpacks full of school supplies for victims of Hurricane Katrina, collected $1,300 for victims of the tsunami, and organized a book drive for disadvantaged children and senior citizens. Club members also visited local health care facilities, baked bread for a soup kitchen, read to children at an inner-city preschool, and raised $6,000 to provide life-saving heart surgery for an Ecuadorian child.

“A dream of mine would be to see every middle school in the United States have a dynamic club just like ours,” Jessica said, “and that every middle school student would know what it feels like to make a difference in the life of another person.”

Michael Pesci

Michael Pesci, a sophomore at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, NJ, organized an annual “home-run derby” that has raised more than $75,000 over the past four years for disabled and disadvantaged individuals. Michael’s project began shortly after he volunteered to help out with a baseball game for special-needs children.

“Their attitude and passion to play baseball, even though they were handicapped, was very inspiring,” he said. Searching for a way to support these young athletes, he decided to hold a home-run hitting contest similar to one at a baseball camp he’d attended.

After Michael and a friend developed an action plan, they formed a nonprofit corporation, figured out how their derby would work, and began publicizing the event through a Web site and speaking engagements. At the event, both children and adults made donations for the opportunity to swing at seven pitches and win trophies for the longest hits.

During the four years that the “Perfect Pitch” Home Run Derby has been held, Michael also has raised money by soliciting donations from corporations and holding raffles for sports memorabilia donated by former New York Yankees Don Larsen, Yogi Berra, and David Cone. The money raised so far has been used primarily to buy equipment for a local sports league for disabled children, to finance trips for a Boy Scout troop of physically and mentally handicapped adults, and support sports programs for inner-city children.

Elissa Redmiles

Elissa Redmiles is a sixth-grader at The Learning Community International in Columbia, has provided packages of baby blankets and other infant items to hundreds of needy mothers and their newborns over the past five years. Elissa can pinpoint the beginning of her “Baby Blanket Project” to a January morning in 2000. “I was thinking about all of the things I had, and the mothers and babies all over the world who had hardly any of these things,” she said. After discussing this with her mother, Elissa decided that there were six basic items that every baby should have: a blanket, bottle, bib, book, booties or socks, and a toy.

She began a letter-writing campaign seeking donations from family members, friends, and others in her community. As contributions come in, Elissa shops for her six basic items, bundles them into individual packages and then contacts hospitals or other organizations that serve pregnant mothers needing financial assistance. So far, she has collected $2,500 and many donated supplies, enough to deliver packages to more than 300 mothers in America and Israel. “It really is a magical thing to think that you have made many people experience a little joy in their hard lives,” said Elissa.

Steven Uhlfelder

Effective community service requires a careful balance of passion, persuasiveness and dedication. Those qualities are the essence of Floridian Steve Uhlfelder who serves as the voluntary chair of the state’s mentoring effort and voluntary CEO of the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund, among his many volunteer service duties.

Mr. Uhlfelder was born in Florida and believes in giving back to this state. From his days as student body president at the University of Florida, he has led by asking one question – what is the right thing to do? As an attorney and president of Uhlfelder and Associates, P.A., a governmental relations firm, Mr. Uhlfelder plays a significant role in the development of state policy. During the Presidential recount in 2000, he was a voice of reason serving as a volunteer consultant to ABC News.

Mr. Uhlfelder’s commitment to children and education dates back nearly four decades in his education advocacy and mentoring efforts. He voluntarily worked with Governor Jeb Bush on the campaign trail in 1998 to develop the Governor’s Mentoring Initiative, which has propelled Florida to become one of the leading mentoring states in the nation, currently with more than 206,000 active mentors. As the initiative’s first volunteer chair, working alongside Governor Bush, national leaders such as Colin Powell and many of Florida’s leaders, Uhlfelder has been instrumental in the charge to allow state employees one hour off each week to mentor, recruiting corporations to follow that lead, persuading individuals and community groups to join the cause, and working with city governments to adopt mentoring as a focus. He regularly serves as a passionate and persuasive spokesperson to the many mentoring groups that comprise the Florida Mentoring Partnership, and is a regular, voluntary contributor to the media on issues that relate to mentoring. Currently Mr. Uhlfelder voluntarily serves as Chair of Florida Mentoring Partnership – an association of mentoring groups of every kind, whose aim is to keep mentoring at the forefront of Florida’s policy and practice.

Mr. Uhlfelder’s commitment to youth and education is vast. He was appointed by President Bush to voluntarily serve on the board of the prestigious Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, of which he is now Chair. He is a former member of the Florida Board of Governors, the body overseeing higher education in the state; he previously served on the Florida State University Board of Trustees; and was Chair of the old Florida Board of Regents. All of this service is given as a volunteer.

Besides having an important role in setting education policy in Florida, Mr. Uhlfelder for the past 12 years, has tutored and mentored children in the Leon County School System, his home, and is known to personally help the families of the children he mentors when he sees a need arise – providing jobs, information and caring.

Simultaneous with his mentoring charge, over the past two years, Mr. Uhlfelder has dedicated, and continues to dedicate, hundreds of volunteer hours in mobilizing Florida communities to assist one another in hurricane recovery.

In just over one year the state of Florida has survived eight hurricanes, causing major damage to Florida communities and lives. In response, Governor Bush established the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund in 2004 and designated the nonprofit Volunteer Florida Foundation to manage it. Mr. Uhlfelder was asked to serve as Voluntary CEO of the Fund and volunteered a minimum of 30 hours per week in the tedious four months that followed, to get the Fund, fueled by private donations, established. The Fund is designed to make recovery dollars stretch by meeting needs not covered by insurance and government funding. Today this Fund has served as a model and advisor to Florida’s sister states in the Gulf, ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, who have established similar funds for long-term recovery. The Fund also has provided technical assistance to the Bush-Clinton Fund, and most importantly, has gained the support and confidence of Floridians for its effectiveness in moving recovery along – a process that typically takes five years to complete.

Mr. Uhlfelder continues to volunteer countless hours each week as the Fund’s Voluntary CEO, to ensure its commitment to Floridians remains strong and viable. Since the Fund’s inception, Mr. Uhlfelder has been instrumental in helping raise nearly $24 million in donations and pledges to the cause. Among his major accomplishments: he was instrumental in mobilizing Florida’s legislators – Democrat and Republican – to hold a fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C. for Florida hurricane relief in 2004, and in the midst of political fundraising in 2005, he orchestrated the gathering of a bi-partisan group of officials in Tallahassee to raise funds to help Katrina evacuees that came to Florida for refuge.

Mr. Uhlfelder has been just as effective in helping the Volunteer Florida Foundation staff develop financial guidelines and grants to quickly encumber funds to Florida communities in need through assistance to more than 300 community and faith-based organizations working in recovery. As a public voice for the Fund, Mr. Uhlfelder continues to help encourage Floridians to volunteer in the long recovery effort, most recently through the Fund’s Neighbors to the Rescue program for Wilma survivors, which has a virtual warehouse and an adopt-a-neighbor system that makes recovery more cost-effective and efficient.

Mr. Uhlfelder’s tireless dedication and volunteerism to his home state is an inspiration to all Americans.

Erica Esposito

Erica Esposito is a junior at Glenelg Country School in Ellicott City and plans events and activities to help hospitals enhance their neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). While volunteering at a local hospital over the past few summers, Erica was struck by the stressful environment of the NICU, where babies born prematurely or with other health problems are cared for. The families of these tiny patients often face months of hospitalization and years of special needs, said Erica, plus the “unfamiliar sights, sounds, and equipment as well as the busy atmosphere can be very overwhelming.”

Knowing that one’s environment can have a big impact on the healing process, Erica began developing a project called “Ahead of Our Time” to help make NICUs less stressful and foster good relationships between the units and the families of their patients. She has recruited schoolmates, local Girl Scout troops, and NICU staffers to help brighten the facilities with artwork and photo albums, and has raised money for a series of monthly events. Her biggest undertaking was a reunion at the University of Maryland Hospital for “graduates” of its NICU and their families, which drew more than 200 attendees. She plans to host reunions for NICUs at other hospitals, and to expand her project eventually to include hospitals across the country.

Elizabeth Carr

Elizabeth Carr is a senior at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School and has made significant improvements to the facilities of a local homeless shelter, collected donations of supplies for the shelter, and set up a Web site to facilitate hotel donations to shelters throughout the Washington area. Elizabeth’s family had been helping the Salvation Army for many years, so when she began looking for a meaningful volunteer project, she contacted the Salvation Army’s Turning Point Center for Women and Children. “The people were so excited when I came in and said that I was going to help them,” she said. “I realized that my work would have an immediate impact on someone’s life.”

She recruited two fellow Girl Scouts to help her clean and organize the shelter’s storage room and design an inventory system. They also created a playroom and a library, cleared the yard and planted a garden. Then, realizing how many supplies the shelter needed, Elizabeth advertised in her neighborhood for donations, raised money to buy supplies, and threw a “shelter shower” to collect more items. She also secured a large quantity of linens and other items from Washington’s Willard Hotel, where she had worked as a summer intern. This led her to create a Web site to facilitate donations by other Washington-area hotels to local shelters. Finally, Elizabeth organized a network of 20 Girl Scout troops to help keep the Turning Point Center supplied on a year-round basis.

Jennifer Crouse

Jennifer Crouse is a senior at Lake Forest High School in Felton, has assembled and delivered more than 2,500 “Fun/Care Packs” over the past 10 years to cheer up hospitalized children and other children in frightening situations. “I developed the idea of the Fun/Care Packs as a result of the time I spent in the hospital as a sick child,” said Jennifer. “These were very trying and scary times for me, as they are for all people who must spend time in the hospital.”

With funds obtained through grants and donations, Jennifer purchases games, toys and other entertaining items to put into each pack. Every year, her fellow 4-H members help her assemble and decorate the packs, and deliver them to their destinations. At first, Jennifer gave the packs to young hospital patients and to children visiting hospitalized family members. Three years ago, she began making additional packs for children and adults at a local Air Force base. And last year, Jennifer sent 300 packs to victims of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. “I have learned that the simplest things or gestures can have such a greater impact and meaning than we can ever imagine to those who are on the receiving end,” she said.

Chris Turner

Chris Turner has donated quality hours of service to the Milledgeville community while attending Georgia College State University (GCSU). Much of his volunteer service has been done with the GIVE Center (GCSU Involved in Volunteer Efforts).

The GIVE Center is the community service center on campus. Turner is a regular fixture at the Center, and he is a prime example of an emerging leader on the campus. Though he has only been working with the Center for a year, Turner has taken a program from and idea to a reality.

Turner created the GCSU Santa Miracle Fund, which is a service program that works directly with the Children’s Hospital in Macon. The Fund provides the children an opportunity to go and get the Holiday gifts that their precious little heart’s desire. Turner, along with the help of his fellow volunteers, sponsors fundraisers, develops corporate sponsor partnerships and organizes special events to raise money to purchase gift cards from Toys R Us or Walmart for these children.

These children get to go to the stores if they are able and pick out their own gifts rather than have someone purchase the gifts and give them to them. This has been a wonderful program on the campus. Chris actually worked with this program in high school, in his home town of Augusta. He saw the same need in Milledgeville and worked to be able to bring it to the GCSU campus.

The staff at The GIVE Center is appreciative of Turner and his compassion for others. He has a genuine concern for others and works to make people happy. The GCSU community will benefit while he is a student and hope that he will be an example to others and recruit more young people to serve.

Turner is excited about giving to others and is particularly joyful when obtaining donations because knows this will enable more children to receive. He has a passion for nonprofit work, and Turner’s career goal is to be an Executive Director of nonprofit , and he has started to lay the foundation for that career already.

This year has been a great learning experience for Turner, and it has helped him to understand how nonprofits work and how to handle different situations. He has gotten some great hands on experience and has “passed with flying colors.”

He has excelled at being a servant leader and has shown such determination and drive. Turner sets goals and utilizes the appropriate tactics to meet them. He has great leadership and communication skills as well as his organizational skills to help him to take this program to the next level. The staff at The GIVE Center looks forward to seeing where he will take this program as well as how he will continue developing as a true leader on campus and in the community.

Caitlyn O’Connor

The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls is a group dedicated to helping others and helping young women become leaders in their communities. Volunteers work very closely with the Rainbow girls and get to know them very well.

Caitlyn O’Connor has been a part of the Rainbow for about seven years now. In that time, she has grown from a girl to a very sweet and accomplished young woman. She participates enthusiastically in all activities and often she is the first to volunteer if anyone needs help. Several years ago, she led the local Rainbow assembly. In all ways she fulfilled her obligations by learning rigorous memory work, raising funds for others, holding special services projects for the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, and also making sure the girls had fun while doing it. Ever since then, she has been helping other leaders to do the same, all the while increasing her service to the community. She regularly devotes over 250 hours of service a year to others.

By the aid of many of these accomplishments, Caitlyn has held state offices in Rainbow Order for the past three years. She does honor to her assembly with every office. She always does everything that is asked of her and always with a smile, truly a rare thing with today’s youth. Some of the organizations she has worked with include the Teen Crisis Center, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and the Alzheimer’s Research Center. She has been and continues to be instrumental in making events to benefit these charities a success.

In addition to these offices, Caitlyn also has been singularly elected to a special position this year by one of the other area youth groups, the Order of DeMolay. Every year, these young men select a young lady to honor with the title of DeMolay Sweetheart. In addition to working in the assembly, Caitlyn has been responsible for supporting and communicating the events of DeMolay to and within the rest of the Masonic youth community. She is the first in their assembly to hold this title in over 15 years.

Caitlyn has even received special honor for her selfless service above and beyond the call of duty. It is the highest honor the organization can bestow upon its members, the Grand Cross of Color. Caitlyn is truly a very special young woman. She is a very caring, committed member of her community who has proved her invaluable leadership time and time again. Her Rainbow Order assembly is thriving today in large part because of her efforts and many other girls have begun to serve as a result of her dedication.

Ashley Hall

Ashley is a very dedicated and hardworking young lady. She is one of those individuals that you can give a task to and know it will be accomplished and done well. Ashley is very proud of her accomplishments and experiences at GCSU, and she represents the university and her sorority, Phi Mu, in a very positive manner. She has a very cordial personality, and handles any situation that is thrown her way.

Ashely has held many leadership positions within her sorority such as philanthropy chair and new membership director. By far Ashley Hall is head and shoulders above the rest. She is the cream of the crop when it comes to servant leadership. As you can see, Ashley has learned many transferable skills that she can use in many different experiences; such as commitment, dedication, work ethic, dependability, time management, fundraising skills, being a team player, organizational and communications skills. Ashley has worked with The GIVE center as a liaison to other groups that have done community service and volunteering. She has been a team captain for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. She has participated in the reindeer run, blood drives and bowl for kid’s sake. Ashley is not only very active with volunteering while she has been at GCSU but her short range plans are to go into the Peace Corp.

Ashley is on the executive board of the GCSU No Boundaries Club. This club helps to raise awareness and funds for people with disabilities as well as to educate the community and campus about people with disabilities. The reason this club was developed and created was because one in five Americans has a disability, making it one of the fastest growing populations and one that will touch each individual through their families, circle of friends, and work acquaintances in their lifetime. The members of the GCSU No Boundaries Club are passionate about the mission of Push America, “Building leaders of tomorrow by serving people with disabilities today:, and they have now adopted that as their mission. Not only will they be able to build lasting friendships and create awareness but also will help build confidence in the people they serve and the abilities that these people possess. The GCSU No Boundaries Club will help tear down the walls of stereotyping the special needs in our community. The No Boundaries Club is an umbrella organization for other organizations that are working with disabilities. They have planned an entire week of events, called No Boundaries in the Fall, around educating the campus and community about serving people with disabilities. This week consisted of speakers, fundraising, advocacy, movies and adaptive recreational sports. One of their biggest goals was to purchase a set of Kids on the Block puppets, which are puppets that have disabilities along with puppets that don’t have disabilities. They found a grand for $10,000 from the Governor’s council on Developmental Disabilities, applied for it and received the total amount. This spring they will get started with their presentations to the school system.

Ashley is also a member of the Kids On The Block puppet Troop. Ashley has a great way of working with students and individuals. She is a very well respected young lady among her peers along with the university staff. Not only does Ashley work well with others but she also holds other leadership positions outside her sorority. Ashely is on the Campus Activities Board, Honors Program, Honors English Sorority, and other various organizations. Ashley is a role model to many other students. She works to develop their skills as well as her own. She realizes the importance of delegation and allowing others to excel. She also understands about wanting others to pick up the ball and keep it going when she leaves.