Jody Fazzano
Jody Fazzano is a licensed clinical social worker with a Master’s degree in social work and is qualified to counsel people with substance abuse issues. In addition, Jody formerly was a news producer for the local ABC affiliate, channel 6 in Providence, RI. Jody has continued her work in the social/clinical area as an independent case worker. To say that she maintains a busy schedule would be an extreme understatement.
It is said that the true character of a person comes out when a community or its citizens face their greatest need. In Jody’s case, the need was during the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav and later Hurricane Ike. After viewing the damage to property and the despair of the people on TV, Jody contacted the local American Red Cross chapter, hopped on a plane and spent nearly a month in the disaster zone, working 12 hour shifts comforting, consoling and counseling people as an unpaid volunteer. This is truly an act of a selfless person, putting herself at risk in order to help others, but is not surprising to those that know her.
It is nearly impossible to assess and quantify the impact on the community or region where Jody volunteered, along with others representing the Red Cross and other service organizations. However, the after action reports that are routinely filed with the Red Cross chapter CEO’s in order to evaluate and improve disaster response indicate Jody’s help was exemplary. It is safe to say that she lent a helping hand to hundreds during her time in the disaster zone.
Jody has also served as a trustee at The Wheeler school for years, a volunteer at the Wolf School for children with special needs, she is a former Executive Director of the Ronald McDonald house here in Providence as well as supporter of CARITAS house for people fighting substance abuse issues. She has accomplished this as a breast cancer survivor and nearly dying after being struck by a car. The Fazzano name has a long history in Rhode Island of civic involvement, volunteerism as well as widespread philanthropic endeavors. Jody following in her family’s footsteps in these areas should come as no surprise, but the public she has helped over the years is forever grateful for her contribution.
Joan Mulloney
Joan is a relentless animal rescuer and spends quite a lot of time assisting in the rescue, care and placement of homeless dogs and cats, using her own resources. When you can’t find anyone else to help, Joan tries to be there. She assisted recently with the transport of a dog listed on “Dogs in Danger” to a safe haven in another state. She offered to pay the veterinary expenses for a disabled man’s cat and has taken an elderly Shar Pei into foster care in her own home after the dog’s story was emailed to her. Joan helps many animals that might otherwise be euthanized to find forever homes.
All who come into contact with her are more humane, less discouraged and more motivated to do what they can to end animal suffering. And, of course, the animals whose lives she has touched are so lucky that their paths crossed—it’s like meeting your own guardian angel.
She inspires greatness in others and provides an example of what can be done with determination and a desire to help.
The Huscroft Family
Four years ago, while leaving for the Kentucky Derby, the Huscrofts first heard the story of thoroughbred racing champion Afleet Alex and his connection to a little girl named Alex Scott. Alexandra “Alex” Scott was the creator of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. When Alex was only 4 years old, she voiced a simple wish; she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. This simple wish has transformed into a national volunteer movement, with thousands of stands being held across the country. The Huscrofts exemplify the principles the Foundation was built on, that one person and family can make a difference in the world.
After being overwhelmed by Alex’s courage, bravery and compassion for others, they decided to get involved to help her cause. The Huscrofts hosted their first lemonade stand in 2005 with their four children making signs and mixing lemonade. In 2006, Tom Huscroft, their uncle, was killed in a traffic accident. He was passionate about the cause and very involved with the lemonade stands. In his honor, the family continued to host stands and asked neighbors to join. The year after the Huscrofts asked more friends from school, sports teams and other activities to pitch in. Through the years the Huscrofts’ Alex’s Lemonade Stand has grown into a community event and in 2008, saw friends and family hosting eight Alex’s Lemonade Stands across the community. The family has raised nearly $40,000 for the Foundation and the battle against childhood cancer.
The Huscroft Family chose to not only hold their own lemonade stand to raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer, but they decided to involve their entire community. By working with others in their community, they have raised even more funds for the Foundation, and perhaps more importantly, have educated those around them about just how integral funding is and how serious childhood cancer is.
There are so many things that make the Huscroft’s unique and special, perhaps most importantly how they became involved with the Foundation. They learned of ALSF at the Kentucky Derby in 2005 and became very involved. Tom Huscroft was possibly the most passionate about the cause and when he was killed in a traffic accident in 2006, the family decided to continue holding lemonade stands in his honor.
Shelby Kelley
Every day I see people in need, they are walking down the street. There are 2 and 3 families living in one house, families of 5 and 6 living in one bedroom apartments, there are no jobs, life is hard. I am not rich nor is my family, however if we have a dollar or $5 we help someone. It’s just how it should be, love your neighbor. How many paychecks are you from being hungry, cold or homeless? Think about it, half of Americans are only a few paychecks from just that so we have to help when you can.
Crime is rising, homelessness is rising and the poverty level is almost out of control. There are too few shelters for help and even though there are some who don’t want help there are that many more who do want help. I started Teens Save Inc. in 2005 and we have been going strong ever since, adding new members and getting involved. I sit and listen to people cry and then work out where the problem exists. If it means education or home foreclosure, we find that help. If they are hungry, I feed them. I have talked to my mom and had 3 people that would have otherwise been homeless, live with us and now they are back on their own and doing well.
This is not for everyone, you have to feel it and want it. I have the need inside of me to help people and it is amazing! Shelters are few and far between and something has to be done. The department of Children and families reported as of March 2008 there was 1,441,726 on food stamps and another 436,315 waiting for applications. February 2008 there were 8,667 homeless minors, 34,391 adults and 2,727 senior citizens, all homeless and this is just what can be accounted for. It’s really scary and we have to take a stand before it’s so out of control nothing can be done.
Our mission: To seek those in need, feed, comfort, cherish as friends, educate, spiritually council, to change the world one person at a time. We are Teen’s Save Inc. Not only does this program teach young adults about truth, honesty, integrity and faith, it also teaches them leadership, loyalty and understanding of the world today. Founded in 2005 by Shelby Kelley, who was then only 12 Years old, I now, in 2008, have 11 active members of Teen’s Save and still adding kids range from 9 to 15 years old. In the first few meetings and when all new members become active I start by explaining that the world can be changed for the better it just takes doing it one person at a time.
Through the years we have remodeled homes for cancer patients and disabled people, helped to pay utility bills. Feed those who were hungry and placed 4 people from the homeless shelter into new lives. Found foreclosure help to those in crisis and helped with emergency medical needs. We send care packages to our military abroad and to those injured and recovering in Virginia. We collect blankets, jackets, socks, shoes and toys for local children. During Christmas time we hold fundraisers to not only feed families for Christmas but to bring smiles to children faces when Christmas morning comes around. It’s never much but it is always something and a lot of fun. Life is hard the kids told me one day. I understand why so many people are depressed and mad, they have that, right it is hard. Jobs are hard to find, businesses are closing, real estate is in the hole and let’s face it; there is no other word than HARD! These kids all come with a story, hardship, hunger, alone, they have all seen how the world really is. The amazing thing is they set their feelings aside just to help someone else. I don’t know many adults that would do that. So in 2008, Teen’s Save celebrated there 3 year anniversary and became incorporated, thanks to Mr. Bret Jones, an attorney in Clermont.
This is a need, right here, right now. The weather is changing and people cannot get warm, space heaters are burning down homes, people will freeze to death. People forget about us small towns. People pass through this town by the hundreds daily. This shelter is a desperate need. We are trying so hard to get a place. But again times are hard, I am only 15 and don’t work, so I can’t do this on my own. I will if I have to but I would like a little help. I know people look at our town as small; however there is an entire county here for whom we will open our doors. We will get them to the shelter one way or another.
Where there is a will, there is a way. Open your hearts, minds and souls and you too will see. This is a non-paying full time job. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I work 4-6 hours a day to help people either on the computer, on the phone or meeting people face to face. There is just so much that needs to be done, I too could use some help to get these people off the street and into life again. My 5 year plan is to build a large facility that will allow people to seek shelter, go through our screening, become educated, job trained and then moved to affordable housing.
We need these things. There will always be a need for shelters because things happen. Even when the economy wasn’t bad people still lost jobs every day. So I will be there to pick them up with or without a shelter, because that’s what I do. I pick people up dust them off and give them a boost. Won’t you join me?
Zach and Thomas Eller
This is story is about Zach and Thomas Ellers’ volunteer work:
“We have always loved animals and have gotten dog food for our birthdays instead of presents. We started volunteering for a pet rescue organization and wanted to do more, so we baked dog biscuits. We sold them at the pet adoptions and gave the money to help with fostering expenses. From there, our business grew and we have been able to donate almost $8,000 to pet rescue.
We have always wanted to help homeless pets. It is something we have always done and plan on teaching our own kids how to bake our dog biscuits.
We are trying to help save some of the 6-8 million homeless pets in shelters in the U.S. We baked 3,000 biscuits this past summer to get ready for two big events we attended this past fall.
We are planning to attend more events next year to try to make even more money for the homeless pets. We have a website, Woof ‘Em Down Dog Biscuits, where people can place orders.
We have some youth volunteers that help us bake and they are as happy about helping homeless pets as we are. We couldn't do it without them. Today, as I write this, my little cousins are in Charleston, SC selling biscuits at their school Holiday Festival. They have decided to donate their money to Greyhound Rescue. They said they wanted to follow in our footsteps and we are very proud of them for wanting to do this. They are in kindergarten and 2nd grade and already see that there is a need for homeless pets to be rescued.
My brother says, "It isn't how small you are, but how big your heart is." We are always trying to get more young people to volunteer because it feels so good to be part of the solution to the homeless pet problem.”
Ellen Dean
Ellen Dean addresses the need to educate new generations of children in the age old use for books, opening their minds to another way of learning that does not include television or computers. She helps them sharpen their reading skills therefore indirectly helping them overall in the whole school experience, which will benefit them as they grow older and advance through each grade.
Ellen is the Arizona Program Coordinator for Book PALS, a charity for promoting literacy in schools formed by the Screen Actors Guild. She gives generously of her time by fundraising, training new volunteers and placing readers in disadvantaged school districts.
Countless children have been changed by hearing a book read in class in such a way that their attentions are held and they seek these books to read them for themselves. Something which may have never happened if Ellen had not diligently searched for former teachers, actors and others to go into these classes and reach these students with compassion and a love for the written word.
Skiffytown League of Heroes
Here is one “super” group of volunteers, Skiffytown League of Heroes, superheroes helping charities.
“Skiffytown League of Heroes (SLOH) began when a group of comic book enthusiasts, (sixty and counting), began talking to each other over the internet. We discovered we all loved the lessons from the superheroes we read about and wanted to bring those same values to the real world around us with characters of our own creation. We took our first steps by coordinating a children’s hospital visit in Phoenix, AZ. Eleven people, spanning the U.S., from Maryland to Arizona visited the children’s wing and stayed longer than scheduled because we found superheroes to be in demand, we could not say no to the kids. Our hearts were changed and we then decided to include these types of missions to our nationwide gatherings.
We took it upon ourselves to include some type of charity work at each convention we attended. The idea was fine until we noticed that members had begun to look in their own back yards for other things to do. On one such gathering of friends, where it became customary to bring our superhero uniforms, a group of seven decided prior to attending a movie premier to attempt to fix up an old cemetery the local community could not find the funds for. An afternoon event of superhero work eventually garnered the attention of the local newspaper. The idea only grew from there.
While attending a convention in Columbus, OH, SLOH spent a number of hours staffing a Local Fireman’s toys for tots drive. This included a local television interview by DCsGuardian. It was during this event that things became serious.
SLOH began in earnest to evaluate what our group could offer our community and our world. Dressing up in spandex and making kids smile seemed appropriate, but there were countless charities in the world and each one seemed worthwhile.
Our decision to support any and every charity that would accept our assistance seemed like a winner, we formed our group in earnest and made our services available to organizations in our local community and those communities we gathered in.
Our events where one member participates is open to all and through the internet we publicize and encourage those not close enough to attend to support financially or as hero support in any capacity that may be needed. We attend these events in costume to help liven up the event. We have supported Veterans Home visits and local blood drives to name just a few. Prime Penguin works with the Juvenile Diabetes foundation, which was responsible for him becoming Prime Penguin in the first place; it was a chance for him to publicize their needs and goals.
We have even begun to hold panels at conventions; DCsGuardian has since moderated panels on democracy and community service. Tipi has organized children’s fairs where Child I.D. kits have been handed out.
All of our events piggyback on existing charities, from Cystic Fibrosis walks to Hoops for the Homeless. We will never ask for anything in return other than to let us help.
It is hard to pin down why we each do this, but one of our members put it this way, “We dress in spandex, are we silly for doing it, well, as long as a child smiles because we showed up, or a charity gets one more dollar, who cares, we are here to help, in any way possible.”
We have been asked back by many individual groups, and we have always made the offer to those around us we see trying to do a good job. We pass the word as quickly as possible and help where we can. It makes us feel like we are living up to the ideals of Captain America, Superman and all the rest who put others before themselves.”
SCS Helpline Volunteers
From the nominator:
“The SCS HelpLine Volunteers are an extraordinary group of volunteers who show daily their commitment to community involvement and to Texas A&M University and their fellow Aggies. They are active members of an invaluable, life-saving program on campus and the selflessness shown by them speaks volumes about their character. In addition to their commitment to academics, they carve time out of their schedules to make themselves available to the entire student body by volunteering their time to answer the university’s HelpLine. As the person who coordinates and supervises this remarkable group, I strongly believe I have one of the most interesting and rewarding positions on staff.
The SCS HelpLine Volunteers answer the Student Counseling HelpLine from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. weekdays and 24 hours-per-day on weekends. The HelpLine, founded in 1995, is Texas A&M University’s after-hours mental health service and provides, by telephone, peer support, information, crisis assessment and intervention and referrals to students at Texas A&M University. It is supervised and run by the Student Counseling Service, a department in the Division of Student Affairs at Texas A&M University.
The community need that the HelpLine Volunteers address is providing a listening ear to the campus community. Their mission is to provide crisis assessment and intervention over the telephone to students, or those concerned about students, who are experiencing situations that cannot wait until normal business hours. The secondary mission is to provide support, information and referral of a non-crisis nature. Calls to the HelpLine represent a wide range of needs but cluster around relationship issues, anxiety, academic stress, depression and suicidal ideation.
The biggest impact of the HelpLine is evident in the decrease in student suicide on our campus. Since the inception of HelpLine, the rate was cut in half and this campus now has one of the lowest student suicide rates in the nation. The impact of the HelpLine is also evident in that it is one of the most widely known services for students on this campus. Every Texas A&M University college student’s identification card has the HelpLine number on it. Faculty, staff and administrators routinely remind students experiencing difficulty to call the HelpLine if assistance is needed when the Student Counseling Service is not open.
The HelpLine Volunteers demonstrate on a daily basis their commitment to serving their fellow students, excellence in service, and a willingness to go above and beyond when there is a need. The dedication of the HelpLine volunteers is exemplified in many ways, but I would like to point to one in particular. In times of tragedy when I have approached the HelpLine volunteer staff to ask them to expand HelpLine coverage beyond our normal hours, I’ve gotten the same response each time – an immediate call to service to provide additional hours to be responsive to their fellow students impacted by the tragedy. I’ve witnessed this firsthand time and time again including in 1999, when this campus was faced with a tragic loss of 13 students and injury to countless others as a result of the collapse of Bonfire. The HelpLine volunteers chose to expand the HelpLine coverage 24 hours every day for approximately two weeks in order to be available to students who needed support.”
Richard Miles
This Richard Miles’ story of service:
“I first came across HorsePower at my college in New Hampshire. Once I got started, I found that I liked volunteering my services. What motivated me to continue volunteering at this program for all 4 years of my college career was the changes I got to see in the people riding the horses. Through my 4 years of volunteering with HorsePower I was able to work with boys who have severe ADHD and were part of a state run school program. If I had not known the boys’ history, I would swear that they were normal boys because while they were participating in the lessons, they were really calm and focused on what they needed to do. I also worked with in my last year of service a small girl who is autistic. Through my work with her, I was able to see her become more involved in the world around her and not just her own world.
As a volunteer with HorsePower, I was in charge of many different areas. My duties ranged from grooming and tacking the horses to being involved with the lessons as either a side walker or a leader. As a side walker, it was my responsibility to make sure that the rider was comfortable and secure. As a leader it was my responsibility to lead the horses in the rings during the lessons. I was also the Coordinator for this particular program for 3 years. I continue to keep in touch with past service members as well as current service members.
I view my 4 years of service through HorsePower as a life changing experience because of what I saw during my service period as a volunteer. When I share my story of service with through HorsePower to people that are interested in hearing about my years of service they are always left speechless because of this story and the amazement of the changes that I witnessed first-hand. I believe that it was because of my 4 years of service through HorsePower that I decided to become involved in the national service program AmeriCorps where I currently serve as a Volunteer Coordinator for Social Capital Inc. in Woburn, MA.”
Florence Phillips
Florence G. Phillips, a former Peace Corps and VISTA volunteer, is the founder/director of the ESL (English as a Second Language) In-Home Program of Northern Nevada. Her innovated efforts in education over the last five years have positively impacted a great number of people living in five Northwest Nevada counties. Florence saw that many immigrants cannot speak English and desperately want to learn, but for a variety of reasons are unable to attend formal classes.
In February 2004, Florence started volunteering her time by tutoring students one-on-one in English in their homes at no cost. However, she soon realized that there was a much greater need than she could handle alone. She then started mobilizing unpaid community volunteer tutors, training them and matching them with other students. Tutors meet twice a week in the students’ homes since many do not have transportation.
Today, she coordinates activities of 85 tutors and 151 students. Florence works tirelessly recruiting, training, inspiring tutors and then matching them with students from her ever-growing waiting list. She receives 2-3 calls a day from people who want to learn English. She also works raising funds to cover the cost of instructional material which keeps the program at no-cost-to-student. The curriculum used is the highly regarded “Laubach Way to English/Reading” series of books in which she was trained as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Her ongoing efforts have yielded tremendous returns in that these students become more productive members in their community. They are more engaged in their children’s educational life. The role model that the parents and grandparents are providing to better themselves educationally will inspire their children to also achieve educational goals, making this program intergenerational. Although most students are Latino, others come from Asia, Europe and elsewhere. Since the program’s inception, it has helped students pass the U.S. Citizenship exam, obtain GEDs, find jobs or get promoted, encouraged parents to help their children with homework and communicate with teachers and given students the ability to shop in English speaking stores and communicate with medical personnel.
The program has been so successful that word has spread among the immigrant community and there is now a waiting list of 105 people who want to learn English and need tutors. Through her selfless efforts and determination over the past five years, Florence is making a positive and lasting contribution to our community. Her goal is for the program to continue to address the unmet needs that exist in the five counties currently being served, and intends to expand into two additional rural counties so that non-English speaking adults there can learn English and become more productive in their communities.
