Kathryn Marin

Kathryn Marin is the founder and executive director of a mobile recreation unit called CJ’s Bus. After her own experience with a tornado that took the life of her two year-old son, Kathryn realized the need for a safe place for children to play while their parents tend to their recovery needs. CJ’s Bus is a mobile play care facility loaded with games and toys for children in disaster. With the goal of being on-site with 1-2 days following a qualified disaster, the bus is a recognized destination staffed by certified volunteers where families feel safe to leave their children for a few minutes or hours as they attend to the immediate recovery needs of their family, businesses and community.

With the completion of CJ’s Bus in August 2007, Kathryn has provided a safe place for children to focus on their crayons instead of the devastation around them and permit them to remain innocent during disasters. This is accomplished by using the inside and especially the outside perimeter of the bus for a wide variety of entertaining and interactive age-appropriate activities, both active and passive.

Kathryn, along with Congressman Brad Ellsworth, has initiated the process of CJ’s Home Protection Act. This Act would change the Federal manufactured home construction and safety standards to require every manufactured home delivered for sale to be supplied with NOAA weather radio. Weather radios provide immediate broadcasts of severe weather warnings and civil emergency messages, including tornado and flood warnings, AMBER alerts for child abductions and chemical spill notifications.

Kathryn lost her 2 year-old son CJ, as well as her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law in the deadly F3 tornado which ravaged Evansville and Newburgh, IN on November 6, 2005. The tornado took 25 lives and was one of the deadliest in Indiana history. Kathryn made a very personal decision to devote the rest of her life to putting smiles on the faces of children affected by disaster. She once said that she knew she could either be miserable the rest of her life or she could do something about it. She chose to make changes that will better the lives of other families.

Mike Heikes

We know that life is full of lessons. Some we learn the easy way, some the hard way. Mike Heikes was riding in the front seat of a car in 1982 with one of his friends. Both had been drinking and Mike was not wearing a seat belt. His friend was speeding at 100 mph and missed a curve in the road, crashing the car. Mike was thrown onto the road that would be stained with his blood until it was resurfaced. The accident occurred the weekend before Mike was due to begin college.

The doctor told Mike’s parents the surgery for his brain injuries probably would not save his life; however, Mike did survive. He was in a coma and partially paralyzed; the doctors did not know if he would ever be able to walk again. But Mike is walking today; he is a survivor but still suffers from short-term memory loss as a result of his brain injuries from the accident.

After the accident, Mike spent three and a half months in the hospital recovering from surgery. The accident and recovery period gave Mike a new mission in life. He shares his testimony to many and talks about the dangers of drinking and driving. Mike has been invited to share his life experiences with churches, schools, nursing homes and with parents. He hopes to be able to save one person and their family from having to go through what he did.

Mike also temporarily lost his driver’s license in 1990 due to limited peripheral vision. During that time, he purchased a bike to ride to work. Though he had ridden a bicycle since he was a child, he realized he liked it. Even when his license was reinstated, Mike continued to ride his bike and over the next six years, he logged more than 85,000 miles. Mike then began to get involved in cross country bike rides and used that to raise more than $70,000 for the three hospitals that treated him after his accident: Lake Region Hospital in Fergus Falls, MeritCare in Fargo, ND and Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute in Minneapolis.

In addition, Mike has taken his mission a step further and also speaks about bike safety. Mike donates bicycle helmets to youth free of charge so they will be safe while riding. To date, he has given away more than three thousand helmets to boys and girls living throughout Minnesota and Eastern North Dakota. Mike uses his cross country rides to raise money to provide the free bike helmets.

Many individuals and families have benefited from Mike’s speeches as well as his helmet donations. Some he may never know about and he is happy to hear from some of the recipients of his service. However, Mike will continue to raise money for bike helmet donations and share his life story in hopes to continue to save lives.

Andrea Walker

Andrea Walker has been a dedicated member of the Special Olympics Georgia family for more than a year. She first volunteered for the State Fall Games in 2007. She wanted to become a volunteer and saw that the Fall Games needed help. Andrea traveled from Atlanta to Albany, GA to get to the games. Andrea also recruited her parents to volunteer.

Andrea and her parents, Steve and Carolyne Walker, were assigned to volunteer at the sport of Bocce, one of Special Olympics Georgia’s largest sports. This occurs all three days of the games and Andrea volunteered both Friday and Saturday.

Andrea was scheduled to volunteer Saturday morning for about five hours. Bocce is scheduled from early morning to approximately 9:00 pm on Saturday, and it needs at least sixty volunteers throughout the day. When the evening shift came around, the group was short of volunteers. Andrea decided she wanted to stay for a longer time at Bocce because help was needed. Her parents also continued to volunteer. Andrea ended up serving for twelve hours during that one day.

Since the Fall Games, Andrea has been active in almost all of Special Olympics Georgia’s events. She once again volunteered for the State Indoor Winter Games in January of 2008. Not only did she volunteer at their assignments, but Andrea stepped in to help at one of the bowling venues when she saw things getting a bit hectic. Andrea helped to rally the volunteers and made the necessary calls to have the venue running smoothly.

Andrea has also been an active and energetic member of the 2008 Duck Derby Committee. She helped to sell many ducks at various businesses and festivals and was there at the 2008 Duck Derby to help support the staff and sold even more ducks. Andrea has also recruited several of her friends for 50/50 raffles to sell at baseball and hockey games to benefit Special Olympics Georgia.

Andrea also stepped up her role at the 2008 State Summer Games and was a volunteer coordinator for aquatics, one of the largest and longest events. Andrea volunteered for all the days of the Games. She organized and coordinated the volunteers.

Andrea has truly shown what it means to go above and beyond. She has proven many times that “ordinary” people can truly be exceptional! Andrea is dedicated and reliable, and these are not characteristics that all people embody. Andrea “sticks out” because of her dedication and determination to serve. Special Olympics Georgia is glad and honored that Andrea Walker made the decision to become a volunteer.

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mission for Christ

Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church was established in 1843 and soon after, the first school was built. St. Peter’s School has grown from a one-room schoolhouse to a modern school that educates approximately 100 students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight each year. St. Peter’s serves several school districts and local Native Americans. St. Peter’s is a parochial school that relies mainly on church donations and competitive, low-cost tuition, to meet all of its instructional and operational costs and expenses.

Saint Peter’s School provides a high quality alternative to public school. In addition to learning mathematics, science, social studies, reading, art and music, students also learn about religion. The religion classes include some of the basic teachings and morals of Christianity, which include respect for all people and helping people who are in need or less fortunate. Each year, students participate in a variety of service projects including donating canned goods to the local food pantry, assembling care packages for military men and women serving overseas and sponsoring a child in a third-world country. Students and church members work collaboratively on other projects such as collecting gifts for needy families at Christmas.

Throughout the years St. Peter’s School has graduated many successful alumni who have made a positive difference in their communities. They received an outstanding education that provided a solid foundation for high education in high school, college and beyond. In addition to excelling in their chosen fields, alumni also given back to the community who are sick or injured. Many alumni are leaders in the church and directly involved in the service projects at school. Many alumni have chosen to send their children to St. Peter’s School because students learn to be well-rounded individuals who do well in school, and become productive citizens who contribute to society.

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church and School continue to be pillars of faith and education in the community while many other local parochial schools have close. St. Peter’s Lutheran Church members’ sponsorship and funding of the school helps to make tuition affordable, offer scholarships, provide upkeep and care for the buildings and grounds, and pay for the instructional and operational expenses.

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church continues to sponsor a school that provides a quality Christian education for over 160 years and continues to be a center of academic excellence and it teaches students to be aware of people in need of help. St. Peter’s encourages students to use problem-solving skills and then take action to make the world a better place.

Penny Henderson

Penny Henderson is an extremely valuable volunteer in the United States Army Garrison-Yongsan (USAG-Yongsan) community. She began volunteering for the Army Community Service (ACS) Center in May 2008 and volunteered in other organizations in the community since August 2007.

From August 2007 through June 2008, Penny served as the Reservations Chairperson for the American Forces’ Spouses’ Club (AFSC). Her organizational skills, positive attitude and work ethic helped make the 2007-2008 Board Year for AFSC one of the best in recent history. During that time period, Penny volunteered an average of 30 hours a week for a total of 1,200 hours. Penny also volunteered her time at the Chosun Gift Shop (CGS) which is the fundraising arm for the AFSC. The profits from the CGS helped fund charitable organizations across the military community in Seoul as well as in the Republic of Korea. The CGS donated more than $500,000 dollars last year to both American and Korean charities. Penny sacrificed most of her Saturdays to volunteer for the AFSC and the CGS which generated money to donate to charity.

In May 2008, Penny saw another need in the community which she was uniquely qualified to fill. The Army Community Service Center (ACS) manages the appointments for the Korean Immigration officials which visit the Yongsan community twice a month. Penny volunteered to become the A3 Visa and SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) assistant. In this role, Penny managed an average of 100 clients each week to coordinate and administer the appointments for the Korean Immigration officials. She volunteered an average of 50 hours a week for a total of 1,400 hours in a short seven month time period. In this role, she conducted pre-screening of client’s paperwork to ensure they had the necessary information and documentation required by the Korean Immigration Officials. Penny was able to explain the process in such a way and in such a manner to relieve the stress and frustration of the customers and create a positive and productive environment for clients to obtain the necessary documentation for living in South Korea.

Marie Alfano

Marie L. Alfano, a case management nurse consultant at Aetna’s Cranbury, NJ office leads a life of service to her community. Inspired by the work of Barbara Lightner’s organization, Joining Hands, Inc., Alfano founded Children at Heart, Inc., which strives to make the dreams of children in need a reality.

Alfano spends hundreds of hours a year enlisting support for Children at Heart. She works closely with East Brunswick schools and the Mayor’s office. She networks with local business and community organizations, including Telephone Pioneers, Knights of Columbus and the Chamber of Commerce. She has single-handedly brought together the entire community—including mom and pop business, mega-conglomerates and government agencies—in support of local families in crisis. As a result, families who might not have dreamed it possible have electricity, clothing, medical equipment, toys and even plane tickets to visit relatives.

With a seemingly limitless supply of energy, Alfano sets the pace for volunteerism, both at work and in the community. For the past 20 years, she has run an annual toy drive for the entire Middlesex community. She serves on the boards of several organizations, including Joining Hands, Inc., the entity that inspired many of her efforts. Her outstanding community service has earned local and national recognition, including from the Italian American Cultural Society of Monroe Township, the East Brunswick Division of Parks and Recreation and the United Way of Central New Jersey’s Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Rebecca Brenowitz, who has organized clothes drives and other community efforts, says Alfano’s mentoring is what turned her into a committed volunteer. “Marie has always found innovative ways of empowering the people she enlists as well as those she helps, building community spirit with every effort.” Brenowitz credits Alfano for teaching her to identify community needs, network and research solutions, and – most importantly – to never take no for an answer.

Anne Duffy, an Aetna coworker, may have summed up the uplifting effect of Alfano’s spirit best. “Such exemplary community work makes all who know Marie Alfano proud to be a small part of her life. Ms. Alfano is truly an asset. Indeed, one can only imagine what our world would be like if, like Alfano, every adult sprang into action anytime a child was in crisis.”

John Hall Chevrolet/Ritchey Cadillac Sales for WARM

The salespeople at different auto dealerships participate in an ongoing payroll deduction to provide food, fun and presents during a holiday celebration for the women and children of project WARM including a catered dinner for clients and their extended families.

Santa and an elf or two make a special visit and bring gifts for all. While the child tells Santa what they want, staff writes the list down and those wishes come true on Christmas morning, too. The mothers also celebrate with a family Christmas meal on Christmas day and all of this is provided by the donations received.

The clients are in awe of the fact that people who do not even know them care about them and their children. For one snippet of time, this celebration during the holidays, the salespeople make it possible for the clients to create positive memories during the holidays.

They deserve to be recognized because they represent the heart that the people of Daytona have. They care. They bring hope and cherished memories to those who are not normally given the opportunity. This program has an extremely positive clinical impact on the women and their children and that is where these volunteers get their inspiration.

June Holmes-Sloan

June Holmes-Sloan, a top level career executive, meshes her management skills with her deep love for nursing home patients by managing the Hospice of Volusia/Flagler’s North and Central nursing home volunteers. June has been volunteering for over three years and now oversees a group of twenty five volunteers and eighty patients, as well as disseminates information, makes placements, mentors new volunteers, organizes meetings and encourages others to volunteer.

Nursing home patients are often overlooked and under visited. Visits from volunteers who are well prepared, well informed and well supported provide the caring presence so many patients crave. June not only brings more prepared volunteers as a result of her enthusiasm, but she also keeps her own volunteers feeling appreciated. her steadfast devotion to nursing home patients has helped the group to double volunteer visits in the past year.

After her first year of volunteering, June began to see that the Hospice of Volusia/Flagler was capable and had potential for so much more. June offered to manage one nursing home and because of the wonderful results she received, she began to take on more nursing homes, duplicating the successes in each one.

June, through her passion and unabashed love of nursing home residents has transformed the way the organization manages volunteers who visit nursing homes. Even through a debilitating bout with surgery, June has managed to keep directing the nursing home volunteers during her recovery. Because of her infectious passion, work ethic and strong belief that this is a mission of great worth, June Holmes-Sloan was nominated for Outstanding Senior Volunteer of the Year.

Special Team Always Ready with Smiles (STARS)

Since 1996, the Family Renew community’s town Secret Attic Thrift Shop has been supported by the Special Team Always Ready with Smiles “STARS” volunteers. The STARS team have committed almost 15,000 hours in just this year alone!

The STARS team is a group of self-starters who need very little supervision and are truly dedicated volunteers. They work to raise money for homeless families with children living in the Family Renew Community’s three campuses. The Holly Hill campus has fourteen families, Daytona Beach has eleven families and DeLand has seven families. This is a total of thirty-two families on any given day.

The Secret Attic Thrift Shops are the Family Renew Community’s largest single fundraiser. In 2007, sales grossed $280,288. The STARS team volunteers work well together and care deeply in their mission of helping support the Family Renew Community’s Program. Their hearts are generous and caring.

The STARS are bright examples for the Family Renew Community. They care deeply about the families who are facing homelessness and share their time and talents with them.

Millie Samples

Millie Samples began interning at the State Attorney Victim Services Program, but eventually became a devoted volunteer to the crime victims that she was assisting, contributing many more hours than was required by her internship.

Millie’s eagerness to learn about advocacy and the criminal justice system quickly resulted in her competency and ability to perform many tasks beyond what would be expected of her as an intern.

Millie has provided crisis intervention, referrals to community resources, information and education and court room advocacy to victims directly and indirectly. She has assisted hundreds of domestic violence victims since coming to the Office of the State Attorney. Her dedication and knowledge has resulted in victims of domestic violence recognizing they are not alone, that the abusive act was not their fault and that help is available to ensure their safety and the safety of other living in the household.

Millie’s work with domestic violence victims has certainly resulted in reducing violence in homes in Volusia County and may possibly have saved lives. Stopping violence and victimization through intervention and advocacy provides invaluable service to society as a whole.

Millie’s effort to educate and assist victims has undoubtedly resulted in interventions that build healthy relationships and hold abusers accountable for their actions. Her kind heart and outstanding critical thinking skills made her well suited to work with diverse populations sensitively. She provides hope and safety for the victims and has become a vital, valuable member of the victim advocate program at the Office of the State Attorney. Her energy is contagious, and Millie is an inspiration to all who know and work with her.