Rachel Braley

Sewing the Fabric of a Community

Knitting is not something you do for instant gratification; it takes time, it takes dedication. Rachel Braley knits. But Rachel’s knitting isn’t aimed at providing her family with holiday gifts of scarves and mittens, her knitting helps create the fabric of a community.

Rachel’s program, Knit for Need, has engaged over 685 volunteers who have worked and knitted for more than 1,935 hours. Her dedicated group of volunteers donate their work to animal shelters, homeless shelters, wounded soldiers, and children's hospitals . Knit for Need has provided blankets, hats, socks and scarves for many people and organizations in the community.

But Rachel’s program is not just for the experienced knitter; she is eager to teach anyone to knit, thus anyone can join in the weekly knitting sessions. She’s been holding the session every week for two years and estimates she has taught 100 people to knit. Knit for Need threads the community together in two ways; its brings those who want to serve together, and the results of those sessions can be found all across the city.

Knit for Need, a program of HandsOn Inland Empire in Rancho Cucamonga, CA is now in its second year. Rachel, and the staff of HandsOn Island Empire, are looking for ways to expand the program. They are reaching out to more organizatins that may have a need for the group’s knitted items.

Rachel simply sums up her project and service :“There are so many people in the area, especially kids, that don't have a security blanket, or a teddy bear. There are animals in shelters all over the Inland Empire that sleep on cold concrete. There are people that live on the street without gloves, or hats in the winter. I can only hope that if we knit as many things as we can, as often as we can, and donate to as many places as we can, that at some point, there will be less of all that need.”

Vi Huynh

Hands On Northeast Ohio (NEO) was founded in Greater Cleveland in 2007, and since its inception Vi Huynh has been invloved.

She has volunteered and supported children at an innovative charter school, as well as dogs at a local animal shelter. Additionally, when he saw a void in Volunteer Leadership in Cleveland, Vi stepped up to lead numerous programs within the community.

Trained as one of Hands On NEO’s first Volunteer Leaders, Vi now manages others in service. A good snapshot of the important nature of Vi’s volunteering can be seen in his involvement in a Saturday tutoring program. Responding to an emergent need of the Cleveland Municipal School District, Vi’s service benefitted children at a local charter school that is transforming urban education in Cleveland. He gave over 40 hours of service helping over 22 students with math and reading.

Furthermore, Vi has devoted countless hours and energy towards recruiting and motivating other individuals, business and civic groups to get involved with Hands On Northeast Ohio programs. He also served on a committee which brought a free health care event to Cleveland that served over 2,000 people.

Vi has also served as a volunteer and Volunteer Leader for a dog walking project with the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter. Through his service he is addressing the community problem of adoption preparation for animals who are neglected and mistreated. Vi’s service and leadership has helped to make the dogs more adoptable through walking and training. He alone has walked close to 60 dogs as part of a project that impacted over 350 dogs over the course of a year.

LaDrene Coyne

Preparing for, and finding a job in this economy is difficult task. Add a disability into the mix, and the obstacles to employment may feel utterly insurmountable. But disabled residents in the state of Washington have someone to help them overcome both the fear and the challenges of employment, and her name is LaDrene Coyne.

For the past ten years, LaDrene has volunteered to help youth and adults with disabilities lead a full life. She founded the Washington State Business Leadership Network (WSBLN) as a way to bring businesses together to create real change in the employment of people with disabilities.

To jump start her organization, LaDrene personally went door to door and talked to businesses about the fears and objections regarding employing those with a disability. Those personal visits worked. Business owners began to attend networking events specifically geared for disabled job seekers.

But, this raised awareness has done more than open up employment opportunities for the disabled. Just as importantly, LaDrene’s organization has opened up the eyes of an entire communtiy to a segment of the population so often overlooked.

Today, LaDrene leads 13 Board Members and seven Youth Committee Members in continuing to reach out to businesses, hosting networking events, and helping young people with disabilities get ready to enter the workforce.

LaDrene works tirelessly to inspire people with disabilities to reach for their dreams. Her dedication has altered lives, and has united a community behind an important cause.

Betty Cornwell

Lou Nelson

Healing through Engagement

Imagine a program that brings together the victim of a crime, the perpetrator and the impacted community to solve local challenges brought about by crime. Lou Nelson volunteers for such a program in River Falls, Wisconsin. The St. Croix Valley Restorative Justice Program(SCVRJP), engages community members to be active particpants in a healing process.

Lou has made a significant impact as a resource to the executive director and board of directors at SCVRJP. Lou helps screen and hire new staff, supports office procedures, edits documents and consults strategically with the director. Lou also serves by actively being involved in several programs offered at SCVRJP. Lou addressed 120 people at the first fundraiser for SCVRJP. Her presentation touched the audience and inspiried many of them to volunteer.

Lou has been an active role model for young people and their relationship to other adult community members. Many of the young people she interacts with feel she brings “grandmotherly” support. In turn, this type of relationship connects young people to their community.

That connection results in creating motivation to help and serve. Many young people who’ve taken part in SCVRJP prorams go on to teach others the benefits and importance of restorative justice. They’ve even initiated the process of restorative justice themselves. One such group of youth responded to issues in their community park by holding a potluck and restorative justice session.

This type of activity is consistent with Lou's belief in the importance of community and providing resources and role models to youth. The number of individuals that Lou has inspired may be difficult to quantify; but her impact in the community and her value to the staff of SCVRJP is not. Lou Nelson is an important part of their mission of healing through engagement, and she takes that role very serioulsy.

Mackenzie Bearup

Six years ago Mackenzie Bearup was diagnosed with a very painful neurological condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/ Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, one of the most painful and least known neurological conditions.

Mackenzie has lived in terrible pain since developing RSD/CRPS, and found that the only way to get her mind off her pain was to escape into a great book. It was during the time of her diagnosis that her doctor told her about Murphy Harpst, a residential treatment center for some of her community’s most abused children. Murphy Harpst was hoping to open a library for the children who reside there; they had the room but few books.

Mackenzie thought about how reading helped her get her mind off her emotional and physical pain, and hoped that books could do the same thing for these children. She gathered up books she no longer needed and asked friends and neighbors to do the same. Soon her book drive took off. She collected and donated over 10,000 books to Murphy Harpst, filling their library to capacity.

She thought if this facility needed books, maybe others did as well. She contacted homeless shelters to see if they were interested. They certainly were.

Today, Mackenzie has collected over 37,000 books and provided libraries in homeless shelters in 6 states including Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina and Kentucky. Mackenzie has recently started a non-profit organization called Sheltering Books, Inc. that works to open reading rooms for children in homeless shelters across the country.

Nancy Carie and Lois Ruppel

Giving Their All – All Year Round

For many, the idea of volunteering means finding an issue you care deeply about and giving your time to help out programs that address that issue. But what if you care about a multitude of issues? Meet Nancy Carie and Lois Ruppel; a dynamic duo whose volunteering knows no bounds.

Nancy and Lois are both members of the RSVP Advisory Council in Knox County, Indiana… but that is just the beginning of a long list of volunteer duties the duo has taken on. Both ladies volunteer at the Expired, Unused and Unwanted Drug Toss. Partnering with Solid Waste Management, this program teaches the community about the proper disposal of pharmaceuticals.

In 2008, when Knox County National Guard members were called to active duty, these ladies were among a group of council members who developed the WE CARE – Military Support Packs program.

Trained by Prevent Blindness Indiana, both Nancy and Lois donate service hours screening nearly 850 children annually for Amblyopia (lazy eye) and Stereopsis (depth perception) through the Vision Screening Program.

The spirit of service that Nancy and Lois uphold extends through the holiday season. Nancy is not seen the weeks before Christmas without her purple notebook. She schedules the shopping sites for the Little Elves Workshop for a local day care center. Lois is responsible for scheduling the volunteer elves to be at the right site at the right time. Her cell phone is handy day and night and she can remember which volunteer is scheduled at any of the 21 sites. A very organized and crafty lady, Lois also makes all the table favors for the volunteers at the end of program wrap up lunch.

Recipients of the Presidential Service Awards, Nancy and Lois are firm believers in giving back and they both truly embody the essence of the Daily Points of Light Award.

Erin Mankus

Denise is barely a teenager, yet her life is already full of adult sized challenges. Every day she watches her mom try to cope with depression, her older sister, a teenager as well, dropped out of high school and is already the mother of two. She shares a small bedroom with five other family members in a small house in a rough section of San Antonio.

Erin Mankus has been Denise’s “Big Sister” for the past six years through Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas. Each week Erin plans a special activity with Denise and they explore the world that seems beyond Denise’s reach. Erin helps her see that it’s not. They work to create enthusiasm about the possibilities that open up for those who pursue their education with passion and dedication.

With Erin’s help, Denise has achieved impressive grades throughout high school, and they are currently studying hard for her upcoming SAT exams. Denise will become the first member of her family to attend a university.

Erin, currently medical student, says that her connection to Denise isn’t temporary. “I will always be a part of Denise’s life. She is a part of my family now. I plan on working with Big Brothers Big Sister in the future and work with a new little sister as soon as Denise is off to college.”

Annette Hancock

Annette Hancock is meeting important needs in her community of San Jose, California.

Annette has been serving homeless adults, families, and youth for 16 years with EHC LifeBuilders, the largest provider of shelter and homeless prevention in Santa Clara County, serving 10,000 clients every year.

A seamstress by trade, Annette leads a team of talented volunteers to sew, tailor and process materials donated to the agency including bedding, toiletries, clothing, and toys.

These efforts supply homeless individuals with the items they need at the agency’s 6 county-wide sites. When homeless families move into new housing, Annette ensures that they have furnishings and needed items to make a house a home.

It was through Annette’s community service to her children’s’ school that led her to work with homeless children. Her service has always been rooted in her role as a mother and is reflected in her unique philosophy of hospitality for the homeless.

For Annette, the families and individuals who arrive at a homeless shelter should be treated with the same dignity and decency as any person in need of lodging. She believes that the vision of shelters as a temporary home is essential to rebuilding the lives of people who often feel the isolated in society.

As more individuals look to EHC LifeBuilders for support in difficult times, Annette and her team of volunteers are consistent in benefiting people in need, work that truly impacts thousands of individuals who are in need of clean clothes, toiletries and a warm bed.

Rebecca Evanoff

When disaster struck the small town of Holden, Massachusetts, it was during one of the coldest months of the year. A treacherous ice storm had brought the town to a halt. With electric thermostats rendered useless, many families were left to huddle together for warmth as temperatures dipped below freezing. In this great time of need, the people of Holden turned to Rebecca Evanoff.

She volunteers as Holden’s Team Director for CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), and it’s a position she takes very seriously. When that ice storm hit, Rebecca acted as Director of Operations for the CERT run shelter, as well as the liaison officer between the Red Cross, Medical Reserve Corps, Fire Department, and the National Guard.

The shelters Rebecca managed were open 24 hours a day for ten straight days. They housed 65 people and provided meals for 150. The services she offered were key to keeping residents safe while crews worked to restore the town’s power. This all began with Rebecca attending a community meeting about emergency preparedness. Just two years later, Rebecca is leading approximately 30 CERT members both in Holden and the surrounding community.

Her leadership has helped to inspire disaster preparedness teams in neighboring communities. Rebecca puts in an extraordinary amount of time and passion into her position as Team Director. She believes that often, even the most prepared people may need help in the event of an emergency.