Ashley Pittman

Ashley Pittman is a senior nursing major at Georgia College and State University who actively works to help a variety of people in her community. Through her passion, hard work and determination, she initiated the Wishmakers Program on Georgia College’s campus three years ago, and singlehandedly raised more than $2,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation for Georgia and Alabama so that a child with a life-threatening medical condition could receive a wish. Ashley coordinated with Wishmakers to sell jewelry on her school campus and in her hometown of Thomaston, Ga., where she networked with her church and community’s small businesses to help in this effort.

Jen Rubino

When young people are hospitalized or facing a serious illness, they often feel forgotten and sad. Having experienced these struggles firsthand, Jen Rubino created Cards for Hospitalized Kids (CFHK) to help other young people facing these health challenges. Though her organization began as something only in her community, Jen has turned CFHK into a nationwide effort.

Jen, who is unable to walk due to a childhood illness, manages all aspects of CFHK – from organizing card-making events to connecting with hospitals and families. Through her efforts and those her volunteers, more than 10,000 hospitalized kids and counting have received cards that brought them smiles and joy during a time they needed it the most.

Relay For Life of Mills County Committee

Christopher Mora

For more than four years, Commander Christopher Mora has donated hundreds of hours of pro bono legal service to the citizens of the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana. He has guided the tribe through modernization of its laws while preserving tribal culture and helped save the tribe a significant amount of money.

Stepping Stone Support

Stepping Stone Support, an organization run entirely by volunteers, uses its Survivor’s Little Helper program to provide those in cancer treatment, cancer survivors and their families with holiday gifts and winter necessities. The Helper program reduces stress and gives patients and their families the opportunity to spend quality time together.

SELMA EREY

Selma Erey is a longtime volunteer and homeowner in the Rockaway Peninsula in New York City. In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy devastated the Rockaways damaging homes, schools, and businesses, including Selma’s home. .Volunteers helped her clean out her house after Sandy. She became so inspired by the acts of service in her community as a result of Sandy that she decided to start and lead a Saturday “Rockaway Readers” club at the Far Rockaway library branch as a way to help students impacted by the storm build their reading skills so that they did not fall further behind in school.

Dimitri Godur

When Dimitri Godur was 12, he heard his parents talking about the country’s economic challenges and potential cuts to school arts programs. Dimitri couldn’t imagine losing his school’s music program, so he took action.

He started Strings 2 Strum in 2010 to secure string instruments, refurbish them as needed, and donate them to schools and community centers across the country in need of instruments for classroom instruction. To date, he has been able to donate 100 percent of all the money he has collected toward the purchase of instruments.

Amelia Roskin-Frazee

Deeply affected by news that several lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens had taken their own lives due to bullying, Amelia Roskin-Frazee, 15, started The Make It Safe Project. The organization donates books about sexual orientation and gender expression to schools and youth homeless shelters throughout the U.S. and abroad. Amelia personally reads and selects the fiction and nonfiction books that go into each package of 10 volumes – and tailors each package to the needs of the particular school or shelter. Amelia has given more than 60,000 teens access to books.

Meredith Iler

Meredith Iler founded Helping a Hero to raise money to build special needs homes. Since 2006, her organization has built more than 60 homes with 20 more on the way.

Christopher Sleeper

Chris Sleeper, a volunteer firefighter and EMT for more than 16 years, recently received the 2012 C&S Volunteer of the Year Award for dedicating more than 690 hours to service.