Eric Friedman

You might not know Eric Friedman by name, but if you have kids, you most likely know his work. As a successful television writer for the past 18 years, he has written for roughly 25 shows, including the Disney XD show “Crash & Bernstein” – which he created – Nickelodeon’s “Drake & Josh” and Disney Channel’s “Austin & Ally.”

Eric Friedman hangs out with Crash, the puppet co-star of Friedman’s Disney XD show, “Crash & Bernstein.”

When he’s not working on scripts, Friedman is helping the very school kids who love his shows to learn the creative writing process, develop their own scripts and eventually see their creations performed by the professional TV actors they idolize.

Shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 2001, Friedman heard about the Young Storytellers Foundation, which works to develop literacy through storytelling at Los Angeles public schools in need of arts education. Through one-on-one instruction, the foundation aims “to inspire children to discover the power of their own voice.” Each year the organization, which was launched in 1997, works in classrooms and camps with about 1,000 elementary, middle and high school students.

“I grew up without people to encourage me to write,” says Friedman. “I was also a child psychology major in college and like working with kids, so when I heard about Young Storytellers, I liked the idea and started volunteering one hour a week with the foundation.”

The cast of “Crash & Bernstein” perform students’ stories for an audience of third, fourth and fifth graders at Walt Disney Elementary School in Burbank, Calif.

Friedman has since become one of the most active Young Storytellers volunteers. Over 13 years, he has mentored 19 students individually in 10-week sessions.

“I’m the lucky one,” says Friedman. “It’s so exciting to watch these kids work their brains. They don’t edit themselves the way adults do. They just let their imaginations run free, and the range of topics they cover is astounding. It inspires me. Our motto is ‘Every child has a story worth telling,’ and it’s true: I’ve never heard the same story twice.”

The culmination of each 10-week writing program is a public performance called The Big Show, in which the kids experience the thrill of seeing their own scripts performed publicly by professional actors recruited by Friedman and other foundation supporters. For one Big Show, Friedman recruited the entire cast of “Crash & Bernstein” to perform for the student writers, and Disney hosted the special event in Burbank, Calif.

As Friedman’s writing career has blossomed, he has expanded his work with Young Storytellers by producing three fundraising events for adult audiences called After Dark, for which he has recruited top Los Angeles comedians such as the Sklar Brothers and Casey Wilson to read works written by Young Storytellers alumni. Friedman also makes personal financial donations to the foundation each year, and in 2013 he joined the Young Storytellers board of directors.

Friedman says his volunteer work is its own reward, mostly because he loves watching his students mature creatively and come out of their shells.

“If even a few of my students feel inspired to keep writing, that’s a reward in itself,” says Friedman. “It’s the best gift you can get.”

60 Minutes of Art

60 Minutes of Art, a nonprofit located in Miami, Florida, takes the visual and performing arts into inner city neighborhoods that have either lost funding for their own programs, or have simply never had art accessible to them.

In 2013, music student, Jonathan Wynn-Strachan founded the program to address and lower negative outlets in exchange for positive alternatives. Strachan and his 60 Minutes of Art team take their services to parks and other inner-city community venues to deliver free art programs to residents. Thus far, the 60 Minutes of Art team has reached over 500 students and established four ongoing programs in four neighborhood parks. In addition, Strachan has provided art and music students serving on the 60 Minute of Art team an opportunity to become involved in their communities. The student volunteers have also seen a boost in their own grades, behavior, and self-esteem.

Debra Greenhalgh

Debra Greenhalgh of Newport, Rhode Island provides therapeutic in-water experiences for anyone who can benefit, particularly people with disabilities, wounded veterans, terminally ill children, and others recovering from an injury or illness.

For the past ten years, Greenhalgh has been volunteering as a scuba diving instructor providing therapeutic in-water and scuba diving experiences for people with disabilities and adaptive needs. Often, Greenhalgh collaborates with the Wounded Warrior Project, a veteran’s service organization that offers a variety of programs, service and events for wounded veterans of the military actions following the events of 9/11/2001.

In addition, she coordinates and manages a network of volunteer scuba-diving instructors in the New England area that implements programs, events, fundraising activities, and volunteer trainings. For example, Greenhalgh organizes fundraisers and recruits volunteers for an annual New York City event, a free weekend of water sports including scuba diving for wounded warriors and their families. Each year, approximately 1,500 warriors and their families participate, with approximately 40 taking the opportunity to scuba dive in the safety of a pool with experienced scuba instructors.

Another initiative of Greenhalgh’s is to increase awareness about the therapeutic benefits of scuba diving and in-water inclusion for people with adaptive needs. She gives presentations to various organizations including Boston Sea Rovers, the Boston Scuba Show, Beneath the Sea, and local Lions and Rotary clubs. She spreads the message that everyone can make a difference in another person’s life, and volunteering to help people with adaptive needs can have a huge positive impact on their ability to meet everyday challenges.

Greenhalgh’s need to make a difference and help people with disabilities through fundraising and in-water rehabilitation started with her experience with her son who, at the age of three years old, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After four years of surgeries and chemotherapy, her son struggled through recovery, and learned to walk and talk through rehabilitation. He is now 24 years old and cancer free. Greenhalgh sees his second chance at life as a gift. She sees volunteering as a way to help others, much like the way others helped her son.

Tami and Jess Willadsen

Tami Willadsen and her 10-year-old daughter, Jess, both killed in a house fire last month, left a legacy of passion and kindness in their Georgia community.

Jess and Tami Willadsen

When the Willadsens first moved to Avondale Estates in 2011, Tami, who was then a fundraiser for The Nature Conservancy, learned of The Museum School, a new and excelling K-8 charter school in DeKalb County, Ga. Its students were achieving high test scores, and Tami wanted to enroll Jess. At the time, the fledgling Museum School was operating out of prefabricated trailers and needed a better and permanent home. Tami volunteered to help.

Tami became the founding president of the The Museum School Foundation, managed the work of dozens of volunteers and led the foundation’s community outreach efforts. In the years that followed, during which she volunteered thousands of hours, Tami helped to raise more than $2 million in capital funds for the school from institutional investors and foundations, and inspired hundreds of parents to support the school.

Thanks in large part to her efforts, The Museum School was able to move into and begin renovation of an abandoned school building. The Museum School now has its permanent home, and renovations are in the final phase. Jess was a fourth grader there at the time of her death. (Tami’s husband, Dave, was injured in the April 12 fire, and their 5-year-old son, Jack, is still undergoing rehabilitative treatment for serious burns.)

“Tami helped every community she lived in since she was a little girl,” said Andrea Avery, Tami’s sister. “She always wanted to change the world and she always took action. She would set her mind on something and get it done, but she was never stressed. She brought grace and humor to her work, and people liked being around her. Her personality and drive helped her to succeed so much in fundraising.”

Tami’s first passion was for the environment, and over a 15-year career at The Nature Conservancy, she rose to become director of philanthropy in Georgia.

Her dedication to environmental issues influenced Jess, who became an activist in her own right. Concerned about the number of squirrels being hit by cars on her street, Jess launched a petition drive. The Avondale Estates mayor’s office responded, granting Jess the right to place a “squirrel crossing” sign near the road in front of the family home.

“Tami taught me to take risks and that it is OK to go all in and be overly passionate about something, even in the early stages when you are just getting to know it,” said Katherine Kelbaugh, founding principal of The Museum School, in a eulogy for the mother and daughter.

Kelbaugh said she also “learned from Tami the importance of loving your family and putting your children first.”

“From Jess I learned that values such as respect, responsibility, kindness can be modeled and practiced beautifully at any age,” said Kelbaugh.

“Tami created a passion for the school within the local community and in the larger philanthropic community,” said Aspen Kron, chair of The Museum School Board of Directors. “Her relationships here are deep, and her impact to the school is immeasurable. We will miss her enthusiasm, joy and passion for our school. … Mostly, we will miss our friend and her smile, but we are grateful for every moment we had with her and are thankful for her impact on us as individuals, as a board, and as a school community.”