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Points of Light Recognizes Extraordinary Achievements in Service

Points of Light Recognizes Extraordinary Achievements in Service

Published 06-29-10

Submitted by Points of Light

As our nation struggles with continuing crucial challenges, Points of Light Institute last night honored inspirational achievements from individuals and organizations who have significantly transformed communities for the better. They were recognized at the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service in New York City

Four Daily Point of Light award-winners were recognized for creating meaningful changes in their communities across America.

Shannon Lambert, of Minneapolis who was a raped as teenager, founded Pandora’s Project as an adult, an online resource connecting victims of sexual abuse across the world. Here they can speak freely and find support.

Delores Powell of Buffalo struggled to continue to make repairs on the first home she owned even as she saw neighbors lose their own homes in this challenging economy. Instead of focusing only on her problems, she took the whole neighborhood under her wing. The result was that Extreme Makeover: Neighborhood Edition built Delores a new home AND renovated another 119 homes in her community!

Katy Keck volunteers with Infinite Family, an online mentoring organization for orphaned children in Africa, producing all its fundraising events, which have raised more than $200,000 in donations.

New York State's First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson has spent three years volunteering at hospital emergency rooms counseling injured domestic violence victims and has worked with many community organizations and corporations on health care and education. She has created a state-wide initiative that challenges middle-school students to exercise more and eat healthy foods.

Rita Byrne and Krista Shugart won President's Volunteer Service Awards for their annual volunteer hours served and the positive impact of those hours on their communities. Rita spent more than 4,000 hours last year in the pediatric ward of a hospital on Long Island, NY. She inspires others and is inspired herself by the bravery of the children there. Krista volunteers with Pass It Along ServiceCorps in New Jersey and has pledged 100-300 hours of service in a year, which she has exceeded. She also mentors inner-city children and volunteers at a soup kitchen in Newark.

Six amazing children were named Hasbro Community Action Hero award-winners by generationOn, the youth services division of Points of Light Institute:

Faith Nelson, 10, plays a pivotal role at the Cougar Kids Care Club in Greensboro, NC, where she has established a recycling program, fed six families for Thanksgiving, collected 1,000 cans in a food drive, and more.

Alexandria Segovia, 16, a junior CERT, has trained another 35 teens in emergency response, has completed more than 500 hours of service through the HandsOn Miami action center, and each election day personally calls and emails elected state officials.

JT Eden, 7, moved to a new community and immediately began a service club for his second-grade classmates, which they named Planet Protectors. It raised $1,200 for the Red Cross and created packages of needed items for Marines in Afghanistan.

Cole Layman, 12, founded the Paws for Peace Kids Care Club in Tampa, FL, and then moved and established a Random Acts of Kindness week at his new school in Virginia. He also helps younger students who need academic and social support.

Shaeli Marie Funk, 11, of Jackson, WY, collects gently-used items to donate each month to nonprofits, and filled 92 stockings during the holidays for a nursing home. With the "Under the Stairs" club she started, she and others collect stuffed animals for police and firefighters to give to children in times of crisis.

Hannah Salwen of Atlanta, when she was 14, saw a homeless man next to an expensive car. She wondered at the inequity in resources. Hannah eventually convinced her family to sell their large home, move to a smaller one, and donate half the sales price to charity. The family ended up contributing $800,000 to fight poverty in Africa, working with the Hunger Project.

AT&T, Campbell Soup Company, Intel Corporation, and Old National Bank each received the 2010 Corporate Engagement Award of Excellence for building strong and effective volunteer programs to improve the communities where they operate.

Through AT&T Cares, employees and retirees donated 8.5 million hours of time, worth more than $170 million, to community outreach activities in 2009. Campbell Soup Company’s "Nourishing Our Neighbors" program partners with local food banks, and provides enthusiasm and support in making their communities a better place. During Intel’s 40th anniversary, employees gave 1.3 million hours of outreach and services to their communities worldwide. Old National Bank boasts an 85 percent increase in employee volunteerism, and an 100 percent executive participation rate in its partnerships with community organizations to promote financial literacy and home ownership education.

Hands On Nashville is the winner of the George W. Romney Excellence Award. In response to the recent Tennessee flooding, Hands On Nashville placed more than 16,000 volunteers in service between May and June, contributing $1.4 million in economic impact to the flood relief.

Volunteer Center Santa Cruz and Volunteer San Diego have won The Innovative Technology Award. Santa Cruz, focused on utilizing technologies such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to promote volunteerism, d increased volunteer registration by 25 percent.

Volunteer San Diego's use of an online registration system to on-board volunteers increased the number of people oriented annually from 2,050 to 5,052.

Northern New Jersey Business Volunteer Council has been honored with the Corporate Volunteer Council of the Year Award, for its commitment to improve the lives of families, resulting in more than $1 million in resources for its community, including new books for preschool students, backpacks for foster children, as well as food and cash donations .

About Points of Light Institute

Points of Light Institute inspires, equips and mobilizes people to take action that changes the world. The Institute has a global focus to redefine volunteerism and civic engagement for the 21st century, putting people at the center of community problem solving. We are organized to innovate, incubate and activate new ideas that help people act upon their power to make a difference. Points of Light Institute operates three dynamic business units that share our mission: HandsOn Network, MissionFish and the Civic Incubator.

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Points of Light

Points of Light

Points of Light is a global nonprofit organization that inspires, equips and mobilizes millions of people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which every individual discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies. Through 145 affiliates across 39 countries, and in partnership with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages 3.7 million volunteers in 16.7 million hours of service each year, contributing $498.7 million of value in people power into communities around the world. We bring the power of people to bear where it’s needed most. To learn more about Points of Light visit pointsoflight.org

Partnering with Points of Light means you’ll have the expertise and support you need to mobilize your colleagues and create community impact using all aspects of civic engagement. We've helped companies with a variety of needs including implementing large-scale employee volunteer events, tackling your larger social impact vision, expanding how you engage communities and consumers, infusing new ideas to your annual employee engagement programs, connecting with peers to bring the latest and greatest ideas on impact measurement, and getting company leadership investment and buy-in. Learn more today.

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