11-Year-Old Volunteer Is Among Recent ‘Points of Light’ Award Winners

Following are the people and organizations that have most recently been named to receive President Bush’s Daily Points of Light Award.

The Points of Light Foundation, a Washington charity, assists the president in making the choices and carrying out the award program. More information about the award winners and the program is available at the foundation’s Web site, http://pointsoflight.org, or by contacting the foundation at 1400 I Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20005; (202) 729-8184.

The recipients:

2057. Ethel Sampson, New Bern, N.C., who has addressed homelessness, hunger, and illness, among other things, as a community volunteer over the last 50 years. Ms. Sampson, who is an associate minister at her church, recently began a Christian service to offer moral and spiritual guidance.

2058. Al Andry, Abita Springs, La., who started Special Children Are Privileged in 1981. This volunteer-run program provides disadvantaged children with recreational activities and donates educational materials and other supplies to Enon Elementary School and other groups serving needy children.

2059. John Sandy, Brea, Calif., who has collected clothing and toys to benefit foster children in Orange County, Calif., since 1970.

2060. Fleet Combat Training Center Atlantic-Pep Flagship, Virginia Beach, a program that engages sailors in the U.S. Navy to serve as mentors, help with maintenance and repairs, and coordinate youth activities and excursions at five schools.

2061. Courtney Cox, Deerfield Beach, Fla., an 11-year-old girl who has organized various clothing, food, and toy drives to benefit homeless people, foster children, and other needy people. In addition, Ms. Cox worked with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to distribute materials designed to raise awareness of the disease and, most recently, helped raise funds through her local church for the children of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

2062. Dominican Dental Mission Project, Madison, Miss., a volunteer group of dentists started in 1982 that provides dental services during the summer to poor rural residents of the Dominican Republic.

2063. Senior Volunteer Tutors at King Elementary School, Louisville, Ky., a program that recruits elderly people to serve as year-round tutors for elementary-school children.

2064. Rev. Willie Wilson, Washington, a clergyman whose efforts to develop Anacostia, an extremely disadvantaged community in Southeast Washington, include a program to create a small-business “incubator,” a health and fitness center, a hospice for people with AIDS, and a day-care facility for the children of working poor people.

2065. Aspire-U. of Tennessee Center for Government Training, Nashville, a program that trains high-school students throughout Tennessee to develop and implement community-service programs at their schools.

2066. The Association for Senior Citizens, Denver, founded 20 years ago by Liz Cohill, who still serves as its executive director. The association provides various services to elderly residents of metropolitan Denver, including emergency financial assistance, a food bank, warm clothing, and a small residence facility with a live-in manager.

2067. Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Breast Health Education Speakers, Lathrup Village, Mich., a volunteer-run project that presents educational programs to community, business, religious, and social groups, urging women to comply with designated breast-cancer screening guidelines.

2068. Boyd American Legion Auxiliary Junior Division Post 326, Wis., whose members organize various community-service activities, with a special focus on raising money to provide special toys and other comforts to children with life-threatening illnesses.

2069. Anthony Piraino, Phoenix, who since 1992 has founded three groups dedicated to solving problems related to crime, vandalism, and safety in his Phoenix neighborhood: the Northwest Block Watch Coalition, the Graffiti Hotline, and the Stealth Team, which paints over graffiti and helps police identify the perpetrators.

2070. Khadijah Amatullah, Cincinnati, whose efforts have enabled hundreds of at-risk youths to receive drug-prevention, arts, and educational services at 13 sites citywide. Ms. Amatullah also volunteers or is a board member at several local groups, including the Homeownership Center of Cincinnati and the Gimmentti Bakery, where she helps distribute bread to needy families and women’s shelters.

2071. Charles Brown Jr., Hartwell, Ga., who, for the past two years, has tutored kindergartners and first graders at Mt. Olivet Elementary School in spelling, phonics, reading, and solving riddles.

2072. Interplast, Mountain View, Calif., a nonprofit group that sends medical volunteers to underdeveloped countries to provide needy children with free reconstructive surgery to correct such problems as cleft palates and disfigurement from severe burns.

2073. Beatrice Parker, Charlotte, N.C., a 64-year-old woman who, despite being on a small fixed income, provides terminally ill children with Christmas gifts, helps uninsured families arrange burial services, and purchases small items for needy people.

2074. Cooperative Council of Ministries, Woodbridge, Va., a coalition of churches and community groups whose efforts led to the opening of a homeless shelter in Prince William County, Va., in 1990. Coalition partners continue to coordinate, purchase, cook, and serve hot dinners and to provide breakfast and lunch items 365 days a year to shelter residents.

2075. Kyle Alderson, Muldrow, Okla., a teenager who has participated in many community-service projects and created two of his own: READ (Reading Encourages All Dreams) and “Saving Timmy,” a puppet show on school-bus safety that tours elementary schools.

2076. Cobbtown Lions Club, Ga., which created the Cobbtown Citizen of the Year program and reorganized and trained the Cobbtown Volunteer Fire Department, where many Lions Club members serve as volunteer firefighters.

2077. Allan Folmar, Renton, Wash., who, for the past 10 years, has spent every Friday night volunteering with Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission to provide homeless children and teenagers with food, blankets, counseling, and referrals.

2078. Facilitating Assistance in Transition & Healing (FAITH), Washington, a component of the International Network to Freedom Association that encourages black churches and faith-based groups to develop specialized programs that help reintegrate prior criminal offenders into their communities.

2079. Jeff Schiefelbein, College Station, Tex., who, as a senior at Texas A&M U., designed CARPOOL (Caring Aggies R Protecting Over Our Lives), a student-run designated-driver program that serves both intoxicated and sober students in need of a safe ride home.

2080. Jackson Young Lawyers Association, Miss., whose members provide after-school tutoring and homework assistance to youngsters at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Jackson, in addition to contributing funds and computers to the organization.

2081. Christian Whitton, West Monroe, La., a 17-year-old disability-rights advocate who monitors and reports violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related legislation. He first became involved with the issue at age 9, when he conducted legal research needed to persuade a local football league to allow his disabled friend to participate.

2082. Bill Derby, Council Bluffs, Iowa, a retired Navy serviceman who has volunteered at the Christian Home Association-Children’s Square U.S.A. for over a decade, serving as a youth-ministry leader and an art instructor in the recreational-therapy program, as well as in other capacities.

2083. Foster Grandparent Program at Lincoln Hills School, Irma, Wis., whose members provide individualized tutoring through the Title One Reading Buddy Program, aid teachers, and plant flowers at this school for incarcerated youths.

2084. Z. Salty Leatherwood, Daytona Beach, Fla., founder of Project Care, a nonprofit group that provides mentally ill adults with Christmas and birthday gifts, social activities such as parties and bingo games, and other services.

2085. Jenny Evans, Oakley, Utah, a high-school student who organized a mentor program that recruits high-school students to serve as positive role models for seventh graders in the South Summit School District.

2086. Debbie Parnham and Loretta Winn, Phoenix, who founded the charity Life Sentence three years ago after each woman lost a son to gun violence; to date, the two have shared their stories and discussed the rippling effects that crime has on families and the need for people to make responsible choices with more than 6,700 adults and teenagers at schools, churches, detention centers, and prisons.

2087. Madge Burton, Oxford, Ohio, who, after losing three of her children in a brutal murder, organized and founded Victims United, an advocacy and emotional-support group that has helped change Ohio laws to allow victims to maintain a strong presence in the legal process.

2088. Vivian Hanson Meehan, Riverwoods, Ill., president of the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, who, since founding the group in 1976, has instituted various community-based and national programs, including support groups, hotlines and referral lists, and public-education activities.

2089. Woodmen of the World/Omaha Woodmen Life Insurance Society, whose members work with local Red Cross chapters to provide relief services to people involved in floods, house fires, hurricanes, and other disasters and crises.

2090. Rusti Lang, Lakeside, Calif., a senior at Santana High School in Santee, Calif., who organized the student-led Rally of Hope after a fellow student opened fire at the school in March 2001, killing two and wounding 13.

2091. Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity, Norfolk, Va., a team of volunteers from the U.S. Navy’s largest industrial-maintenance facility who carry out community-service efforts through the Adopt-a-School program and the Junior Achievement Consultant Programs.

2092. Don Haidl, Industry, Calif., who, in addition to his job as a corporate manager, works between 30 and 50 hours per week as a volunteer assistant sheriff in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department charged with managing its reserve division.