‘Mitzvah-thon’ Creator Among ‘Points of Light’

Following are the people and organizations that have most recently been named to receive President Clinton’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 World Wide Web site, http://pointsoflight.org, or by contacting the foundation at 1400 I Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington 20005; (202) 729-8184.

The recipients:

1548. Ilana Gildenblatt, Cincinnati, who, at age 12, began the Mitzvah-thon, an annual event that each year raises money for a different local charity or person in need.

1549. Patricia Henderson, Cincinnati, a volunteer for the FreeStore/FoodBank who runs the organization’s “Opportunity Closet,” which provides low-income clients with donated professional clothing for job interviews; Ms. Henderson also cleans and repairs the clothes.

1550. Goodwill’s “School To Work,” Denver, a program that teaches at-risk high-school students skills to help them graduate and to get and keep a job; 89 percent of the program’s seniors have graduated on schedule.

1551. The Dance Institute of Washington, a group founded by Fabian Barnes, a former soloist with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, to offer a variety of dance classes to children in poor neighborhoods.

1552. Pat Dozer, Lexington, S.C., co-founder of the all-volunteer Sue Kuhlen Camp for Kids, which arranges monthly social events for children in South Carolina who are H.I.V. positive.

1553. Robert Nickels, Macon, Ga., who founded the local Bibb County chapter of Rolling Reader, an organization that works to improve schoolchildren’s reading skills; he now recruits volunteers, raises funds, and reads in three classrooms a week.

1554. U.S. Strategic Command Personal Excellence Partnership, Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., a program that includes volunteers from every branch of the military and civilians who tutor students in the Bellevue Public School System and act as mentors.

1555. Dartmouth Partners in Community Service, an internship program for Dartmouth College students who spend a semester as full-time volunteers at schools or human-services organizations, aided by Dartmouth alumni who recommend organizations and raise money to pay program expenses.

1556. The Rev. Msgr. Ralph Kuehner, Laurel, Md., who started the groups Victory Housing, which creates low-cost housing in eight facilities open or under construction, and So Others Might Eat, which provides food and emergency shelter and services for homeless and low-income people in Washington.

1557. Donna DePamphilis, Waldorf, Md., a special-education teacher who also is a coach for Special Olympics of Charles County; she coaches the most severely handicapped athletes who would not be able to participate without a medically trained volunteer.

1558. Tobacco Prevention Peer Educator Trainers, Flagstaff, Ariz., adults and students who train middle- and high-school students to teach young children about the negative effects of tobacco use.

1559. Kathryn Murdock, Stamford, Conn., who created and supervises a program that offers children from poor families computer training and, upon completion of the course, a donated computer.