Conflict Mediators Among ‘Points of Light’

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 on 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:

2114. Merrill Lynch & Co., New York, which founded the Christmas Calls program, run by employee volunteers, in 1980; each holiday season, thousands of elderly people are invited into Merrill Lynch offices nationwide to eat lunch and to phone their families and friends — both in the United States and abroad — free of charge.

2115. Fleet Material Support Office Tutorial Program, Mechanicsburg, Pa., which organizes more than 90 volunteers who serve as tutors and mentors at 41 local public and private schools.

2116. Sue Gilbertson, Phoenix, a full-time volunteer and advocate for Arizona children with behavioral and mental problems; she began her first parent-support group 13 years ago after her son was diagnosed with severe mental illness and she came to learn that there were few services available to parents in similar situations.

2117. Salvation Army Senior Companion Program, Newark, N.J., through which low-income people aged 60 and above provide in-home care to frail elderly people, for which they receive a tax-free stipend of $2.55 an hour and other benefits.

2118. NYSARC Adult Day Services AmeriCorps Program, Plainview, N.Y., through which developmentally disabled adults assist elderly people in Nassau County, N.Y., with food shopping, errands, laundry, and other chores.

2119. Dayton Mediation Center, Ohio, which offers free conflict-management training to local citizens, students, and others, and which annually conducts more than 500 mediation sessions involving approximately 2,000 residents.

2120. Marilyn Grafft, Santa Clara, Calif., a retired teacher who volunteers at the Montalvo Association, a nonprofit cultural center, and who recruits, trains, and schedules the Education and Outreach Department’s volunteers.