Founder of Charity That Helps Youngsters Avoid Drugs Is Among New ‘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 at the foundation’s Web site, http://www.pointsoflight.org, or by contacting the foundation at 1400 I Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20005; (202) 729-8184.

The recipients:

2323. Vera Shelton, Spanish Fork, Utah, who volunteers as a “foster grandparent” at a local elementary school, where she spends time with young children who do not have grandparents living nearby.

2324. Austuny Jackson, Las Vegas, a high-school senior who organized a service day during which his classmates volunteered at 21 nonprofit groups in the Las Vegas area.

2325. Thomas Smith Jr., Clermont, Fla., who serves as a mentor at a support group for people with the chronic inflammatory disease lupus erythematosus.

2326. Aurelia Richardson, Las Vegas, who volunteers at Safenest, a local shelter for women and children affected by domestic violence.

2327. C. Allen Harpine, Fairfax, Va., a retired lawyer with the U.S. Department of the Interior who provides pro bono services through the AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly.

2328. Fran Miller, Ormond Beach, Fla., who teaches English as a second language to adult immigrants in western Volusia County, Fla.

2329. Buddy Taylor Middle School Students, Palm Coast, Fla., who formed a group to raise awareness about domestic-violence issues in their county.

2330. Jerry Hawver, Charlotte, N.C., who advises and teaches reading and math skills to a boy several times a week at the Alexander Children’s Center, in Charlotte.

2331. Volunteer Program of the Children’s Shelter, San Antonio, which organizes 160 individuals and 70 groups that donate administrative help, child care, and educational support to the shelter, a charity that provides services to abandoned, abused, and neglected children.

2332. Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, which provides financial advice about housing, including debt repayment and consolidation, to families at risk of becoming homeless.

2333. Virginia Katz, Norwalk, Conn., who founded the Courage to Speak Foundation, a nonprofit organization that seeks to prevent drug and alcohol abuse among youths. Ms. Katz and her husband, Larry, have given more than 300 presentations describing the 1996 death of their son, Ian James Eaccarino, following a heroin overdose.

2334. Eve Sullivan, Cambridge, Mass., who co-founded Parents Forum, a Cambridge-based center that provides training and peer-support classes for parents.

2335. Michaely Wieland, Ramsey, N.J., who has spent many hours over nearly two years tutoring, encouraging, and advising an 11-year-old girl in foster care.

2336. Brittany Wilson, De Land, Fla., a high-school sophomore who has volunteered her services for four years at Hospice of Volusia/Flagler, in Port Orange, Fla., sometimes using her pet dog as therapy for terminally ill patients.

2337. Mel Arnold, De Land, Fla., a volunteer at Hospice of Volusia/Flagler, in Port Orange, Fla., who carries out home repairs, runs errands, and provides other services for terminally ill people and their families.

2338. Clara Delaney, Cape Girardeau, Mo., a high-school senior who volunteers with Mississippi Valley Therapeutic Horsemanship, a group that provides disabled people with therapeutic horseback-riding services.

2339. Laurence Fausti, Edgewater, Fla., who helped found the Words Wizard program, through which college students teach reading skills to students at local elementary schools.