Hospice Volunteers Among Recent ‘Points of Light’ Recipients

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:

2185. Project Hope for the Homeless, Painesville, Ohio, a project of the Ecumenical Shelter Network of Lake County that provides homeless people with emergency shelter, mental-health counseling, vocational training, transportation, and Bible study.

2186. Steven Burda, Philadelphia, a volunteer with the Jewish Relief Agency, which distributes food to needy Jewish families in the Philadelphia area; among other services, he provides translation for recent immigrants from Russia.

2187. Allen Baca, Round Rock, Tex., who, in his career as a corrections supervisor, found that illiteracy was a major problem for many people on probation; to help remedy the problem, Mr. Baca volunteered for 16 years with the Bell County Jail’s GED Program and also began a literacy program for senior citizens.

2188. Jonathan Paoletti, Philadelphia, who works on various projects to meet the needs of American veterans, including writing letters, restoring a veterans’ memorial, and visiting patients at Veterans Affairs hospitals.

2189. Steve Curtis, Layton, Utah, whose volunteer activities have included serving on the city council, creating a memorial park for veterans, and promoting reading at a local school in the guise of Merlin the Magician.

2190. Unity Health Hospice Volunteer Program, St. Louis, whose pool of more than 70 volunteers provide terminally ill patients and their families with end-of-life care and bereavement services. They also provide family members with respite-care services, including help with transportation, cleaning, and running errands.

2191. Bill and Mary Louise Kingsbery, Alto, N.M., who have volunteered at Women’s Protective Services since the organization’s inception in the late 1970s, helping to raise funds for its services for battered women and their children.

2192. Lynda Hales, Salem, Utah, who volunteers at several local nonprofit groups that serve disadvantaged children and youths, including Kids Cause, the Nebo Foundation for Excellence, and the Nebo School District Summer Migrant Program, which provides educational assistance to the children of migrant farm workers.

2193. Eric Wolfe, Brazil, Ind., who has served for two years on the Indiana 4-H Foundation Board of Directors as its Junior Leader Representative, serving on three committees and devoting thousands of hours to 4-H activities.

2194. Arthur Finocchario, Rochester, N.Y., an active volunteer and board member at Compeer, a nonprofit group that recruits and trains mentors for adults and youths who are coping with mental illness or emotional disorders. Mr. Finocchario’s contributions have included serving as a mentor to an adolescent with attention deficit disorder and publicizing the organization’s work at local functions.

2195. Roger Nooe, Knoxville, Tenn., a professor of social work at the U. of Tennessee who was asked in 1985 to chair a committee of local representatives charged with examining homelessness in eastern Tennessee and making recommendations to address the problem. Mr. Nooe has since conducted several surveys that detail the extent of homelessness in the region, and has made more than 200 presentations and trained staff and board members at groups that serve homeless people.

2196. Mary Haas, East Amherst, N.Y., who spends approximately 85 hours a month managing the gift shop at Heathwood Health Care; her other volunteer activities have included organizing the bereavement committee at her church and packing relief supplies for children and adults in Nicaragua.

2197. Education Bridge Builders, Schenectady, N.Y., an AmeriCorps literacy program whose members provide one-on-one and group tutoring to more than 3,000 children at 11 local elementary schools annually.

2198. Westminster’s Builders Club, Annandale, Va., a group of seventh and eighth graders at Westminster School who tutor local elementary-school students, organize holiday food and clothing drives, and volunteer at the Center for Multicultural Human Services, where they help immigrants and refugees adjust to life in the Washington metropolitan area.

2199. Scott and Laurie Schoen, Weston, Mass., whose volunteer activities include serving as co-chairs of the Millennium Fund for Children and Families, a joint effort of the Boston Foundation and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay that seeks to raise $30-million for local human-services groups.