Medical Students Among Recent ‘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:

1523. Tillery Learn and Serve Project, Greenville, N.C., in which students and faculty from East Carolina University’s School of Medicine provide a free health clinic and make house calls for elderly and impoverished residents of this rural town.

1524. Gerald Kolski, Upland, Pa., a physician who serves as the medical director for Camp Superstuff, a program of the American Lung Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, where asthmatic children learn to manage their condition.

1525. Shirley Martin, Monticello, Ark., who created the “Foster Grandparent” program that trains elderly people to tutor elementary-school children in reading; the program has grown to 100 tutors in 13 school districts across southeastern Arkansas.

1526. James Pohlmann, Alexandria, Va., who repairs cassette recorders and narrates tapes for the “Talking Books” section of the Library of Congress, which loans tapes to visually impaired patrons.

1527. Mesa High School Students Helping Out Club, Mesa, Ariz., which enlists students to do yard work for disabled and elderly homeowners; S.H.OUT! volunteers groom three to eight yards a month.

1528. Park Program Rangers, Auburn Hills, Mich., which has 33 groups totaling more than 700 students, from kindergarten through high school, who renovate and maintain parks in the Detroit area and who rake leaves and shovel snow for the elderly.

1529. Harvey Kling, Bamberg, S.C., a retired business executive who revitalized the local Red Cross by reorganizing and expanding its board, and who took classes to learn how to provide community, disaster, and health services.

1530. Calman Lieberman, Brooklyn, N.Y., who organized rabbinical students and other volunteers who speak Yiddish to provide companionship and musical performances to the many Orthodox Jewish residents at the Aishel Avraham health facility.

1531. Health Valley 2000, Ansonia, Conn., which has several continuing projects to improve the quality of life and increase volunteerism in its six-town region, including creating a directory of activities for young people and a community Web site.

1532. Charmayne Dierker, Chestertown, Md., who founded Mothers Supporting Daughters with Breast Cancer with her daughter Lillie Shockney after Ms. Shockney was diagnosed with the disease; the group’s members exchange medical information, provide support, and act as health advocates.

1533. Our Friends’ Place, Dallas, a transitional home and service provider for girls and women ages 10 to 24 who need drug rehabilitation, therapy, or help in becoming independent adults; volunteers act as mentors until the young women can find an appropriate home environment or support themselves.

1534. G’Anne Sparks, Hendersonville, N.C., who has worked to increase literacy among numerous adults in western North Carolina by introducing computer programs to the Blue Ridge Literacy Council, organizing a literacy conference for volunteers and professionals, and creating a writing project that publishes students’ stories annually.