Points of Light Honors 11-Year-Old Author

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://pointsoflight.org, or by contacting the foundation at 1400 I Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20005; (202) 729-8184.

The recipients:

2093. Volunteers for Peace, Belmont, Vt., a group that provides consultation and placement services for U.S. nonprofit groups organizing volunteer-run “work camps,” and matches American students with volunteer-service opportunities abroad.

2094. Green River Area Development District “Senior Connections” AmeriCorps, Owensboro, Ky., which offers elderly residents of western Kentucky in-home assistance with chores, home management, and home repairs, and provides relief services for caregivers.

2095. Paul Bales, Maryville, Tenn., who for the past 42 years has served as chairman of the Empty Pantry Fund, an organization that buys and delivers food to needy residents of Blount County, Tenn., during the holidays. Mr. Bales also created Coats for the Cold and Operation Big Yellow, a safety check of local school buses prior to the beginning of the school year.

2096. Volunteer Services Program at Methodist Rehabilitation Center, Jackson, Miss., which helps patients cope with the effects of stroke, traumatic brain injury, and spinal-cord injury.

2097. Sondra Clark, Bellingham, Wash., an 11-year-old who has written two books, donating the proceeds to charity; served as “spokeschild” for Childcare International, traveling to Africa; and given motivational speeches on the importance of volunteering.

2098. Orange Hats, Washington, citizen-patrol teams — named for the orange baseball caps they wear — that walk together in the evening in their neighborhoods to deter criminal activity; more than 250 Orange Hat groups have been organized nationwide.

2099. Thomas Turner, Georgetown, Ohio, a member of the Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame who helped found Seniors with a Purpose, a group comprising former players in the Negro major and minor leagues who reach out to youths and others through speaking engagements and baseball clinics.

2100. Greg Siegman, Chicago, a teacher who founded BrunchBunch.com, a group of youths from inner-city Chicago schools and adult professionals who meet regularly to have meals in upscale restaurants and to play basketball; the program’s intent is to demonstrate that seemingly disparate people have much in common and that the youths should not be labeled “inner-city kids” or “disadvantaged” because of their ethnicity, culture, or background.

2101. Gennifer Davis, Sciotoville, Ohio, a teenager who recruited other youths to paint, clean, and renovate the youth library and center in her small Appalachian town, resulting in donations of books, computers, and encyclopedias; Ms. Davis also recently founded a youth-service group called Focused Organized Resourceful Compassionate Energized Youth (FORCE).

2102. Joseph Murtagh Jr., Goshen, N.Y., a long-time community volunteer who has led the Goshen Rotary Club to raise more than $100,000 for polio-eradication efforts, served as chair of a countywide program to reduce student dropout rates, and created a newsletter encouraging innovative problem solving that he faxes to 255 community leaders monthly.

2103. Phyllis Hoffman, Palm Beach, Fla., founder of the Jewish Family & Residential Service and a decades-long advocate for mentally and physically disabled individuals; in the 1970’s, when there were no appropriate services available to her developmentally disabled daughter, Troy, Ms. Hoffman set up a school for Troy and other children and, more recently, secured funds for a supervised apartment complex where Troy and other disabled adults now reside.

2104. Mental Health Coalition in Pinellas County, Clearwater, Fla., who created a 40-hour training course for Pinellas County law-enforcement officers that teaches them how to respond properly to calls involving mentally ill people; the course has since been adopted by other Florida counties.

2105. Linda Benge, Rockwell, N.C., who has worked at Nazareth Children’s Home for more than 30 years, providing abused and neglected children with nutritional, counseling, and other services.

2106. Junior League of South Bend, Ind., which supports the Community Resource Center’s suicide-prevention hotline for teenagers through the Yellow Ribbon Campaign, providing both funds and volunteers.

2107. Mike Madden, Hebron, Ky., president of the Campbell County Jaycees, who has helped initiate a tornado-relief program, a cable-television show on public safety, and Creek Restoration in Kentucky, which involves more than 200 volunteers in educating people about dumpsites and their link to pollution in local streams.