Translator for Chinese-Speaking Patients Is Among New ‘Points of Light’ Award Winners

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 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:

1638. Theresa Bartley, Chugiak, Alaska, a volunteer at Standing Together Against Rape, where she logged nearly 300 volunteer hours last year on its crisis hotline; she also took a three-month sabbatical from her job to perform community outreach and raise funds for STAR.

1639. Addie Brown, Winnsboro, La., founder of Project Excellence, an organization that offers after-school and summer programs for youths in Franklin Parish, La.; she is also executive director of the parish’s Head Start program.

1640. ConnectiKids, Hartford, Conn., a program through which Aetna employees tutor Hartford public high-school students, who also participate in after-school activities and a summer program run by the project.

1641. Dianne Wooldridge, Richardson, Tex., volunteer director at Camp We Can, a summer program for more than 150 children at Zaragota Elementary School and for youths from area shelters.

1642. Maggie Wright, Newark, N.J., a woman in her 60’s who began volunteering at Newark’s Do Something house, where young adults receive volunteer training, in 1994 and now resides there with her son, working as office manager; through the years she has also organized neighborhood watches, block parties, and other community events.

1643. Kim Chu, New York, who was the first Chinese-language translator at New York U. Downtown Hospital, helping doctors and patients communicate for the past 34 years, and now also trains more than 300 Chinese-American volunteers.

1644. Joann Hammitt, Lehigh, Iowa, a volunteer with several human-service and religious organizations who has raised money to buy prescription medicine for children and food for poor families; she also raised $14,000 for a high-school student who needed a liver transplant.

1645. Interages Bridges Intergenerational Mentoring Program, Silver Spring, Md., which pairs immigrant children with elderly natives who serve as tutors and cultural guides to the children’s new home.

1646. Emma Tibbs, Lexington, Ky., president of the Fayette County Neighborhood Council, an all-volunteer organization that, through her leadership, has galvanized residents and local governments to tackle problems with crime and sanitation.

1647. Tiffany Rae Ley, Cuero, Tex., a teenager who has served in several local, state, and national leadership positions in 4-H and other volunteer groups and coordinated her peers’ work in flood-relief efforts with the Red Cross in October 1998.

1648. The Cornell Tradition, Ithaca, N.Y., a program at Cornell U. that provides financial assistance to undergraduate students who complete at least 75 hours of volunteer service and 250 hours of paid employment while maintaining a minimum grade-point average; Tradition Fellows give an average of 100,000 hours of service to the campus and community each year.

1649. Karl Little, Virginia Beach, Va., a naval chief petty officer who coaches and transports Special Olympics athletes and has obtained the materials to allow him and other volunteers to build access ramps at the homes of individuals who are physically disabled.

1650. Dorothy Brockman, Greenville, S.C., a retired parks and recreation specialist who now fills the void left by funding cutbacks by organizing regular programs and special events for inner-city residents, such as a community center and the Miss Parks & Recreation Pageant.