White House Picks 14 More ‘Points of Light’ Honorees

Following are the people and organizations that have most recently been named to receive President Clinton’s Daily Points of Light Award.

The awards, which are given to those who have done exemplary volunteer work, take their name from President Bush’s description of people who do community service as “points of light.” Some 1,020 people received the honor when Mr. Bush was in office.

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:

1309. Carol Olson, Humble, Tex., a literacy tutor who volunteers at Pine Forest Elementary School and who recently trained the Kingwood High School varsity football team to serve as mentors to youths in summer school.

1310. Paul Bales, Maryville, Tenn., who organized the “Empty Pantry Fund,” “Coats for the Cold,” and “Area School Bus Safety Check” programs to benefit residents of Blount County, Tenn.

1311. Pat Reagan, Sioux Falls, S.D., a fund raiser and volunteer for Heartland House, a transitional-housing facility for homeless people, who also uses her job-counseling businesses to help the residents find work.

1312. Matthew Stock, Plantation, Fla., a high-school student who created a program at the Broward Lighthouse for the Blind that matches visually impaired youths with tutors who offer academic help and with “buddies” who help the kids gain confidence.

1313. Betty and Kendall Booth, Long Beach, Cal., retirees who spend time with sick children at Miller Children’s Long Beach Memorial Hospital Center; Mr. Booth also runs a program that recruits elderly people to be “surrogate grandparents” to the youngsters.

1314. Sue Sisley, Scottsdale, Ariz., a physician at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center who created the “Think It Through Revue,” a musical production that promotes sexual abstinence and that travels to schools throughout Arizona.

1315. Frances O. Scarantino, Howard Beach, N.Y., co-founder of Striving to Achieve & Reach Success (S.T.A.R.S.), an organization that established a youth center and a council for teen-agers interested in pursuing community-service activities.

1316. Joseph Cristina, El Segundo, Cal., a toy-company executive who founded and chairs the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, which supports programs that help healthy children cope with the effects of the disease on loved ones.

1317. Ben Conner, Burger, Tex., chairman of the Hutchinson County Crisis Center, which was established in 1995 by Mr. Conner and others to replace a departed agency that had provided services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

1318. Don Wolf, Fort Wayne, Ind., a businessman who worked with local school administrators and area companies to create the “Study Connection,” which pairs struggling students with professionals who spend an hour each week tutoring and counseling the youths.

1319. Padmini Parthasarathy, Concord, Cal., a senior at the University of California at Irvine who is the national chair of the March of Dimes National Youth Council and who led a recent educational campaign for the charity.

1320. San Dieguito Alliance for Drug Free Youth, Del Mar, Cal., which sponsors the “Study Buddy” program, in which teenagers must take an oath to stay drug- and alcohol-free before they start an eight-week program to serve as mentors to elementary-school students.

1321. R. William Van Sant, Coatesville, Pa., chairman of the steel company Lukens Inc., who formed a coalition of 18 local businesses that work with residents of Coatesville on such projects as restoring parks and constructing a cultural center.

1322. Heather Metzger, Millersville, Md., a 21-year-old advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Driving whose father was killed in a drunk-driving accident; her work includes sharing her story with convicted offenders and designing anti-drunk-driving flyers to be placed in rental tuxedos at prom time.