Society > Charities
Mission to Accomplish: Addie Tompkins
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When Addie Tompkins began volunteering at a children’s home 18 years ago, the kids who touched her heart the most were the ones who never had visitors. “I’d sort of pick them out from the crowd and do special things for them you know, bring them little treats for their birthdays and such,” she recalls. “They started calling me ‘Mom,’ and it really charged me up, seeing how a tiny kindness could have such an impact on a child’s life.” Inspired, she started dropping by a nursing home. There, too, she focused on residents who seldom had visitors. “Having someone to talk to and spend time with made all the difference in the world to them,” she says.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
Mission to Accomplish: Noemi Neidorff
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Noemi Neidorff’s love affair with music and the arts began at an early age. “I started playing the piano by ear as a 3-year-old growing up in Hungary, and subsequently appeared in a children’s hour program on Budapest radio,” she says. “I was about 6 years old when I began studying with a wonderful teacher at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.” But the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 would forever change her family’s fate. “We escaped, but we were caught once, sent back, and at one point, they threatened to send us to Siberia,” Neidorff recalls. “We came to the United States penniless with two knapsacks on our backs.”
Thursday, July 2, 2009 11:07 PM CDT
Mission to Accomplish: Brian Rothery
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Brian Rothery’s great-uncle had cerebral palsy. “When I was a kid, I’d go over there once a week and cut his grass, and afterward, we’d talk,” he says. “I admired the guy’s courage and dignity so much. He was severely disabled, I mean, the only way he could get around was by pushing himself along in a Radio Flyer wagon.” Rothery pauses for a moment. “When I got involved with Variety and saw the special equipment and services it provides for kids with disabilities, my first thought was, ‘If only my great-uncle had grown up as a Variety child, his life would have been easier.’ At that moment, I knew I’d found the right cause.”
Thursday, July 2, 2009 11:07 PM CDT |
ROBERT CUNNINGHAM has joined Jewish Family & Children’s Service as a financial assistance social worker.
Thursday, July 2, 2009 11:07 PM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Lead Story: National City Bank
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'To whom much is given, much will be required.’ National City, now part of PNC Financial Services Group, has taken that to heart since entering the St. Louis banking scene five years ago, donating nearly $5 million to local causes ranging from health and human services to education and the arts.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Winner: Let’s Start
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She’d been on drugs since high school and in and out of treatment centers for years, but when her youngest son was born addicted, Felicia Moore realized she had to change her life. There was a warrant out for her arrest, so she turned herself in. “At that time, I didn’t think I would ever amount to anything or that I had anything to aspire to,” she says. While in jail, she heard about Let’s Start, an organization for women who are facing the challenges of life after prison. “The minute I got out, that’s where I headed,” Moore says. “I knew I had to do something different to make things right for me and my sons.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Let’s Start Volunteer
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Linda McCrackin was 5 years old when she went to Union Station with her family to pick up her grandmother. “I saw this woman who was wailing and screaming, completely out of control,” McCrackin recalls. “My dad said she was drunk or a dope addict, and hurried us past her. I’ve never been able to forget her.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Winner: USO of Missouri, Inc.
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Whether they’re patrolling the streets of Iraq, trading gunfire with unseen snipers in Afghanistan or enduring a tough drill sergeant during basic training, military personnel serve their country 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. So does the USO. “Our mission is to support all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families in whatever way we can,” says Kathy O’Connor, executive director of the USO of Missouri. “No matter where they are or where they’ve been, we try to give them a safe haven and a touch of home.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: USO of Missouri Volunteer
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When Ruth Shedlofsky was in high school, “I used to dance with the soldiers at the USO downtown,” she recalls. “We had a ball.” Today, at 84, Shedlofsky is still volunteering for the USO, and still having a ball. She can’t dance anymore, but that doesn’t stop her. “I make copies in the office, work in the canteen, wherever they need me,” says Shedlofsky, a widowed mother of four who has nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. “It keeps me going and out of trouble.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Winner: The Wellness Community
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Living well while living with cancer, that’s the goal for every person who walks through the doors of The Wellness Community. Since 1993, the Greater St. Louis Chapter has been empowering cancer patients and their families, and enhancing their health and well-being through emotional support, education and hope.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: The Wellness Community Volunteer
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Nutritionist and chef Robin McClanathan lost her mother to pancreatic cancer, and it’s that personal connection that makes her involvement at The Wellness Community “more passionate and more important.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Finalist: Little Bit Foundation
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Kids call them “The Little Bit Ladies” and high-five them in the hallways. They work out of a 526-square-foot athletic closet generously donated by Christian Brothers College High School. And they serve 3,000 kids a year at 12 St. Louis City schools, providing coats, shoes, clothes that fit and the opportunity for kids to focus on school, not on what they’re wearing, or on what they lack.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Finalist: Girls on the Run
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Anyone involved with Girls on the Run will tell you that its essence is all about girl power. “We prepare girls for a lifetime of self-respect, healthy living and a sense of community, all intertwined through running,” says executive director Jill Indovino.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Finalist: Variety The Children’s
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Parents try hard to give their children the best possible life, a task made even more challenging when a child is physically or mentally disabled. “Sarah suffered a five-hour seizure when she was 3 years old, and she’s had a brain injury ever since,” says Sandy Smith, Sarah’s mother. “At the time she was hospitalized for four months, and the medical bills were unbelievable.” On top of that, the family needed a wheelchair, physical therapy, and other specialized equipment and services for Sarah. “To say we were at wits’ end would be an understatement,” Smith recalls. “To have suffered such a blow with our daughter, and then have to deal with the financial consequences, was completely overwhelming.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Finalist: Home Services, Inc.
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Enjoying the comforts of home is one of life’s simplest pleasures, but for needy seniors and persons with disabilities, ‘home’ is in constant jeopardy. That’s because even the simplest repair can rob them of the peace of mind and freedom that come with independent living.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Finalist: Safe Connections
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Domestic violence plagues every neighborhood. That’s why at Safe Connections, the doors are open for everyone, says executive director Susan Kidder. “Relationship violence and sexual assault can happen to anyone, whether you live in Ladue, Chesterfield, North County or downtown.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Finalist: Teach for America
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The facts about St. Louis Public Schools are sobering. According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, just over 50 percent of high school students in the Saint Louis Public School district graduate from high school. That’s compared to Missouri’s statewide average of 85 percent. And only 19 percent of city elementary students meet their grade level mathematics standards, compared to 69 percent of their peers in Clayton elementary schools, for example. That gap continues to widen over the years, with just 14 percent of 10th grade city students meeting grade level standards, compared to 70 percent of 10th graders at Clayton High School.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Volunteer: Corie Fusz
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The Christian Brothers College (CBC) soccer team was the source not just of the founders of the Little Bit Foundation, but one of its longtime volunteers, Corie Fusz. Her son played with the boys of co-founders Rosemary Tierney and Elise Hanley. When Fusz heard that the two women were collecting coats three years ago, she went through her closets, pulled some items, and dropped them off at the athletic closet at CBC where the foundation sorts and stores its inventory.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Volunteer:Kristie Skor
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Kristie Skor calls her work with Girls on the Run a perfect fit. “It brings together two of my passions: running and being a mom.” For the past four years, Skor has been actively involved as a board member, coach and everything between. “Running has always been a big part of my life, and the thought of being able to help girls just like my daughter has always factored into my decision.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Volunteer: Marilyn Fox
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It was just a tiny box, but it had a huge impact on Marilyn Fox. “My parents came from Eastern Europe under very bad circumstances,” she recalls. “They had no money, but they always put whatever spare change they had in this little box, and they’d give the money to the poor. They taught me that I had an obligation to help others.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Volunteer: Mary Ann Price
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If someone is willing to dedicate 20 years of her life to support the mission of an organization, you know it’s a cause she believes in. Mary Ann Price has done just that, served on the board of Home Services, Inc., as past president and current vice president, for two decades.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Volunteer: Dr. Jill Powell
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Dr. Jill Powell says the scourge of domestic violence is always at the forefront of her practice as an Ob-Gyn. “Every single day, I see a patient who has experienced some form of relationship violence, be it teenagers or adult women.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
LN Charity Awards: Volunteer: Ozair Shariff
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Ozair Shariff initially planned to go to law school after earning his B.A. at Indiana University. But when he met a Teach for America recruiter on campus, Shariff’s interest was piqued. He started gathering information, reading articles about the ‘achievement gap,’ and learning about the inequalities in education,“one of the most acute civil rights issues facing our country today,” he says. “I came to the conclusion that the achievement gap was something I wanted to have an impact on, and it seemed like going into the classroom was a great way to do that.”
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT |
Life Skills has been changing the lives of St. Louisans with developmental disabilities for 45 years. The nonprofit serves nearly 1,500 people with disabilities in the metropolitan area, helping them live in their own homes, find meaningful employment and make friends.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT
Bigger and Better: Local Charities Expand
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Local charities deliver help whenever and wherever it’s necessary. But when the going gets as tough as it is in today’s trying economy, they have to really scramble to meet increased demand. Two area nonprofits, St. Patrick Center and the USO of Missouri, have recently expanded their facilities and services to do just that.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT |
Girls Incorporated of St. Louis has named VALERIE PATTON board president, NANCY SANTANA VP, CRAIG DAILY treasurer and NANCY LIEBERMAN secretary. It also has named board members PATRICIA CANADA, THELMA COOK, BARBARA HARBACH, JANA KENNEDY, RIC MCGOUGH, JADA REESE, ALBERTA SHELTON, ANNETTE SLACK, ALLAN SPATH, SONDRA TERRY, PATT SMITH-THURMAN and JANET THOMPSON.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT