Heart of the Community Awards 2005
All proceeds from the event benefit Hands on Portland, Portland’s volunteer center dedicated to matching individuals of all ages with nonprofit organizations throughout the Portland area.
The Heart of the Community Awards are also sponsored by Portland General Electric, HealthNet, Cingular Wireless, The Corporate Volunteer Council (CVC,) Fred Meyer, Intel Corporation, KGW, NW Natural, The Standard, Umpqua Bank and US Bank.
Award winners were chosen in five categories:
Individual Volunteer Award Recipient, CJ Harris
For 15 years, CJ Harris has been volunteering with Morrison Child and Family Services, driving children to therapy,
doctor and dentist appointments. Transporting upwards of 24 kids round trip every week, CJ often drives from morning to night.
When he has time between rides, CJ waits with the children for their appointments to begin, plays games, reads and colors
with them, provides snacks, and also makes the occasional ice cream stop. CJ models appropriate adult behavior and forms
mentor-like relationships with the children, many of whom are in foster homes and most of whom are survivors of multiple abuses
and losses. CJ recently penned the children’s book “Honey of a Bee”, which he dedicated to the youngsters he so generously serves.
Nathan Sibell Youth Leadership Award Recipient, Katie Reed
17-year-old Southridge High School student Katie Reed formed the Matale Student Sponsor-A-Student Fund. The Fund was formed
last year when Southridge High School established a sister school in Matale, Uganda with St. Andrew’s Secondary School. As the Sister School Student Coordinator, Katie created the student sponsorship fund, whose purpose was to help provide sponsorships for students orphaned by AIDS. Through this project, 24 students started high school at St. Andrews this past fall that otherwise would not have been able to attend. In addition to being provided with uniforms, books, and fees for the year, each student is also enrolled in a micro-business
program, where they will be trained to care for chickens that in turn will generate revenue for the student and his or her family. As the student coordinator, Katie developed, organized and launched this sponsorship project. Katie continues to be instrumental in the coordination of the program, organizing fundraisers, handling donor gifts and recognition, and most recently worked with Intel to launch a Sister School Partnership web site www.matale.com to get the word out about this remarkable project. Katie hopes to attend Harvard University next year, and is thinking about a career as a diplomat in eastern Africa.
Volunteer Innovation Award, Trauma Intervention Program
TIP volunteers are among the caring citizens in our community that address the emotional wounds of a crisis or traumatic event.
Volunteers from the Portland area make themselves available to be a "Good Samaritan"; one that tends to the immediate emotional
and practical needs of those in crisis. This innovative approach of adding a person to our emergency response team has been
working in the greater Portland area for over 13 years with 133 TIP volunteers proficient in responding to every crisis within
20 minutes.
In the 2005 calendar year, TIP volunteers responded to 1,549 calls for assistance, averaged a 19.92-minute response time, and provided assistance to 10,773 citizens. Volunteers of the TIP program donated a total of 44,548 hours. TIP volunteers are trained to work in conjunction with other assisting agencies such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
In September of 2005, the Portland/Vancouver TIP chapter was the first in the nation to be recognized as a "model TIP chapter" and praised for excellence in volunteer work.
Corporate Volunteer Program, Comcast
Comcast has over 70,000 employees nationwide that have something special to offer the communities where employees and customers
live and work. At the local level, Comcast of Oregon and Southwest Washington is committed to further strengthening their corporate giving
programs. This program includes financial support to non-profit organizations, in-kind media support, free video and
high-speed Internet connections provided to schools throughout the region through the Cable in the Classroom program, and more
significantly, employee volunteerism initiatives. The employees of Comcast understand that through the teamwork and cooperation of many groups in the community, everyone will thrive. Comcast helps to support over 50 non-profit organizations and projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington in the areas of literacy, volunteerism and youth development. A few of the programs that Comcast is currently involved with are Tools for Schools, SEI Celebrity Reading Program, Employee Volunteer Program, and the Marion County Food Share.
Heart of the Community Award, John Kitzhaber
Dr. John Kitzhaber is a former emergency physician, legislator, and two-term Governor for the State of Oregon (1995-2003).
Dr. Kitzhaber is also the past President of the Oregon State Senate where he authored and implemented the groundbreaking
Oregon Health Plan. During his legislative career, which began in 1979, he played an active leadership role in the areas
of public education, community development and environmental stewardship along with a wide variety of health care issues,
which include: long-term care, resource allocation and uncompensated care.
In January of 2003, Dr. Kitzhaber began serving as the President of the Estes Park Institute, which conducts six educational conferences for community hospitals annually. Dr. Kitzhaber also serves as Director for the Center for Evidence Based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. In addition, he also holds an endowed Chair on Health Care Policy with The Foundation for Medical Excellence; an Oregon based, public and nonprofit educational foundation.
