The American Red Cross in Greater New York (ARC/GNY) presented fifteen volunteers and partner organizations with special honors for their extraordinary commitment to helping New Yorkers at the organization's annual Volunteer Recognition Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, June 8, 2005. Red Cross volunteers help New Yorkers to prepare for emergencies, respond to disasters, rebuild their lives after tragic events, teach children to swim, train people in lifesaving CPR skills, relay messages to military personnel serving abroad, and much more.

"Our 3,600-strong volunteer-family provides the valuable assistance that enables us to achieve our mission. Each and every one has something special to offer, and we are all the richer for their dedication to our mission," commented Terry Bischoff, CEO of ARC/GNY. Terry joined William Gray, Chairman of ARC/GNY's Board of Trustees, to celebrate award recipients' accomplishments at the recognition ceremony.

2005 VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION AWARDS CEREMONY WINNERS

Clara Barton Volunteer of the Year Award, Rick Abbate
Our highest honor was presented to Rick Abbate, who has been an ARC/GNY volunteer for 13 years. Rick has responded to every type of disaster including single-family house fires, multi-alarm commercial fires, building collapses, water main breaks, hurricanes and winter storms to name just a few. Rick has also been a co-Disaster Response Team captain along with his wife, Ellen, for the past seven years and a member of the Disaster Services Human Resources (DSHR) system, through which he was sent to national disasters such as an ice storm in Watertown, New York and floods in Boston.

Partnership Award, Diane Ryan & Lauren Ginsberg
Volunteer Diane Ryan, Chairperson of Disaster Mental Health (DMH), and employee Lauren Ginsberg, Director of Health and Mental Health in Disaster Services, have been working together for years to improve ARC/GNY mental health services. Recognizing that clients may not seek mental health services at the time of an incident, they are working to improve access to support beyond the disaster scene, and their partnership has made DMH more active in the city's preparedness activities. Diane has also consolidated her paid employment to four days, leaving one day for the Red Cross plus many evenings and weekends.

Youth Services Award, Cindy Chung
Cindy has completed 240 hours of administrative support, participated in 18 community events and leadership trainings, raised hundreds of dollars for holiday gifts for children affected by homelessness and disaster, and recruited and placed more than 70 new members to the ARC/GNY Youth Group. Even when the harshest elements of winter are in play, or the call to duty begins at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning, she always comes through.

Support Services Award, Dorothy Campbell
Dorothy Campbell, 83-years-young, joined the American Red Cross in 1998 offering vital administrative support. She organizes records, keeps volunteers' contact information up-to-date and calls them regarding meetings and other community activities. She has done her job so efficiently that with the extra time on her hands and decided to join the Disaster Response Team. She also participated in the 2003 Congregate Care Drill by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Health & Safety Services Award, Maria Sonaly Caro
Maria is the only female Latina bus driver instructor in New York City as well as an ARC/GNY volunteer First Aid/CPR/AED instructor. In order to gain her elite position with the Department of Transportation (DOT), she served as a bus driver for the required seven years before going through instructor training. Today she owns her own company -- one of the only four bus driver training schools in the area. Maria initially wanted to become a First Aid/CPR/AED instructor so she could teach bus drivers the important lifesaving skills, which she teaches in both English and Spanish.

Disaster Services Award, Debra Dean
Debra Dean started her work with the Red Cross as a mass care volunteer working at St. John's, Respite One, shortly after September 11, 2001. On the first anniversary of 9/11, Debra Dean coordinated a massive memorial for the families of those lost in the World Trade Center attacks. Debra has since committed her infinite energy to Disaster Services where she teaches disaster-related classes and became the leader of the Logistical Emergency Response Team (LERT). Debra is part of the Monday night Disaster Response Team and has offered her services at countless disasters, including the Morningside Heights fire, as well as handling mass care at the Sheepshead Bay fire, during the warming center activation, and for the Republican National Convention. With her experience from the Northeast Blackout, extensive planning for the second and third memorials for 9/11 and Flight 587, Debra also became Disaster Services' "event guru."

Community Services Award, Lynda Konecny
Lynda, a professor of nursing at New York City College of Technology, began volunteering with ARC/GNY in 2002 as a trainer for the Fire and Burn Safety (FaBS) program, certifying her nursing students to teach children ages three to seven about fire and burn safety and prevention. In 2004, Lynda trained and certified 117 nursing students and her students, in turn, have taught more than 1,600 children valuable fire prevention messages.

Fundraising Award, Louise Hilland
A life-long resident of Brooklyn, Louise's efforts have opened doors and forged supportive relationships between government leaders, business owners, clergy and community groups. Her work with a New York City Council Member paved the way for a government grant supporting emergency preparedness training for senior citizens. Her contact with a New York State Senator prompted him to help with the office's Centennial Benefit Gala, and her many close friendships throughout the borough have resulted in new members joining the Benefit Committee.

Corporate Community Partnership Award, JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways has donated a total of $96,000 to ARC/GNY since 2002, including underwriting the 2002, 2003 and 2004 Annual Reports. However, their partnership goes beyond finances: the airline has supported our mission by assisting families affected by disaster and the values that the company espouses mirror those of the American Red Cross. In March 2003, JetBlue flew "Jet Red" and served as the official sponsor of Red Cross Month. In fall 2003, JetBlue helped sponsor The Red Cross in Lower Manhattan: Together We Prepare. Over the years, they have donated $5,000 to help people affected by the floods in the Dominican Republic; helped sponsor the JetBlue Challenge for the ARC/GNY - Queens golf fundraiser in October 2004, and collected more than $225,000 for tsunami relief.

The Good Neighbor Award, Bilquis Edhi Relief Foundation
The Bilquis Edhi Relief Foundation is a private relief foundation headquartered in Pakistan whose mission is to "serve humanity." The foundation runs the world's largest volunteer ambulance service and operates medical clinics, soup kitchens, shelters and homes for battered women, orphans, the homeless, the mentally ill, and those suffering from addiction. Last year the foundation, a neighbor of ARC/GNY - Queens, contributed $83,227 to enable the purchase of a new Emergency Response Vehicle.

September 11 Recovery Program Award, Margaret Wyszinski
Margaret Wyszinski volunteered immediately following the events of September 11, 2001. Throughout her tenure, the September 11 Recovery Program (SRP) has been very fortunate to receive hundreds of hours of her time. Margaret has helped the Mental Health staff contact clients, assisted with a range of administrative tasks, conducted outreach calls to health care providers, and participated in a special 9/11 Third Anniversary ceremony.

Kathryn Walter Stein Award, Chaya Spinner
Mother of four, grandmother of fifteen, and great grandmother of two, Chaya started volunteering in 1985. As a Water Safety and Lifeguard Training instructor trainer, Chaya has certified more than 1,000 instructors and helped certify six instructor trainers. Chaya is also devoted to serving the Orthodox Jewish population of New York City. By teaching Orthodox Jewish children how to swim, she offers a much-needed release for children who attend school six days per week until 6 p.m. Thanks to her efforts, more than 15,000 children have received lifeguard training and swim lessons.

Diversity Award, Frank DiCarlo
Frank DiCarlo is a founding member of the Volunteer Language Bank program, whose purpose is to help people from different cultures communicate during a disaster and communicate the mission and values of the American Red Cross. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Frank served as an interpreter for residents of Chinatown during the September 11 relief operation. He has since helped define the role that volunteers can play in non-English speaking communities.

First Year Award, Richard Gallis
Richard Gallis generously donates three days a week in Disaster Services, where his skills greatly assist in the audit of the volunteer database. His decades of valuable computer programming for Chase Manhattan have been instrumental in the successful migration of disaster training records. Richard has assisted in many disaster responses, some of which required him to volunteer late into the night and on weekends.

Youth College Scholarship Award, Rain Bian & Mandy Leung
Rain Bian leads the ARC/GNY Youth Service Program and Media Group using her exemplary journalism skills. In college, Rain plans to continue as a volunteer, and eventually dreams of becoming a leader in a nonprofit organization. Mandy Leung has participated in the Book and Toy Drive, Coin Can Collection, Flag Distribution, volunteer recruitment, the March of Dimes Walk, Spring Gala, and countless other events. Last summer, she attended the International Youth Leadership & Safety Conference sponsored by the American Red Cross in Heber, Arizona.

We congratulate the winners and thank all of the volunteers who make the work we do possible.