Take Stock In Children Salutes Top Volunteer Mentor

In celebration of National Volunteer Week, Take Stock in Children honored one of 7,500 Florida volunteer mentors with the organization's most prestigious award. Dr. Charles Voorhis was honored as Take Stock in Children's 2013 Mentor of the Year at a ceremony earlier this year.

 

A retired physician, Dr. Voorhis got involved with his local Take Stock in Children program in Bay County. Like all Take Stock mentors, Voorhis has worked diligently to "change a life over lunch" with the students he mentors. His weekly meetings with his students help to keep them focused on graduating from high school and attending college. Voorhis' caring nature did not stop with motivating his students to excel in education- Johnny Atwell 's personal life was also significantly impacted by the Mentor of the Year.

 

Atwell was in a serious automobile accident after graduation- one that left him paralyzed and unable to walk. Mentor Voorhis guided Atwell and his family through the maze of medical resources available and helped them access needed financial support. He faithfully visited Atwell in the hospital and in his handicapped-accessible apartment. After a year of recovery and therapy, Atwell entered Gulf State College and Voorhis couldn't be prouder.

 

"The bond formed between volunteer mentors and students is a lasting and transformational one," said Dan Lyons, interim CEO of Take Stock in Children. "We are proud to honor Dr. Voorhis, and all of our 7,500 volunteer mentors for their commitment to higher education and Florida's at-risk youth."

Congratulations!



TSIC High School Senior Wendall McGahee and TSIC Program Director Jody Mackle



Take Stock in Children program director Jody Mackle and Fernandina Beach High School Take Stock graduating senior Wendall McGahee were presented Distinguished Service Awards by the Nassau County Community Development Corp on February 23 in Fernandina Beach. Given in recognition of Exceptional Leadership and Community Service, Ms. Mackle’s was for Education and Mr. Wendall’s for Youth. 

 

Under Ms. Mackle’s leadership since 2000, Take Stock Nassau has affected the lives of over 300 Nassau County youth providing scholarships, mentors and hope for a better future. 

 

Dubbed as "Mr. Wendall" by his classmates, Mr. MaGahee has served as class president for 3 years and is acknowledged in the community as a youth leader because of his involvement in many worthwhile activities. He will attend FAMU in August on his Take Stock scholarship where he plans to major in Political Science.

 

Congratulations to both "Mr. Wendall" and Ms. Mackle. We are proud to have individuals like you representing Take Stock in Children!

Happy AmeriCorps Week!

Happy AmeriCorps Week! AmeriCorps can mean a lot of things to many different people, whether it is volunteering, building park trails, working with homeless youth, or advocating for students, one thing is for sure – AmeriCorps members make an impact in their community.

 

Check out the grand prize winner in the 2010 AmeriCorps Video Contest:

 

Here at Take Stock in Children, our AmeriCorps term is definitely many of these things and more.  Everyday, students inspire us, challenge us, and encourage us to be better individuals, volunteers, and citizens.  We thank you for the opportunity to serve you in order to “Get Things Done!”

Scholar Spotlight: Ha Tran's Travels to Ghana!

Photo from www.uniteforsight.org

Originally from Santa Rosa County, Ha Tran is a Take Stock in Children alumna and was named a Leaders 4 Life fellow in 2011.  In her second year at Duke University, Ha is majoring in neuroscience with a concentration in global health.  Her focus on global health has led her to become involved with the organization Unite for Sight, and will culminate in an eight week trip to Ghana, Africa this coming summer.

Ha writes, “I started looking into this program though my global health course here at Duke. Our yearlong case study focused on an NGO and I chose Unite for Sight.  Aside from the obvious benefits of this program, what I think is most significant is that UFS is quite literally breaking down the barrier for access to health care.”  Ha continues that she has taken a variety of global health courses throughout her time at Duke and finds UFS to be a role model for all other organizations to follow.  “In our class, we looked at everything from tax forms to end-of-the-year reports to analyze the effectiveness of this organization.  As with any program, there are things to be improved. I hope to help improve those aspects during my eight weeks in Ghana.”

Ha will specifically be working in an eye clinic to screen for eye disease, implementing education programs, and assisting in surgery for children and adults.  Traveling to rural villages, she will be providing eye care to those who do not have access to an eye doctor.  Ha’s family emigrated from Vietnam, where there is a saying “Cho ánh sáng,” meaning “the ability to give light.”  Through Ha’s commendable efforts, she will be providing vision, light and hope to the people of Ghana.  Aside from this trip, Ha has also personally collected over 825 glasses to donate and has completed over 30 hours of medical training for this trip, as well as an additional 60 hours of outside training through Unite For Sight and her global health courses at Duke University.  We are so proud of Ha’s efforts, and we encourage you to check out her web page here to learn more about this remarkable program.

If you have any questions about her trip, you can contact Ha at ha.tran@duke.edu or call her at (850) 686-6067.