10 who made our community better: thank you!

"These honorees remind us that making life better for our whole community is a job that can be done well by both young and old. It can be tackled by the lifelong Hoosier and the newcomer, and by those who are in corporate America or outside it," said Ellen K. Annala, United Way of Central Indiana's president and chief executive officer. "They are diverse in their interests, their cultures and their heritage. But they are alike in their drive to make a good community better, and for that we are deeply thankful!"

2011 Diversity Volunteer Recognition Award honorees

Posing after the formal awards program at United Way's Annual Diversity Volunteer Recognition Breakfast (July 16, 2011) are (from left) Adrianne Slash, event co-chair; Larry Morris, honored for advancing civic participation through Public Allies; Young-Hee Yedinak, honored for growing Asian American Alliance Inc.'s community outreach; Ellen K. Annala, president and CEO of United Way; Celina Anez, honored as a Teen Court volunteer attorney; James Tanniehill, honored as a Take Down Crime volunteer for working with young people; Murvin Enders, honored for furthering United Way's diversity goals and metrics; Patricia Treadwell, honored for service to Martin Center Inc. during a time of change; Gonzalo Chua, honored for helping provide free health services to underprivileged through the Indianapolis Chinese Medical Association; Crystal Livers-Powers, honored for leadership with Girl Scouts of Central Indiana to benefit generations of girls; Joy Mason, honored for service to the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis that provides scholarships to at-risk students; Ralph Taylor, honored for making Indianapolis a welcoming community to diverse cultures; and, Rupal Thanawala, event co-chair.

--Mary Kinney, public/media relations director, United Way of Central Indiana

Leadership United grads turn gift-giving tradition around

Editor's note: At most graduations, you expect to buy a gift for the grads. But the grads of one of United Way's Leadership United classes have turned that tradition around, becoming gift givers themselves. Classes are invited to come up with a service project to practice teamwork and fundraising skills. This year's Leadership Training and Development for Diversity class opted to tackle hunger stats that stunned them: 1 in 6 people in Indianapolis are hungry and 1 in 4 of those are children.

After visiting Second Helpings, Inc., a United Way agency that operates food rescue and hunger relief programs, class members came up with a plan to help that they dubbed "Feed it Forward." Each student pulled out their contact lists and invited people in their personal networks to three fundraising events that raised $3,000. Proceeds will be used to address the agency's rising transportation costs. One class member, LaShawn Stanton, also got approval from her employer to donate a van that was being retired from Comcast's fleet to bolster the agency's food distribution program.

Erica Flores, service project leader for the class, describes how the visit to the agency served as a call to action for her and her classmates.

The 2010-11 Leadership Training and Development for Diversity class

We entered the doors of Second Helpings aware of the facts of hunger in our own backyard. What we saw made us determined to help: large trucks arriving full of rescued food, countless volunteers working in the kitchen turning those donations into nutritious meals, one volunteer who'd been recognized for 1,000 hours of delivering meals, a class of culinary students learning about food in ways that will change their lives, and finally sitting together for a meal - a daily activity that most of us too often take for granted.

Our visit to Second Helpings convinced us that we had found our service project, and we were determined to "Feed it Forward." 

• Hearing about Second Helpings was inspiring. Experiencing Second Helpings is life-changing.   
• It's heart-warming and mouth-watering. Their meals are amazing!  
• It's personal. The transformational culinary training program empowers people to make a difference in their lives, their families and their communities. Our very own classmate, Renee Lester, knows this first hand. Both her brother and her daughter are  graduates of Second Helpings culinary training program.    
• Transportation (new vehicle, repairs, maintenance, etc) is a significant need for Second Helpings to be able to efficiently distribute meals throughout the community.    

While our project began as a way to fulfill a graduation requirement, it ultimately transformed us individually and collectively. Whatever comes next for us as a way to apply the Leadership United lessons we have learned, I am certain we will each continue to find more ways to "Feed it Forward."

-- Erica Flores, National FFA Organization