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Hal Stern
VP and CTO, Client Solutions
Hal Stern volunteers as a board member, head manager, and team manager with the New Jersey Devils youth hockey club. His volunteer duties cover all aspects of running a large youth sports program, from budget analysis and team modeling in the spring to recruiting and training new team managers.
Hal uses his skills as a systems engineer on cold, winter weekend mornings, when he's called on to do everything from provide driving directions to unmarked ice rinks to improvise emergency hockey pants belts or chin straps when something breaks in the locker room.
Hal is a manager of the New Jersey Devils Youth Hockey Club "Pee Wee B" team and insists that his job is to keep everyone - parents, coaches and players - smiling through the whole season. Between September and April, he volunteers approximately 25-30 hours a month working with parents, coaches, team managers, and youth players. He also works with the DareDevils, a special needs hockey program.
In addition to scheduling games, maintaining statistics and communicating weekly with the parents and the club, Hal is also the "off-ice official" for his team on Saturday afternoons, running the scorer's table during home games or giving lessons to new team managers for doing the same. In between his own team's work, Hal picks up board duties including registering beginner players and analyzing the club's financials and budget.
According to Hal, "I absolutely adore youth sports. Before joining the Devils board, I spent several years as a board member, coach and volunteer with the Livingston National Little League. Growing up, I was a huge fan of Willie Stargell, the Pittsburgh Pirates captain who used to say "It is supposed to be fun, the man says 'Play ball' not 'Work ball'" and I've adopted that philosophy in coaching, managing and handling conflicts with parents.
"The three best words anyone affiliated with our program can hear after a long weekend of hockey are "Good game, coach" because our players remember if they've had fun much longer than they remember the score of a game or who played well and who did not. I'm also a strong believer in diversity through youth sports. I've had players of Russian, Korean and Nigerian families on my teams, and through the DareDevils we're able to offer hockey opportunities to athletes with autism and other special needs."
If you are interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities with your local youth hockey team, go to www.usahockey.com. The NJ DareDevils, is currently looking for volunteer coaches; volunteers are also needed to help with fundraising events.
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Christina Carrier
Executive Assistant to Jesse Chavez, VP Global Partner Sales; Jim Theokas, Dir US Partner Sales
Christina Carrier is one of the super volunteers of the Bay Area. In addition to the various charities she personally supports, she is also responsible for bringing the Holiday Drive to the Sun community in the Bay Area. This year she worked with the Family Giving Tree and Second Harvest Food Bank to coordinate a local drive to collect food and gifts for the needy. Those food bins and gifts that were in building lobbies were a result of Christina and her team of Ambassadors.
Christina is passionate about the Second Harvest Food Bank. She volunteers several times a year at the San Jose, CA distribution center. She serves as a Team Manager, organizing groups of Sun employees to go to the center to ready food for distribution to low-income seniors and families. Volunteers work to verify, sort, label and repack items. She really enjoys the camaraderie that comes with getting a group of co-workers together and being able to help in the community.
Christina is also the Bay Area volunteer who collects monetary donations for Second Harvest, submits the money and completes the paper work required for company matching. Her work has led to thousands of dollars being donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, which helps the organization to serve over 160,000 needy people every month.
America's Second Harvest is a nonprofit organization that works to create a hunger-free America. They distribute food and grocery products through a nationwide certified Member Network, increase public awareness of domestic hunger and advocate for public policies that benefit America's hungry.
To find a local Second Harvest in your community, go to http://secondharvest.org. To learn more about Christina's organization, the Second Harvest Food Bank of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, go to http://2ndharvest.net.
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Andre Courchesne
Engagement Manager, Client Solutions
For nearly 30 years, Andre Courchesne from the Montreal Office has been involved with Camp de Vacances Lac Simon. The Charity coordinates the funding, the preparation, and the execution of a 2-week summer camp for 42 inner-city kids from Montreal's downtown burrough.
Andre started in July 1978 as a camp counselor. Fueled by the kids' smiles and joy from their experiences, Andre's passion has grown through the years and now occupies an important part of his personal life. Just this fiscal year, Andre has already logged over 480 volunteer hours into Sun's Global Volunteer Program tool (http://sun.angelpointsevs.com).
Last year, Camp de Vacances Lac Simon celebrated its 50th year of existence. As part of the celebration, Sun employees assisted Andre And Camp de Vacances Lac Simon refresh part of its infrastructure.
Camp de Vacances Lac Simon is led by Andre and another volunteer Director, and is completely staffed by volunteers alone. Today, it is a vibrant and healthy charitable organization...mostly though, it is vibrant because of the many volunteers that dedicate their time and effort to ensure that Camp de Vacances Lac Simon can still offer inner-city kids a life changing experience.
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Carla Morales
Regulatory Engineer, Network Storage, Product Safety Engineering
Carla's endless drive to volunteer for the various causes she supports has produced an astonishing number of volunteers hours, 1,250, so far this fiscal year.
She rebuilds at least three to four computer systems a week and donates them to nonprofit educational facilities, senior citizens, day care centers, low income families, low income college students and churches throughout the state of Colorado. She puts in at least 40 hours a week at Sun with her present position of Regulatory Engineer in the Product Safety Engineering Group and then donates 20-30 hours a week to rebuilding computers by picking up donations of parts from individuals, corporations, etc and she uses what she can to rebuild. On average, she has donated at least 100 systems a year for the last 15 years to
families in need.
Carla taught a computer technician class for the last 4-1/2 years at the Mi Casa Resource Center for Women in Denver and a class at Casa De La Esperanza in Longmont. Carla stated, "Watching someone go through the transition of communicating with family for free is what keeps her going." She also teaches these individuals how to use computers when she installs them in their homes and she goes back as needed to make sure the systems are running smoothly.
Over the years, Carla has received many awards for her exceptional work in the community. In 2000, she won the Channel 7 Everyday Hero Award. In 2002, she won the Women of Color National Award in Atlanta. In 2004, she won the 9 Who Cares award and in 2005, she won the Boulder County Community Action Program, Multicultural Bridge Award. Carla has also worked with the former StorageTek Latino group, Exito for the past seven years with many events and sponsored activities.
To learn more about the agencies Carla has supported check out their website.
Mi Casa Resource Center for Women in Denver
Volunteers Needed: Volunteers will help mentor and tutor youth participants or guest speakers for training classes.
Casa De La Esperanza
Computer Volunteer Needed: Volunteers help supervise the computer lab and assist the youth with their computer work and problems.
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Don Pearce
Sales Manager, Global Sales, GEMS
Don Pearce has put his "after hours" to good use....for others....by supporting several organizations in Dallas who help "kids at risk" have better and more meaningful lives. He has raised over $1 million for the Salesmanship Club of Dallas in the past 12 years to support their private school for young minority children, their counseling center, and their outreach center....all of which reach over 3300 people in need in this community. To learn more about what they do, check out http://www.salesmanshipclub.org.
Additionally, Don has served on the Board of Young Life, a Christian Organization which reaches out to teenagers in thousands of schools nationally, but specifically in Dallas where over 5,000 kids are involved in 90 Junior High/High School clubs learning how to be a positive role model to their peers and how to live a better life. His work with YL-Dallas has helped fund clubs in 12 minority Jr. Highs and High Schools and enabled over 1,000 of these students/year to experience a tremendous positive change in their lives and lives of their families. To find out how to get involved with Young Life in your community, please visit http://www.younglife.org/GetInvolved/.
Don not only works with "kids at risk" in Dallas, he also puts his sales skills to work helping the Richardson Medical Center raise millions to fund their new Cancer Center. All of this "after hours" activity is in addition to his 60-70 hours/week as a Sales Manager for Sun's Storage Group in Dallas/Fort Worth. Don says that "although he finds his work managing the Sales Team for Sun's Storage interesting and consuming, his real passion is to change lives for the better and these outside activities allow him to do that." So, if you are ever in Dallas and want to see charity in action, call Don!
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Dario Atallah
Sr. Strategist/Sr. Product Manager, Sun Services
Dario has been volunteering for the WOW! Children's Museum World of Wonder in Lafayette, CO for the last 10 years. From the very start, Dario has done the accounting books, taxes, government reports, and various other administrative tasks. He keeps track of all sales, donations, and expenses, analyzing the museum's performance every month and recommending areas of focus to ensure the viability of the organization. He spends between 20 and 30 hours a month doing work for the museum and serving on its board as Treasurer. He has been President and Vice President of the board. In the last year, Dario volunteered more than 360 hours supporting the WOW Children's Museum.
Dario is also in charge of the computer network, hardware and software selection, and helps with fundraising activities. He occasionally helps his wife (who runs the museum) by working on the floor to let customers in, installing new exhibits, performing building or exhibit maintenance, and recruiting other volunteers. He wants to do his part for the community and is committed to ensuring the museum is accessible to adults and children around the area for years to come, regardless of income levels, race, or religion.
Dario has been working for Sun for over 7 years and is currently a Product Manager in the Services line of business. He has received multiple patents in software and processes. He sings with a church choir and sometimes volunteers at his sons' schools, where he has been asked to come and talk to students about work, cultures, languages. He has helped Peak to Peak school with English translations into Spanish and French.
WOW Children's Museum has two current volunteer opportunities. On Sunday, March 11th at the Flairons Mall, the museum will have a table and needs volunteers to work the table passing out information and providing face painting. Volunteers are needed to help with their annual fundraiser on Saturday, April 14th with setup and takedown---perfect timing with Worldwide Volunteer Week.
To learn more about WOW Children's Museum and how you can volunteer check out their website: http://www.wowmuseum.com.
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Pam Morgan
New Product Allocation Program (NPAP) Program Manager
Pam Morgan has been a main supporter of the Sun Global Volunteer Program
since the beginning of her tenure at Sun 10 years ago. Over the course
of these 10 years, she has participated in a number of volunteer
activities in the community. A few close to her heart are AIDS Walk
Colorado, the annual Giving Tree Program, and the Back to School Drive. In
the last year, Pam has volunteered over 110 hours to these 3 causes
alone.
Pam has been the Sun team captain for AIDS Walk Colorado, of which Sun is
a corporate sponsor going on 9 years. She organizes the team, the
announcements to the campus for the walk each year, and campus activity
for the walk. Items are donated for a raffle from the employees of
which Sun matches the proceeds for the organization. On several
occasions, she has been interviewed by the local media commending her for
her support of this event.
Since the beginning of the Broomfield, CO annual Giving Drive, Pam has
been a dedicated team member. The last two years, though, she has taken
on the role of leader. In the role of team captain for the Giving Drive, Pam
worked with 7 local non-profits to help ensure that each of the organization's
needs were met for their holiday gift program. She coordinated with
internal departments to ensure that the setup of trees, security and
sorting of gifts was handled properly. She handled the tracking of gift
tags/gifts to make sure the goal of fulfilling a child's wish was
accomplished. This last year, more than 2,100 gifts were donated among
the 7 agencies.
Here are a few of the agencies that Pam supports throughout the year:
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Kevin Parrington
APAC Supply Chain Manager, Sun Services
Kevin created and led the Sun Japan's KK Volunteer Group since April 2001. He started the group in support of the 2001 Worldwide Volunteer Week (WWVW). From the beginning, the group has worked to promote Sun's culture of doing what's right for the community, while building teamwork within Sun and growing relationships in the community.
Kevin actively organizes, supports and leads the annual WWVW events for Sun KK (KK stands for kabushiki gaisha). Although it started with WWVW, Kevin began to coordinate ongoing volunteer activities and events with a number of community charity groups. Kevin worked with the Setagaya Volunteer Association to establish volunteer relationships with Tsudoi no Ie, a day care center for the physically handicapped; Tokyo Ikusei En, an orphanage; and Seicho Yogo Gakko, a high school for the handicapped. Sun volunteers also built a relationship with Tokyo Colony, a training and rehabilitation center for the handicapped, by providing Java programming training.
The focus on these key charities allows for building trust and reliance between Sun and local charity organizations. Working with them also increases Sun's visibility as a good neighbor.
In 2004, Kevin was recognized for his volunteer leadership and promotion of Sun in the community by receiving the Sun KK Presidents Award. He has also been featured in various local magazines promoting Sun KK volunteer activities and Sun's volunteer culture. Through his efforts, other Sun employees get involved with these organizations and give back to the community. Kevin is a perfect example of how a Sun volunteer Team Manager can make a difference.
For more information on the agencies that Kevin works with, visit the websites listed below:
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Katharyn Rico-Drennon
Part Number Operations Supervisor and Strategic Announcement Manager, Strategic Pricing, Forecasting and Readiness Group, Marketing Division
Katharyn has been working with East Side Heroes, a Bay Area nonprofit organization, for the past 3 years. East Side Heroes' primary mission is to provide mentoring and scholarships to low income students. The mentee is oftentimes the first person ever to attend college in their family.
In addition to the 50+ hours each week she works at Sun, Katharyn spends 10-15 hours wearing many volunteer hats for East Side Heroes. She has organized fundraisers and successfully secured scholarship money from organizations including Sun's Employee Resource Group, Society of Latinos. In addition, she has coordinated media appearances such as the recent appearance on a San Jose, California local television show, Comunidad del Valle. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ467aZcD-s Important: You will be leaving SWAN).
Katharyn also provides invaluable administrative assistance to the organization which allows the staff to concentrate on mentor training to bring more mentors onboard to fill the enormous need that exists. Katharyn is honored to sit on the East Side Heroes Scholarship Review Panel helping with the scholarship recipient selection process.
Because of Katharyn Rico-Drennon's endless compassion and dedication to service, low income families and under privileged students will continue to have access to a college prep education and long term mentorship as they become our next generation of community leaders.
To learn more about this Bay Area organization and how you can get involved, go to http://www.eastsideheroes.org.
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Ian Read
Chief Learning Officer, Sun France
As an active member of Lions Clubs International, Ian Read has organized several projects in support of humanitarian and health-related causes, and, as a Sun volunteer, several successive Worldwide Volunteer Week events. In the past year, Ian has volunteered more than 200 hours to support these causes.
On behalf of Lions Club, Ian has organized antique fairs where the proceeds
were used to provide guide dogs for the blind, to develop Alzheimer day-care
centers, and to provide specialized equipment and services for those in need
(wheelchairs, transport, food and basic shelter for victims of natural disasters, etc.).
On behalf of Sun, Ian has invited colleagues to empty their homes of unwanted
medicines, which were then sorted and verified by volunteer pharmacists before redistribution to village dispensaries in third-world countries. Maybe someone's slightly out of date Advil or more specialized medicine cured a headcold or even saved a life.
Ian's concern to help individuals be able to see, in third-world countries, led him to organize an eyeglass collection drive. Sun colleagues brought in hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses. People in some third-world countries just don't bother to correct visual deficiencies because eyeglasses cost about 3 month's income. So, getting help from Sun and other collectors is significant.
Finally, Ian arranged a drive to do something useful with those old cell phones. A major manufacturer agreed to donate to the national Telethon (in support of research into genetic illnesses) 4 dollars for each usable or repairable phone. These get shipped to poorer parts of the world, and sold for a dollar or two, increasing access to the network and at the same time funding research so that certain sick kids won't always need those power-assisted wheelchairs. As a bonus, the unusable cell phones get disposed of in a way that is friendly to the environment.
Ian works at the Sun office in Velizy, France and has every intention of coming up with something original for WWVW 2007, which will take place from April 14 - April 22.
To learn more about volunteer opportunities with a Lions Club in your area,
check out: http://www.lionsclubs.org.
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Carolyn Rohrer
Global Communications Manager, Strategic Campaigns
Carolyn found Urban Services YMCA's Board of Managers, in San Francisco, CA, through a friend who invited her to attend a board meeting to see what the organization was all about. At the time, Carolyn was working with Youth Leadership Institute and thought Urban Services YMCA would be a good fit for her skills. "I love that the board can bring expertise of the business world to Urban Services," Carolyn recently said, "and I know that the other board members, including myself, have significantly benefited from working closely with the staff."
Urban Services YMCA would like to extend a sincere congratulations to Carolyn Rohrer on being selected Urban Services YMCA's Board Member of the Year. They went on to say, "Since joining our Board of Managers in 2004, Carolyn has proven herself to be a critical volunteer leader by organizing our annual Wine Events, participating in our strategic planning, and securing matching donations for our annual campaign/fund-raising drives. Thanks to Carolyn's work, and the efforts of her colleagues on the board, Urban Services YMCA remains at the forefront of delivering life changing programs to families in the Bay Area and beyond."
In addition to helping plan this year's Wine Event and Silent Auction -- an event that last year raised over $10,000 -- Carolyn is heavily involved in planning for Urban Services' growth and evolution. She sits on the Board's Strategic Planning Committee and says that, "The work is really rewarding, and I hope to continue to assist the organization in developing long-range plans." According to Carolyn, "We need to invest in our young people if San Francisco is to grow and thrive. I support Urban Services YMCA because their mission is so critical to families living in the city."
If you would like to learn more about San Francisco's YMCA Board of Managers, please contact Manuel Rodriguez, Development Director, at 415-292-3021.
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Sue Young
Sr. Program Manager, Enterprise Systems, SSG
Sue Young has worked at Sun for nearly 20 years. She gains great reward from volunteering for causes that she's passionate about. Sue has always been interested in improving womens' lives. Last fall, she learned of a non-profit organization called Girls For A Change (http://www.girlsforachange.org/) which promotes and empowers high school and middle school-aged girls as social change agents.
She took on the 15-hour per month commitment to be a Girl Coach for a local middle school for the school year. Her team is currently deciding on a project to create social change in immigration or animal abuse. The organization includes a monthly life coach training session, which has been invaluable for her work with the girls, work at Sun, and with life in general.
Sue's other passion has been bicycling. In 2005, Sue joined a group of
women cyclists who ride for charity each year. She bought a used bike and
trained for the American Lung Association's Emmigrant Trails 3-day, 100-mile ride in Lake Tahoe. Before she knew it, she'd raised almost $4500 and was riding an average of 150 miles per week, including commuting to and from work, over 26 miles round-trip. Last year, the group raised over $27,000 for Multiple Sclerosis. Their success led to them being mentioned in March 2007 Bicycling Magazine (http://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6610,s1-3-9-15637-1,00.html).
Sue joined a local non-profit bicycle advocacy group called Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (www.svbikes.org) and became a primary organizer for their winter fundraiser, raising almost $4000. Sue plans to volunteer for Bike to Work Day and other SVBC events in the future.
In addition to working full time as a software program manager, she also volunteers her time towards other organizations for short term or seasonal commitments like highway cleanup efforts, sorting cans at the Second Harvest Food Bank, teaching teachers, etc. Sue is currently a Sun Foundation Ambassador volunteer whose charter is working towards eliminating the digital divide. She has logged in over 210 hours since July.
To find out more on these agencies, go to their websites.
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Jack Bochsler
Staff Engineer, SSG
Jack is the team leader for Sun's San Diego campus Habitat for Humanity (SDHfH) team. Although Jim Kocol originally started the effort, Jack took over the reigns about five years ago.
The San Diego campus has participated with both Habitat for Humanity and
Interfaith In Home Construction for many years, but Spring 2005 was a real call for action. Although the firestorm had come and gone over a year before, there were still many, many homes that had not been rebuilt. In 2005, the team had 25 volunteers working at a local Native American Reservation, Rebuilding homes that had been lost in the fire.
Since 2005, Sun's SDHfH Team has maintained a core group of volunteers that gather twice a year to continue the effort of home building through Habitat for Humanity. New volunteers are always welcome to join. Although the fires are long gone, the mission to bring affordable housing continues. In an area where
only 21% of the population can afford to purchase the median home, this work has never been more important. There is no better way to break the cycle of poverty than to engage the community in providing low-cost housing to those that cannot afford a home.
As Team leader, Jack works with Habitat to find dates for the Sun volunteers.
The entire crew uses their vacation time to volunteer. They leave the weekend
slots available because many people show up then. He organizes everything from the lunches, carpool, to snacks/waters. He has been volunteering with Habitat for over five years. Jack spends individual time helping the organization, as well. Sun's team has had a hand in building more than 30 homes since they began volunteering with Habitat.
Outside of his involvement with Habitat For Humanity, Jack regularly donates blood. (He will hit the 5-gallon mark this year), as well as officiates and crews at ultra-marathon bicycle races (over 300 hours last year).
Jack says, "I think that the real value I provide is in organizing a team to
work at Habitat. Although it is much easier for me to go as an individual, organizing a team multiplies the effort. Rather than one person for 8 hours, Habitat gets 22 people for 8 hours. As an individual, I would have to volunteer once a week for 6 months for Habitat to get the same benefit as one 'team day'.
I would encourage other volunteers to leverage their efforts by encouraging others to join them."
To find out how you can get involved in the causes that Jack supports, please visit:
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Michelle Tschudy
Product Manager, OEM Business Unit, Storage
Michelle Tschudy and her golden retriever dog "Boo" have donated countless hours to visit patients at Exempla Good Samaritan hospital in Lafayette, Colorado. Michelle's dog received a Delta Society certification to assist patients in the hospital. Exempla hospital accepts handlers and dogs that have been specifically trained to work in the hospital. Michelle was required to go through hospital, HIPPA health & safety policy, infection control and JCAHO (joint commission on accreditation of healthcare organization) training. All Animal Assisted Therapy volunteers must pass exams to qualify to serve in the volunteer healthcare capacity.
Michelle & Boo volunteer after work every other week at the hospital for the Animal Assisted Therapy volunteer program. She works full time in the OEM Product Support group for Storage products. Michelle sees all sorts of people in need, whether it be in the intensive care unit, imaging, pediatrics or emergency room.
Animal Assisted Therapy allows a patient to stop worrying about their health and gain comfort from an animal. It has proven to lower blood pressure and increase healing. In Michelle's words, ""Often times, when we conduct our visits some of the patient's have been waiting all day to see us. They are so appreciative its truly amazing. Its a small amount of time out of our day to help make someone in need feel a little better. Its our way of giving back to
the community."
Michelle & Boo have volunteered for three fulfilling years of service volunteering over 100 hours. Michelle & Boo also received an honorable mention award in 2006 through Delta Society for making a difference with their volunteering service.
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Sumaya Kazi
Global Communications Manager, Worldwide Operations and International PR
Sumaya, 24, has a strong passion for progress and has been deeply
committed to the nonprofit community for over 10 years. She has been
actively volunteering in the areas of hunger, homelessness, blood
donation, human rights, environment, and education. Outside of her
full-time Marketing role in the Global Communications Group at Sun
Microsystems, Sumaya dedicates much of her remaining waking hours to
service.
Sumaya serves as an entrepreneur mentor for Businesses United in
Investing, Lending and Development (BUILD), a nonprofit social venture
that empowers underprivileged and under-resourced high school students
with an education in entrepreneurship. She first began mentoring two
years ago when she learned about the opportunity through Sun?s Global
Volunteer Program. She has been hopelessly addicted to mentoring since.
Sumaya works alongside a co-mentor to provide support and guidance
to a team of 5 high school students. Last year, her team won first
place in the Business Plan Writing Competition hosted by Stanford
University. This year, they received funding and recently launched
their business helping other small businesses get an online presence.
She dedicates anywhere between 2 and 10 hours a week advising her team.
If that were not enough, Sumaya recently started a nonprofit social
venture aimed at creating a global young adult and professional
movement towards awareness, giving, and change for the world?s most
pressing issues. She is also currently an Echoing Green Social
Innovators Fellowship finalist.
If you are interested in learning more about BUILD, please go to their website at http://www.build.org or go to http://sun.angelpointsevs.com/GetInvolved/event.cfm?formaction=event.detail&event_id=34279.
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Rakesh Radhakrishnan
Lead Architect, Client Solutions
Although Rakesh lives and works in Virginia, he has been volunteering for the eGOV and PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas) programs in India for the last 2 years. In 2006, he authored 5 papers, on e-Connectivity for PURA, which Were presented at eGOV 2006 in New Delhi India and featured at: http://www.egovonline.net/articles/article-details.asp?articleid=718&typ=Cover%20Story.
He got to convey the message on how to "Decrease the Digital Divide" to many IT and eGov leaders in India (part of the eGOV 2006 conference) and had a one-on-one meeting with the President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam. This initiative has led to the Indian Government adopting Open Source and Open Architectures in their eGov programs around Rural electronic connectivity that leads to economic connectivity (eCon 2 eCon). He will be using his own time to conduct a Workshop on Identity for eGOV in Delhi in July 2007.
Rakesh plans to volunteer his time to help organize conferences in PURA locations in India (every Thanksgiving week) starting 2007 until India Vision 2020 is achieved.
Rakesh also spends his spare time remotely as a consultant to organizations, institutions and companies in India that are engaged in the eGOV programs (IIT, IIM, Nascom ,etc.), providing them with resources (white papers, case studies, success stories, approach documentation, and general architectural guidance).
Rakesh has been working at Sun since 1999 and is currently a Lead Architect in the Client Solutions Organization. He has received multiple patents and has authored more than 50 papers that he has presented at various events. He is also the author of a new book entitled Identity and Security. He continues to support India's eGov, OpenSource and OpenStandards programs.
To learn more about Free Software for Developmental Initiatives go to: http://www.periyarpura.org/villages.html.
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Diana Bowler
Technical Specialist, Managed Services
Diana Bowler started volunteering with the intent to be closer to her daughters as they were growing up. She started her involvement with National Charity League-Diablo Valley to provide a vehicle to work with various non-profit organizations with daughters Melissa and Danielle. In the eight years she's been involved, she gotten so much out of volunteering.
National Charity League's (NCL) mission is to foster mother-daughter relationships in philanthropic organizations committed to community service, leadership development, and cultural experiences. Through the last eight years, Diana and her daughters have worked for the town of Danville at the Halloween carnival, watered flowers at the local nursing home, reconstructed sidewalks for Habitat for Humanity, and sorted food for the local Food Bank.Diana, Melissa, and Danielle prepared meals at their local Fishes & Loaves and helped run events to raise money for Children's Hospital and local schools.
By working side by side at various functions, they have developed an appreciation for each other's strengths. They share memories of meeting a musician while delivering for Meals on Wheels who gave them a special piccolo concert, making quilts for premature babies for the local children's hospital, sewing Christmas stockings to be stuffed with toiletries for the local homeless shelters, and shopping for Adopt-A-Families. Her daughters have learned to run their own monthly meetings, organizing their own events. Diana credits NCL in helping her raise her children to learn about themselves, giving them tools to be successful, and becoming caring, supportive people in their communities.
Diana was so rewarded personally with her experience with NCL, she began to volunteer her time with various ballet boards in her area helping them with their board expansion, business growth plans, and budgeting. From these volunteer experiences, she's found a point of view in her life - at work, at home, and outside, that makes her happy to say, "I live to serve."
Diana's organizations can be found:
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Grandin Hammell
Sales Support Specialist
Almost 5 years ago, Grandin Hammell and a small group of people got together to form a singing group under the direction of David Harris. They had no idea if they would be successful or even if people wanted to hear them sing. After a few weeks of practice, they opened on Broadway (a homeless shelter on Broadway in Boulder). Then, they appeared in a few retirement homes and churches. Within a few short months the group was booked every weekend and it has been like that ever since.
Grandin was instrumental in creating the website and has been in charge of the manufacturing side of the group's 2 CDs, including their newest CD to be
released in May. Grandin has volunteered over 3,900 hours over the
course of 4-1/2 years performing with the group.
He is a member of the steering committee for the organization which helps form what they have become. He is also a member of the communications committee, helping to create all brochures and other press related issues. As a member and chairman of the CD Committee, he is responsible for making CDs available at all performances.
Throughout the years, Grandin has been involved in many different charitable organizations. When his children were young, it was PTA and other school functions. He created a Science Club for the elementary school his kids attended. By the time they went on to middle school, there were over 50 kids and their parents joining in on the fun. The school district asked him to participate in several ad hoc committees to help guide change, especially in the Gifted and Talented programs.
The town mayor asked Grandin to chair the fund raising effort to put a branch of the Natural History Museum in a new mall that was being built. The Center opened on schedule and fully funded. Grandin created a project for the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce called Mainstream Milestones that honored the accomplishments of people with disabilities, who have made a difference in mainstream business.
To find out more on Grandin and the Jubilates go to: http://www.jubilatesacredsingers.org.
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Betsy Hansen
Marketing Manager
Betsy Hansen keeps herself busy. In addition to working full time, she also volunteers her time with many non-profit organizations in her community.
For the past three years, Betsy has been a member of the Executive Board of Directors for Horse Power in Temple, New Hampshire. Horse Power is a therapeutic riding center and serves as a learning experience for people with special emotional needs, physical challenges and/or learning disabilities.
Betsy has been instrumental in developing and co-chairing the Annual Taste of the Town Wine Tasting fund raising event, which brings in a significant amount of the annual program dollars. In addition, she created a bi-annual newsletter that is sent out to the community which builds additional visibility for the Center. Betsy has also helped with the content of the website and creating a blog for the Executive Director, who is known nation wide for her contributions to the therapeutic riding community.
Betsy also volunteers as a Race Director for the International Rotary Club. She and her husband organize and facilitate the Wellness Fun Run - for Everyone. This annual race is an element of the annual Wellness Festival which is designed to educate the community on wellness and exercise. She also supports the local Woman's Club; most recently she was featured as a bride in the Woman's Club Fashion Show.
Betsy volunteers as an assistant coach for youth programs through organizations such as the Amherst Youth Soccer Elite Development Progam, Special Olympics, and local schools. Betsy was the top individual fundraiser for the annual Spinning Marathon Fundraiser for the Vermont Special Olympics. She is also a Sun Foundation Ambassador volunteer whose charter is working toward eliminating the digital divide.
For more information about Horse Power in go to http://www.horse-power.org.
Special Olympics is currently in more than 160 countries. To lean more about them or find a local chapter go to http://www.specialolympics.org.
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Scott Ondracek
Systems Service Engineer, Sun Services
Scott Ondracek is invaluable to many youth throughout the greater Sacramento area. Scott has always considered volunteering to be of high value, but recently has focused most of his available time with youth from Jr. High to High School. He gives at least 5-6 hours each week, volunteering with Church of the Foothills in Cameron Park. Scott chaperones their summer camp, volunteers at their fall retreat and goes on various events with the Junior High students. On one Sunday a month and also for some special events, Scott gives his time to his church by running the sound system for the three services.
When Scott is not with the Junior High students at church, he can be found helping out the Industrial Arts teacher at Rio Linda High School, on the outskirts of Sacramento. Scott helps the students with their projects, along with setting up the computer controlled-equipment and repairing broken tools. In April, Scott will be giving up some of his vacation time to travel with the high school students as they compete in a state-wide welding competition.
In addition, he volunteers with Suburban Swim League during the summer, helping with the timing at swim meets. When needed, he supports the Sierra City Volunteer Fire Department. He volunteered for five days during the Fall of 2006 to help fight a foresy fire that threatened the small town where his parent's own a cabin.
Scott is well loved by over 50 Junior High students in Cameron Park who attend the Church of the Foothills Youth Group each week. Every Thursday night, Scott and his wife, Candi, along with 10 other leaders, care for the youth by playing games, capturing video and connecting with the students. During the past two summers, Scott has volunteered a week of his own personal vacation time at camp helping to run the sound system, video taping and interacting with the students during their activities.
In the fall, you can find Scott behind the counter of the outdoor kitchen at the Jr. High Fall Camp baking his infamous cinnamon rolls and coordinating the kitchen staff. Over the past three years, Scott has taught a group of students how to build a video game console from the ground up. The boys learned basic
electronics, woodworking, and some programming skills.
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Alan Crocker
Quality Engagement Manager
When a small group of parents got together in Spring 2000 to create a children's football club little did they know how much they were tapping into the need of a small rural village and beyond. There were enough children to create one team of 7 year olds, now Derry Hill United Football Club has grown to support over 200 children age 6 to 16.
Founder and Chair, Alan Crocker continues, "I had been coaching children
for a season and recognized that many of them were travelling from my village into town to participate. We had a perfectly usable sports field in the village so we simply connected the two together and the rest is history."
Alan is the driving force behind the Club. His enthusiasm, hard work and
boundless energy ensure the Club has grown strong and now supports 14 squads to play some 250 matches in a season. In addition to his management role, Alan has a host of other jobs including webmaster, volunteer co-ordinator, press officer, fund-raiser and coach. Alan can be found most weekends training various squads or coaching matches.
Alan continues, "Sometimes it feels like we are running a small business.
As the Club has grown we have had to put more infrastructure in place to
keep things running smoothly. Our volunteers include a small management
team, qualified coaches, team secretaries, a Child Protection Officer,
groundsmen, social events helpers and a refreshments team."
In 2004, Alan was presented with the Football Association's "National
Charter Standard Coach of the Year Award". This award recognized his
outstanding commitment to coaching young people, and was presented at an England World Cup match. "It was a tremendous thrill to receive the award in front of a full house at Manchester United's stadium. With all the hours I spend on Club management and development it was great to get acknowledgement for the bit I love, coaching the kids."
He concludes, "The journey so far has been amazing, to think we only started this to give a few kids the chance to play football. I take much pride in creating an environment where so many within my community can enjoy football, whether it be as a player, coach, official or spectator."
Alan volunteers 20-30 hours per week for Derry Hill United Cub.
Visit the Club at http://www.dhufc.org Derry Hill United is always looking for volunteers.
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Fred Woitineck
National Systems Support Engineer
Since 1989, Fred Woitineck has been a Volunteer Deputy Sheriff in Forsyth County, North Carolina. He is one of 22 people who work in this capacity.
To be a volunteer Deputy in North Carolina, volunteers must meet all the requirements and have the same authority and responsibilities as any full-time deputy in the county. Fred is the Lieutenant in the organization and is responsible for 3 platoons; 22 people report to him. He reports to a Captain who interfaces with the full-time department heads. He devotes much of his time in preparing new people, ensuring they get trained, managing the required certifications, securing equipment, etc. He also assists on patrol, special events, and other areas where manpower often becomes an issue.
Fred is also certified by the Attorney General as a state authorized firearms instructor. Every year, he works with 4 other instructors to qualify approximately 600 officers at the department which allows them to continue working as Deputies.
Fred has met the requirements for the "Lifetime Achievement Award" awarded by the President of the United States, and will receive a congratulatory letter from President George W. Bush. Since 1989, he has volunteered over 4,400 hours.
To see if your community has a volunteer program, contact your local sheriff's department. Also consider your local fire department or ambulance corps. Help ensure your community's safety.
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Lori Goldsmith
Sales Administrator for AT&T Team, GSO
Lori does not consider herself a super volunteer, but a simple volunteer, like many people at Sun. Lori feels fortunate to work in the Dallas office where fellow employees have participated in volunteer events during WWVW since its inception. They have partnered with organizations which include Habitat for Humanity, The Clothes Closet, and The West Dallas Community Center.
Most recently, Sun Dallas prepared and served a meal to people living with HIV/AIDs at the Dallas Resource Center(http://www.resourcecenterdallas.org) and are involved with the Alliance of Technology and Woman's scavenger hunt to get school age girls involved with Math and Science. Lori has served on some of the organization committees as well as gotten her hands dirty with these worthy projects.
Over the years, Lori has given her time to Special Olympics (http://www.sotx.org) as a coach and committee member. She also volunteers to serve a meal to the homeless in downtown Dallas several times a year with her church. But, her main passion for the last 8 years is Camp Esperanza (http://www.campesperanza.org), a week-long camp, sponsored by Children's Medical Center in Dallas, for child cancer patients.
As a camp counselor and a previous planning committee member, Lori is inspired by the courage of these kids. She enjoys an exhausting and exhilarating week of helping children to be just children for one week a year; no one staring at them because they are just a little bit different while under treatment. Being a camp counselor for Camp Esperanza also entails committing extra hours each year for required training. The camp motto is "It's for the Kids," so there are many mud fights, pies in the face and lots of fun memories for everyone.
Lori also participates in a run/walk event called Camper Scamper that benefits Camp John Marc (http://www.campjohnmarc.org), which is the special needs camp in Meridan, TX where Camp Esperanza is held. Last year, Lori gathered family and friends to participate in the Susan G Komen (http://www.komen.org) Race for the Cure in Plano, TX in celebration of her Mother defeating breast cancer.
Lori believes in not only donating money to causes that one is passionate about, but also putting in the time to make the causes successful.
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Wes Nelson
Member of Technical Staff Level 2, Network Storage
Habitat for Humanity (HFH) holds a special place in Wes Nelson's heart. Wes
volunteers about 16-20 hours per month with the St. Vrain HFH chapter
(http://www.stvrainhfh.org/). Over the last three years, he has helped to build affordable housing for approximately 11 families in Longmont, CO.
Wes spends 2 or 3 Saturdays a month at the work site doing whatever job needs to be done. One day, he is the crew leader on a framing day, supervising a team of volunteers as they build the walls of a home. The next Saturday, you might find him installing insulation, drywall, doors, windows or painting. Most volunteers have no experience. So, Wes provides training and direction.
Wes has volunteered over 700 hours in the last 3 years for HFH. His dedication is not limited to weekends only. He spends his personal time during the week attending training and planning sessions. Wes is working with the HFH construction foreman creating a construction manual to set standards for how each facet of the construction project is performed.
Wes finds all the reward he needs in the heartfelt "Thank You" from a
family that would never be able to afford a non-HFH home. He usually
gets 2 or 3 per year, and it makes the time he volunteers worthwhile.
Wes just returned from a week's vacation in Mobile, Alabama, where he helped
build a Habitat For Humanity neighborhood for Hurricane Katrina victims who
lost virtually everything.
Wes also commits his time to another agency, Pinehaven Christian Children's
Ranch (http://www.pinehaven.net/) in St. Ignatius, Missouri. This is a working dairy ranch that takes at-risk kids and gives them hope for a decent life with a Christian-oriented living environment.
The youth attend school, work the ranch and do household chores as part of their new life. The ranch has a 70% success rate. Although Wes lives and works in Colorado, he's been traveling to volunteer one week a year over the last six years (unfortunately, he missed last year for health reasons). He applies some of the same skills he uses for Habitat For Humanity.
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Team India: India Engineering Center (IEC) Volunteer Team
Sun's India Engineering Center (IEC) volunteer team has been in existence since 1999 and has been involved in numerous community activities. The Team is led by Vidya Srinivasan and includes Atishay Kumar, Ketaki Kulkarni, Maheshkumar B G, Nagendra HK, Ramesh Naidu, Vidya Sakar Narayanswamy, Brinda Prakash, Namrata Rao, Shantanu Gudihal, and Venkatesh Deshpande.
The team has been able to generate great enthusiasm among employees during Sun's Worldwide Volunteer Week (WWVW). Each year more than 50% of the local employees participated in WWVW. And the volunteer activities continue throughout the year.
The volunteer team organizes an Annual Health Camp, Dental Camp, and Eye Camp. These camps are held in rural villages around Bangalore. Checkups and any post-surgery treatment is provided free of cost. Last year, over 150 underprivileged senior citizens from 28 villages participated in the eye camp, out of which 25 people underwent cataract surgery.
The group also organizes a Bi-annual Blood Camp, which is the WWVW activity that draws the most participation by the IEC employees. Each camp results in more than 250 blood units donated by the employees.
In addition to WWVW, they mobilize employees to visit a blind school, senior citizen home, and school for poor children. They do this at least every quarter. They support the old age home, "Shambavi Home", by sponsoring all the medicines required by the residents throughout the year. Last year, school children from an orphanage were invited to the Sun campus giving them a sense of what work is like in a corporate environment. The volunteer team also treated the children
to fun--complete with a movie, magic show and sweet feast.
The volunteer team in India is committed to social responsibility. Their commitment, high spirit and team work is something to emulate. They make a difference!!!
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