United Way recognizes the top volunteers of the year
Ten outstanding winners honored at annual awards ceremony

(The Michael A. Zagorc award recognizes a special volunteer who has overcome personal difficulties – often major physical challenges - and achieved great success by contributing to his or her community.)

Winner: The Feliciano Family

Nominated by:  UCP/Achieve Tampa Bay

This year’s recipient of the Michael A. Zagorc award proves that the family, who volunteers together, stays together.  Ever since their little boy was born with a rare muscle disorder, the Feliciano family has mobilized to make life easier not only for him, but for children throughout the state of Florida.  When Elias, Jr., needed a mechanical wheelchair, they went all the way to the state Capital to advocate for him and all children with special needs.  When brothers and sisters of other children with disabilities need a sympathetic ear, his brother Tyler – who is only 11 --  shares his experiences in a sibling support group.  And when distraught parents need hope and proof that early intervention, speech therapy and physical therapy do work, Elias, Sr. and Heidi proudly and openly discuss their child’s amazing progress.   Through the years, the Feliciano family has shared their story through countless speaking engagements.  In the process, they have increased awareness about the muscle disorder, raised funds for their nominating agency and, most importantly, opened doors for their son and all children with special needs.

And while the Feliciano family has seen its share of sad times, including multiple painful surgeries and endless procedures for their son, they’ve also realized many successes.  The biggest one so far is that the little boy who couldn’t walk is now a happy kindergartner in a mainstream elementary school.  And through it all – the successes and setbacks, the speaking engagements and support groups, the therapies and medical bills – the Feliciano family has stuck together. 

ANIMALS & ENVIRONMENT

Winner:  Carolyn McKinney

Nominated by:  Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo

This year’s recipient of the Animals & Environment award, Carolyn McKinney, is integral to the care and feeding of the animals at Lowry Park Zoo.   Last year alone, she volunteered close to 450 hours at the zoo, much of that time spent in the kitchen, peeling apples.  Sound easy?  Well, when you consider that the zoo goes through approximately 432 cases of apples a year, it equates to more than 15,000 pounds of apples that Carolyn helped to peel, slice and dice.

When not helping in the kitchen, Carolyn serves as treasurer of the docent organization and as an in-zoo educator.  She has taught hundreds of zoo visitors about animal facts and conservation efforts.  Sharing this information with visitors is essential to the conservation of the endangered animals that the zoo cares for. 

ARTS & RECREATION

Winner:  Robert “Bob” Peterson

Nominated by:  MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry)

Bill Nye the science guy has nothing over Robert “Bob” Peterson, this year’s Arts & Recreation award recipient.  For close to 20 years, Bob has steadfastly volunteered two days a week with MOSI.  He not only shares his time, but his talent as well.  An extremely creative man, Bob has touched nearly every exhibit that has graced the museum through the years.  His specialties are the interactive experiences that invite guests to touch, explore and learn about science.

Because he has seen the musuem evolve over the past two decades, Bob is a wealth of information for visitors and staff members.  He is a walking treasure trove who remembers each exhibit, the successes and the failures.  Thanks to Bob’s knowledge, the museum knows what works, what doesn’t and how best to draw a crowd.

EDUCATION

Winner:  Susan Cohen

Nominated by:  Helen A. Davis Elementary School

Education begins at home. But what do you do when you are a young foster child taken away from home?   Where do you look for a mentor, tutor, advocate and friend?

In the case of some very special children in Hillsborough County, you don’t have to look far.  Two days a week, the Education award recipient, Susan Cohen, volunteers at a local elementary school.  There, she serves as a parent surrogate for economically disadvantaged students who reside in foster homes.  Susan reviews their educational plans, helps with arts and crafts projects, completes small reading group activities, and gives extra help in academic areas.   She also offers support for children who need someone to listen to their needs and wants.

While her time in the school is vital to the children’s academic success, perhaps Susan’s most important volunteer work is completed on the weekends, when she enters their temporary homes at the Children Home Society.  Susan researches every child's file, learns their histories and reaches out to them.  She gets to know each child personally.  Thanks to Susan, all birthdays and holidays are remembered, every child has school supplies and clothing, and these children who have lost so much have an advocate, a friend and someone in their corner, working tirelessly to help them succeed.

HEALTH CARE AND HEALTH EDUCATION

Winner:  Jim Mulcahy

Nominated by:  SHINE at West Central Florida Area Agency on Aging.

Our Health Care and Health Education award recipient, Jim Mulcahy, now holds a leadership position with SHINE, but he started at the grassroots level and still enjoys the hands on work.  Senior citizens come to his agency for help in navigating Medicaid, Prescription Drug Assistance, and those famously complicated Medicare Part D forms.  Jim is accountable to every individual he counsels, sometimes working for weeks to resolve an issue between a client and a government agency.

And Jim’s services are not restricted to his own clients.  Since the implementation of the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan last fall, he has literally counseled thousands of anxious seniors at Senior Fun Fests staged at Tropicana Field and the State Fairgrounds. 

Not only does Jim work well with his clients, he also is the go-to man for the volunteer counselors.  He is their inspiration as he trains and encourages them to keep up their volunteer work.  Because of Jim, thousands of seniors get the help they need and the respect they deserve.  

HUMAN SERVICES

Winner:  Alice Bair

Nominated by:  RCMA (Redlands Christian Migrant Association)

Alice Bair, our Human Services award recipient, has just the right touch when it comes to making someone feel safe and secure, especially when that someone is a little child.  For the past three years, she and her friends have gathered every Monday morning to create blankets for RCMA preschoolers.  Alice’s job is to tie knots in the homemade quilts.  And while she is tying these hundreds and hundreds of knots, she doesn’t even think about how tired her 90-year-old hands will be at the end of the day.  All she can focus on is the thrill of knowing that one of her quilts will soon provide comfort and security to one of “her” babies that she used to rock so carefully in the day care center. 

In three years, Alice has helped to make blankets not only for “her” babies, but for children in nine RCMA day care centers, 500 in all.  These quilts are sure to provide the children a lifetime of snuggling and comfort – and a reminder that a 90-year-old woman once loved them so much that she diligently tied each individual knot, just to keep them warm.

LEADERSHIP

Winner:  Tania Wagner

Nominated by:  Ben Hill Middle School

When our Leadership award recipient, Tania Wagner, finishes the night shift at her full time nursing job, she rarely goes home and hits the sack.  Instead, at least three days a week, she goes to her child’s school – Ben Hill Middle School -- and volunteers.   And she isn’t just making copies or helping out in the lunchroom.  As PTSA president, she is spearheading fundraising events, initiating community liaison programs, and recruiting other parent volunteers.  In fact, under her leadership, new grants have been established for teachers and total parent volunteer hours have doubled.

Tania has initiated or expanded several programs, including one that invited community leaders into the school, giving parents and students alike access to previously untapped community resources.  She also organized the school’s very first Red Ribbon Week, raising awareness about school safety.  Her contributions to Ben Hill Middle School are lasting, and will be part of the school’s culture long after she and her child have moved on. 

PARTNERS IN THE WORKPLACE

Winner:  Jean Gartland and Citigroup

Nominated by:  James A. Haley Veterans Hospital

Citigroup, the recipients of the Partners in the Workplace award, help to remember and care for American soldiers receiving care at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital. 

For the past year, these volunteers have worked hard to make sure our military men and women aren’t forgotten.  Last year, on Valentine’s Day, they participated in the National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, assembling and presenting gift packages to hospital patients at an ice cream social.  In the summer, a team of Citigroup volunteers painted a mural in the patients’ Internet café, a comfortable, homey room that makes one forget the hospital setting.  Finally, in November and December, the volunteers put up holiday decorations, visited patients and presented gifts.  For many patients, these were the only holiday gifts they received.  As soon as one volunteer event ends, the Citigroup team is asking, “What can we do next?”

YOUTH

Winner:  Rebekah Hammond

Nominated by:  YMCA of the Suncoast

For someone even twice her age, Rebekah’s accomplishments would be impressive.  Our Youth award recipient has taken on leadership roles at the local, state and national level.  Locally, Rebekah serves as the youth representative on the YMCA of the Suncoast board of directors and helps to oversee programs and a $28 million budget.  At the state level, she was elected by 600 of her peers to lead them this school year as they tackled a variety of tasks:  hurricane preparedness and recovery, first aid and CPR training, the development of a civics program for middle school students, and the organization of multiple conferences.  On the national level, Rebekah has been selected as one of two students to represent the entire state of Florida at the United States Senate Youth Program.  She will spend a week in Washington, D.C., where she will hear major policy addresses from senators and cabinet members, and participate in a meeting with a Supreme Court justice.

In her spare time, Rebekah volunteers with her local public library, as well as her school’s student government and National Honor Society.  All of her volunteer work hasn’t affected her studies at all, as she is currently ranked second in her senior class. 

GOLDEN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

(Selected by the judges with the highest point score from the entire pool of nominees, this is the highest honor a volunteer can receive at this program.)

Winner:  Dr. Richard Sheridan

Nominated by:  Healthy Start Coalition

For five years, Dr. Richard Sheridan, our Golden Achievement award recipient, has led the statewide effort to reduce infant mortality.  He initiated the Beds 4 Babies campaign, which has funded portable cribs for more than 100 impoverished families.  He also began a Hillsborough County jail partnership, where a specialist visits the jail daily to assess high risk pregnant women who have been arrested.  Dr. Sheridan is on the county’s Fetal Infant Mortality Review Committee.  In this volunteer position, he has the heart breaking but incredibly important job of reviewing fetal and infant deaths to determine how such tragedies can be avoided.

In addition to his volunteer work with women and babies, Dr. Sheridan serves on the board of the Hillsborough County Association of Retarded Citizens.  He also sits on the Florida Bar Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee and the Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board.   

Helping women and babies is Dr. Sheridan’s mission.  Professionally, he is a neonatal specialist, traveling weekly to three area hospitals to provide care to premature babies weighing less than a pound.  Even after he has left the hospital for the day, he makes telephone calls to parents whose babies are in critical care situations.  When he must deliver heart-rending news, he does so with compassion and dignity.  Personally, Dr. Sheridan and his wife are parents to five children. For 13 years, he has volunteered at his children’s swim meets as a United States Swimming Official.  He spends so much time poolside; you probably will find his daughter’s swim schedule in his pocket.  And now his oldest child is attending medical school, just like his father.  We can’t think of a better role model.