In 1995, Joe Thomas Miller hadn't missed a South Lake Charles Little League game in 28 years. He would do whatever it took to keep children playing the game -- everything from buying the opposing team's baseball uniforms to spearheading the establishment of a neighborhood YMCA. "If there's anything I hope the kids will learn in Little League, it's that things go best through team work. If life, as in baseball, we learn to do better by the mistakes we make."

Geri Christ Landry has been a longtime autism advocate and was founder of the Southwest Louisiana Autism Chapter. Back in 1996, Landry could be found publishing a newsletter, referring names of experts to testify in a school mediation regarding an autistic child, and learning about the latest therapies to help autistic children. A retired special education teacher, she ran a toll-free number for autism information through her home and was often the first resource parents turned to after their child was diagnosed as autistic.

In 1997, Pumpelly was a 79-year-old resident of Lake Charles and a successful business owner with a sense of obligation to give back to his community, which he had done tirelessly for decades. His extensive community involvement reaches a variety of young people from the poor to the emotionally needy, to the physically challenged, to those away from home, to the ordinary. His list of associations are too long to name, but three youth organizations hold a special place in his heart: Boy’s and Girl’s Villages, the Boy Scouts and the Foreman Reynaud YMCA.

Lake Charles resident Billy Navarre always recognized the importance of children, so in turn, he sought to help them in whatever way possible, building character and emphasizing the importance of education. As a successful businessman, demands on Navarre’s time continued to increase, though his commitment to children remained intact. For years, he donated his time and personal funds to reaching out to those in need, whether it is through volunteer coaching, recognizing scholastic efforts and achievements, job skills training or mentoring. In 1998, he was also involved in Partners in Education and had established service organizations for students at both the high school and collegiate levels. Navarre knows first-hand about building dreams through hard work, and this practice provides him an additional opportunity to teach a child that they too can build their dreams.

Director of Grace Ministries, a faith-based multifaceted year-round ministry that provides education to inner-city, at-risk, low-income children

Southwest La. Region Children's Miracle Network director for past 15 years

Has provided extensive support to curb dropout rate at Calcasieu middle school serving disadvantaged youth; his Dore Drop Out Project includes seminars, counseling and tutoring services

Since 1975, has been protecting children in abusive situations; has brotherhood ministry for boys, free after-school tutoring, helps dropouts earn their GED.

Volunteer activist for a number of causes, including Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana, Education First Louisiana, Lion's Club Crippled Children's Camp, etc.

For 21 years, organized a celebrity golf tournament to raise funds for some 20 different charities of Southwest Louisiana that work with children; has raised $750,000 for the charities; founder and nonpaid volunteer; has stepped down due to health problems (lifetime of service)

Johnson has been a teacher and coach at St. Louis High School in Lake Charles for 11 years.

Father Martineau is a recently retired Catholic priest in Lake Charles who serves as Scout chaplain for the Calcasieu Area Boy Scouts.

Miller raises sex offender awareness in Lake Charles and has organized a support group, Moms Against Pedophiles (MAP).

Richard is “PawPaw ” to hundreds of children at Episcopal Day School in Lake Charles. He has worked to ensure that the children there have a safe place to go to school and worship for the last 11 years.

Welsh is a special education teacher at Lagrange High School in Lake Charles.

A volunteer baseball coach in the Mid-City Little League in Lake Charles, Burrell acts as not just coach but mentor and father figure for children of diverse backgrounds. His end-of-the-year team trips to cities like Dallas and Atlanta have given the kids experiences they almost certainly would not have otherwise had.

As regional director in her area for the Children's Miracle Network, Champeaux has been responsible for raising more than $4 million for the organization. The funds have purchased equipment for the pediatric unit of CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital and helped numerous other organizations like the Women's Shelter, the Cameron Community Action Center, Camp Bon Coeur, Inc., the Department of Health and Hospitals-Office of Public Health/Southwest Louisiana Regional Office and area schools. Champeaux was also nominated in 2005.

Diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, Covington, 17, fights her physical limitations in order to volunteer for the Arthritis Foundation and serve as an advocate for other young people with the disease. Covington was also nominated in 2005.

Duhon has devoted many volunteer hours to the Autism Society of America and its state and local chapters for the past 17 years.

Manuel is the founder and executive director of Community Chest, a coalition of churches from different denominations that ’helps provide school supplies, school uniforms, food, clothing, medicine and gas to benefit children in the community. Manuel runs the organization out of her home in Lake Charles.

McInnis works with many youth-oriented groups in the Lake Charles area, including the Summer Reading Program, the Head Start Policy Council, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities PRIME TIME program, BRIDGES for Children, the SWLA Child C.A.R.E. Collaborative, Moss Bluff Disaster Relief, VITA, Cribs for Kids, Fetal Infant Mortality Review Committee, Community Action Team and Death Review Committee, Success by Six, McNeese State University BANNERS and others.

Willie King is a small business owner who has dedicated his life to mentoring at risk kids and families in Calcasieu Parish through several programs and intiatives that he has either started himself or become actively involved iin.