In 1997, Kramer was a 75-year-old advocate of CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates). He made it his life’s mission to better the lives of New Orleans children. He was the "advocate of choice" to the judges of Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court and was asked for by name whenever a troubled child had been caught in the system. Kramer proved time and again that no case is hopeless and turned around the lives of many youth who were on paths of destruction. Elvin Kramer passed away in September 2003 at the age of 80.

Anita Gilford began Angel’s Place, a loving endeavor, on December 17, 1994 —the day her son was declared in remission from cancer. Angel’s Place is a hospice for children offering respite care and hospice services for children with life-threatening illness and their families. She dedicates untold hours to her vision of peaceful dying for our terminally ill children through a holistic practice of physical, mental and spiritual help.

Kahoe, of Metairie, facilitates the Grief Goes to Schools Program in 8-10 Orleans and Jefferson Parish schools.

Landry has volunteered in the area of drug abuse prevention since 1987. The Marrero resident was also instrumental in the opening of the Westbank Alternative School, which provides services for middle school students expelled from other Westbank schools. She was also nominated in 2004

Russell, who is blind, works as a volunteer tutor and counselor, organizer and fundraiser for the Methodist Home for Children in New Orleans. She also volunteers with the Children’s Literacy Program and is pursuing a master’s degree so that she can make working with children a full-time job as well. She was also nominated in 2004.

Campo volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) representing the best interests of two adolescent girls, siblings who have been abused by their parents and are in the foster care system. In addition to her hours as an advocate, Campo also volunteers in the CASA program office and serves on the board of directors of Friends of CASA, Inc., where she is involved in fund-raising activities and recruiting new volunteers. Campo was also nominated in 2005.

Landry has volunteered in the area of drug abuse prevention since 1987. The Marrero resident was also instrumental in the opening of the Westbank Alternative School, which provides services for middle school students expelled from other Westbank Schools. She was also nominated in 2003.

A professor, author, inventor and motivational speaker, Mackie devotes his life to mentoring and educating at-risk youth. Through his speaking engagements statewide and his Channel ZerO organization, Mackie works to motivate children to make proper decisions, to set and achieve goals and to make education their top priority.

Dilosa organized the YOUTHanasia Foundation in 1997 to provide prevention and intervention programs to children aged 13-18. She has personally mentored more than 250 students.

Dodd has supported the Methodist Home for Children for many years through various fundraising efforts.

Ducote, a registered nurse at Tulane University Hospital, started Champions of Greater New Orleans, a group for children with physical and developmental challenges. Through it, children with autism, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or developmental delays have enjoyed such activities as a field trip to a televison news studio and a weekend campout at a state park.

Firmin teaches math at Archbishop Rummel High School and statistics at the University of New Orleans. After hours and on weekends, he runs Operation Head Start, in which high school students work with local preschoolers, and he volunteers at Angel’s Place, a non-profit organization that provides respite and end-of-life care to seriously ill children and their families.

U.S. Navy Petty Officer Kingsbury provides anti-drug education programs for young children in New Orleans area schools.

A special education teacher in a school with many economically disadvantaged children, Leblanc spends her own money on clothing and field trip expenses for some of the students. She also organizes the annual Christmas party, and lines up friends to "adopt" needy children for Christmas gifts.

Massimini has spent more than 10 years helping chidren overcome obesity and now runs a children's fitness business.

Rollinson works tirelesly to help children with muscular dystrophy. A lupus sufferer, she uses a wheelchair herself and serves as an escort helping disabled children to attend regular schools. She also spends a lot of time working on fundraisers.

Stafford spends about 20 hours a week outside of her regular work hours working with children in the Orleans Parish schools as well as several area non-profit organizations.

A special education teacher in a school with many economically disadvantaged children, LeBlanc spends her own money on clothing and field trip expenses for some of the students. She also organizes the annual Christmas party and lines up friends to "adopt" needy children for Christmas gifts. LeBlanc was also nominated in 2005.

Tridico has been extraordinarily devoted to helping the disabled, mentally ill and otherwise needy in her community – whatever community that might be – from a young age. She has done significant volunteer work for numerous social service agencies in her hometown of Abbeville throughout high school and in New Orleans while earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Most of her efforts have benefited children, especially those with mental illnesses. Tridico is currently in medical school, volunteers as an EMT on an ambulance in New Orleans, is pursuing an associate’s degree in sign language interpreting and has recently joined the National Registry for Bone Marrow donation.

Hughes is the supervisor of the Volunteers of America of Greater New Orleans program Mentoring Children of Promise, which serves children of incarcerated parents. Hughes has worked tirelessly to ensure each child has a mentor to assist in developing a personal success plan and in strengthening the child’s foundation for future success.

Deshawn Dabney is a young community activist who is involved in several initiatives. He has gained national recognition for his efforts and his successes which he has achieved despite coming from a difficult background.

Pavon, an entrepreneur and coach for PARD Playground sports for the past six years, actively supports local youth through athletics. In addition to sponsoring team uniforms through his company, Pavon holds an annual fundraiser to purchase equipment for th

SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) coordinator for Lockport Middle School and developer of puppet program teaching prevention messages

For last 20 years, has designed and built wooden games for mentally and physically challenged children

Provides safe, after-school haven for children through Circle of H.O.P.E., converted from a run-down empty building to a community-based center providing tutoring, homework assistance, mentoring, counseling, snacks, activities and outings; works with parents and kids; totally volunteer effort

Comardelle, of Thibodaux, was involved with the torch run for Special Olympics.

In 1989, Gros combined several community holiday donation efforts into the Thibodaux Area Christmas Toy Drive, and now serves as its voluntary chairperson. She was also nominated in 2004.

A distinguished educator with the Louisiana Department of Education, Hiram Bailey instituted a program at Ferriday High School to prepare students to pass the Graduate Exit Exam. His efforts, which included personally tutoring low-achieving students after school, led to an increase in student achievement in every area.

In 1989, Gros combined several community holiday donation efforts into the Thibodaux Area Christmas Toy Drive, and now serves as its voluntary chairperson. She was also nominated in 2003.

St. Marie has created numerous programs fostering youth leadership, peace and multicultural understanding, drug awareness and violence prevention in summer camps, day camps and schools throughout Louisiana.

Savoie is a certified safety clown, Lollipop Lulu, who appears at numerous health fairs, schools and safety demonstrations, giving children a fun way to learn about “stranger danger,” fire safety, water safety, bicycle safety and other topics. She volunteers extensively for the state’s Emergency Medical Services for Children program and is one of only two child car seat technicians certified in the requirements of children with special needs. She is also the Injury Prevention Coordinator for the Office of Public Health and the regional Child Death Review Coordinator.

In 1995, Patricia Moore ran HEER US, a non-profit educational organization that included an AIDS intervention and prevention program for minority youth in the Greater New Orleans area. She took on the voluntary post out of concern for young people; she was motivated by the desire to help children realize the consequences of their actions, and to help them see that they have a future.

Schofield was honored in 1995 for his work as a juvenile parole and probation officer and motivational speaker who helped young people put their lives back on the right track.

Through his Visual Jazz Art Gallery, Richard Thomas provides a “safe haven” for young people who are interested in art. Thomas, who has worked with other youth programs, started his own project in 1991. He works with 40 young people, including students at McDonogh 35 Senior High and others, offering his time and gallery space to teach these kids art and showcase their exhibits. But his “Pieces of Power” program goes far beyond aesthetics. Thomas’ program has nurtured many budding artists. He represents the young artists, serving as a mentor and helping them sell their work. “The program gives them an understanding of how to develop careers in art and where the possibilities lie for them, for the future and for now.” Many of the students who have completed his program have earned college art scholarships, and many have become professional artists. “In my program, kids get life principles. They understand the importance of sharing, being with a group and making a contribution,” he said. “The program helps transform their behavior, tear down peer pressure. I’m telling them that all is not lost. There is hope.”

Mo Leverett is founder and director of Desire Street Ministries. “There is no better place in the country, as far as I’m concerned, to do urban ministry than New Orleans, and no better place in New Orleans than the Desire community,” he said. “One misconception that people have about neighborhoods like Desire is that the neighborhood is full of people who can’t really make it in life. The kids who grow up in the Desire neighborhood are created with the same potential for life and success as anybody on the planet. That’s the purpose of our work, to help them tap into that natural God-given creative resource to become everything that God created them to be. And that’s what we are doing one person at a time.”

An elementary school teacher in New Orleans, Ponoroff established a volunteer reading program for grades 1-5. She was very active in the program, coordinating the efforts of more than 100 volunteers, soliciting funds to purchase books, sponsoring reading contests and much more. A program volunteer reported that reading levels and test scores of the entire school significantly increased as a result of Ponoroff’s reading program.

John Wyseman, in 1999 a special education teacher at Alcee Fortier High School, initiated and developed several programs for students at the New Orleans inner-city school. Run after school hours, one of the programs helped disadvantaged students develop marketable skills, and earned national recognition. In the decade that Wyseman directed the school’s vocational co-op program, 85 percent of the participating students remained in the job of their choosing, with teen-age pregnancy, criminal activity and expulsion non-existent within the group.

Artist, activist, educator and entrepreneur Kyshun Webster had contributed more at age 24 (when he was named an Angel Award finalist in 2001) than many people do in their lifetimes. A former resident of the St. Bernard Housing Development, Webster – at age 13 – organized and implemented the first free tutorial program for children of the Lower Ninth Ward. He operated the program out of his garage. Webster continued his mission of helping children during high school and his days as a student at Xavier College, when in 1999 he opened A Home for Homework, a grass-roots, student-run youth community center. In 2001, he was a graduate student in urban studies education at the University of New Orleans and a full-time instructor at Xavier University. Webster expanded his program to include parental involvement, cultural enrichment, and a summer arts camp.

Five-year volunteer with Teen Life Counts (TLC), a youth suicide prevention program

Began ministry 35 years ago in New Orleans through the non-profit Trinity Christian Community (TCC) which still ministers to youth today in the Carrollton-Hollygrove area, one of the toughest neighborhoods in New Orleans; now retired at age 80, Brown continues to inspire and motivate a new generation of advocates for the urban poor in New Orleans and around the nation

Works with foster children, striving to reunite them with their biological families as much as possible

Volunteer baseball coach and playground manager at Oak Park Playground, and has transformed a formerly unused, city-owned park into an enjoyable location for three baseball teams; postal worker

Principal of the Bright School, a preschool for deaf and hearing-impaired children

Volunteer tutor with Operation Mainstream; founded and volunteered administratively for eight year with a summer day camp for working families; helped organize enrichment program at a New Orleans public elementary school; urban Girl Scout troop leader; organized and helped coach recreational sports teams at St. Thomas Housing Development; helped organize an urban branch of Young Life

24-year-old, volunteer basketball coach to boys team while in college in Mississippi and in Army Reserve; works to give life skills as well as basketball skills; also volunteers at camps and other social programs for youth

A business and social studies instructor in the New Orleans Public Schools, Bardell has initiated, headed or participated in a number of academic and extracurricular programs to help shape the next generation of New Orleans' business leaders. He was also nominated in 2006 and 2008.

Rev. Dejean has served for 30 years as the executive director of Youth Inspirational Connection, Inc. (YICI), an organization providing educational and performing cultural arts opportunities for at-risk and artistically talented inner-city children. She lives in New Orleans.

Sister Girshefski runs a daycare workshop in New Orleans for mentally retarded children and adults helping them to earn a living and learn to live independently.

Hornbrook is president of the New Orleans Public School Alumni Association and chairman for the Rally for New Orleans Public Schools.

Jolly has been confined to a wheelchair for 10 years by muscular dystrophy. She is a counselor for ACCESS, a program of the Archdiocese of New Orleans that counsels young women considering abortion.

Mims was heavily into drugs and debauchery when his father’s murder forced him to look at his life and make a complete turnaround. A world champion kickboxer, he devotes many hours to working with children at the Jordan Noble Center, a New Orleans public school for youngsters with serious emotional problems.

Utter, of New Orleans, is director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, a non-profit organization that challenges the conditions of confinement in Louisiana’s secure care facilities for juveniles.

As a member of the community policing squad assigned to New Orleans’ Iberville public housing development, Marcellus White saw a pressing need for a productive way for the children who live there to spend their leisure time – something to serve as an alternative to the violence, vandalism and drug abuse he was all too familiar with from his own childhood in the Desire housing development. Five years ago, he helped start the Iberville Scorpions Karate Academy, which for three afternoons a week during the school year offers instruction in karate theory and skills as well as principles of Afrocentric culture. White’s program now receives housing authority funding, but to get it started he solicited donations, held suppers and crawfish boils and sold raffle tickets. Today, he continues to go above and beyond the duties of a cop on the beat. He checks on his 40 students’ progress in school, makes home visits and supervises field trips, ensuring that the ideals that boys and girls are exposed to at his academy – discipline, honor, self-worth and good judgment – are valued in their everyday lives.

Described by friends as a "humble, energetic hard worker," DeJan is a mentor and role model for the youth of his community, volunteering for hours each week at the local elementary school, tutoring children after school and counseling local college students.

Gaudin has volunteered with New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity for 19 years. Thanks to her help, 85 new Habitat homes have been constructed in partnership with low-income families. Her work has made it possible for hundreds of children in New Orleans to move out of substandard housing and into safe, decent homes.

A health care worker for more than 20 years, May has been involved in hospice organizations for more than 10 of those years, and has been particularly devoted to the cause of bereaved children. She has given hours of her time to Slidell's Camp Courage for chldren who have lost loved ones and has raised funds and conducted extensive outreach into the community as well as volunteering at the camp. May was also nominated in 2005.

Russell, who is blind, works as a volunteer tutor and counselor, organizer and fund raiser for the Methodist home for Children in New Orleans. She also volunteers with the Children's Literacy Program. She was also nominated in 2003.

While pursuing his masters degree in pastoral studies at Loyola University and getting certified in youth ministry at Xavier University’s Institute of Black Catholic Studies, Augustine, who also works at an entertainment company, serves as Director of Youth Ministries at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church. He has also devoted time to the Young Adult Chorale, the Liturgical Dancers, a weekly bible study for Xavier’s campus ministry and the annual Rally for Faith for all the black Catholic youth in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He is also working on a neighborhood tutoring program and a “rites of passage” program for 8th and 9th graders.

Bartlett has supported the Methodist Home for Children for many years through various fundraising efforts.

As an 11-year-old weighing 65 pounds, Brown was abandoned at St. Elizabeth’s Orphanage. Eight years later she began her career with a railroad, moving only across the street from the orphanage so she could devote her spare time to “her girls.” After 35 years of working, she retired due to disability, and began volunteering at the orphanage full time. At 83, despite heart surgery and crippling arthritis which has necessitated two hip replacements, she still takes on administrative duties there.

A motivational speaker and licensed minister, Cook presents programs addressing issues of self esteem, alcohol and drug abuse and violence, including the “Choose 2 Refuse” drug prevention program. She is the author of “Goodbye Caterpillar, Hello Butterfly,” a book on spiritual transformation.

Corley is an auntie, mother or grandmother to every child she has ever met in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. She goes way beyond the call of duty in her job as team coordinator of Kids First Pediatrics, which provides preventive healthcare to low-income families. She has also served as director of the youth department at her church and spends her weekends taking care of neighborhood children.

Dr. Dreschnack works with several organizations benefiting children but the bulk of his volunteer hours are spent on the India Project, in which plastic surgeons operate on children deformed by birth defects. These children live in India. Dr. Dreschnack has also recently founded “Orbus Dei,” another charity benefiting children who live in Africa and Asia.

Encalarde seeks to empower adolescent girls through The Beautiful Foundation, which she founded and serves as executive directoThe foundation’s programs include a variety of topics, from financial and career planning to peer pressure and the breaking down of stereotypes.

Eustis is co-mentor of the Boys to Men program at an inner-city New Orleans middle school. He plays football with these students on weekends and has started a chess program for them.

In 1993 Harris cofounded Each One Save One, a mentoring program, and has guided it from the concept of placing willing, caring adults with young people in need of encouragement to a fully functioning, growing non-profit organization. She is also involved with the “Just for Kids” program at a school near the St. Bernard Housing Development and several other programs for young people.

Hobbs spends every day of the week operating a non-profit organization that provides on-site vision screenings for children in the New Orleans public schools.

The Hutchinsons are practicing artists who founded KID smART, in which they still have a hands-on interest. They began with a small board and a program for 20 children and have grown to become an arts education initiative serving more than 1,500 students in the city’s most underperforming schools.

“Coach” Joseph has been working with children for more than 30 years. Through his James Joseph School of Boxing, he has provided an environment in which inner-city children can stay out of trouble and learn the values of honesty, integrity, good sportsmanship, academic success and discipline. Club participants are required, among other things, to learn about fitness and nutrition, respect authority figures, maintain a “C” average or better, have a library card and, if they are over 18, be registered to vote.

Jazz artist Marsalis founded the Uptown Music Theatre, a non-profit organization providing arts and music education. He has composed six full-length musicals in which hundreds of children have participated and thousands more have enjoyed.

Dr. Osofsky is a psychologist, psychoanalyst and professor of pediatrics, psychiatry and public health at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She has dedicated her life to prevention, intervention and clinical service programs for children and families at high psycho-social risk. In 1992, she began the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) for Children and Families at LSUHSC, which provides consultation and therapy to more than 1,000 children each year.

Peacock is director of the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program in Jefferson Parish. The number of advocates in her program has grown from nine to more than 130 in just three eyars. She is always on call after hours for the advocates on her staff and spends a great deal of off time working on CASA programs.

The Pipers run an afterschool and summertime educational program. Their Wilbert Tross Educational Center has begun a new program for teen focusing on improving behavior through creative, recreational and counseling services. It will also train adults to be mentors and tutors.

Tate leads the Louisiana Family Council, which provides programs in teen pregnancy prevention and character development. He authored “Stop the Drama,” a parenting strategy curriculum for divorced or never-married parents. He also created a responsible fatherhood program used in communities and prisons which attempts to reintegrate fathers back into the lives of their children.

Tobias works with at-risk youth in her community.

Westfeldt established the Chartwell Center, a non-profit organization that serves children with autism and related disorders by providing direct educational services and training and technical support to teachers and other professionals. While a full-time teacher in Jefferson Parish, she began a tutoring program for at-risk boys in a residential program. She also serves on the board of the Parenting Center at Children’s Hospital and organized its major fundraiser.

A business and social studies instructor in the New Orleans Public Schools, Bardell has initiated, headed or participated in a number of academic and extracurricular programs to help shape the next generation of New Orleans' business leaders. He was also nominated in 2003 and 2008.

As Executive Director of the New Orleans chapter of Boys Hope Girls Hope, Howat has overseen the removal of multiple at-risk children from troubled and broken homes and placed them in a safe environment to prosper and mature into successful high-school and college graduates. Through his fundraising efforts, he has grown the BHGH budget to provide a better program for both the children and the staff. Howat also co-founded Alive in You, a 2006 Catholic Youth Summer Camp unifying youth groups from around the country with education, spirituality and service to Hurricane Katrina-ravaged communities.

Piper runs an afterschool and summertime educational program. The Wilbert Tross Educational Center has begun a new program for teens focusing on improving behavior through creative, recreational and counseling services. It will also train adults to be mentors and tutors. Piper was also nominated in 2005.

A foster parent for more than 28 years, Valteau has worked with CASA and several foster parent organizations, helping other parents navigate the system.

Burson has gone above and beyond her job description in the 38 years she has worked for the Children's Bureau of New Orleans. Her work during and after Hurricane Katrina ensured that the bureau not only survived, but increased its capacity to serve children and families.

A social worker for the State of Louisiana's Child Protection Agency for more than 25 years, Kerry Ermon has helped to find foster and adoptive families for children in the state's custody. She created the Times-Picayune's "A Home of My Own" series as well as pamphlets, billboards, public service announcements and other creative measures to find families for abused and neglected children. To date, she has written and coordinated more than 2,250 adoption segments.

Kaichen, executive director of the GPOA (German Protestant Orphans Association) Foundation and a licensed social worker, organized the United Nonprofits of Greater New Orleans to revitalize non-profit organizations following Hurricane Katrina. Through this program she gave leaders of community organizations throughout the city the knowledge and courage to carry on and rebuild.

A 77-year-old volunteer for Deliquency Alternative Program Ministries, Mary Williams provided meals for hudnreds of student workers ferom all over the country in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

A business and social studies instructor in the New Orleans Public Schools, Bardell has initiated, headed or participated in a number of academic and extracurricular programs to help shape the next generation of New Orleans' business leaders. He was also nominated in 2003 and 2006.

Gould is currently site director of the For the Children reading program at Benjamin Banneker Elementary School, where she has doubled the program’s size. Before Hurricane Katrina she created and ran Youth Outdoors, a program that brought low-income kids from New Orleans on trips each summer to wilderness areas in the Colorado mountains, Arizona and Utah and to Grande Isle, La., to learn about coastal erosion and wetlands conservation. After Katrina she founded Huddled Masses to educate the community on coastal land loss.

A full-time U.S. Magistrate Judge, Roby volunteers as a founding board member of the First Tee of New Orleans, a life-skills program that uses golf as an avenue for character and values development for metropolitan New Orleans youth. The program gives children ages 7-17 of all races and economic backgrounds access to learning facilities, educational programs, wellness education and career assistance. She works tirelessly and unselfishly, giving her time, talent and treasure to make the program’s benefits available to all participants.

Short is the executive director of the Fountain of Youth Foundation, a grassroots organization that guides high school youth to become effective leaders in their communities. She has also worked with PICO Louisiana and All Congregations Together on the nationwide campaign to ask Congress to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

After Hurricane Katrina, Brian Bordainick, a New Orleans public school teacher, established a sports field in the lower 9th Ward.

Emily Braneon is a dedicated librarian in the recovery school district of Louisiana in New Orleans.

Founder of organization that provides vision screening and glasses at school sites.

Stacy Horn Koch is the Executive Director of Covenant House, a community center offering a myriad of programs to homeless and at-risk youth in New Orleans. As a recovering addict, she is uniquely equipped to fully understand and relate to the kids who co

Jack McShane is a 15-year-old boy who volunteers regularly with the Mow-Rons. Mow-Rons are a small group of volunteers who cut the grass at New Orleans City Park every week.

Minh Nguyen is the devoted founded of the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans, which is a youth-led organization dedicated to the empowerment of Vietnamese American and other underrepresented youth through services, cultural enric

Russ Rehm is a devoted volunteer with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). He has served as an advocate for 3 children since he began. He is devoted to these children, despite losing everything in Hurricane Katrina.

Kaseem Short developed and implemented a youth tutorial program for low income children in the Gert Town Community. Rev. Short encourages the enthusiasm and strengths of the members of the community to participate in volunteering in community clean-ups a

Judge Karen Wells Roby has volunteered in many capacities with the First Tee of Greater New Orleans. She was also nominated in 2008.

After Hurricane Katrina, Jane Wholey organized Rethink, an organization that encourages kids to advocate for changes in their own schools.

Avist, an employee of the Plaquemines Parish Public School System, has worked for years with the Special Olympics, traveling with one Special Olympian over the course of 13 years to competitions as far away as Connecticut. A resident of Buras, she has also been an avid supporter of football and cheerleading programs, proms and art festivals.

Boudreaux, of Chalmette, was general coordinator for the St. Bernard Parish Community Playground in Torres Park.

Cassar developed a number of programs dealing with drug awareness in the St. Bernard Parish Schools. A resident of Arabi, he was also nominated in 2004.

Somoza is principal of the New Opportunities and Values for Achievement (NOVA), an alternative school in Chalmette.

Cassar, a resident of Arabi, developed a number of drug awareness programs for the St. Bernard Parish schools. He was also nominated in 2003.

Voitier is the superintendent of St. Bernard Parish Public Schools. She has led the effort to reopen the schools as quickly as possible following Hurricane Katrina so that all the children who have returned would have a quality education.

Zack Rosenburg is the co-director for a non-profit organization that rebuilds homes in St. Bernard Parish that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Known affectionately by her students as “Miss Mary,” Betty Braun had been an active volunteer at St. Charles Parish schools for 38 years when she was honored in 2001. She answered the urgent call for mentors for the Helping One Student To Succeed (HOSTS) math program at J.B. Martin Middle School. HOSTS mentors work one-on-one each week with children performing below basic skills levels. The program expanded to include language arts. Because there was a shortage of mentors, Braun volunteered to help more students, and she worked with no less than four students each week. She spent most of her days at school, with her husband dropping her off and picking her up since she did not drive. Despite being on a fixed income, she shared what she had with students and they responded in kind – all of her students passed the math and language arts portions of their 2001 LEAP exams.

Founded and organized the LEAP Tutoring Outreach Program to improve poor test scores; got private funding to help some 500 4th and 8th graders, operated weekly and summer program; result was improved test scores and more students passed LEAP test

Gaupp is a longtime communtiy activist and founding member of the St. Charles Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse. Through her efforts and energy, Gaupp helped open the doors in 2001 of the Madere Children's Advocacy Center, a facility where abused and at-risk children can receive cousneling. She continues to volunteer as a fundraiser and children's advocate to raise awareness and educate people on the issue of child abuse.

With insight gained from parenting his own mantally challenged daughter, Danny Roussel founded the Center for Family and Youth Services, a non-profit agency that offers mental health conseling and parent training and support. After five years, the center has a caseload of 1,200 patients and Roussel trains local college students to carry on and spread his vision of support for mental health services in his community.

A middle school science teacher in Destrehan, Guillot is creator and coordinator of the LaBranche Wetland Watchers, a nationally recognized service-learning project that has helped nearly 8,000 students volunteer more than 40,000 hours since the project's inception in 1998.

Fonseca created the Little League Challenger Baseball Program that gives St. Charles Parish children with special needs the chance to play T-ball on a real team, helped by young buddies from another Little League team.

Mr. Curtis Taylor has utilized his skills as a carpenter to build several large scale structures and models and establish a children's educational carpentery program at Destrehan plantation.

In 2002, Betty Coleman Clement was a high school educator for the St. John the Baptist School System who spearheaded projects for the needy in the River Parishes for more than three decades. Most notable is Tools for Schools, a program she developed in 1996 and continued to coordinate. Tools for Schools has provided school supplies and uniforms to more than 8,000 children in the River Parishes. All funding Coleman received for her service projects went directly to the projects; she used her own funds for operations, travel, office supplies and postage. An example of her can-do spirit is when she had difficulty finding volunteers to transport supplies, she went and bought her own truck to do the job herself – even though she had never driven a truck before in her life and was afraid to get behind the wheel for the first few days. A single mother, Clement worked two and three jobs while rearing her two daughters, but she still found time to serve others. Retired from teaching after 33 years, she worked in the Option 3 program to help prepare young people for the GED. She also coordinated the Times-Picayune Newspaper in Education program. When asked, “How do you do it?” she replied, “I’ve come a long way from my roots on Bessie K. plantation. The Lord has richly blessed me and it is my mission to give something back.”

Adaptive physical education teacher and volunteer coach for underprivileged and disadvantaged children; organized St. John Special Athletes Recreation Club sports club for children of special needs

Hartzell runs the Greater New Orleans Therapeutic Riding Center, open to children with a variety of disabilities. She hosts fundraisers to subsidize children at the center, maintains the horses on a daily basis and holds classes three times a week.

Linda Woodward’s efforts as founder and director of Positive Action and Positive Attitude led to her selection as a 1996 finalist. “We focus on teaching teens to be responsible for their actions,” Woodward said. “We focus on making decisions and being role models, on choosing friends that will enhance your beliefs. Our goal is to train students to really look at themselves, look at what they stand for. And students have to understand themselves before they can reach out and help other people.”

In 1998, Pastor Alfred Young provided an alternative to life on the streets for at-risk youth in Covington. As operator of Upward Community Services, Inc., Young founded Upward Camp with the vision to help area children grow up to be productive members of society. Upward Camp provided drug and alcohol outreach, tutoring services, mentoring programs and recreational activities. Swimming lessons, arts and crafts and two balanced meals a day were also important parts of his program. Although the camp’s financial resources were limited, Young never turned a child away for not being able to pay the $10 weekly fee.

Al Andry was honored as founder and executive director of S.C.A.P. (Special Children Are Privileged). For more than 27 years, he and his wife Elaine devoted time, effort and money to help physically and mentally challenged young people in a variety of ways. Affectionately known to all as “Mr. Al,” he ran SCAP exclusively through private donations, with no state or federal support.

Named an Angel Award finalist at age 16, Nicole Armand had already faced more challenges than many people do in a lifetime. Diagnosed with epilepsy at age 3, Armand suffered with uncontrollable seizures until age 10, when she underwent brain surgery to remove part of her frontal lobe. Because of her struggles, Armand decided to help other children who have epilepsy and their families. She raised funds for a special event at City Park in New Orleans by lecturing at medical schools and performing at fairs and festivals. She handled all aspects of the event herself, and it became an annual event. In 2001, Armand had two goals: to become the best pediatric neurosurgeon in Louisiana, and to establish her own non-profit epilepsy awareness organization, Kids That Care.

CEO of K-Bar-B Youth Ranch, a residential, inpatient facility for youth ages 7-17 who have been removed from their homes for their protection; former resident of the same facility where she now serves as CEO

Ardent, longtime supporter of Rainbow Child Care Center, a day care center for low-income families and families in crisis

Scogin’s cerebral palsy keeps her in a wheelchair but the 21-year-old Slidell resident still manages to volunteer five or six hours each day as a receptionist at the St. Tammany Association for Retarded Citizens.

Thomas participates in and sponsors many youth programs at the First Presbyterian Church in Slidell. He also sponsors Habitat for Humanity youth programs and a youth baseball team.

Boyle founded NeuroPeds, a clinic that provides cutting-edge physical therapy to children with developmental disabilities in Louisiana and the Gulf South area. His dream is to allow children with special needs to overcome their disabilities and reach their ultimate goal of independence. To that end, he spends hours raising funds and community awareness of the need for expansion and further development of the venture.

Cheveallier and her husband Clint retired in 1995 from the Volunteers of America after more than 30 years each of service. In 1997, they founded a therapeutic horseback-riding program for people with disabilities at their farm. Now incorporated as New Heights Therapy Center, the program seeks to promote physical and emotional wellbeing for children with disabilities.

Conner's hard work and dedication have led to the creation of the Pelican Athletic Club Kid's Adventure Race in Mandeville and other kids' adventure races statewide. Offered free to children, the events expose young participants to the excitement of team sports and the benefits of health, fitness and eating right.

Golden, a 24-year-old affected by mental retardation, has volunteered five days a week, several hours a day, for more than two and a half years as a teacher's assistant for NOAH's ARC Child Development Center. She brings love, caring and enthusiasm to her volunteer position and inspires the children with her own zest for life.

A retired high school principal in her 80s, Duvic spends all her available time finding solutions to the problems of mentally, emotionally or physically challenged children.

Executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center in Covington, Garcia also volunteers on its board of directors. She also serves as a board member of chairman of the West St. Tammany Exchange Club, whose mission is child abuse prevention; Upward Community Service, a faith based-organization serving at-risk children; St. Tammany Outreach for the Prevention of Suicide and the March of Dimes WalkAmerica.

Haase has worked to raise awareness about the importance of including people with disabilities in the everyday activities of family and community life. She is the leader of the design and construction committee for Kids Konnection, which is developing a playground that is 70 percent accessible to disabled children.

Bruno has served Louisiana’s youth for more than two decades. In 1989, he founded Kids In Crisis Project, Inc., a not-for-profit counseling, training and education center serving the greater New Orleans area. As president, he is active in furthering the agency’s crisis services for youth and families as well as education and training for counselors and social workers who deal with young people.

The deBrams are adoptive parents of three children and foster parents to two.

Hymel advocates at the legislative and congressional levels to protect children from internet predators. She also donates many volunteer hours to Hope House Children's Advocacy Center, serving Washington and St. Tammany parishes.

A computer teacher already devoted to helping at-risk students in an after-school program in Lacombe, Schneider added volunteer hours to her schedule in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to help her students affected by the storm.

Hymel advocates at the legislative and congressional levels to protect children from internet predators. She also donates many volunteer hours to Hope House Children’s Advocacy Center, serving Washington and St. Tammany parishes. Hymel was also nominated in 2006.

Marrs makes music a fun and exciting activity for a thousand children in three schools each week in the St.Tammany Parish Public School System. She also stays after school to tutor children in reading and math, monitors aftercare for pre-k children and teaches summer school for LEAP remediation.

Montgomery started the Slidell Foster and Adoptive Parent Association and has been a foster and adoptive parent for eight years.

A computer teacher already devoted to helping at-risk students in an after-school program in Lacombe, Schneider added volunteer hours to her schedule in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to help her students affected by the storm. Schneider was also nominated in 2006.

A volunteer for more than 50 years, Suthon created programs at the New Orleans YWCA to serve women and children who were victims of domestic abuse and urged the YWCA to begin after-school tutoring and reading programs for kids. She has been a driving force behind Safe Harbor, a residential shelter and program for abused women and children, and also began the first rape crisis line in New Orleans.

For the past 20 years, Nancy Barthelemy has organized and maintained a fundraising initiative for Rainbow, a non-profit quality child care program for children of the working poor.

Garcia is director of Hope House Children's Advocacy Center, which provides a safe haven for children to testify of sexual abuse under the direction of specially trained forensic law enforcement agents. Garcia's work often means that such victims are spared further trauma in a courtroom setting. Garcia was also nominated in 2005.

Lopez founded and runs Camp Tiger Paw, a summer camp devoted to children with special needs. Each year, between 20 and 30 handicapped children are brought together for two weeks and create a community that promotes self-esteem and friendship.

Sister Rosario serves as director of the Louis Infants’ Crisis Center in Houma. Founded by her in 1979, the facility is a licensed child-care center that helps to prevent child abuse and neglect of children whose ages range from birth to 8 years. Under her direction, the center provides a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week emergency shelter to children of families in crisis. In her own words, Sister Rosario describes the center as “a step before foster care.” Her immediate goal is to prevent potentially dangerous situations from worsening and causing the involuntary removal of the child from the home. In a long-term sense, her goal is to use specific structured programs to teach basic parenting skills. When the Louis Infants’ Crisis Center was first established, it was contained in on the first floor of a two-story convent. Through Sister Rosario’s efforts, the center has since expanded to include three buildings that house an immediate crisis care facility and a long-term care facility for a total of 20 children.

Pastor of Annunziata Catholic Church in 1999, “Father Jim” has reached out to the marginalized and forgotten children and youth throughout his priesthood. In 1993, the seeds for Providence High School were planted after Morrison met with a distraught grandmother and her expelled granddaughter. He developed Providence High, an alternative school for at-risk, expelled students, using a holistic approach to education. Through 1999, more than 420 students had been given a second chance through Providence.

Babin’s connection to Girl Scouts goes back more than 30 years, and for the past 11 years she has served as troop leader for girls in every age group. Her tenure as Houma Service Unit manager has seen a steady increase in Girl Scout membership from this large, mostly rural area.

A child support intake caseworker by day, Duplantis continues her unwavering support for at-risk youth on her own time by volunteering to visit juvenile detention centers, bringing a positive mental message and a healthy physical workout to youth there. Duplantis was also nominated in 2005.

At age 9, Dunckelman began Project FAME (Fine Arts Motivating the Elderly), an intergenerational program bringing young children together with the elderly. Now 16, he has devoted many volunteer hours to other projects serving children, including fundraising efforts to aid area children following hurricanes Rita and Katrina.

Liner is a member of Bikers Against Child Abuse and spends many hours outside of his regular job as a child support enforcement officer helping abused children feel safe both in their homes and when they are required to appear in court. Liner is also a member of Louisiana's Blue Knights, an all-cop motorcycle organization that works tirelessly to help children through donations, fundraisers, child safety events and fingerprinting.

Born without arms, Navarre has devoted his life to helping disabled children, largely through his work with the Louisiana Lions Crippled Children's Camp in Leesville.

Charles Brown started The Learning Center for at risk youth as well as a youth orchestra and theater group.

Kathleen Gros is a long time community activist in Thibodaux. Two of her most notable projects involved establishing and huge annual community toy drive for needy children, and the development of a childrern's museum

Active in Scouting for several decades; leader of Explorer Scout post for more than a decade; often spent his own money for scouts, who were from poor families

Sartin serves as voluntary coordinator for the Poplas Quarter Recreation Center in Bogalusa, not only orchestrating activities for the children who use the center, but keeping up the facility and grounds as well.