2016 Governor’s Outstanding
Volunteer Award Winners
Marie-Anne Aghazadian
Paul Wilkinson Lifetime Achievement Award
Nominator: Teresa J. Avery, MA CT
In the late 1970s, Marie-Anne Aghazadian was the parent of an individual with specials needs.
Forty years later, she is a leader among a passionate group of parent advocates and a driving
force behind the creation of the Delaware Autism Program, which is now a statewide, public
program for students with autism spectrum disorder. Marie-Anne helped found Autism
Delaware in 1998 to serve as an advocate group and resource for the autism community. MarieAnne has also served on multiple councils devoted to those with special needs in our state,
including the Developmental Disabilities Council and the Governor’s Council for Exceptional
Citizens. In addition, Marie-Anne is developing a new service program (“Share the Care”) and
serving as an Educational Surrogate Parent.
John Hollis
Paul Wilkinson Lifetime Achievement Award
Nominators: DHSS Secretary Rita M. Landgraf and Jill Fredel
For more than 40 years, John Hollis has helped to build a stronger, better and healthier Delaware
for our children. As the consummate active member of the community, John has been a coach, a
mentor, a community service volunteer, a member and chair of various community boards and
committees, a volunteer advocate for outdoor activity, and the chair of the Blue-Gold All-Star
Football Game. He founded the M.E.R.I.T. (Minority Engineering Regional Incentive Training)
Program in 1974, Every other Saturday, John and the M.E.R.I.T students, their parents and other
adults gather at the Western Boys and Girls Club in Seaford for academic enrichment field trips,
engineering competitions, volunteer activities, and other skill-building and team exercises. John
is also an inspirational speaker on motivation, self-esteem and leadership.
Emeritus Professor Thomas J. Reed
Paul Wilkinson Lifetime Achievement Award
Nominator: Mary Allen
As a valued member of the Delaware Law School family and a United States Marine Corps
veteran, Professor Thomas J. Reed has devoted countless hours to using his legal knowledge and
skills to benefit nonprofit organizations and U.S. veterans. For over 20 years, Tom has
contributed free legal services to 14 different Delaware nonprofit organizations during which
time he also helped to create and establish the Veterans Assistance Program, which assists
veterans with disabilities and their dependents. Since retiring from teaching, he has logged over
900 hours in free legal service to veterans with disability claims.
New Castle County
Louis J. “Nick” Callazzo III
Veterans/Military Families - Individual
Nominator: Faith B. Kuehn
Former Marine Louis J. (Nick) Callazzo, III, has been fundamental in the development and
realization of Victory Village, a transitional housing program for homeless veterans and a onestop place for all veterans who need assistance in their transition from military to civilian life. In
bringing Victory Village from a rundown facility to one in full federal, state and county
compliance, over the past three years Nick Callazzo has donated approximately 5000 hours of
volunteer service. During the nomination year of 2015, he donated more than 1250 hours of time
to Victory Village.
John Elzufon, Esq.
Social Justice/Advocacy - Individual
Nominator: Seth J. Katzen
For more than 30 years, John Elzufon has been an active lay leader and volunteer for the Jewish
Federation of Delaware. In 2015, it is estimated that John volunteered 156 hours promoting
positive relations and interactions with other cultural, religious and ethnic groups, advocating
civil rights for all members of the community, fighting all forms of prejudice and discrimination
and creating educational programs on domestic issues such as human rights and constitutional
protection
Shea Faucett-Robinson
Healthy Futures - Individual
Nominator: Nina Anderson
Shea Faucett-Robinson has been active over the last five years helping to increase awareness of
an unspoken and debilitating disease, Sickle Cell Disease Anemia. Following the death of her
husband, James Faucett III from Sickle Cell Disease Anemia in 2012, Shea has spent over one
hundred hours annually to help increase awareness of Sickle Cell and promoting the need for
adults to have access to high quality specialty care for this disease after the patient has aged out
of children’s hospital or a pediatric care setting. Shea serves on the Disability Advocacy
Network (DAN) committee at her employer Bank of America which helps non-profit
organizations network with bank employees and raise money for sickle cell, autism, substance
abuse and other conditions.
Rosann Ferraro
Environment - Individual
Nominator: Julie Bartley
Rosann Ferraro walked into the Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc. facility located in
Newark in the spring of 2004 and since then has spent over 3,500 hours helping to care for
hundreds of injured birds. Rosann has an enthusiasm for wildlife, and a genuine interest in
people, which enables her to be a natural mentor to the newest volunteers, instilling the fact that
one person can make a difference to an injured or orphaned wild bird. In addition to mentoring
and training new volunteers, Rosann staffs exhibit tables, clean birds contaminated with cooking
oil, leads group tours at Annual Open house events and in 2015 alone donated overt 300 hours in
various roles.
Robert Heffelfinger
Human Needs - Individual
Nominator: Cheryl Christiansen
As a volunteer Team Coordinator at the Family Promise Moving On In Team, Bob Heffelfinger
spent more than 180 hours in 2015 helping homeless families transition into their own home.
Last year, more than 30 families with children were moved from homelessness to a place of their
own in New Castle County by Bob’s volunteer team. Bob celebrated a new beginning with each
family by taking a photo in their new home. In addition, Bob coordinates a team of volunteers
with vehicles to pick up donations of household goods and furniture for use by the formerly
homeless families. He is also fundamental in the recruitment and training of new volunteers.
Elaine Jones
Human Needs - Individual
Nominator: Janice Hill
As a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Foster Children and Youths in the Family Court of
Delaware, Elaine Jones wanted to do more. From this desire came Loving Arms Ministry,
whose mission is to raise awareness of and help with the needs of foster care and youth in the
state of Delaware. Elaine Jones and Loving Arms Ministry provide referral information to those
interested in foster care, sponsor informational sessions for other organizations, partner with
501(c)3 organizations to provide gifts and other items for children within the foster care system
and help to recruit other members of the community to get involved.
Sarah “Sally” Richardson Oberle
Health/Special Needs - Individual
Nominator: Dorianne Short
Sarah “Sally” Richardson Oberle is a dedicated volunteer who has averaged 200 hours per year
with the Delaware Ovarian Cancer Foundation (DOCF) since its founding in 2009. For more
than seven years, Sally has continually volunteered in a variety of indispensable roles with
DOCF to advance awareness of ovarian cancer through the state of Delaware. She has helped to
raise vital revenues by working diligently on several major fundraisers, as well as initiating,
developing and managing cancer awareness projects. As a result of Sally’s efforts, more women
are informed about the symptoms and this knowledge encourages women to seek out medical
care sooner.
Kelly Smith
Education/Literacy - Individual
Nominator: Richard Huber
Kelly Smith has been volunteering with the Delaware Division for Visually Impaired for seven
years, performing a wide variety of tasks for the education unit, benefitting students throughout
the entire state of Delaware. Beginning with learning the policies and procedures for material
preparation, Kelly expanded on these procedures and began training other volunteers to create
large print books and perform other much needed tasks for the staff and students of the Division
for Visually Impaired. In 2015 alone, Kelly served over 140 hours.
Marsh Uebler
Healthy Futures - Individual
Nominator: Erin Ryan
Over the past 18 year, Marsh Uebler has spent well over 2,000 hours volunteering in the Ronald
McDonald Family Room at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Christiana Hospital in Newark,
Delaware. Her volunteer duties include welcoming families, welcoming children to the
playroom and providing supervision to these children as needed, and helping keep the Ronald
McDonald Family Room clean and welcoming. In addition, Marsh is very helpful in training
new volunteers and providing helpful feedback at volunteer meetings.
Brandywine Village Network Volunteers
Healthy Future - Group
Nominator: Maggie Ratnayake
Brandywine Village Network volunteers are instrumental in ensuring older adults throughout
northeastern New Castle County are able to successfully age independently in their own homes.
In 2015, 183 volunteers provided 3,116 hours of assistance to help 112 older adults age in place.
In addition to performing meal preparation, shopping assistance, routine light maintenance and
other service, the volunteers provide friendship and companionship to older adults who may
otherwise be isolated with few social supports.
Christiana Care Health System Cuddler Volunteers
Health/Special Needs –Group
Nominator: Rose Wessells
Since October 2014, a team of 50 volunteers have been holding and providing comfort to the
tiniest and most fragile patients: the babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and the
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) unit, both of which located at Christiana Care Health
System. While holding a baby may seem like an innate skill, these babies are medically fragile
patients that require specially trained individuals to ensure their safety and comfort. Having the
cuddler volunteers available when nurses are stretched to their limit and the parents are not
available has provided an invaluable service to the babies, their families and the caregivers.
Lori’s Hands at UD
Healthy Future - Group
Nominator: Sarah LaFave
Lori’s Hands UD college student volunteers provide in-home support to Delawareans with
chronic illnesses like cancer, MS, Lou Gehrig's disease, and heart failure. Students assist those
community members with grocery shopping, yard work, household chores, and other tasks made
difficult by disease. In 2015 Lori’s Hands at UD provided over 2,400 hours of service to their
clients and community. In addition, Lori’s Hands volunteers are a major source of
companionship for clients who are often homebound due to health concerns. The support
provided by the students help with the clients’ missions to remain as independent as possible in
the community as they age in place.
Native Plant Sale Committee Chairs, Delaware Nature Society
Environment - Group
Nominator: Radley Reist
The eight members who make up the Native Plant Sale Committee for the Delaware Nature
Society are a dedicated group of volunteers with a collective love of plants, environmentalism,
and sustainability, whose expertise and native plant knowledge is on par with some of the best
horticultural professionals. The Native Plant Sale Committee Chairs work closely with staff to
plan, organize and manger the annual Sale held at Coverdale Farm each spring. This event is the
largest annual fundraiser for the Delaware Nature Society, which allows them to continue their
work in conservation, education, preservation and advocacy throughout Delaware.
Talleyville Fire Company
Public Safety - Group
Nominator: Sara Funaiock
Since 1928 the Talleyville Fire Company has been a volunteer-based organization whose main
purpose is to protect and serve the local community. In addition to answering fire/emergency
calls, which can number anywhere from 1200-1300 per year, Talleyville Fire Company also
works to educate the public about fire safety, and always looks for ways to support local
community and volunteer-based organizations like the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware. In
total, the group with a core of more than 50 active volunteers, serves 10,000 hours per year in the
community with answering fire calls, educating the community about fire prevention, and
organizing the annual Talleyville car show, which serves to raise awareness and funding to help
families stay close to their children during serious medical crises, at the Ronald McDonald
House of Delaware.
Kent County
Carolyn Apple
Arts & Culture - Individual
Nominator: Bridget Wallace
In November of 2012, Carolyn Apple began her volunteer efforts with the Delaware Division of
Historical & Cultural Affairs and brought to the attention of the Division a large collection of
more than 600 WWII era photographs, personal papers and objects from Delawarean, William D.
Willis, who served as a photo technician with the Army Air Force during WWII. Over 600
volunteer hours later, Carolyn efforts resulted in World War II: Through the Lenses of William
D. Willis, an exhibit that opened in Legislative Hall in March 2015, and has since traveled
throughout Delaware. Carolyn has also been instrumental in the success of other exhibits and
has helped to increase donations of more WW II memorabilia which expands the discussion.
Through the volunteer service of Carolyn Apple, veterans are able to share an integral part of
their lives with their children and grandchildren
Terri Nellans Brown
Community Service - Individual
Nominator: Veronica Grady
Terri Nellans Brown has served on the Mom’s House of Dover Board for 15 years and helped to
conceive one of its greatest fundraising sources, “Dancing with the Delaware Stars.” Mom’s
House is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide free high quality daycare for
single parents who are in full time schooling to complete their high school or college education.
As Mom’s House does not receive state or federal funding, it relies completely on community
fundraising. The first year of Terri’s “Dancing with the Delaware Stars” resulted in $14,000 and
has grown each year since. The proceeds from this now annual fundraiser generates
approximately 50 percent of Mom’s House’s operating budget and has benefitted hundreds of
children in Kent County.
Elizabeth Byers-Jiron
Veterans/Military Families - Individual
Nominators: Carla Van Curen and Larence Kirby
In 2015, Elizabeth Byers-Jiron spent more than 300 hours providing assistance to veterans
through multiple veteran-based activities. The retired Department of the Navy civilian serves as
Executive Director for both Delaware Veterans Stand Down and the Delaware Veterans
Awareness Center. She is also the founder of Give a Vet a Smile program. The organizations
have provided thousands of veterans with resources related to housing, medical/dental treatment,
mental health referrals, legal assistance, financial assistance, and employment.
Caring Hearts-Helping Hands
Human Needs - Group
Nominator: Gina Campbell
Caring Hearts-Helping Hands was established in 2002 and is staffed entirely by volunteers
supporting low-income working families in Kent County. The families are invited to shop (free
of charge) in the warehouse maintained and operated by the 14-member volunteer staff who
served over 2,500 hours in 2015. Caring Hearts-Helping Hands is a 501(c)3 organization whose
entire funding stems from community fundraising efforts and grants secured by the volunteers.
Delaware State Parks Veterans Corp
Veterans/Military Families - Group
Nominator: Karen Minner
Beginning in October 2015, the five-member group of veterans serving with AmeriCorps have
been protecting open space and enhancing native habitats on state park lands. The AmeriCorps
veterans each spent 1700 hours protecting and conserving Delaware’s natural resources, and
their efforts left an indelible mark on the landscape of parklands statewide, benefitting
approximately five million annual visitors.
Dover AFB Airman Leadership School Cadre
Community Service - Group
Nominator: Arnold R. Mosley
In 2015 alone, the Dover AFB Airman Leadership School (ALS) Cadre personally dedicated
over 280 hours in planning, coordinating, and participating in volunteer events throughout the
Dover community. In total, they have motivated and led over 215 individuals, amassing 1,000
plus man-hours dedicated to improving the overall Dover community through ten different
events. The ALS Cadre has made it a point to establish, coordinate, and lead one volunteer
effort, sometimes two, for each of their seven classes annually. Recipients of the ALS Cadre
volunteer service includes the Delaware Veterans Home, local schools, Shepherd’s Place in
Dover, Habitat for Humanity and “Girls on the Run.”
Sussex County
Irvin Ambrose
Community Service - Individual
Nominator: SaraKate Hammer
For the past seven-and-a-half years, Irvin Ambrose has been active volunteer for Downtown
Milford, Inc., a 501(c)3 that promotes quality civic, commercial and cultural development of the
historic business distract of Milford, DE. Irvin has also been instrumental in making the City of
Milford a better place for all citizens through a variety of beatification projects, fundraising
initiatives and outreach to new businesses that help all of Milford to grow and thrive.
Patricia Trump
Health/Special Needs - Individual
Nominator: Susan Graves
After a 22-year career as a Navy nurse and then a second career as the Director of an assisted
living facility, upon retirement Patricia Trump turned her energies to volunteer service. For the
past nine years, Patricia has been volunteering for Compassionate Care Hospice, logging a total
of 368 hours in 2015. In addition to the invaluable service Patricia provides for the staff and
families of Compassionate Care Hospice, she has also volunteered with numerous cancer
awareness organizations, served as a mentor for the Sussex County Veteran’s Court, helped
repair homes after natural disasters, been deployed to assist medical efforts in developing
countries, conducted faith-based outreach and helped at a homeless shelter.
The ARK Educational Resource Center Tutors
Education/Literacy - Group
Nominator: Joyce A. Sessoms, M.Ed.
The ARK Educational Resource Center tutors are a group of five faithful, dependable individuals
who spent over 400 hours combined working with students of Western Sussex County, grades K
through 12. The ARK Tutors do more than just work one-on-one with students who are
struggling. The tutors work with the families when there is a language barrier, adjust their own
schedules when a student’s extracurricular activities warrant a change, attend meetings at their
student’s school, recruit new ARK volunteers and fundraise to make ARK programs available
for more students.
Joshua M. Freeman Foundation Volunteers
Arts & Culture - Group
Nominator: Patti A. Grimes
The Joshua M. Freeman Foundation brings diverse arts programming in the genres of dance, live
music, theatre and children’s shows during the summer season to Sussex County. The diversity
in the programming is matched by the breadth of volunteers that support the programming, as
well as the day-to-day operations of the Arts venue. Ranging in age from 15 to 82, the 147
volunteers of the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation served a total of 5,228 hours, helping to
continue the growth of the positive impact this nonprofit arts organization has on the community.
Nanticoke Creekwatchers Citizen Water Monitoring Program
Environment - Group
Nominator: Beth Wasden
Every other Sunday or Monday from late March through early November, Nanticoke
Creekwatchers visit at least one of 36 water quality monitoring sites located in the Nanticoke
River watershed. During the 2015 season, 37 Nanticoke Creekwatchers participated in the
program serving a total of 1,011 hours. Without the Nanticoke Creekwatchers Citizen Water
Monitoring Program, Nanticoke River watershed residents and government agencies would have
much less water quality data, thereby reducing their ability to address water quality concerns and
potential health issues.
Salvation Army Sparkle Team
Health/Special Needs - Group
Nominator: Kevin J. Gilmore
The Salvation Army Sparkle Team readies newly constructed Habitat for Humanity homes by
cleaning and “sparkling” it for the new homeowners. Each of the six-member team is affected
by developmental challenges but that does not stop them from fully engaging and committing to
their work. As they scrub floors, vacuum carpets, wipe down cupboards and clean bathrooms,
this team takes “sparkle” as literal and put their hearts into preparing 12 homes in 2015, for a
total of 412 hours.
St. Phillips Hospitality Team
Community Service - Group
Nominator: Kevin Gilmore
Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope. This goal is
the heart and soul of the mission of St. Phillips Episcopal Church’s Hospitality Team in Laurel.
The St. Phillips team welcomes and shelters adult groups, college teams and high school student
volunteers who travel to Sussex County to build and repair homes. The St. Phillips Hospitality
Team spent 2,000 hours in 2015 taking care of the volunteers who gave up spring breaks,
summer vacations and long weekends to build homes in Sussex County. The care provided
included cleaning the accommodations, providing ice and cool beverages, and providing,
preparing and serving a meal each Wednesday evening, allowing the travelers to concentrate on
building homes.
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Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives
of Delaware's citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and
protecting vulnerable populations.