Teen-Age Magician, Ecology Professor Among Recent ‘Points of Light’

Following are the people and organizations that have most recently been named to receive President Clinton’s Daily Points of Light Award.

The Points of Light Foundation, a Washington charity, assists the President in making the choices and carrying out the award program. More information about the award winners and the program is available at the foundation’s World-Wide Web site, http://pointsoflight.org, or by contacting the foundation at 1400 I Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington 20005; (202) 729-8184.

The recipients:

1393. Mary Hall, Las Vegas, Nev., who distributes food and health supplies for infants and children through Baby Find, an office in a local homeless shelter; she also serves as a mentor to young pregnant women in order to reduce infant abuse and neglect.

1394. Margaret M. Walsh, Spokane, Wash., a retired teacher who now acts as a court-appointed advocate for abused and neglected children, often maintaining contact for years with the parents and children she has helped.

1395. Alan R. Swendiman, Washington, a board member at the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, where he has developed programs that use new technology to improve employment opportunities for blind and low-vision individuals, and where he has created child-rearing workshops to insure the healthy development of blind or vision-impaired children.

1396. Ford ACTS Community Service Volunteer Program, LaGrange, Ky., through which retired people serve in many community efforts, including the Dare to Care Food Bank and the Dream Factory, which plans vacations for critically ill children.

1397. Michael Thompson, Wilmington, N.C., who, as volunteer disaster chairman for the local American Red Cross, has trained and managed hundreds of volunteers in providing relief services during hurricanes and other emergencies.

1398. Michael MacDonald, Boston, who, after losing four siblings to violence, founded and volunteers with several anti-violence groups in his native South Boston, including Citizens for Safety, the Gun Buy Back Program, and the “Hands Without Guns” campaign.

1399. Rebecca Lee Roberts, Cabot, Ark., a 15-year-old student who conducts magic shows for hospital patients, nursing-home residents, and children, and who performs at fund-raising events.

1400. Mike Nishimito, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii, a naval chief petty officer who managed the adopt-a-school program at his former command unit, offering community-service and tutoring opportunities. He has continued his involvement after transferring to a new unit, where he volunteers with students at Pearl City Highlands Elementary School.

1401. Anne Judson-Yager, Boulder, Colo., a rape survivor who has become a peer educator on sexual assault and dating violence and abuse in the Boulder Valley School District, sharing her own experience with other teen-agers.

1402. Patricia T. Otstott, San Francisco, a legally blind woman who serves as a volunteer and fund raiser for several organizations, including the Junior League of San Francisco, and who lobbied for passage of the Breast Cancer Act of 1993, a tax on cigarettes to finance treatment services for low-income women.

1403. YouthBuild USA, Somerville, Mass., a community and youth-development program that provides low-income young people with employment and training in construction skills while they build low-cost housing.

1404. Paul Watson, Venice, Cal., a professor of ecology who has worked to protect the environment and wildlife as a founding member of the Greenpeace Foundation and, later, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

1405. Ashley Feldman, Shavertown, Pa., a high-school student who began the “Bikes for Tykes” program, which refurbishes donated bicycles and supplies them to underprivileged youngsters.

1406. Scot C. Pittman, Philadelphia, who founded the Street Clothes Project, which organizes community and corporate clothing drives to provide homeless, recently paroled, and unemployed men with clothing suitable for job interviews and work.

1407. Dennis Swanson, New York, chairman of the board at the Emma L. Bowen Foundation for Minority Interests in Media, who has expanded its undergraduate training program to serve more than 200 minority students who participate in a six-year program of course work, job training, and internships in the news media.

1408. Sarah Hardner, Meadville, Pa., a student at Allegheny College who leads many service activities on campus, from working with a children’s home to collecting food and relief funds for victims of Hurricane Mitch.

1409. Wanda Purvis, Borger, Tex., who recruits and trains volunteers for the many programs with which she is involved, including English-as-a-second-language classes, local day-care and after-school programs, and recognizing the birthdays of elderly people at a local nursing home.

1410. Elinore Wade McCune, Palmetto, Fla., a retired teacher who volunteers at Palm View Elementary School, providing general tutoring services as well as instruction in phonic literacy techniques she developed.

1411. Holly Klotz, West Terre Haute, Ind., a recent high-school graduate who was active in school volunteer activities, including the “Community of Caring” program, which promotes service learning and discussion forums, and a club promoting youth sexual abstinence.

1412. Bernadette Powell, Houston, who has volunteered more than 1,000 hours since 1992 at Child Advocates, a non-profit organization that provides services to abused children who need therapy, foster homes, or a chance to be adopted.