Nominate Today for Arkansan of The Day
EngageAR is working with anchorman Mr. Craig O’Neill with KTHV11 to recognize those engaged in volunteer service to their communities. Mr. O’Neill hosts a segment entitled “Arkansan of the Day”. The segment recognizes everyday Arkansans who are giving of their time expecting nothing in return. This is an opportunity for those who give their time in support of your organization to be honored on air. It is also an opportunity for your organization to be highlighted.
EngageAR mission to foster a culture of service to strengthen communities and solve local problems includes honoring those who come alongside our EngageAR AmeriCorps programs and the state’s nonprofits and community-based organizations.
Please complete the nomination form below for the Volunteer Spotlight. Mr. O’Neill will select from among the nominations. The nominating organization will be contacted if and when their nominee(s) is selected. Organizations may nominate weekly.
Due to precautions in place as a result of COVID-19, no nominee will appear on air. Pictures, as submitted through the nomination form will be utilized during the Arkansan of the Day segment.
CLICK HERE FOR THE VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT NOMINATION
Previous spotlights:
Volunteer Spotlight: Mary K. Meacham
Date Aired: September 17th, 2020
Volunteer Organization: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Volunteer Duration: 8 Years
Volunteer Impact: Mary is the program chairman and has presented suicide prevention programs to thousands of Arkansans. She is also a volunteer with the organizations Healing Conversations program that provides support to survivors of loss.
Mary is a loss survivor having lost her son Kyle to suicide. Since then, she has been active in the organization raising close to $100,000 and presenting programs, serving on the chapter board, and providing support to those who have lost loved ones. And on top of all that, she is an amazing human being; kind, loving, and passionate.
Volunteer Spotlight: Irma Jaime
Volunteer Organization: Literacy Action of Central Arkansas
Volunteer Duration: Irma Jaime has volunteered with us for almost three years, since October of 2017. She spent her first year as one of our AmeriCorps Arkansas Reads tutors, the second year she volunteered independently so that she could continue to help the students she tutored her first year, and this past year she returned as an AmeriCorps tutor.
Volunteer Impact: Irma has excelled as a tutor with Literacy Action. She came to us as a retiree from San Diego who was interested in staying active, continuing to learn, and giving back to her new community of Little Rock. She had trained others in her career, but had no experience teaching literacy or English as a second language (ESL). She quickly jumped in and became knowledgeable, and has now trained many of our newer tutors. Irma’s calm, confident, and easygoing nature puts people at ease and helps our students feel comfortable. She is reliable, hard-working, and flexible. Since the pandemic started, Irma has had to learn how to reach her students virtually, but has adapted beautifully and has found a way to help even more students than before.
Irma has tutored 15 students as a one-on-one tutor and has led or co-led three ESL classes. She has logged over 1,280 hours as a volunteer tutor with us. For a few examples of Irma’s leadership, she is currently teaching a group of women who came to us through the Islamic Center, and this class has branched into a new class focusing on citizenship. One of her students, Christina, won an award as Arkansas Student of the Year (shown in the photo) and finished our basic literacy program, a rare achievement. Another of her students continues to attend Irma’s online class from her new home in Portugal. Irma has had a positive impact on many students at Literacy Action.
