Last Thursday, UPS proudly announced Terry Brown as this year’s winner of the James E. Casey Community Service Award. Community service is deeply ingrained in UPS heritage. Our company’s founder, Jim Casey, strongly believed in helping those in need. Jim and his siblings established the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) in 1948 to help build better futures for disadvantaged children and their families.

This year’s winner was selected from a group of 15 outstanding UPSers – each who make extraordinary contributions to the people in their communities. On Friday, we started sharing the stories and accomplishments of the Casey Award nominees at upside. Here are the final four:

Up from the Basement

Tracy DeCesare

CRM Technology Manager

Hewitt, New Jersey 

 

Eva’s Village is the most comprehensive anti-poverty organization in the state of New Jersey. They provide food, clothes, shelter, and medical care to those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford those necessities.

But that wasn’t always the case. When Eva’s Village began it’s involvement in the Paterson community of New Jersey in 1982, their services were limited. “They served hot dogs to thirty homeless people in the basement of a church,” explains Tracy DeCesare. “Now they serve 350 hot lunches 365 days a year.”

Paterson is one of New Jersey’s poorest cities, and has been for some time. Five years ago, before the economic crunch of the last few years, 24 percent of Paterson’s residents were already living below the poverty line. Now, the unemployment rate in the area is nearly double the rate for the country as a whole.

Tracy decided to help. She began a partnership with Eva’s Village, and in the last year, she has volunteered for the Annual Carnival for Children, the Annual Coat Drive, the Annual Toy Drive, a Job Readiness Workshop, and has worked in the soup kitchen.

Not only has Tracy donated her time and resources to the organization, but she has recruited many of her fellow UPSers as well. “Spreading the word and sharing your experiences is contagious,” Tracy says. “The people that I sit next to every day heard me talking about Eva’s and asked me how they could help.”

Now, Tracy spends at least five hours every month working at Eva’s Village. Why does she do it? The answer is simple, “there is just no better feeling than the feeling you get when you’ve helped someone.”

Helping Students by Teaching Parents

 

Nathaniel Lester

Small Package and Tractor Service employee

Miami, Florida

 

It was while earning his doctorate degree in educational leadership at Union Institute and University, that Nathaniel Lester first noticed a very serious need in his home city of Miami. A large portion of children in his community were being raised in poor neighborhoods, often with only one parent in the home and with very few organized activities.

The first thing Nathaniel did was develop a program at Little River Elementary School that provided tutoring, mentoring, and counseling for the students. While the students received tutoring, Nathaniel’s program offered parenting skills classes to the parents.

“I used that time to show the parents why education is important,” explains Nathaniel. “Involved parents help positively dictate a child’s future.” And it was a success – the Saturday morning classes attracted between 35-40 parents per week.

But Nathaniel wasn’t done yet. He founded Invest in Our Children, Inc. (IIOC), a nonprofit that provides all types of youth development services. IIOC has partnered with local schools and juvenile justice centers, and has helped support and coordinate many special events.

Nathaniel also finds time to teach Sunday school class to high school boys and coach a basketball team at the local YMCA. For the last six years, Nathaniel has volunteer about 35 hours per month, and through his efforts, he has touched the lives of over 3,500 children.

The Very Best of UPS

 

Tina Moser

Senior Business Analyst

Florida, New York

 

“Your actions exemplify the very best of UPS.” That is what UPS Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Dave Barnes had to say in a personal letter to Tina Moser in recognition of her efforts in the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) 2008 Relay for Life (RFL) raised almost $30,000.

Tina has been involved in RFL for ten years – she helped raise another $20,000 for the organization in 2010. She is also involved with Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and has helped with other events hosted by the ACS. Not to mention Tina made herself available for numerous UPS sponsored volunteer events. 

His Personal Mission

 

Jose Carro

UPS Supply Chain Solutions Warehouse employee

Miami, Florida 

 

The Miami Medical Team Foundation (MMTF) was founded in the early 1980s to assist refugees in Nicaragua. Today, they are providing assistance in 25 countries. The MMTF is made up of doctors, nurses, dentists, physical therapists, medical technicians, pharmacists, and more. They supply medicines and administer care to those who would not otherwise have access to health care.

Since 1986, Jose Carro has been working with the organization. He not only manages the warehouse where they store medicine and medical equipment, but he also spends his personal vacation time going on missions with the organization, including time recently spent in Haiti and Chile after natural disasters left citizens of the two countries in need of medical care.

“Volunteering with MMTF has taught me a great deal about compassion, interpersonal skills, and relationship building,” explains Jose. “There are people out there that are sick, starving, and dying,” he goes on. “I love that volunteering puts me in a position to help those people.”