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Transformers' Annual Gala: Honoring the volunteers who help transform lives
Attendees at the Transformers of Greencastle's Annual Gala Friday night got a glimpse at why and how some of the community's leaders do what they do.
The 140 persons attending the dinner at DePauw University's Janet Prindle Institute of Ethics learned, for example, that retired St. Andrew's Rector Bill Wieland can't say no to legitimate community causes, from the Humane Society to the homeless shelter, while Circuit Court Judge Matt Headley carries a self-imposed sentence for aiding and abetting students and less-fortunate residents in need of a mentor or a visit to teen court.
Meanwhile, the group also learned Putnam CASA program director Patti Harmless has a list of volunteer service to her credit longer than the walk from the Prindle parking lot to the institute itself.
After hearing presenter Ann Newton highlight many of those, Headley found himself in the unenviable position of going to the podium after Harmless, saying he didn't realized he'd have to follow "the Mother Theresa of Greencastle."
Following the theme "Honoring the Volunteers Who Help Transform Lives," attendees were told how Getting Ahead facilitator Carl Singer offers and shares the rare expertise of dealing with both people and technology in his capacity, while Cloverdale kindergarten teacher and Shop With a Cop coordinator Tara Baugh is concerned not only how her students do in the classroom but how they're equipped to even come to school with clothing and supplies.
Women's Prison Ministry volunteer Kelsey Kauffman, meanwhile, has seen the women's prison population in Indiana grow from 64 in 1974 to more than 3,000 today as she serves as both an inspiration and a driving force behind those women bettering themselves through educational opportunities, despite a lack of computers and sometimes even a dearth of pens and paper for them to use for their studies.
All six were honored and applauded for such volunteer service to the community and mankind.
In addressing the dinner gathering, Transformers founder and director Linda Hunter warned the group that "poverty is growing in Putnam County" and negatively impacts many elements of life locally. More than 52 percent of Putnam County school children are currently eligible for free and reduced lunches, she noted.
Meanwhile, she said the average household income is pegged at $31,000, lagging behind a living wage that has been calculated locally at $35,700.
Native Hoosier Ruby Payne, best known for her books "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" and "Bridges Out of Poverty," as well as her work on the culture of poverty and its relation to education, was the keynote speaker.
She tried to put the cycle of poverty in perspective with an opening story of a young boy who took a paper route to help his family make ends meet. After seeing a bicycle that cost $40, he saved $1 each week from the paper route, giving the rest of the money to his mother.
Finally, after 40 long weeks of saving, the boy was poised to pick up the bicycle he so longed to own.
However, when he went to get his money, it was all gone. Thinking the $40 had been stolen, he told his mother, who admitted she had taken it.
"You're the only one who had money," she told him, explaining that his sister was ill, and without proper medication might have died.
She had to spend the boy's bicycle money to save the girl's life.
Such is the reality of making choices in a world of poverty.
The program of the Transformers effort include Bridges Out of Poverty, TALKS, Getting Ahead, Circles of Hope, the Reading Improvement Center, the Women's Prison Ministry and the Putnam County Community Coalition.