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Crystalyn Whitaker is 1st Place Winner of 2008
Jesse Brown Memorial Youth
Scholarship Program
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The DAV, Department of Louisiana is pleased to announce that Miss Crystalyn Whitaker has been named by National Headquarters as a 1st Place recipient of the 2008 Jesse Brown Memorial Hough Scholarship Program. Crystalyn has been a dedicated volunteer at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center, Shreveport, for three years.
The Jesse Brown Memorial Youth Scholarship Program is awarded annually to outstanding youth volunteers who are very active in VAVS programs. First Place prize includes a $15,000 scholarship and an expense paid trip to DAV's National Convention with her parents or guardians for the award presentation. Candidates for the scholarships must be age 21 or younger, must have volunteered a minimum of 100 hours during the previous calendar year and credited to the Disabled American Veterans.
In memory of the late Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown, the Disabled American Veterans has established the Jesse Brown Memorial Youth Scholarship Program. Mr. Jesse Brown enlisted in the US Marine Corp in 1963. Two years later, while on patrol in the DaNang area of Vietnam, Mr. Brown sustained a serious injury due to a gunshot wound while engaged in combat. From that point and over the next 39 years, the lives of millions of veterans changed for the better. Mr. Brown devoted himself to the cause of building better lives for America's disabled veterans.
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During her years of volunteer service, Crystalyn has performed a variety of assignments including: performing patient appointment reminder calls, preparing and selling popcorn and assisting in the Public Affairs and Marketing Office. Miss Whitaker also eagerly accepted the opportunity to help develop the roles and responsibilities of the Volunteer Liaison for the Surgical and Medical Intensive Care Units. She coordinated communication between staff and family members waiting in these areas. Along with providing information she ensures those waiting are comfortable, coffee supplies are stocked and the waiting areas are clean.
At the volunteer recognition program in April 2007, Miss Whitaker was recognized as a "Special Contribution" volunteer. Miss Whitaker is the only student volunteer to ever receive this honor. She was selected for this award because of her dedication and commitment to her volunteer assignments and the veterans we serve. She is an excellent role model for other student volunteers by always maintaining a level of professionalism when interacting with veteran patients, visitors, staff and other volunteers. She encourages other student volunteers to treat their volunteer assignment with the same degree of professionalism and integrity. Miss Whitaker promoted our volunteer program on a local television segment highlighting student volunteers at our medical center. For the last three years, Miss Whitaker coordinated the Youth Volunteer Recognition Luncheons. She prepared the program, contacted local businesses for gift contributions, secured the locations and distributed invitations. She also designed the theme shirts that were given to all of student volunteers.
Miss Whitaker will attend Northwestern State University and obtain a degree in Physical Therapy. She became interested in this field after observing and working with therapists at the medical center. Miss Whitaker’s goal after graduation is to work as a therapist at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center. Miss Whitaker is an outstanding young lady. From the beginning of her volunteer career, she has demonstrated a high level of responsibility and dedication far beyond that of most student volunteers. She is very conscientious and mindful of the fact that the medical center exists because of the actions of our veterans. She has always conducted herself in such a manner as to represent the medical center’s volunteer program in the best possible way.
We are reprinting below the essay Crystalyn submitted with her nomination, in its entirety, in her words. It is comforting to know that there are those waitig in the wings for their turn to lead this great country who care and still believe.......
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| What Volunteering at a VA Medical Center Means to Me
Crystalyn Whitaker
Beyonce, the name alone makes people scoot to the edge of their seats. Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, the list is extensive. Media has put people that truly are quite talented on pedestals so high that few can see them. Yet, what have they risked? Do they honestly deserve all the hype we tend to bestow upon them? The amount of courage that is required to put your life on the line and sacrifice years of your young adulthood for the advantage of your country is insurmountable. We Americans that have not gone in the line of duty invariably forget about all that someone else did for the rights we easily take for granted. As we work where we wish and watch what we wish on television, we pay no mind to the soldiers that made our freedoms, promised to us in the bill of rights, possible. True, the men that fought for the bill of rights have long been gone, but the men and women that risked their lives to sustain the order and rights are not. The men and women that battled, not just for the welfare of the United States, but also in the fight for the spread of democracy throughout the world to make it a better place, are still around and need to be appreciated. America is the strongest country in the world. It is of no thanks to the untouchable "Beyonces" and "Justins" many seem to revere; it is, however, to the men and ever growing number of women that most of us encounter daily. My volunteerism at the Overton Brooks VA has given me the chance, not only to learn about my future job as a physical therapist, but more important, to show my gratitude to men and women that did something that, frankly, I and many others can not.
As I walk through the wards, as a liaison from patients to families, I witness more than just some sick old men. I see the very same men they used to be. They were young. They were brave. They were strong. I try my hardest to not look at them any other way. I want them to see that I am in it for more than just volunteer hours and a way to keep me from being idle for hours upon end. When someone is viewed as a charity case or a near death senior citizen, there is no sense of care for that person. Yet, I want all of them know that I care and appreciate them for their selflessness and courage. I see my peer volunteers brush off their duties and jobs to hang out, but I want to carry out my job to the best of my ability, because I know that everything I do is aiding in the efficiency of the hospital, from the most unpleasing job of shredding mountains of paper to answering telephones. And when you strive for efficiency, you portray one of the most sincere forms of gratitude.
My volunteering has also inspired me to help people as my career. I have always been a helpful person, at least in my mind, but watching the physical therapist at the VA has inspired me to do the same work. I see the strength that these men and women gain back from the one on one attention they receive from the therapists, and I want to show my genuine concern for their welfare in a personal way as well. I intend on going back to the VA after I graduate to become a physical therapist for them.
The work that I have put in at the VA is not just to make people see me as a selfless person. I want to show these veterans how much I care for them and appreciate their valor. While I will never be able to justly repay the thousands that risked it all, I just hope that my volunteer hours can suffice.
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