Purpose Prize fellows’ encore work continues to inspire encore-seekers and others looking to strengthen their communities with their time, skills and life experience.. Several Purpose Prize fellows have recently been honored with the Daily Point of Light Award, which recognizes individuals and groups who create positive, impactful change in communities across America and the world.

The Point of Light Foundation, created during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, regularly honors Point of Light awardees who address the critical issues of our time – including education, the environment, health and the future of our economy. These awards honor and recognize an individual’s power to effect change, transforming themselves and the world around them.

I’m proud to introduce the Purpose Prize fellows who have recently been honored by the Points of Light Foundation’s Daily Point of Light Award.

• June Barrett, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, built The Crumley House Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center to fill Tennessee’s crucial gap in post-traumatic brain injury care.
• David Bazerman, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, is a former podiatrist who became a lawyer to defend the legal rights of unrepresented, at-risk children, via the Tracey McPharlin Dependency Pro Bono Project.
• Fred Bramante, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, is revolutionizing education in America by advocating for real world, hands-on learning opportunities for all students, through his National Center for Competency-Based Learning.
• William Burwinkel, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, created a consistent and replicable way for businesses and civic groups to mentor students in under-resourced communities, through his Adopt-A-Class Foundation.
• Johanna Crawford, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, founded Web of Benefit, Inc., to help victims of domestic abuse create one-on-one life plans and provide emergency grants to start new lives.
• Swaran Dhawan, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, created Counselors Helping (South) Asians/Indians, Inc. to bridge cultural and generational gaps and challenge cultural stigmas around mental health issues among South Asian immigrants.
• Virginia Donohue, 2010/2014 Purpose Prize fellow, founded On Point for College to help marginalized young adults to apply (and graduate from) college.
• Kathy Eldon, 2008 Purpose Prize fellow, together with her daughter Amy, set up the Creative Visions Foundation to support ‘creative activists’ who use media to transform the world around them.
• Judy Goldetsky, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, operates Doorstep Healthcare Services, a mobile clinic that brings dental care to vulnerable residents of nursing homes and assisted-care facilities in Minnesota.
• Heather McHugh, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, donated her 2009 MacArthur “genius grant” for poetry to provide respite and reinvigoration, in the form of all-expenses-paid vacations, for long-term family caregivers, through her nonprofit, CAREGIFTED.
• John Reynolds, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, is a Vietnam veteran who experienced the challenges of reintegrating into civilian life; he founded Veterans2Work to reduce chronic under-employment among former service members.
• Narendra Sharma, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, used the expertise he gained in three decades of finance and economic development at the World Bank to create and operate Neighborhood Outreach Connection centers, which empower underserved communities in Beaufort County, SC.
• Gloria White-Hammond, 2012 Purpose Prize fellow, co-founded My Sister’s Keeper, which partners with Sudanese women to advance peace and reconstruction through education, health care and economic development projects.
• Patricia Wolf, 2013 Purpose Prize fellow, launched Meds and Food for Kids in Haiti to save the lives of thousands of children suffering from malnutrition through the production and distribution of a peanut-based superfood.

If you know someone who is tackling the hard social issues of our time, please nominate them today for a Daily Point of Light Award.  The world can always use a little more light against the darkness.