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A leader who cares by Susan Singer-Bart Aug. 8, 2001 Damascus man helps community with
foundation From his Damascus home office, Ron Yudd,
48, has created the Leadership Cares Foundation to promote volunteer
activities in mentoring, literacy and feeding the poor on Thanksgiving. The foundation seeks to develop leadership
skills through volunteer activities, much as Yudd teaches businesses to
improve profit and customer service by teaching managers to mentor employees.
"He's the perfect person to be
running a foundation," said Lulu Davis of Gaithersburg, vice president
of the foundation. "He cares deeply about people, not only just as
people, but as productive citizens to make them the best they can be." Until three years ago, Yudd was director
of food service for the U.S. Senate. When he retired, he began traveling the
country, offering advice to companies and motivational speeches on
leadership, profit strategies and customer service. He supports the
Leadership Cares Foundation with money he earns speaking and selling
motivational tapes. Last year Yudd put $12,000 into the
foundation. This year he plans to give $15,000, but if the foundation is
going to grow, outside support is necessary. This year the foundation was
approved as a federal nonprofit organization. "He's committed to doing this,"
Davis said. "This is a big commitment on his part." Under the umbrella of the Leadership Cares
Foundation, Yudd created MentorCares, a program to coach high school students
in mentoring middle school students; LiteracyCares, an annual excellence
award for literacy volunteers; and ThanksgivingCares, a program to collect,
assemble and distribute Thanksgiving dinner for needy families. Yudd started the foundation two years ago
with one small project -- 16 Thanksgiving baskets. He did the baskets himself
two days before Thanksgiving. Last year he recruited some helpers,
including his high school age neighbor, Michael McCarthy, to assemble and
deliver 64 baskets. "I like doing that kind of community
service," McCarthy said. "They were pretty thankful, really glad to
have it." Delivering baskets to people in need
living only a few miles away was an eye opener for the young people, Yudd
said. "Part of what we're trying to do is
create activists volunteers with young people -- hook them on something
early," he said. This year Yudd plans to double the number
of baskets. "He's someone who just saw a need in
the community and decided to help," said Sherrie Wade, who is in charge
of the Holiday Basket Project in the Damascus area. "I couldn't believe
when he asked for 64 families. He delivered what he said he would." Yudd has been a literacy tutor and tutor
trainer in Gaithersburg for the last 10 years. "If you reach a handful, if you teach
one person to read or write, look at the world we opened up," Yudd said.
A surprising number of adults in
Montgomery County have difficulty reading, Yudd said. Whether the problem is
they were passed from grade to grade in school without ever mastering the fundamentals
of reading or are recent immigrants unfamiliar with English, the problems are
the same. "The biggest reason they come to the
literacy council is to read to their children, to read bus schedules, notes
from their children's schools," he said. Through his foundation, Yudd is creating
an award for tutors who have made a significant difference as adult literacy
tutors in the five area literacy councils. He hopes to give the award
annually. The first award ceremony will be in October. "People who are involved with this
are very passionate," said Pam Sussy, of the Montgomery County Literacy
Council. "It's a well kept secret. Yudd wants to attract attention to the
adult literacy problem. "The thing about Ron is his level of caring is
genuine," Davis said. "It comes from deep within." The foundation's newest endeavor is a
collaboration with the Boys and Girls Club. As a pilot program, the
MentorCares program will match a mentor with pairs of high school and middle
school students at the Germantown and Silver Spring Boys and Girls Clubs. "The partnership between the
foundation and the Boys and Girls Clubs is so timely in several pieces we are
now able to formalize and to provide some training in mentorship," said
Darius Stanton, area director for the Montgomery County branches of the Boys
and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. The high school students will mentor the
middle school students, getting together for about four hours per month. The
club already has a Keystone Club that will provide the bases for the high
school mentors. The club's Torch Club will provide the mentees. "I want the high schoolers to be the
detectives and find out the needs and wants of the middle schoolers,"
Yudd said. Four times a year, the foundation will
offer training in mentoring and ideas on what the children can do during
their time together. They will find adults to work with each pair of
children. The adults will also offer career advice. "Anybody successful in life will tell
you they had a mentor," Stanton said. "You'll always have negative
peer pressure. This ensures positive peer pressure for these young people to
be involved." The hope is the middle school students
will become mentors when they enter high school, and the project will grow. "I've watched a lot of [children]
grow up in Damascus," Yudd said. "I've seen many of them blossom
into wonderful adults -- because of good parents, teachers who cared,
guidance counselors who cared. I believe in the positive aspects of these
young people." But there are not enough supportive adults
to help all children be successful, he said. More caring adults need to get
involved. Yudd is trying to use his contacts in the
food service industry to generate grants and recruit volunteers. "He's a special kind of person you don't
see very often," said Bonnie Greenwell, Yudd's secretary when he worked
at the Senate. "He accomplishes what he sets out to do." Yudd's plan is to open a branch of his
foundation in Chicago, where he goes on business several weeks a month, and
in 20 years to have foundations in 20 cities. |
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Frederick
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