I have been a volunteer for as long as I can remember. As a kindergarten student I dragged out the little cots we used for nap time. In grade school I was a room monitor, a bookmobile captain and the cashier in charge of the lunchtime milk money. I also carried a young student with muscular dystrophy up and down a long flight of stairs so he could go outside for recess. I just never remember a time when I didn't volunteer.
This concept of sharing my gifts wasn't discussed in my family. We were simply involved in helping others. It was an expression of our Christian faith.
Although my parents are now deceased their five children continue to give of themselves through a wide variety activities. My three sisters also work in service oriented careers: nursing, teaching, and as a camp director for those with special needs.
Although I believe everyone benefits from volunteering, it is especially meaningful for me as an actor. Actors can so easily get wrapped up in themselves. We are constantly seeking approval in order to work. We try to reinvent ourselves at every audition and we are rejected far more than accepted. It can be maddening.
I believe volunteer work gives purpose and structure to the actor's unstructured, topsy, turvy life. This is a byproduct for me. The real reason I volunteer is that I love it. I believe if I weren't an actor I would work in the non profit sector. So much good can be achieved by just one person.
Please consider doing something that might make a difference. It can be as small as smiling at a stranger or as large as being a missionary for a year. Everyone has a gift to share.
Thank you, Madame President
After more than thirteen years as ANNA president, Marianne Muellerleile is stepping down after the April 2003 meeting.
Under her leadership, ANNA has been molded and remolded beginning with our achieving non profit status in 1990. Under that banner Marianne has led the charge in fund-raising and grant writing. Her efforts has yielded over $75,000, benefitting ANNA and the greater community in the areas of safety, beautification, medical, educational, and cultural, among others.
During her tenure, she established many annual events: Membership Drive, Election Day Drawings, Volunteer Appreciation Night, Black History & Women's History Month Celebrations, National Night Out on Crime, Garage Sale, Police Appreciation Day, Neighborhood Halloween Party, and Holiday Baking for our Civil Servants.
Marianne helped establish and operate an after-school program at her home for fifty-five at-risk neighborhood youth. This program, the ANNA Resource Center (ARC), received local and national media coverage throughout its five-year history.
Under Marianne's guidance , ANNA members have become established representatives to other community and political groups, (i.e., Community Redevelopment Agency, Project Area Committee, 8th District Empowerment Congress, Community Coalition, Zoning Board, Community Police Advisory Board, West Adams Heritage Association, USC, Police Liaison Committee, HPOZ, Neighborhood Council, etc.). This allows ANNA's influence to grow and affect every arena of city and county government that interact with our community.
Marianne has personally mentored several USC graduate students, as well as leaders from other communities. She has been guest speaker at numerous local and city-wide forums.
Marianne's dedication to ANNA and the community was recognized by the Los Angeles' City Commission on the Status of Women and the Los Angeles' City Council when she was awarded the Eighth District 1998 Pioneer Woman of the Year Award. That same year she was awarded the Southern California Earthquake Center Outreach Award for Public Awareness. In 2001 she received the Good Neighbor Volunteer Neighbor Award by the University of Southern California.
When asked what achievement gives her the most satisfaction Marianne says " I am most proud of the fact that I have been able to encourage my neighbors to become involved, to make their voices heard, and to take the initiative in our community. People who felt powerless are now leading the charge on issues that are close to their hearts, be it pet control, graffiti, or historic preservation, and others. I like to believe I helped them see each of us, regardless of ethnicity, economic and/or educational background, can make a difference."
You have made and continue to make, a difference, Marianne, and we thank you for your many years of dedicated service.