By Sommer Brokaw
RALEIGH (February 2007) - On Thursday morning, Feb. 22, when Air Force One touched down at the tarmac at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Jamie Lathan, a Durham mentor, received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award from President Bush.
"It was very humbling to be honored for something that I like to do," Lathan said. "I've just been very blessed to get the opportunities that I have, and I feel that there's very little that separates me from the next guy. I just have a good loving and supportive family, friends, and mentors. I feel like I'm extremely fortunate and blessed."
President Bush created the USA Freedom Corps, an Office of the White House, to answer his call to service and help foster a "culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility."
The Office was created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. "I think the White House noticed that there were just so many people giving and not expecting to get anything in return, and after that the president was really touched by that, and he really wanted to honor that volunteer spirit and honor individuals," Lathan said.
Since then, the president has met with 550 plus people around the country who have dedicated their "time, talent, and treasure" to serving others.
"Time, talent, and treasure' are all very precious to me," Lathan said. "I think that with time when I have extra time to give I want to use that in order to help someone out or volunteer. With treasure, I feel like there are some gifts that God has given me to share. They are not for me to keep for myself. They are to share with others. I think a lot of times people think volunteerism is all about money or giving funds, and I don't have much of that to give, so what I can give or I can share is time, and talent," he said. "Whatever your talents are, they aren't for your own self-ambition, but for you to use for some greater good."
Lathan sees his talent as his ability to give back to others. He grew up in rural Winnsboro, SC, where he said that the spirit of volunteerism ran through his bloodline. "My parents were my role models just because of the values that they instilled in me, and the way that they lived their life, they were constantly giving of their time to other people, and they modeled their good behaviors," he said.
He said that his mom, Carrie, who worked as a textile worker, helped elderly couples with their day-to-day activities like laundry "just out of the kindness of her own heart." His dad, Arthur, who worked as a civil engineer volunteered as a coach for a community baseball team that served low-income youth in the area.
Lathan left his hometown to attend school at the University of Virginia, where he received a Bachelor's degree in history, and a Master's degree in teaching and social studies education. Later on, he moved to the Triangle area of NC to teach history at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, an elite public boarding school in Durham that draws the brightest students from around the state.
Both his parents are retired now, but their spirit of volunteerism lives on. "I realize how much I've been given, and I know that ‘to whom much is given, much is required' so I think of it as a debt that I owe."
Lathan has spent the past four years volunteering in the Cornwalis community, through the Youth Life Learning Center of Durham, a ministry of his church, King's Park International. The church bought a property in the Cornwallis community in 1996 with a vision of creating a holistic approach to reaching youth through faith in God. The approach has three components including an after-school program, a Teen Leadership Club, and a GED training program.
Lathan primarily works with the Teen Leadership program component, mentoring young at-risk black males. He talks with them about peer pressure as it relates to drugs, sex and alcohol. And, he guides them through exercises on biblical studies, character development, and leadership training.
"We are really teaching them as they grow older to learn how to take responsibility not only for their own actions, but also for their families and their communities," Lathan said.
Lathan also volunteers with the HOPE program at the NCSSM. HOPE stands for Heritage Opportunity, Progress and Education. The program is designed to meet the needs of minority students who are underrepresented in math and science. "The purpose is to not only retain underrepresented minority students, but also to celebrate the contributions of their ancestors, and to give them here at the school a safe place to go and meet, and have their issues addressed," Lathan said.
He said that volunteering has helped him become a better teacher. "Just having a heart for young people, having a heart for understanding their lives and understanding the way that they learn, and understanding all of the pressures outside the classroom that are on them, I think that has helped me tremendously in the classroom."
