S.T.A.R.S. International Blog

2012 Special Needs Parents Resource Fair

KVaughn — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:44:00 +0000

Another Excellent Opportunity For Exposure!

The U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award - Feb. 3, 2012

KVaughn — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:37:28 +0000

Congratulations To All Past S.T.A.R.S. Volunteers That

Participated To Achieve This Prestigious Award!

This is a tribute to the dedicated work by ALL,

and no one person among us!

Quote of the Day

KVaughn — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:34:35 +0000

“Never hesitate to do what you know is right.”
From: Life’s Little Instruction Book

Quote of the Day

KVaughn — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:13:11 +0000

“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”

— Winston Churchill

How can we determine our next steps…

KVaughn — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 01:54:37 +0000

1 week following recognition of S.T.A.R.S. International by the White House after receiving the coveted President’s National Volunteerism Award, an outcry by a handful of dedicated S.T.A.R.S. volunteers has led me to make this urgent-personal outreach to each of you today. Senior leadership at S.T.A.R.S. International changed in November 2011, leaving S.T.A.R.S. without direction, funding, and any future plans to continue operations. The new President and Chairman of the S.T.A.R.S. Board has failed to answer calls, e-mails, and pickup certified mail to accept documentation critical to running the 501(c)(3) corporation. The only way to take back control and SAVE S.T.A.R.S. from certain dissolution is for you to take 2 minutes to write and demand that President (Ismael Torres) resign the position immediately, and provide legal authorization in writing to transfer control of the company to the founder, Kevin Vaughn. I strongly urge you to take 2 minutes today to send a letter and/or e-mail to Mr. Torres stressing that he take swift action in this matter. You may also opt to follow-up your correspondence with a call helping us save S.T.A.R.S. for future generations.

Mr. Torres can be reached at; itorres@kusd.edu, or his home; 7803 15^th Avenue, Kenosha, WI 53143. You may also reach him via phone at (262) 818-5843 or (262) 359-2865. I for one can no longer sit idly by and let 8.5 years of work turn to dust because his passion for this has changed. If he cannot Step Up, he must Step Out and allow the vision to continue! The stairs to our success may be overgrown and abandoned, but the kids we serve do not have to be. Thank you in advance for your support!

A few quotes from Unknowns to consider in your daily life..

KVaughn — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:03:49 +0000

1) Two things define your personality. 1) The way you manage things when you have nothing. 2) The way you behave when you have everything.- Unknown

2) People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.- Unknown

3) Everyone in life is going to hurt you, you just have to figure out which people are worth the pain.- Unknown

4) Have you ever wondered which hurts the most: saying something and wishing you had not, or saying nothing and wishing you had.- Unknown

5) Crying is how your body speaks when your mouth cannot explain the pain you feel.- Unknown

6) Things omitted are often more deadly than errors committed.- Unknown

7) Before you assume, learn the facts. Before you judge, understand why. Before you hurt someone, feel their pain. Before you leave, commit to staying.- Unknown

Love is giving someone the power to destroy you.. but trusting them not to.- Unknown

9) The worst thing about being lied to is knowing that you’re not worth the truth.- Unknown

10) Sometimes people put up walls, not to keep others out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.- Unknown

Kevin Vaughn Awarded with 2011 CASA Humanitarian Of The Year

KVaughn — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:35:47 +0000

Kevin pictured with Laurie Trudel at 2011 CASA Christmas Party on December 16th

S.T.A.R.S. Staff Lunch Today 2 pm

KVaughn — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:23:52 +0000

Reminder … I hope you can join us to catch up with many of the colorful characters from the staff today at Nick’s Pizza in Elgin on Randall Road.

DEMA 2011

KVaughn — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:58:53 +0000

DEMA 2011 in Orlando, Florida was the site of an aggressive 2.5 day strategy by Kevin to refresh his skills, gain product/service updates, and touch base with many S.T.A.R.S. supporters in the dive industry. Kevin felt very fortunate to meet with Margo & Tom Peyton of Kids Sea Camp, Sage Dalton from Teens4Oceans, PADI, Brian Been from Turks & Caicos Tourism, Rogest, Bill Mitchell at Oceanic, Scuba Max, and Christian Ambrosi and Sandra Ullrich from Ocean Encounters in Curacao in addition to attending many exciting destination seminars. Many seeds were planted that should blossom in the coming year for S.T.A.R.S.

The October 2011 Newsletter has been posted

MSchirmacher — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:27:23 +0000

The October newsletter has been posted to the Newsletter Archives page. You can view this issue by clicking here or visiting the archives page.