The Best Gift of All

Albert Paduano gets a second chance at life thanks to his nephew, a fellow teacher.

Photo by Erin Kilber

Scott Stickney, a Latin teacher, decided to get tested as a possible organ donor for his uncle after a family Christmas gathering where Paduano announced he needed a new kidney.

A high school health teacher, Paduano was in excellent shape and running frequently when he was diagnosed with kidney problems about 14 years ago during a physical. He was immediately put on medicine to lower his blood pressure and cut down on the fluid he was retaining. Although the medicine helped for a while, Paduano starting retaining more and more fluid; at one point he had gained almost 40 pounds in water weight.

In October 2002, Paduano was told he needed a new kidney and that he could qualify for the donor list. But he didn’t have to wait for a donor; he had four people willing to give him a kidney. His sister, brother, niece, and nephew all offered, but after testing, only Stickney turned out to be a good match.

At first, Paduano was wary of taking a kidney from his nephew. “I didn’t want him to donate because I didn’t want him to be in any danger.” Despite Paduano’s reservations, the surgery went off without a hitch. Both teachers had to miss some school, but both are now back in the classroom— Stickney at Hampton Middle and High Schools in Allison Park, Pennsylvania, and Paduano at West Seneca East Senior High School in West Seneca, New York.

A year later, Paduano and Stickney are doing remarkably well. “He gave me the gift of a chance at a new life,” says Paduano, who returned to the gym and a workout routine at the end of June. Stickney celebrated the birth of a new baby girl at the beginning of July.

—Emily Goodman

Steeling His Way to Fame

A building maintenance mechanic by day and a pedal steel guitarist by night, New York member Wayne Swartwood was recently honored for his contributions to the music industry and inducted into the New York State Country Music Hall of Fame. “It was quite a day when I found out,” says Swartwood.

Photo by Doris Swartwood

Although Swartwood was introduced to the pedal steel guitar more than 50 years ago, his love for playing remains steadfast. Over the years, he has honed his skill and played with a number of bands, including one during his service in the Korean War.

Swartwood has been with his current band, Rubin Everidge and the San Antones, for five years now, and the leader of the band was the one who nominated him for the hall of fame. The band of four performs anywhere from one to four times a week at the American Legions, VFW Posts, local parks, and other central New York locales.

Although the band typically plays for an audience of several hundred people, they occasionally get the thrill of playing in front of crowds of 15,000, such as the time they opened for country stars Charley Pride and Loretta Lynn.

“It was overwhelming and exciting because there we were on the same stage with people who have been around the world, in front of this huge crowd,” says Swartwood, who now has his own claim to fame.

Swartwood has talked with school officials about putting on a special show for the students in the Ithaca City School District, but it’s still in the discussion stage. In the meantime, be sure to check out Swartwood and his band the next time you’re in New York.

—Donna Chiu

A Lesson in Giving

Ever since Washington member Sara Harlan spent a year living and teaching in Haiti, she has not been able to get the picture of the more than 300,000 abandoned and abused Haitian street children off her mind.

Photos by Erin Kilber

When she told her fourth-grade students about her experiences in Haiti, she set in motion an effort that touched everyone involved. “I was telling my class about the hardships the street children in Haiti were facing, and the kids in my class—I didn’t put any ideas in their heads—just asked, ‘What can we do to help?’” Harlan says.

Together, Harlan and her students brainstormed ways to raise money and finally decided to host a Read-a-thon, a one-month event conducted by five fourth-grade classes that raised more than $1,500 in pledges. In addition to the awareness effort she launched at her school, Harlan also alerted her community to the situation in Haiti by donating all $1,000 of the proceeds from her 2003 art show to Haitian Street Kids, Inc., a nonprofit charitable organization that provides children in Haiti with a home and the opportunity for a good education.

But Harlan’s generosity did not stop there. As the new librarian at Stanwood Middle School in Stanwood, Washington, Harlan has already held a fund-raiser to help a sister school in Guatemala open up a new library and has plans to hold another fund-raiser this year to continue helping Haitian street children.
“Awareness is the most important thing,” says Harlan. “I can’t possibly raise all the money necessary to help the children who need it, but if I can raise awareness with other people, then that’s how compassion begins to snowball.”

—Donna Chiu

Grooming Tomorrow’s Leaders

Retired member Robert Farmer looked at his long-time hometown of Springfield, Tennessee, and felt that while young African Americans lived in the community, they hadn’t yet seized the opportunity to lead it.

Photos by Erin Kilber

So farmer set out to grow new leaders. The result was Robertson County I Care, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to community service and to grooming young African-American men for government leadership.

Thirty-eight young men currently participate in I Care. The group raises funds to provide two or more college scholarships each year to local high school graduates, and to distribute holiday gifts to children of low-income families. I Care also supports a YMCA-sponsored program to mentor kids who have had early encounters with the court system for misdemeanor crimes.

As for developing young leaders, I Care is on a big roll. “Our members have not only lobbied the county commission successfully to improve neighborhoods, but we helped elect one of our own, James Thomas, to the county commission,” says Farmer. “And we’re grooming some future prospects.”

After years of dedication to the local schools and community, Farmer shows no signs of letting up. “I feel like I’ve truly been able to contribute to the community, and as long as I feel that way—and my health holds out—I’m going to keep working at it.”

—Matt Simon

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