By Cheryl Kortemeier, Executive Director, Corporate Volunteer Council of Atlanta (CVC)
Each year, the Corporate Volunteer Council (CVC) of Atlanta chooses to end each year on a positive note by inviting the community to an annual Holiday Luncheon. During the luncheon, the CVC announces the winners of the Carol D. Reiser Youth Service Awards, recognizing extraordinary youth volunteerism and community engagement. The award is named in honor of Carol Reiser, CVC co-founder and past president, who enjoyed a long career with Rich’s/Macy’s and established the company’s innovative “Partners in Time” volunteer program.
Award recipients are selected from dozens of applications received from across the 13-county Metro Atlanta area. We recognize one awardee each at the elementary, middle and high-school level. Awards are presented at the CVC’s annual holiday luncheon, providing these outstanding young people the opportunity to learn about corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a future career path. Each winner receives a $500 personal stipend as well as a check for $1,500 for their selected nonprofit partner. The 2025 winners are:
- The Jr. Esquires – 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at R.N. Fickett Elementary School – The Jr. Esquires demonstrate excellence in Academics, Leadership, Community Service, Athletics and Respect for Womanhood. The Jr. Esquires have been heavily involved in the Southwest Atlanta community, including organizing a Spring Break Community Food Drive in partnership with Communities in Schools Atlanta & GOODR. During the Food Drive, The Jr. Esquires supported 70% of the school’s families with approximately 250 people receiving breakfast and bread through this initiative. We truly believe that each of these nine young men, with the support of Communities in Schools and Atlanta Public Schools, embody the organizations motto: “A Legion of gentlemen and Greatness is our future.” The Jr. Esquires have chosen to contribute their nonprofit donation to R.N. Fickett Elementary School.
- William Gira – 11th grade student at The Westminster Schools – William founded a nonprofit called “Eyes 4 Everyone” to improve underserved access to vision care through education and eyewear collection drives. Since last summer, William has recruited 8 student chapter presidents representing 8 schools, and together they have collected over 1,000 pairs of eyeglasses which were donated to Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, effectively saving over $100,000 in retail value and recycling over 150lbs of plastic and metal.
William also founded the Prevent Blindness of Georgia (PBGA) Teen Leadership Program to connect high-school teen leaders with real world public health opportunities like cost-free vision screenings for underserved students in Atlanta-area schools or fundraising events, and in two months, the group has fundraised $12,000 for PBGA and helped to provide cost-free vision screenings and prescription eyeglasses (if needed) for over 60 underserved children at the Mexican Consulate and the Agape Youth and Family Center. William chose to contribute his nonprofit donation to PBGA.
- Sophia Yang – 11th grade student at Douglas County High School – In 2023, Sophia founded the STEM Spectrum, an organization dedicated to providing free STEM education opportunities to students in Atlanta and globally. The organization operates through two main programs: first, Sophia runs an open-access digital research journal, where she publishes youth research to encourage participation in STEM while simultaneously disseminating access to quality STEM work.
Secondly, through the CodeTHAT program, the group teaches free coding lessons in elementary schools around the United States. To date, The STEM Spectrum has reached over 2 million students, and the journal has 15,000+ readers. Sophia has inspired other teenagers to start chapters of The STEM Spectrum in their own communities, and there are now 43 chapter leaders around Georgia and throughout the United States. Sophia selected Science ATL as the recipient of her nonprofit donation.
“After reviewing all of the applications, the Reiser Youth Service Awards Committee was so encouraged by the creative acts of service happening across Metro Atlanta ,” said Yvonne Whitaker, President of the CVC of Atlanta Board of Directors. “We are definitely in good hands with the next generation, and they truly exemplify the spirit of community that Carol’s legacy represents.” Whitaker also thanked Reiser Award chair, Lauren Abbott of King & Spalding LLP and the entire award committee for guiding the selection process.
These outstanding young people are our future. The application process for the 2026 Reiser Youth Service Awards will open in the fall of 2026. You may read more about the CVC’s prior Reiser Award winners at www.cvcofatlanta.org/reiseraward
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