Volunteer Work

At the last minute, her friend couldn't come along. But Sarah Koteen went ahead with her plans - even if the idea of heading off by herself for several weeks to volunteer at a camp for underprivileged children from New York was a little bit intimidating. That experience last summer is just one item on a resume that includes hundreds of hours of volunteer work, participation on her school's track, soccer and softball teams, and a 3.63 grade-point average. Now Koteen, a 16-year-old junior at Owings Mills High School, has been named Baltimore County's Young Woman of the Year.

DEE MONCHVOLUNTEER WORK: Ms. Monch is distinguished by two trademarks: wearing a hat almost everywhere and, more importantly, her volunteer work.She recently was elected to her second consecutive two-year term as president of the Harbor Hospital Center Auxiliary, overseeing the hospital's gift shop operations and assisting with fund-raisers.She also is president of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Chapter 680 in Annapolis, a post she has held for almost six years. She remains active in the Ladies Auxiliary for theMaryland State Fireman's Association.

Volunteer work: Mr. Stecher is one of three certified county instructors for the 55-Alive/Mature Driving Course held primarily at area senior centers. He also works as a tax counselor for Department of Aging's VITA program (Volunteers in Tax Assistance) and PYTA -- Prior Year Tax Assistance.About the volunteer: A Pasadena resident for 20 years, Mr. Stecher is a retired engineer from Westinghouse. Aside from his volunteer work, he keeps busy maintaining his waterfront property.Volunteer's comment: "I've been teaching for about 3 1/2 years.

THE PIPE CREEK Ministerium, a consortium of churches in Northwest Carroll, is bringing the Self-Help and Resource Exchange (SHARE) to the area.SHARE, begun 13 years ago by a nonprofit group committed to ending hunger in the Americas, encourages people to share skills and time with one another for two hours a month. Associated Catholic Charities is a sponsor.As a reward for their volunteer work, participants join a food-buying cooperative that allows them to buy $30 to $50 worth of food for $14 each month.

The Harford County school system says it has come up with a painless way to meet the state's controversial student service requirement for high school graduation.Community service would be integrated into the school curriculum in grades six through 12, and students would not have to do volunteer work to graduate."We were opposed to the idea of mandating volunteer activities outside the school since its inception," said William B. Seccurro, supervisor for vocational and technical education and a member of the committee that came up with the proposal.

William Lehr of Brooklyn ParkVolunteer work: Four years ago, Mr. Lehr joined the ranks of the Harbor Hospital volunteers when a relative who worked at the hospital told him of the many opportunities there.He began working in the patient transportation department and transferred to the same-day surgery department about 2 1/2 years ago.Volunteer's comments: "I don't have any special day I go in. I usually fill in wherever they need me, whenever they're short-handed, working on the average of six to 12 hours a week."

Audrey Stivali of ArnoldVolunteer work: Ms. Stivali has been a volunteer with the Annapolis branch of the Salvation Army for 40 years and heads the Ladies League there.Volunteer's comments: "When my husband, Robert, was alive we would come in together on our days off and take our vacations during Christmas so we could work here."I've been a member of the Salvation Army Church since 1965."I enjoy helping out very much. As long as my health holds out, I'll keep doing what I can. I get a lot, a lot of joy from working here."

Elizabeth "Lee" Small Baker, an avid volunteer and wife of an Episcopal clergyman, died Tuesday of natural causes at Broadmead retirement community in Cockeysville. She was 103. Born Elizabeth Small in York, Pa., she graduated from Oldfields School in Glencoe around 1919 and married Richard Henry Baker in 1926. He died in 1981. They lived in Baltimore from 1931 to 1951 while her husband was the rector of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore. There she was her husband's "right-hand man," said her granddaughter Ellee Thompson of Cockeysville.

Services for Lucretia Feldbush, a volunteer at the Stella Maris Hospice and a part-time gift shop employee, will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. James Episcopal Church, 3100 Monkton Road, Monkton.Mrs. Feldbush, who was 56 and lived in Phoenix until 1987, died Thursday at her home on Glenmoore Avenue in Cockeysville after a short illness.Known as Keesh, Mrs. Feldbush, worked part time at the Gift Wrap shop in Jacksonville in addition to doing her volunteer work the hospice.The former Lucretia Tucker was a native of Morristown, N.J., and a graduate of Endicott Junior College in Beverly, Mass.

Mary M. Dowling, a Red Cross volunteer who recently celebrated her 20th anniversary with the group, died of a heart attack Wednesday at Good Samaritan Hospital. She was 95. A resident of Walker Mews Apartments in Cedarcroft, she had lived in Waverly for many years. She and her close friend, Marian Eichler, 96, earned the nickname the "Tuesday Ladies," for the day they did volunteer work. They were a familiar sight at blood drives throughout the Baltimore area. In recent years, they confined their activities to clerical work and bulk mailings.