In trying to make a difference, they earn presidential honor

Robert O'Leary had no idea what the Presidential Volunteer Service Award was before being notified that he would be among Boston's first recipients of the recognition.

"It was only a few months ago that I even heard of the presidential award," said the 34-year-old volunteer from Somerville. He said that he still doesn't know how significant the award really is.

"I just volunteer," he said. ''It's what I do."

O'Leary is one of 14 Boston Cares volunteers who will receive the Presidential Award tomorrow and a Boston Cares award in recognition of service to the community. Five are from Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, and nine are from the suburbs.

He began volunteering a year ago with Boston Cares, a Boston nonprofit group that organizes teams of volunteers in and around the city.

"I didn't want to do just one project or focus in on only one area to volunteer in. I wanted to do a lot of projects," said O'Leary, who tackles four or five volunteer projects every month.

O'Leary, who works in the sales and marketing department of a computer software company, leads volunteer programs through Boston Cares for nonprofit organizations that lack the staff or resources to do it themselves.

As a leader, O'Leary is the contact person for the volunteers, providing them with locations, meeting times, and other logistical information.

In one of his many projects, O'Leary works with X-Cel to tutor teens in English and mathematics to help prepare them for General Educational Development diploma exams.

X-Cel, based in Roxbury, offers coaching in all subjects for students who want to get a GED. He also works with Community Servings in Roxbury, preparing meals for low-income HIV-positive individuals and the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, where he serves food.

"With organizations that don't have a volunteer infrastructure, this is a great way to help them," said Patrice Keegan, executive director of Boston Cares.

"I believe volunteer service made easy is a very elegant way to retain people in the community," said Keegan, who has been involved in community work since 1978, when she worked at Cambridge Hospital.

Among the criteria for nomination for the Presidential Volunteer Service Awards are creativity and initiative, generosity of time, energy, and resources, and working to build strong partnerships within the volunteer communities.

Emma Lathan, another award winner, began volunteering in high school with The Walk for Hunger, which is run by Project Bread, another group Boston Cares helps.

''It was the first opportunity I had to take part in something and make a difference," Lathan said.

Lathan, 31, appreciates the scheduling flexibility and variety Boston Cares provides its volunteers. Its monthly calendar lists more than 100 volunteer opportunities across Greater Boston.

''There is something for everybody," she said.

Although her volunteering runs the gamut, and she leads about four projects per month, Lathan finds herself returning to those that mean the most to her, which include educating children and working to improve wild urban areas.

Lathan tutors students at the Blue Hill Clubhouse's after-school Homework Help program and works with the Roxbury-based EarthWorks on problems such as illegal dumping, fires, and vandalism in Boston's natural areas.

Curt Hunnewell, who lives in Cambridge, will receive the Presidential Award and the Boston Cares award for leading projects including GED math tutoring, track training for the Special Olympics, and Project Hola!.

Hunnewell, 29, works in supply chain networks with Lucent Technologies and has a shortage of spare time.

"That is the great thing about Boston Cares. You don't have to make a long-term commitment like at so many other volunteer programs," he said. ''It's geared toward busy professionals who don't know if they will be able to do something every week."

Hunnewell has been volunteering with Boston Cares since 1999.

Also receiving the Presidential Volunteer Service Award are Madeline Munoz of Cambridge and Stephanie Snow of Somerville.

The awards ceremony, cosponsored by the Boston Globe Foundation, will be held in the atrium of The Boston Globe tomorrow, with remarks by Paul Grogan, president of the Boston Foundation.