Dearborn, Michigan

Janet Vitale, Executive Assistant and Jeff Wood, Director, Global Manufacturing Quality

“If you can change one person’s life for the better, you’re a success.”

That philosophy is at the heart of Janet Vitale’s dedication to helping others through volunteerism.

But the Ford Motor Company March Volunteer of the Month is the first to say her effort is not a solo one, as it also involves her husband, John, who works in Electrical Electronics Systems Engineering, and many other colleagues, past and present.

One project close to Vitale’s heart involves patients at Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, whom she helps to celebrate Christmas twice a year -- once at the traditional time, and again in July.

Aware of the financial drain a child’s illness has on a family and that the illness also affects siblings, the Vitales' include brothers and sisters in the celebrations. “When we started working with (Mott), I said, 'I didn’t want it to go just to the sick kids, but to the healthy ones who are often in the background'.”

When one young patient was upset at not being able to go trick-or-treating on Halloween, Vitale took a load of candy to the hospital and organized a trick-or-treat for the patients and their brothers and sisters.

Children with disabilities also benefit from Vitale’s community service. They enjoy a special playground in Lincoln Park. “We raised $1,200 for swings and slides designed so people can go right up to them with a wheelchair and get right into it.” Vitale noted that Ford donated the rubber used for the surface of the playground.

Vitale is an executive assistant in Dearborn for Jeff Wood, director of Global Manufacturing Quality, who nominated her for Volunteer of the Month. In citing Vitale’s efforts on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, victims of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, Hurricane Katrina and numerous other causes, Wood wrote that she volunteers for anything that will make a difference in the community. “Janet is self motivated and very passionate in every initiative she undertakes, especially in the area of helping others. She is a true leader, an individual who goes the extra mile in every endeavor. . . . She has had a tremendous impact on all of the individuals she has come in contact with.”

Vitale says, 'Ford has had a tremendous impact through its focus on volunteerism'. “It’s the only company, I’ve ever heard of, that promotes it as much as they do. They get a lot of people interested, and it makes the world a better place".

Vitale said, 'she is honored to receive the Volunteer of the Month recognition, but is quick to recognize her colleagues and Ford Motor Company for their volunteer efforts'. “I don’t think enough people recognize what Ford does.”