Date: May 9, 2005
Contact: Barbara Schoof Conant
barbaraconant@aging.state.ks.us
Director of Communications
(785) 296-6154
The Secretary of the Kansas Department on Aging recognized the efforts of outstanding support and dedication to seniors at a May 4 award ceremony held during the 2005 Governor’s Conference on Aging Services in Topeka. The 2005 Distinguished Achievement Award was also awarded.
“These awards are a way to honor significant personal and professional contributions to improving the quality of life for seniors,” said Secretary Johnson-Betts.
Kay Lanzrath, Augusta, received the 2005 Community Quality of Life Award for her volunteer work two days a week at the Catholic Care Center in Bel Aire. Lanzrath volunteers at the center, assisting residents with dining room activities including playing the cello for the residents at daily mass.
The Community Quality of Life Award honors an outstanding older person who makes a significant contribution to seniors and their community through volunteer work. Nominees for this award actively participate in civic and community groups or organizations that reflect a commitment to Kansas seniors.
An employee of the Catholic Care Center in Bel Aire, Barbara Horton, Wichita, was the recipient of the Business Quality of Life Award for her outstanding contribution to her profession, community and Kansas seniors. She has worked at the center for 25 years.
The Business Quality of Life Award honors an outstanding older person who has made a significant contribution to seniors and their community through their employment by demonstrating a caring attitude, time commitment and providing quality care.
Secretary Johnson-Betts also recognized caregivers by presenting the Caregiver of the Year Award and the newly created Grandparent/Relative Caregiver of the Year Award.
Carl Koster Jr., Cheney, received the Caregiver of the Year Award, for the care he provided to his parents which allowed them both to continue living at home until their deaths.
The Caregiver of the Year Award is presented to a caregiver, paid or unpaid, who has provided outstanding care to a person or persons age 60 or older.
A second category in the Caregiver of the Year was created this year to recognize the increased number of Kansas grandparents who are caring for their grandchildren.
“In Kansas, 29,000 grandparents are serving as primary caregivers to their grandchildren,” said Secretary Johnson-Betts. “This award is a way to not only recognize the commitment to family demonstrated by these grandparents, but also to publicly highlight this growing trend.”
Elizabeth Lemons, Hiawatha, was awarded the first Grandparent/Relative Caregiver of the Year Award.
Lemons has raised her 17-year-old grandson since he was 10. Last year she began caring for her 13-year-old granddaughter, who was severely injured in an automobile accident that killed her mother. Both grandchildren need 24-hour supervision, but Lemons works nights assisting persons with disabilities in a near-by town. She also is actively involved with her other seven grandchildren.
A special Distinguished Service Award was given posthumously to Dr. Merle Bolton Sr., who died in January 2004 while serving as president of the Kansas State Advisory Council on Aging. He served on the council since 1997 and had been very active in the aging community, both in the Johnson County area and statewide. He also served as the state president of AARP Kansas from 1996 to 1999 and was a member of the employee advisory committee for State Retirees Health Care from 1997 until is death. A distinguished educator, Dr. Bolton was a former commissioner for the Kansas Department of Education. Marilyn Bolton accepted the award on behalf of her late husband.
The Kansas State Advisory Council on Aging sponsors the Quality of Life Awards.